Gay Couple Makes Canadian History with Navy Homecoming ‘First Kiss’

Two Canadian men made history this week when they shared their ‘first kiss’ in Victoria, B.C.

Neither of the men are famous and they had already been in a committed relationship when it took place – in fact, it was all just thanks to the luck of the draw.

Canadian navy soldier, Master Seaman Francis Legare – who had been away at sea for 255 days – reunited with his partner Corey Vautour. And he sealed it with a kiss.

The “first kiss” is a time honoured tradition, whereby sailors buy raffle tickets for the chance to be chosen as the first to disembark the ship and share a public smooch with their spouse or partner.

Legare’s name was plucked at random, and the rest as they say, is now history. The HMCS Winnipeg crew had been away for eight months in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. According to the navy, it was not the first same-sex kiss (two women shared a kiss a few years ago) – but it was the first to be shared between two men.

The Royal Canadian Navy Spokesman, Kris Phillips, told the Huffington Post Canada, “What we are supporting here, what we’re standing behind is something that should be very representative of what you would expect to find anywhere in Canadian society,” he said.

The sight of the two men smooching makes me bristle – but for all the right reasons. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up whilst watching this video, but really it had nothing to do with their sexual orientation. Instead I was touched by how tender the kiss was, how obvious it was that they had missed one another, and how very clearly they were in love.

The significance of the kiss is clear. But what we should look forward to in the future is when this act of same-sex love is completely insignificant, commonplace and, well – maybe even a little dull.

[ad_bb1]