Mazel tov! Celebrity hosts first same-sex wedding on international waters

(PRNewsfoto/Celebrity Cruises)

There have been some huge steps forward for the LGBTQI community over the last few months.

From Australians voting a fat YES to marriage equality and Cher scheduled to headline the Mardi Gras, 2018 is already shaping up to be a pretty awesome year.

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And now, the first same-sex wedding has taken place on international waters on a Celebrity Cruises ship.

The grooms were Francisco Vargas and Benjamin Gray from Florida and the marriage was one for the history books.

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Officiated by the ship’s captain, Dimitrios Manetas, the wedding took place on Celebrity’s 2,850-passenger Equinox vessel.

“There are only so many firsts in life, and we are thrilled to be the first-ever LGBTQ+ couple to marry at sea,” Gray said in a statement released to media.

“We are humbled to follow the trailblazers in the LGBTQ+ community who paved the way for us.”

The marriage follows Malta giving the thumbs up to same-sex marriage, where a majority of the Celebrity fleet including Equinox is registered, according to USA Today.

In a statement, Celebrity president and CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo said: “Words cannot express how proud I am to congratulate Francisco and Benjamin at this truly historic moment, both for them and for Celebrity.”

“Together we are paving the way for couples around the world to know that their love and commitment is to be celebrated equally, and that everyone is welcome on board a Celebrity cruise.”

“When we heard Celebrity Cruises was celebrating equality and embracing our community, we wanted to be a part of it,” Vargas said.

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