Military cadet makes history with wedding
Is this really news? More to the point, does anyone really care anymore? When I read this article I was shaking my head about a 19 year old getting married to someone he met only four months ago.
Military cadet makes history with wedding; 19-year-old first armed forces gay to take a husband Couple celebrates with front-row concert tickets
As far as his fiance was concerned, Officer Cadet Jason Stewart was planning a simple weekend getaway to Toronto.
But when a white stretch limo rolled up outside Joey Schwehr's Kingston, Ont., home Friday afternoon, he realized it was much more than that. It became the much-anticipated weekend they would say their vows, making Stewart, who attends Kingston's Royal Military College, the first man in the military to marry another man.
"The first time we went on a date, (Joey) said he wanted to be picked up in a white stretch limo with white roses in the back and be surprised," said Stewart, 19, from the Fairmont Royal York hotel yesterday afternoon, just hours after they were wed.
Accompanied by a few close friends, the two were married at city hall. Last night, they celebrated at the Britney Spears concert after finding front-row tickets for $150 apiece.
While neither of their families attended the wedding, Stewart said both groups are happy for them. "They knew we were engaged and going to get married. (Joey's) father took it well. I think his mother was a little upset that she wasn't going to be there for it," Stewart said.
But both of their parents, as well as about 300 friends and family, will be present when the two reaffirm their vows at the military college in October.
"Everyone's always been really supportive," said Stewart of his peers and teachers at the college. "I've never gotten any flack about it. Everybody's just gung-ho and most of my superiors are more worried about me getting married at a young age than who I'm getting married to."
Stewart and Schwehr, 20, dated for a little over four months after being set up on a blind date. They said their connection was instant. "It was so special. I just knew ... it's hard to explain, but I just knew. Every moment right from there, it was great," said Schwehr, who works at a clothing store in Kingston.
Since they met, Stewart said the two have spent every day together. He proposed to Schwehr at work about a month ago.
"Since I started dating when I was about 16, I probably hadn't really been in love before until I met Joey," Stewart said. "We definitely wouldn't have gotten married if we didn't think we were perfect for each other."
When he told his mother last month that he was gay and he was getting married, she wasn't surprised. Unsure of how his father, a lobster fisherman in Nova Scotia, would react, she offered to tell him when he got home from work. A few hours later, Stewart got a phone call.
"My dad called me up and the only thing he said was, 'Just tell Joey he's gotta look after us when we get older,'" said Stewart. "So they took it very well."