Celebrity Cruises said a gay couple was legally married on
the Celebrity Equinox, a first for the line and perhaps the industry.
Francisco Vargas and Benjamin Gray were wed in a
ceremony officiated by Capt. Dimitrios Manetas.
Celebrity is billing the event as the first same-sex couple to
be legally married at sea on a major cruise line.
Celebrity said a July 2017 liberalization vote in Malta,
where its ships are registered, opened the door for Celebrity to legally
recognize same-sex marriages performed onboard while at sea.
"Words cannot express how proud I am to congratulate
Francisco and Benjamin at this truly historic moment, both for them and for
Celebrity," Celebrity president Lisa Lutoff-Perlo said.
Vargas, a manager in the groups department at Cruise
Planners in Coral Springs, Fla., said, "We are grateful for the outpouring
of support from our Cruise Planners family and hope our story brings strength
for others in the LGBTQ+ community," he said.