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Although crime-scene detective David Currie considers his work to be separate from his personal life, the two were brought together when he was among the first Florida couples to get married on Tuesday in his police uniform.
?It?s a really great feeling,? said Currie, 50, who married Aaron Woodard, 33, a few hours past midnight in the Broward County clerk?s office. ?I think about how I did an amazing thing last night. I?m very excited, not only for me personally but for what it means for state of Florida, for people who have careers like mine where being gay is not that cool? it?s not easily acceptable.?
Currie has worked at the Broward Sheriff?s Office for nearly 24 years. Currie?s spouse, Woodard, a former marine who works as a hairdresser, suggested that Currie wear his police uniform for the ceremony.
?When straight couples get married in the military they wear their uniforms and he and asked me if I would wear mine,? said Currie. ?I said I would need to find out if it?s proper.?
Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel immediately approved Carrie?s request for permission to wear the uniform.
?I felt if he was going to have the milestone night of his nights and if he was proud enough of the agency to wear the uniform then I certainly felt that it would be a great thing and wanted to allow him to wear the uniform at a very important night in his life,? Israel said.
Currie said the department has been very supportive, with co-workers witnessing the ceremony and congratulating him.
?The sheriff?s office has always been a more forward-thinking department,? he said, adding that he has never felt any discrimination there. ?I am gay and a police officer. I?ve always kept the two separate. It [the marriage] was very accepted and praised by the sheriff last night.?
The newlywed couple, who have been together for a little more than a year and live in Fort Lauderdale, met in passing for the first time at a gym and then through mutual friends. Both are foster-parent certified and plan on being parents. They decided to get married soon after midnight to be part of history.
?We had a discussion that with this being such a historic situation, having the opportunity to do this was not only to express our love legally but also to influence of others,? said Woodard. ?
We plan on having children and I felt this would be a great story to tell: ?Your fathers got married and took the opportunity in a time when it wasn?t legal.??
Gay Broward cop gets married in uniform | The Miami Herald