PHOTOS: Gay Couple Married on Mural Arts Love Train for the First Time Ever
On Sunday, February 8th, Mural Arts annual Love Train took off on its fifth and final voyage. To celebrate the milestone—and nearly a year having same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania—organizers chose an affianced LGBT couple to be married on the train by openly gay judge Dan Anders. As I told you last week, the couple chosen was Neal Santos and Andrew Olson. The pair had been together six years, and own an adorable farm in West Philly called Farm 51.
Neal and Andrew at the after-party at Barbuzzo.
I got the chance to chat with Neal after the festivities were over, and he told me he wouldn’t have had the experience any other way. “It was wonderful. Being on the train with everyone watching us and knowing we could take comfort in each other and have the support from friends, family and passersby. Just wonderful.” The event was attended by several family members of Santos and Olson, including their parents and siblings, and a handful of friends, like Philadelphia magazine news editor Brian Howard and his wife Carolyn Huckabay, communications manager at The Food Trust.
The grooms followed up the evening with a lovely cocktail reception with close friends and family at Barbuzzo‘s stunning new event space above the restaurant in Midtown Village. There, he told me that if they hadn’t gotten chosen for the Love Train, they probably wouldn’t have gotten married for another two or three years. So he’s eternally grateful for the experience.
Our own HughE Dillon was there to get some shots on the train ride. Check them out in the slideshow above.
