Culture

Thomas loves Joe

Supreme Court rulings prompt wedding proposals in streets and on Twitter

By Brandon Matheson • June 27, 2013 5:52 pm EDT

NYPD officer Thomas Verni pops the question to boyfriend Joe Moran. Credit: Photo courtesy of Joe Moran and Thomas Verni.

New York City police officer Thomas Verni didn’t waste any time after the US Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and Proposition 8.

On the streets of the West Village, Verni proposed to his partner, Joe Moran.

Joe said yes.

Verni is the LGBT community liaison for the NYPD. Moran is the technical director for Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors Fund.

With the DOMA and Prop 8 rulings, the wedding industry is preparing for a rash of proposals.

Meanwhile, both celebrities and regular folk alike are increasingly taking to Twitter to pop the question.

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On a new career adventure, I perform as a Stage Hypnotist (clubs, fundraisers, private shows, etc; www.BrandonTheHypnotist.com), as well as maintain a private practice in downtown Toronto as a Certified Consulting Hypnotist and Hypnotherapist (in short, I use hypnosis to help people overcome everyday problems.) Between August 1993 and January 2016, I worked with Pink Triangle Press (publisher of this website) as Publisher & Editor-in-chief and Director of Publishing. I joined PTP in August 1993 to establish the Ottawa operation and launch (then called) Capital Xtra, later rebranded to Xtra Ottawa. During my 22.5 year tenure with PTP, I lived and worked in Ottawa, Vancouver, and since 2001, Toronto. At some point, I served as Publisher & Editor-in-chief of every print product PTP published.

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