27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
A Planner Finally Gets His Own ‘Big Gay Wedding'
Kyle Gardner Torrence made a dramatic entrance to the dock in Cherry Grove on Fire Island, N.Y., when he first met Jove Appollon Meyer in person in May 2020.
Mr. Torrence had missed an 11 a.m. ferry, and the next one wouldn't depart until 5 p.m. Determined to make it to his date with Mr. Meyer, he begged employees at the station to let him charter his own boat, paying hundreds of dollars to do so.
'I felt like Barbra Streisand,' Mr. Torrence said. 'No one was going to rain on my parade.'
As the chartered boat approached the island, onlookers whispered about which celebrity might be arriving. 'Everyone there thought it was Liza Minnelli or Alan Cumming,' Mr. Torrence, 35, said. 'And it was me.'
Mr. Meyer, 40, was waiting for him, his dogs Sadie and Sausage in his arms, shaking his head as Mr. Torrence exited the boat.
'And I've been shaking it ever since,' Mr. Meyer said, with a laugh.
The two had met a few weeks earlier on Tinder. Mr. Torrence had never been in a serious relationship before, and early on during the pandemic, he had an epiphany about his approach to dating.
'I wasn't saying what I really want,' he said. 'And I want a monogamous relationship. I want a family. I was just trying to play it cool.' He decided that he would be upfront about what he was looking for.
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