The ceremony took place on Nov.16th in Central Park and was officiated by New York City Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito. Pedro Julio Serrano of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and Shirley Casiano were witnesses.
“Dándole las gracias a mi Divino Padre por otro día más en mi vida y en la de mi ahora Esposo José Manuel“. (“Giving thanks to my heavenly father for one more day of life and with [my] husband José Manuel in it.” ) Cruz wrote in Spanish on his Facebook page.
Orlando Cruz made history and international news last year as the first active professional boxer to come out as gay. As the No. 4-ranked featherweight by World Boxing Organization. Cruz said at the time:
“I’ve been fighting for more than 24 years and as I continue my ascendant career, I want to be true to myself…I want to try to be the best role model I can be for kids who might look into boxing as a sport and a professional career. I have and will always be a proud Puerto Rican. I have always been and always will be a proud gay man.”
Although Cruz was looking to be the world’s first openly gay boxer to win the world championship title last month, he lost the battle to Mexican boxer Orlando Salido Rivera. Nonetheless, Orlando Cruz as been embraced by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community as a staunch advocate since he opened up about his sexuality in 2012. In fact, just this summer Cruz was among the first class of inductees into the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame.
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