Despite their rapid courtship, marriage was not always a priority for both of them. In 2017, they registered as domestic partners in Washington and, at first, “thought enough,” said Mr Gann. But in the years that followed, the couple realized that “it’s important to secure our rights” to get married, he added.
The two became engaged in the fall of 2019, while traveling through Asia. Their journey included stops in Hong Kong, Thailand and Cambodia where Mr. Gann intended to have Mr. Shankle to propose in marriage at the Angkor Wat temple complex at sunrise on October 26, 2019. Gann, who finally made a proposal an hour after sunrise.
Mr. Shankle felt Mr. Gann’s nerves that day. “I had asked him several times if he was okay,” said Mr. Shankle, adding that he was “a little surprised by the proposal — excited, but a little stunned.”
On May 21, the couple married at Skyline 609, a rooftop event space in Washington overlooking Capitol Hill. Michelle Weiss Kagel, an old friend of Mr. Gann and a minister of Universal Life, led the ceremony with help from “Elvis”, played by their friend Jared Davis.
Mr. Davis, Mr. Gann explained, appeared as “a character from Astro Pop’s ‘Elvis’ Birthday Fight Club,’ an annual performance of cartoonish cage-games and burlesque that we’ve been patrons of since its inception 11 years ago.”
When their 122 vaccinated guests arrived, the grooms were waiting to greet everyone at the elevator. “I doubt we’d have seen anyone else,” said Mr Gann.