Vermont Rep. Taylor Small, the state’s first transgender lawmaker, got engaged to her partner, Carsen Russell, while the White House was lit with rainbow lights on Tuesday.
The two traveled to the nation’s capital to attend the signing ceremony for the Respect for Marriage Act, a federal bill that will provide additional protection for same-sex marriages.
As the event was wrapping up, Russell said he asked Small if she wanted to take a photo. Then he got down on one knee. “I was just like, ‘I want to spend my life with you, and will you marry me?’” Russell told NBC News on Friday in a joint interview with Small.
Small recalled saying yes “immediately.”
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Small, who was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives in 2020 and re-elected in November, said it was a “full-circle” moment for the couple, who met in Vermont’s capital, Montpelier, in December 2017 at a drag show.
