Marriage Proposals After DOMA: Taking it to the Tweets

In the rush of excitement after the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) on Wednesday, actress Kristen Bell jumped onto Twitter to propose to her fiance, Dax Shepherd, who is also the dad of her three-month-old baby girl, Lincoln.

She wrote:

Last year, Bell explained her reluctance to "make it official" with longtime beau Shepherd in an interview. "The reason we're not rushing to get married is because I don't feel appropriate taking advantage of a right that's denied to my best friends. That's why we've been so hesitant." She told The Advocate."Dax and I have talked about it a lot, and this issue is very important to both of us. We're just standing up for what we believe in. Period."

About an hour and a half later, Shepherd responded:

People have been using social media both to commemorate and to facilitate their proposals for years now. There are tens of thousands of flash mob proposals on YouTube, which have collectively attracted millions of eyeballs. The latest twist is Vine-a platform to make six-second videos. Recently, a media savvy marketer commandeered the joint forces of Twitter and Vine to capture the hand of his sweetie while she was hosting a live chat.

Related: IKEA Flash-Mob Proposal is Latest In-Store Romance

Whether you think public proposals are dreamy or imagine, with a dash of cynicism, that they just make them harder to decline, there is nothing jaded about people popping the question in the wake of the DOMA ruling.

In an interview with CNN, rocker Melissa Etheridge, 52, described her reaction to the ruling and her subsequent engagement. "It is about family and I love my four kids. I called my now-fiancee. I'm looking forward to marrying my partner of three years…I'm going to get married in the state of California. I woke [the kids] up this morning telling them the Supreme Court ruling on DOMA…I love everybody out there. It's a great day." She added, making a reference to #loveislove, a hashtag trending on Twitter that was even used by President Obama,"Love is love and America is beautiful…I'm proud to be an American."


After her girlfriend Linda Wallem accepted, Etheridge herself tweeted:

Not only celebrities are getting into the act. Twitter is buzzing with proposals. "I just asked my girlfriend to marry me and she said yes, Yay for the end of #DOMA and #Prop 8," wrote one user. Another tweeted at his boyfriend, "Congrats on repealing #DOMA America. Does this mean you'll marry me?!?!?! Please?" The (tweeted) response: "but of course!"

Many others chose the simple statement "will you marry me #DOMA" to celebrate the historic ruling in the best possible way: with a gesture of deep, committed love.

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