“This is a moment I never thought I’d see in my lifetime.”

Retired Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Mark Ebenhoch admitted he was “blown away” by his participation in the 2nd Annual Pride Month celebration at Naval Air Station Key West Thursday.

“I’m standing here talking about [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender] LGBT pride and I’m standing here talking about it to the military,” he said, as he told the audience about his Marine Corps career and having to sacrifice who he truly was in order to serve our nation.

Sandy Brooks, the senior director for Information Dominance at Joint Interagency Task Force South, also spoke of how she was forced to hide who she was during her Navy career, which she retired from as a captain. Brooks emphasized that to be true leaders, service men and women today must be leaders and teach others how to respect diversity.

“The only way you can change an attitude is to educate,” Brooks said.

Ebenhoch and Brooks’ stories, a rainbow flag presentation by the event organizers the NAS Key West Multicultural Heritage Committee, and a surprise appearance by same sex marriage advocates Aaron Huntsman and William “Lee” Jones rounded out the Pride ceremony.

Huntsman and Jones are the Key West couple who sued to overturn Florida’s ban on same sex marriage April 1, 2014, when the Monroe County Clerk’s office wouldn’t issue them a marriage license. They were the first couple to get a ruling that found the state’s ban unconstitutional and after unsuccessful appeals of that and other rulings by the state’s attorney general, Huntsman and Jones were married Jan. 6 on the Key West courthouse steps.

NAS Key West’s Pride Month celebration was part of the DOD’s LGBT Pride Month, which followed President Barack Obama’s declaration of June 2015 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month.

“All people deserve to live with dignity and respect, free from fear and violence, and protected against discrimination, regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation,” said Obama. “During Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month, we celebrate the proud legacy LGBT individuals have woven into the fabric of our Nation, we honor those who have fought to perfect our Union, and we continue our work to build a society where every child grows up knowing that their country supports them, is proud of them, and has a place for them exactly as they are.”