[Image: GETTY]
We've seen a lot of military (and, in particular, Naval) milestones involving women this month, and today's news that a lesbian couple have publicly shared a traditional homecoming kiss at a dockside ceremony is further proof that the armed forces, like many institutions, are taking a more progressive stance on same-sex relationships.
The couple, both on-board 'controlmen' appeared happy and relaxed as they adopted the pose traditionally taken by servicemen and their wives as they arrive safely from a voyage. The public display - which would only recently have caused scandal - was no act of rebellion: the couple were chosen to make the traditional "first kiss" on shore, a symbolic gesture at the heart of US Navy lore.
These big institutions are in many ways the last bastions of old-fashioned suspicion and disapproval around gay and lesbian relationships, but it really hasn't been long since more basic barriers of acceptance were broken. Here are just a few of them...
First lesbian sex scene: Buffy 2003.
First openly lesbian MP in the UK: Maureen Colquhoun, 1974-1979
First out lesbian Prime Minister: Iceland's Johanna Sigurðardottir, 2009 to present
First nation to allow gay and lesbian marriage: The Netherlands in 2001
First openly lesbian woman to win election to Congress: Tammy Baldwin, 1998
First Lesbian Bishop to be consecrated by the US Anglican Church: The Rev Mary Glasspool, 2010