A gay couple recreated their Pride photo 24 years later and it's serious couple goals

The INSIDER Summary:

• Nick Cardello and Kurt English have been together for 25 years.
• They recreated a photo of themselves marching for LGBTQ+ rights in 1993.
• The photos went viral.

Nick Cardello and Kurt English met at church 25 years ago and have been together ever since. They were legally married in 2008 in Boston, and then again in their home state of Florida when same-sex marriage became legal in 2015.

In 1993, they marched for LGBTQ+ rights on the National Mall in Washington, DC, and snapped an affectionate picture together. When they returned this year to participate in the Equality March for Unity and Pride, a friend suggested they recreate the photo 24 years later.

Cardello shared the two pictures on Facebook.

Then friends began to see them appearing on other platforms. A tweet by @tagyourheathen with the sarcastic caption "it's just a phase" went viral on Twitter.

The couple told the New York Daily News that they've been moved to tears by the outpouring of love in the internet's response.

"People need to see same sex couples just being couples — those images are missing from the media," Cardello said. "We need to get more images like this out there so the youth today can have positive role models. Suicide is a real threat to our LGBTQ youth. If one kid can find hope, that's all that matters."

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