In June 2020, when Andrew Roderick Gilmour left his Amsterdam neighborhood for the first time in weeks, he spotted a familiar face. He was self-isolating in his apartment and was on his way to take part in a Black Lives Matter protest. In Dam Square, through a crowd of thousands, he said, “I saw this really handsome and tall guy wearing a face mask.” He was suspected of being Nicholas James Lady.
About a month ago, the two had matched on Tinder. While they flirted and exchanged Instagram handles, they haven’t met in real life due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
When Mr. Gilmore, 35, came home from the protest, he saw that Mr. Liddy, 42, had posted video from the protest to Instagram — and even spotted his face in the clip. The two reconnect, and a few days later, they meet in a park for their first date, where Mr. Lady brings his miniature schnauzer.
At that time, Mr. Liddy worked as a trial attorney for the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, where he investigated and prosecuted war crimes. Mr. Gilmore was finishing his PhD in trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder in marginalized populations. “Although it was dark, it was a good conversation starter,” Gilmour said of their similar work backgrounds.
And of course, there was the physical attraction, too. “I remember Nick’s biceps bulging out of his shirt as he held that little dog,” Gilmore said with a laugh.
Mr. Liddy, who grew up in Falls Church, Virginia, is now the chief litigator for Global Legal Action, a nonprofit human rights organization. He holds a BA in Urban Studies and Public Policy from New York University, and an MA in International Law and Politics and a Law degree from American University in Washington School of Law.
Mr. Gilmore, who grew up in Phillipsburg, St. Martin, recently left his role as a user experience researcher for Booking.com. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences from Utrecht University. He also holds a master’s degree in infectious diseases and international public health, and a Ph.D. in Global Mental Health, both from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
After a few weeks of dating, the duo vacation in Corsica, and Mr. Lady asks Mr. Gilmore if he wants kids while driving through the mountains. “A lot of gay men don’t want that, which is totally fair and within their rights, but he was an enthusiastic ‘yes’ about it,” said Mr. Liddy. “It was fine, that is.”
Not all of their travels have gone smoothly. In the summer of 2021, the two visit Mr. Liddy’s parents at their summer home in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, but when the couple tested positive for Covid, the meeting had to take place from a distance with masks on.
When Mr. Lady’s symptoms subsided, Mr. Gilmore, who had asthma, began to have shortness of breath and began to panic. “Nick knew how to keep me calm and help me focus on my breath,” said Mr. Gilmore. “Although it was a great vacation, it brought us so much closer.”
In January 2023, the couple traveled to Diani Beach in Kenya to attend a friend’s wedding. Mr. Liddy knew he wanted to apply during a private trip then planned on Shali Island off the coast.
During a star-studded stroll on the beach, Mr. Lady got down on one knee and proposed two brass rings he had snuck away to buy earlier that day. Mr. Gilmore was shocked. “I get down on my knees,” said Mr. Gilmore, “are you sure?” Mr. Lady was sure and the two were engaged.
Several months later, they pack up their lives in Amsterdam and move to Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, to be closer to family and start building a new one.
Mr. Lady and Mr. Gilmore were legally married on July 6 at the Brooklyn Marriage Bureau by Huiling Zheng, an employee of the City Clerk’s Office.
When they stopped to take pictures on the Brooklyn Bridge, a passionate stranger began to take their pictures, instructing the couple to jump up and down and kiss. They bought the photos from him, then moved on to a long lunch of oysters and champagne with friends at the Frenchette, a Tribeca bistro.
On July 15, the couple threw another party with Caribbean and American influences at Mr. Lady’s family home in Wellfleet. Mr. Gilmore’s mother, originally from Curaçao, prepared goody bags full of rum cake and Guavaberry liqueur from St. Martin/St. Martin.
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The site was a total moment for the couple. “We’ve just had a lot of intense emotions here on Cape Cod over the last three years,” Gilmore said. “We had Covid here, and we had Thanksgiving and Christmas with his parents and his family. I’ve seen summer, I’ve seen the falls — it’s just such a special place.”
The next day, everyone gathers in Provincetown for brunch, where a queen named Delta Miles serenades the newlyweds with Donna Summer’s “Last Dance.”