Filmmaker, model and YouTube personality Max Emerson attended the U.S. Military Academy's Army prom with his boyfriend, Andrés Camilo, last week at West Point, the Huffington Post reported.
Camilo serves in the National Guard and shared snapshots with Emerson as they prepared for the prom.
The photos quickly went viral after being featured on Yahoo Style, Elite Daily, The Washington Blade and other media outlets. Emerson's most popular image from the night had received over 36,000 likes on Instagram as of Friday afternoon.
Emerson said the attention the photographs have garnered has been significant for Camilo, who revealed his sexuality last year in a YouTube video.
“Andrés was pretty concerned about coming out last year, and to see how many people are being inspired by his story is really encouraging,” Emerson told The Huffington Post.
While there has been some backlash to the photos on social media, Emerson and Camilo said it reminds them how “incredibly important visibility is.”
“I think the haters already know they’re on the losing side of history,” Emerson told the Huffington Post. That’s why they’re getting more and more desperate.”
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