When Dr. Scout got down on one knee at the White House LGBT Pride Reception this month, he anticipated the proposal would be seen as a grand gesture by his partner Liz Margolies. What he did not anticipate was that the move would put him under a public microscope.
Scout, who identifies as trans gender (he prefers the two words, rather than transgender) and whose name is legally one word, has been making national headlines for the June 15 proposal, which was broadcast over YouTube and has been watched by thousands.
"It would become historic in ways we didn't even understand," he said. "Intimately so many people were watching."
In the video, Scout is seen getting down on one knee while people around him mingle, unaware of that proposal taking place. A live band blares in the background making it difficult to hear Scout propose. Margolies, apparently dumbstruck, takes a few moments before finally saying "yes."
Scout said that moment felt like an eternity, but he knew Margolies was taking the proposal seriously.
Scout is used to being in the public eye for his activism, which dates back to his Chicago years. He grew up in Schaumburg, a suburb of the city, before moving to the city's West Side. He has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and Larry King Live for his AIDS and LGBT-related activism and work.
In the early 1990s, Scout was also arrested alongside Tracy Baim (co-founder and now publisher of Windy City Times) when he and others were protesting Easter Sunday at an anti-women's choice church on the West Side. Baim was reporting on the events.
Scout currently lives in Rhode Island and serves as the director of the Network of LGBT Health Equity as the Fenway Institute in Boston. Margolies lives in New York City and works as the executive director of the LGBT Cancer Network.
Scout said he proposed at the White House because he wanted the proposal to be a big gesture.
"Liz is, in many ways, really larger than life," he said. "With someone as fierce as that, you've really got to rise to the occasion."
Scout wanted the proposal to have political significance but never imagined it would be viewed by tens of thousands over the course of a few days.
Their story has now been in LGBT media throughout the country and on the Melissa Harris-Perry Show on MSNBC.
And while he received an outpouring of support, he has also had his share of hate messages, he said.
"There was hate, and the hate was very loud, and that scares us because it can be seen by the youth," said Scout.
On top of that, both Scout and Margolies have mixed feelings about marriage. Both have critiques of the institution of marriage, and both say they want civil rights, not marriage rights. In the end, said Scout, the two decided to they could reconcile the institution with their beliefs.
"We can make our own type of marriage," said Scout.
Scout and Margolies can legally marry because Scout's identification says "male." But they have no plans to get married any time soon. For now, Scout said, the two are just enjoying the present.