Despite his mom's wishes, he proposed to his boyfriend. With a sign. On Splash Mountain.
A few months ago, with the help of his niece and nephews, Eugene Williams began working on a sign asking his boyfriend to marry him.
On May 23, he unveiled it in the most glorious way possible:
"Chris, will you marry me?" Photo by Disneyland/Eugene Williams. All photos used with permission.
"I quickly hid the sign away after the drop and when we exited the ride we walked to see our photo and he was shocked," Williams wrote on Reddit. "I got down on one knee and asked him to spend the rest of his life with me."
"He said, 'Yes,'" Williams confirmed.
Williams and Chris, who met just over a year ago, are huge Disneyland fans.
The pair, who are both from Southern California, have been going to the park once a month together ever since.
Photo by Eugene Williams.
Early in their relationship, Williams says, he learned that Splash Mountain was Chris' favorite ride, which gave him the idea for the sign and proposal.
"I remember hearing a girl saying 'OMG that’s so cute!' And then a few people clapped when I got down and proposed and he said yes," Williams says in an email interview.
But not everyone was thrilled by the surprise proposal.
Williams explained on Reddit that his mom, who hails from a traditional religious background, asked him not to post the photo on Facebook because she's "ashamed" of him and was worried her relatives would "gossip."
"I didn’t even receive a congratulations from my parents, so it was very heartbreaking for me," he says.
Instead, in a moment of anger, Williams posted the photo to Reddit, where it was up-voted thousands of times and received dozens of melt-your-heart compliments.
Williams, his niece, and nephews work on the sign. Photo by Eugene Williams.
"Holy ravioli this is amazing. Congrats to you two!" user jofnj wrote.
"Straight bro here ... y'all are a-god-damn-dorable. Congratulations and wishing you a lifetime of health and happiness together," raved redditor eminently_weird.
One commenter — a dad — even said the photo helped him understand his own son.
"As a middle aged straight guy who subscribes to this sub because my son is not quite sure of his sexuality and I want to keep an open mind, I am often blown away by the overwhelming warmth of love I see on this sub," user EINSTIEN420 explained. "I am legitimately sorry your mom can't feel the happiness that you have here. Shedding a No Homo manly tear for you right now and [congrats] to you and your partner."
Other commenters advised him to ignore his mom's request and celebrate: "Post it on Facebook. It's your happiness before others," user keveeeezy suggested.
The couple spent the rest of the day at the park, smiling, FaceTiming with Chris' family, and cuddling on the Haunted Mansion ride.
Photo by Eugene Williams.
"It was the most romantic time despite the ride being a haunted mansion!" he says.
Williams says he's excited that people are thrilled by the photo — but he's even more excited "about being with Chris and starting a family together."
"I'm just happy that we’re getting such a positive response from people," Williams says. "It makes me so happy to be able to share these positive messages with Chris."
"I did this all for him to have a lasting memory of our love."