A normal, happy couple parts ways on the sidewalk in front of the Sandwich Bar on Second Street in Casper after an enjoyable and quiet lunch together.

"I love you, honey. Have a good day at work," says the brunette.

"Love you too," replies the blonde as he begins to walk away.

"Are you going to kiss me goodbye?" asks the brunette.

"Not a chance in hell," replies the blonde.

Josh Kronberg and his fiance are completely normal in every way. But kissing and holding hands in public can cause problems for the couple.

"When you walk down the street here, you get these looks from cowboys passing you by," Kronberg said. "They make comments. They don't understand."

Kronberg and his fiance are both men.

A report released in April by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law indicated there were 132 same-sex couples in Natrona County, the highest number in the state. Statewide, the number of gay couples increased from 807 in 2000 to 1,044 in 2005.

One of several gay couples in Casper, Kronberg and his fiance know what it's like to hide their sexual identities to avoid public conflict.

"It's like wherever you go, the first thing you assess is how gay can I be here," Kronberg said.

"He's very open in public, but he's tried to grab my hand in Wal-Mart or the mall and I freak out," said Kronberg's partner, who asked not to be identified.

His job requires orientation anonymity.

"I think it's an unfortunate necessity," Kronberg explained. "His mind is an engineering mind. It's what he does. And that's not a business that's conducive to being 'out' right now."

Kronberg said he likes Casper because it's a "stable, forward-moving kind of place."

But he thinks he and his partner will leave Casper within a few years to go to a larger, more urban area where homosexuality is more readily acceptable.

"Sometimes in Casper, you have these people who don't even know that gay people exist," Kronberg said. "What's really pronounced here isn't the hostility - it's the complete oblivion."

And while Kronberg isn't upset about his partner's anonymity, he said it's not something he strives for.

"I don't ever want to have to structure my life so I have to be anonymous," he said. "My tack has always been to talk about it normally. Talk about it like anyone else would. So I wouldn't want to say my 'roommate' and I went away for the weekend. I'd just say my husband and I went away."

The couple plans to wed via commitment ceremony soon, but it won't be in Casper.

"I can only imagine how awkward it would be in this town to walk into a place and say, 'Hi. My male fiance and I want to get married here.' How awkward it would be to go get tuxes together. A lot of people would refuse," he said.

"I don't need a piece of paper to say I'm married to somebody," Kronberg's partner said.

For now, the couple said, they're just glad to be together and look forward to their future as "an unconventional family, but a happy family." They hope to have children within the next few years.

"We're just like everybody else," Kronberg said. "And 'gay' things aren't the only things we do. We run an animal shelter. I golf five times a week. When I think of myself, I don't think of a gay person. I think of a successful person. I think of the things I do for the community. I think of how I have to mow my lawn. And I hope other people see me that way. But not everybody does."

Contact reporter Megan Lee at (307) 266-0589 or megan.lee@trib.com

Celebration in Casper

Casper's second annual Gay, Lesbian, Bi-Sexual and Transgender Pride Event will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today at Washington Park.

Free food and soft drinks will be served from noon to 2 p.m., and music and games will be provided throughout the event.