Yes, couples in their 90s still argue occasionally.

This is how it went recently for Caroline Leto and Venera Magazzu as they sipped lemonade on their couch in Dania Beach: “We’re not going to have a party,” said Magazzu, 97, insisting they are too old for such things.

“Oh, yes we are,” responded Leto, 96, who noted the two can still polka. “This is a big one.”

Indeed. A party celebrating 70 years together is a big deal for any pair. But a celebration of this couple’s love takes on special meaning, considering they had to keep silent about it for decades.

“You just couldn’t tell everyone we were lovers,” said Leto. “You tell people we’re friends, and some thought we were sisters.”

Leto and Magazzu downplay their pioneering role in the gay and community. But many of their friends and relatives talk it up anyway, marveling at how their love was able to transcend a lifetime’s worth of obstacles.

To mark their Aug. 17 milestone, members of Etz Chaim, a gay and congregation in Wilton Manors, are planning a party. They hope Leto and Magazzu will attend and show everyone how to do the polka.

“Honestly, I think they are more in love with each other than they were back then,” said longtime close friend and congregation member Gayle Scott. “Look at straight couples. You are lucky if you are married after seven years. … That is an amazing love story.”

In 1939 Leto and Magazzu met at a party in New York. Leto thought Magazzu was stylish. Magazzu thought Leto was funny.

After a courtship of about a year, Magazzu, a teacher, and Leto, a telegraph operator, moved into a tiny house in New York. They spent most of their lives there, with only close family members and closer friends knowing about their relationship.

Magazzu, a former Army medic, said she often fought the urge to tell others, and feared what “outsiders” would think. She believes society back then was more receptive to two women living together than two men — or at least less inquisitive.

“I think most people had their suions, but they didn’t really make a big deal about it because it was just two women,” she said. “They didn’t ask, and we just didn’t talk about it.”

Leto’s niece, Patricia Dillion, said she grew up believing the two were sisters and referred to them as aunts. One day, at a family party, an apparently tipsy Leto let Dillion in on a secret.

“She mentioned they got married,” said Dillion. “I was so happy, but then I got sad thinking that all that time they really couldn’t be upfront about it.”

In 1996, the couple registered as domestic partners in New York City. They said they did it because they felt the need to tell everyone about their life together.

Years later they moved to Florida, where they got more active in the gay and community, attending rallies and galas and recounting their story. They led the life of any Florida retiree couple, going on cruises, playing poker on Tuesday nights with friends. At one point, they adopted a pet monkey named Chi-Chi.

In 2006, as age slowed them down a bit, Magazzu put their story in a self-published book called “An Unadulterated Story: Young and Gay at 90.”

During a reporter’s recent visit, the two quibbled over where they had last seen a copy. Magazzu insisted it was in a bedroom. Leto said she saw it in the trunk of their car.

“OK, so if you know where everything is, then you look for it,” Magazzu huffed as she turned her head toward the kitchen.

Leto smiled. “Cute, isn’t she?”

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In this week’s issue of PARADE, Brad Pitt talks about his decision to become a father, why he won’t marry Angelina Jolie and the risks he’ll take for love. Check out the excerpts below, then visit Parade.com for the full interview.

Wanting what’s best for his children.
“Would it bother me if a child of mine turns out to be gay? No, not one bit. Listen, I want my kids to live the lives they want to live. I want them to be fulfilled. I hope I teach my kids to be who they really are.”
Why he won’t marry Angelina Jolie.
“I have love in my life, a soul mate–absolutely. When someone asked me why Angie and I don’t get married, I replied, ‘Maybe we’ll get married when it’s legal for everyone else.’ I stand by that, although I took a lot of flak for saying it–hate mail from religious groups. I believe everyone should have the same rights. They say gay marriage ruins families and hurts kids. Well, I’ve had the privilege of seeing my gay friends being parents and watching their kids grow up in a loving environment.”

 The right to love.
“Man, I resent people telling others how to live! It drives me mental! Just the other night, I heard this TV reverend say that Angie and I were setting a bad example because we were living out of wedlock, and people should not be duped by us! It made me laugh. What damn right does anyone have to tell someone else how to live if they’re not hurting anyone? How many times do you think real love comes to someone in a lifetime? If you’re lucky, maybe two or three.”

Knowing real love.
“Do you know how you tell real love? It’s when someone else’s interest trumps your own. I like to put it that way: trumps your own. Love of somebody else–of family, of your kids–becomes the most important, most worthwhile thing in your life. It’s what you foster and protect. You have to recognize real love when it’s there and know that in going after it there is always risk. To live with love, you have to chance losing it. That’s also true when you decide to have kids. It’s the risk you take for love.”
Lessons learned.
“As I’ve gotten older I’ve become aware that time is fleeting. I don’t want to waste whatever I have left. I want to spend it with the people I love, and I want to do things that really mean something.”

Admitting his fears.
“Angie’s mom died a couple of years ago of cancer. I haven’t had to face a lot of death. I’m untried in that way, and I don’t know how I will deal with it. My real fear at this point is the safety and health of Angie and the kids. The fear of losing them is what keeps me up at night.”

Owning up to his biggest role.
“I don’t know who or what is meant to be in my life, but this is certainly where I want to be. Here with them. I think this is the pinnacle. Even as I’m bound to this thing, in a way I’m freer than I’ve ever been.”

Becoming a family man.
“My life has been about big changes. It’s always been that way. When I go down a path, I take it to the end. Then I take another one. I took the path of not having kids–now it’s time for family. Children are a dominant value in my life now, and they weren’t before. They were always something I thought I’d get around to having when the time was right. It wasn’t what I was really seeking. In a way, I think I had to go and exhaust me before I could be good at being a parent. This family is full of life! There are laughs, aggravations, irritations, but at the end of the day, it’s fun. When life is really good, it’s messy.”
His early days in Hollywood.
“I liked to smoke a bit of grass at the time, and I became very sheltered. Then I got bored. I was turning into a damn doughnut, really. So I moved as far away from that as I could. I was done. In Missouri, where I come from, we don’t talk about what we do–we just do it. If we talk about it, it’s seen as bragging.”

Building his dream house.
“This was my first architectural experience where I tried doing something myself. It is something I wanted to do for decades. This is like play to me. It’s the only thing that can take me away from any problems I may have. After a few years of work, it came out so nice. Now I’ve got so many damn kids, it’s the only place we could all fit in. We’re double-bunking rooms as it is.”

About the secret stone grotto behind the waterfall in his pool…
“[It's] a great place for sex.”
Raising an international family.
“I travel a lot. I don’t feel restless, I just like to travel. I like to see it all. We’re trying to spend more time in the South of France, because our kids have a more normal life there. I don’t believe there is any way around our kids being international. So we have projects in each of their respective countries, and we put a big emphasis on their learning their native languages.”

His foreign fantasy.
“I wish there had been an emphasis on learning a foreign language where I grew up. It frustrates the hell out of me. I’ve studied French. I don’t speak it. I’m working on it. It’s real slow going. Oh, how I suffer! Those synapses never formed! They’re dry-docked for good!”

Nude dining takes place under the auspice of Ordover’s monthly meals, where, according to the New York Post  article, around 50 diners – whose motto is “no hot soup” – show up at specific ‘venues’ including the Mercantile Grill on Pearl Street and Pete’s Downtown in Brooklyn.

Non-sexual nudity in public dining and entertainment places is booming. According to the July 21, 2008 article titled, Clothing Optional Restaurants, Yoga Studios Where? NYC, “nude dining and yoga exercise are becoming the new rags within the clothing optional community.” There are plenty of photos of nude diners at that site. Also see the New York Post article of July 21, 2008 titled, The Naked City, by Adam Nichols.

Not only are there nude city restaurants, nude eateries inside yoga clubs, but there’s also a “midtown stand-up comedy joint,” according to the NY Post article titled, “The Naked City.” The article reports, “They’re served by regular restaurant staff – forced by city laws to keep their clothes on.”

According to another article, Nude dining in NYC – natural and healthy or kinky exhibitionism? published July 26, 2008, “There are 50 members of the Optional Diners club.”  This article also notes, “Their motto is ‘No Hot Soup.’” None of the restaurants they’ve approached to rent have turned them down, nor has wait staff batted an eye – which may be a telling commentary of their usual customers.

Then there’s the Naked Comedy Showcase, whose team of nude stand-up comics, male and female, perform a naked stand-up comedy show once a month at the People’s Improv Theater in Chelsea. For nude dining and comedy researchers, the NY Post article names the midtown Manhattan Yoga club where people show up to eat in the nude as well as work out the yoga exercises naked.

According to the Naked Comedy Showcase, site, it’s the creation of Andy Ofiesh, a stand-up comedian from Boston, Massachusetts. “For years Andy has organized hosted naked comedy shows featuring Boston area comics doing stand-up in the nude.”

Andy’s first naked comedy show in a public venue was at Improv Boston. He also played in the nude at the Edinburgh Fringe. “Encouraged by the success of the shows at Improv Boston and at The Fringe in Edinburgh, Andy organized an ongoing monthly naked comedy show at Improv Boston.”

Some people feel more natural without clothing. Psychologically, performing on stage in the nude in a comedy club or eating in the buff in front of clothed food servers are two ways of becoming more vulnerable to the lonely crowd when in public. Imagine how difficult it is to recruit stand-up comics to perform naked at a comedy club.

There’s a long history of people performing in the nude. But the new attraction is the audience arriving in the nude in a public setting to eat and to be entertained.

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