Gay Iraqi couple Nayyef Hrebid and Btoo Allami appeared Friday on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where host Ellen DeGeneres praised the men as “everyday heroes.”

Nayyef and Btoo are the subject of the LogoTV documentary Out of Iraq: a love story, which takes a look at the risks the men took to be together.

The couple met in 2003. Nayyef was working as an Iraqi translator for the United States military, while Btoo was a soldier in the Iraqi army.

The men told DeGeneres that it was love at first sight, but being together in Iraq was dangerous.

“If they find out about you, you either get tortured or get killed,” Hrebid said.

For four years after Nayyef was granted asylum in the U.S., the couple Skyped daily until they were reunited.

Now married and living in Seattle, the couple is helping LGBT refugees resettle in the United States.

DeGeneres surprised the couple with a $25,000 check to help them reach their dream of owning their first home.