The Netherlands celebrat 20 years of gay marriage

This was the world's first legal same-sex weddgDate: April 1, 2001Dutch uple Gert Kasteel and Dolf Pasker ma historywhen they married on April 1st, 2001Lotn: Amsterdam, Netherlands(SOUNDBITE) (English) ONE OF WORLD'S FIRST LEGALLY-RECOGNISED MARRIED GAY COUPLES, GERT KASTEEL AND DOLF PASKER, SAYING:KASTEEL: "All the square was filled wh..."PASKER: "Cameras and journalists."JOURNALIST: "How did you feel?"KASTEEL: "Happy, very happy."PASKER: "A b nervo."KASTEEL: "No!"PASKER: "A ltle b."KASTEEL: "Maybe."Lotn: Wep, NetherlandsThe Netherlands was the first untry the world to legalize same-sex marriage 2001It's now legal nearly 30 natns(SOUNDBITE) (English) ONE HALF OF ONE OF WORLD'S FIRST LEGALLY-RECOGNISED MARRIED GAY COUPLES, DOLF PASKER, SAYING:"It's nicer to say to other people: "He's my hband, he's my man." And 's natural to say so, otherwise I have to say, "He's my partner' or "He's my iend." And has also helped me to accept myself."Lotn: Amsterdam, Netherlands(SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER EDITOR OF DUTCH GAY MAGAZINE 'GAY KRANT', NOW LAWMAKER, HENK KROL, SAYING:"Well helped a lot bee I was workg parliament, so I knew all the key figur. // And then, at that moment, everybody the Netherlands said to me 'The Netherlands will be the first and the last untry, the rt of the world won't follow you'. And you see what is happeng right now, almost 30 untri the whole world followed the Dutch example. And I uld tell about Taiwan, Canada, South Ai, Ameri, Spa and 's so good to see that almost every civilized untry followed the Dutch way."

20 YEARS OF GAY MARRIAGE THE NETHERLANDS: 20 THOAND UPL

One of the biggt chang the veloped world over the past 20 years has been the expansn of gay rights and the acceptance of the LGBT muny. In the U.S., a poll nducted 2004 found that Amerins opposed gay marriage by a marg of 60% to 31%. By 2019, those numbers had flipped wh 6... * gay marriage amsterdam foreigners *

At the start of this year, the Netherlands had 20 thoand gay upl. Until the troductn of gay marriage 2001, same-sex upl uld only formalise their relatnship through a registered partnership.

Even after gay marriage was troduced, relatively many same-sex upl have been optg for a registered partnership stead of a marriage. Sce 2015, the share of gay upl optg for a partnership has creased. The divorce rate among heterosexual upl is parable to that of gay male upl: 16 percent were divorced after ten years.

GAY MARRIAGE THE NETHERLANDS

There are 27 untri where gay marriage is legal. * gay marriage amsterdam foreigners *

Majory of married gay upl Amsterdam. AMSTERDAM (Rters) - Twenty years ago, Dutch uple Gert Kasteel and Dolf Pasker ma history when they tied the knot the world’s first legally-regnised same-sex weddg the were among four gay upl - three male and one female - to be married shortly after midnight by the mayor of Amsterdam on April 1, Thursday, they celebrated their 20th anniversari small groups or at home due to COVID-19 social distancg l that prevented large gathergs. ”All four gay marriag have passed the tt of time.

The Netherlands was the first untry to legalize same-sex marriage, but homosexual upl still face obstacl when they wish to have children.

Eleven years after the Netherlands beme the first untry to legalize same-sex marriage, homosexual upl still marry far ls often than heterosexual upl, partly bee they still face obstacl when they wish to have children. Jt 20% of Dutch homosexual upl are married, pared wh 80% of heterosexual upl, h figur by Statistics Netherlands show. Sce April 2001, when the Netherlands beme the first untry to legalize same-sex marriage, some 15, 000 gay and lbian upl have tied the knot.

GAY MARRIAGE AROUND THE WORLD

* gay marriage amsterdam foreigners *

“The figur show that over the past 10 years gay and lbian upl have been behavg the same way as straight upl”, mographer Jan Latten of Statistics Netherlands says. But, jt as wh straight upl, the sire to have children and the rultg legal rponsibili often weigh even more for gay and lbian upl. This uld expla why gay upl marry ls often than straight on.

GAY MARRIAGE GO DUTCH

Gay upl, pecially gay men, still face nsirable difficulti when they want to adopt children. The siari between gay and lbian upl do not end there. And both gay and straight upl prefer to tie the knot the sprg or the summer.

The world’s first gay weddg took place at midnight on 1 April 2001, when Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen married four same-sex upl.

PRAGMATISM FOR DUTCH ON GAY MARRIAGE

But the small hours of April 1, 2001, somethg unprecented happened after the stroke of midnight at Cy Hall, the mayor of Amsterdam married four upl, each of whom happened to be gay, as the Netherlands – havg passed the law the year before – beme the first untry the world to nduct same-sex marriag.

COUNTRI WHERE GAY MARRIAGE IS LEGAL

Last year, Poland's Print Andrzej Duda was re-elected after mpaigng agast gay rights, which he lled "stctive. Amsterdam has a unique pull for people wantg to get married, too, as the cy is so tolerant of homosexualy – same-sex marriag are performed Amsterdam on a regular basis.

The iAmsterdam se also has a page lled simply “Marriage, ” wh lks to further rmatn about thgs like gay rights Amsterdam, the office of Foreign Affairs, and the cy’s District Council offic. By last year, that figured had reached Ai, where relig and cultural tradns often own on homosexualy, no untry appears on track to soon jo South Ai legalizg same-sex suatn is more fluid Asia.

The lg has no immediate legal effect, but activists say uld fluence other urt s and boost their qut for parliamentary bate on allowg same-sex stck down a lonial-era law 2018 that ma gay sex punishable by up to 10 years prison, and there are some openly gay celebri. But same-sex marriage remas illegal; the ernment says gay and lbian upl don’t warrant the stat of “fay un.

Supreme Court volvg a nservative Christian baker who refed to make a weddg ke for a gay uple.

“Nearly 30 untri followed the Netherlands, ” he said, “so that’s really very nice — very good for the gay people and for society as a whole, I thk, bee ’s important that everyone society feels at home. ”Henk Krol, a former edor of the Netherlands’ largt gay newspaper, this week lled same-sex marriage the untry’s “most betiful tangible export. “But we know om newspaper, televisn and people we speak [to] that there still are homophobic people and there is some aggrsn to gay people.