With Friday marking the 10-year anniversary of the Netherlands becoming the world’s first country to offer gay marriage, it also means a select group of gay couples will be celebrating their tenth wedding anniversaries. But for Helene Faasen and Anne-Marie Thus, they’re celebrating something just a little more: the 10th anniversary of becoming the world’s first-ever legally married gay couple. Yep, Helene and Anne-Marie — who say they “married for love, not politics” — were the first gays ever to get hitched (and have it recognized by a federal government). It was, you might recall, a very public moment: reporters were all over their ceremony, which took place at the opening of a photo exhibit in Amsterdam. An early congrats, ladies.
This is the couple last week:
John McLaren
A gay Toronto couple was married in the 90’s by Rev. Brent Hawkes which was recognized by Ontario’s Supreme Court in 2003 which then retroactively predated the marriage before the Netherlands. But then why would Queerty want to do research worldwide? America always has to win or be the biggest or the first ever in the universe. Like People magazine’s most beautiful people in the world…the majority are Americans. Sorry..but the same-sex male couple married at Metropolitan Community Church in Toronto CANADA was the first in the world.
sam
@John McLaren: Dude, notice how the article stresses they’re from the NETHERLANDS. What has this got to do with Americans wanting everything to do with them?
Regardless, clearly the people involved in this wedding (And the people writing this blog) aren’t taking retroactive decisions into account. Calm down.
drums
Very sweet!
Congrats to them.
Geoff B
I thought Belgium was the first country. Maybe I’m mistaken. No matter, Happy Anniversary to the ladies and long happy lives to them both.
Jeffree
Congrats, ladies! The tulips on the table were a nice touch, too.
Eric
@sam:
Not to mention that the US federal government still doesn’t recognize same-sex marriages.
jimstoic
There have been married gay couples for thousands of years; they were just married to someone of the opposite sex.