Skip to content
  • Happy Health
  • Happy Mindset
  • Animal Wonders
  • About Us
    • Team
  • Subscribe
Menu
  • Happy Health
  • Happy Mindset
  • Animal Wonders
  • About Us
    • Team
  • Subscribe
Happy News

25 Years Since The Night That Changed Marriage For The World

Just after midnight on April 1, three couples exchanged vows at Amsterdam’s City Hall and became part of a 25-year anniversary that belongs to the whole world. The Netherlands was the first country on earth to legalize same-sex marriage, and the ceremony that took place in 2001 has since been followed by nearly 40 other nations. Amsterdam’s mayor conducted the anniversary ceremony in the same building where her predecessor first joined four couples in matrimony a quarter century ago. One of those original couples came back for the celebration. Dolf Pasker, who married his husband Gert Kasteel on that first day in 2001, stood in the room where it happened and said it was unbelievable and so beautiful that there was so much attention for it. More than 36,000 same-sex couples have married in the Netherlands since that first midnight ceremony.

The country’s prime minister, Rob Jetten, attended the anniversary and spoke to reporters about watching the original ceremony on television when he was 14 years old, saying it had been personally inspiring and emancipating for him, as it had been for so many others. Jetten is the country’s first openly gay prime minister and is planning his own wedding. The former mayor who conducted that original ceremony in 2001, Job Cohen, also returned for the celebration and said that looking back, he believed it was the most important thing he did during his time as mayor, even if he did not fully grasp its significance at the time. The ripple of that single night in Amsterdam moved across four continents. It became the legal foundation that couples in nearly 40 countries now stand on, and the permission for millions of people around the world to call the person they love their spouse.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/gay-marriage-netherlands-25-anniversary-lgbtq-d96f6f88bd9e2365322a9056017ba8fa

PrevPreviousBlind Runner Completes Marathon With The Help Of Volunteers
NextWhat Moves Faster Than Light Is Not What You ThinkNext

Recent Articles

Happy News

The Grand Canyon Just Won A Major Legal Battle

April 6, 2026

Nearly one million acres of land surrounding one of the world’s most extraordinary natural wonders just received a powerful layer of permanent protection. A federal appeals court has upheld the designation of the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni National Monument, a vast stretch of land bordering the Grand Canyon whose name

Read More
Happy News

6 Million People Just Got Access To Free Dental Care

April 6, 2026

For millions of Canadians, going to the dentist has always been a financial calculation rather than a health decision. Canada historically did not include dental care in its public health system, meaning roughly one in three Canadians had no dental coverage at all, and many simply stopped going to the

Read More
Happy News

40 Species Including Cheetahs And Snowy Owls Just Got Global Protection

April 5, 2026

Representatives from 132 countries and the European Union gathered in Brazil for one of the world’s most important wildlife meetings and left with a significant win for some of the planet’s most beloved and vulnerable animals. The United Nations Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species concluded its COP15 summit

Read More
« Previous Next »
  • Privacy Notice
  • Accessibility Notice
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Unsubscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Privacy Notice
  • Accessibility Notice
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Unsubscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2026 HappyNews.