Ten years ago the Netherlands introduced same-sex marriage, opening the way to married status for gay or lesbian couples.
Two lesbian couples and two gay ones made history in Amsterdam on 1 April 2001, when they jointly celebrated the first same-sex marriages in the world.
(read more below)
Ten years later though, Dutch gay rights organisation COC says gay people in the Netherlands still do not enjoy all the rights of heterosexual couples. The organisation is especially critical of a regulation which allows municipal officials to refuse to marry same-sex couples.
At the same time, the past ten years have seen an increase in intolerance towards gays and lesbians in the Netherlands.
Read more about gay marriage in the Netherlands and around the world here.
Frank Wittebrood’s husband Peter - seen in this video - died after it was filmed. The other couples shown are still married.
More: Legal marriage for gay or lesbian couples
14,813 in ten years - Between 1 April 2001 and 1 January 2011, there were a total of 14,813 same-sex marriages in the Netherlands. 7,522 between two women, 7,291 between two men.
Divorces, too - In this decade there were 1,078 same-sex divorces.
One fifth - 19.5 percent of marriages were gay; In the same period, there were a total of 761,010 marriages and 323,549 divorces.
Still the exception - just 20 percent of same-sex couples are married in the Netherlands, compared with 80 percent of mixed-sex couples.
Not just the Dutch - Same-sex marriage is legal in ten countries
It's a spring thing - Both straight and gay couples prefer to tie the knot in spring or summer
(eb/cl)
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Informal invitations, appropriate to less formal weddings, are issued by word of mouth or by hand written letter. So long as they convey the necessary practical information about the time and place, there is no set form for these invitations. Thanks a lot.
Regards,
wedding flowers
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