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Netherlands: Country's First Gay/Lesbian Wedding Fair a Success

Sunday, February 14th, 2010

Esther Lamers and Wendy Kanters saunter single-mindedly through the stands vaunting matching wedding gowns, pink limousines and gay-friendly honeymoon cruises at the Netherlands’ first-ever gay and lesbian wedding fair.

“We went to a normal wedding fair once but it was …. well, very hetero,” Lamers, 47, told AFP at the fair held in Amsterdam on Sunday. “Every time we showed some interest in a pair of rings, for example, we first had to explain that we were gay. Here, we feel more at home.”

The couple plans to wed on June 26 and came to Amsterdam to find rings, a woman’s tuxedo and other paraphernalia for the big day.

Full Story from Inquirer.net
Click here for gay marriage resources.
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Posted in Gay Marriage, marriage equality, netherlands, same sex marriage, wedding fair | No Responses »

Caribbean: Bonaire, St. Eustatius & Saba Islands to Recognize Gay Marriage

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

Married and registered gay couples will obtain legal protection against discrimination by government agencies in the BES islands Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba after the islands have obtained their new status as public entities in the Dutch Kingdom.

Articles will be included in the Civil Code for the BES islands stipulating that marriages or registered partnerships contracted in Holland will have the legal rights afforded them by Dutch Civil Law, State Secretary for Internal Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ank Bijleveld-Schouten said in a letter to the Dutch Parliament’s Second Chamber in answer to Labour PvdA party questions.

“Following Article 40 of the Statute, it is determined in Article 5 of the draft BES Public Entities Implementation Law that authenticated copies of contracts can be implemented anywhere in the Kingdom of Netherlands,” she stated. “This means that a marriage between persons of the same gender and a registered partnership should also be registered at the civil registries or census offices of the BES islands.”

Full Story from The Daily Herald: http://www.thedailyherald.com/news/daily/m189/gaym189.html

Click here for gay marriage resources.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

Posted in BES Islands, bonaire, civil partnerships, civil unions, Gay Marriage, netherlands, netherlands antilles, saba, st. eustatius | No Responses »

Netherlands: Dutch Parliament Encourages Gay Marriage Legalization in Caribbean

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

The Dutch Parliament’s Second Chamber approved a motion Tuesday requesting the Dutch Government to “encourage” the legalisation of same-sex marriage in countries Curaçao, St. Maarten and Aruba. Parliament also asked the government to indicate when Dutch marriage legislation, which also allows persons of the same sex to tie the knot, would become applicable to the BES islands Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba. Parliament wants this legislation to go into effect “as soon as possible.”

Applying Dutch legislation would be part of the legislation trajectory to facilitate the integration of the BES islands into the Netherlands as “public entities.” Dutch law defines marriage as a bond between two persons, regardless of their gender, whereas Antillean law defines marriage as a bond between a man and a woman.

Equal rights and prevention of discrimination were the main considerations behind the motion submitted by Members of Parliament (MPs) Ineke van Gent of the green left party GroenLinks, John Leerdam of the Labour Party PvdA and Johan Remkes of the liberal democratic VVD party.

Full Story from Daily Herald: http://www.thedailyherald.com/news/daily/m180/gaym180.html

Click here for gay marriage resources.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

Posted in aruba, bonaire, curacao, Gay Marriage, marriage equality, netherlands, netherlands antilles, parliament, saba, sint maarten, st. eustatius | No Responses »

Dutch Father Writes Children's Book About Gay Family

Sunday, November 29th, 2009

A father, a second father, and two children. Not exactly the standard family setting for a children’s book. But it’s all part of everyday life for Arwen and Wolf, the adopted children of a gay couple in the Dutch town of Dordrecht. One of their fathers decided to write a children’s book based on his own family situation: for his own children but also for the rest of the world. “It’s a feel-good book about a happy family.”

Dad is hopeless when it comes to putting beads in her braided hair, sighs four-year-old Arwen. But her adoptive father Jarko de Witte van Leeuwen knows plenty of mums who leave that job to the hairdresser as well.

The De Witte van Leeuwen household describe themselves as a happy family but certainly not an average one. Once same-sex marriage became legal in the Netherlands in 2001, Jarko (now 39) married his partner Jos. Soon afterwards, he applied to adopt a child. In 2005 they welcomed their adopted daughter Arwen into their home and last year she was joined by their adopted son Wolf: two Afro-American kids with two white Dutch dads.

Full Story from Radio Netherlands Worldwide: http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/two-fathers-two-children-one-book

Click here for gay marriage resources.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

Posted in arwen and wolf, children's book, dutch, gay family, gay father, netherlands | No Responses »