Amsterdam celebrates 25 years since the world’s first same-sex weddings

The Dutch capital marked the 25th anniversary of the world’s first gay marriages with three same-sex couples tying the knot at City Hall early Wednesday.

The celebration, conducted by Mayor Femke Halsema just after midnight, came a quarter of a century after one of her predecessors, Job Cohen, married four couples in a landmark ceremony for LGBTQ+ rights that paved the way for similar legislation in nearly 40 countries around the world.

Same-sex weddings are commonplace now in the Netherlands.

Since 2001, more than 36,000 same-sex couples have married, according to the country’s official statistics office.

Prime Minister Rob Jetten, the country’s first openly gay leader, is planning to soon marry his partner Nicolás Keenan, an Argentine field hockey star who won a bronze medal with his country’s team at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“As a prime minister, I’m very proud that we celebrate 25 years of universal marriage here in the Netherlands,’’ Jetten