Same-sex marriage in the Netherlands

On 1 January 1998, registered partnerships (Dutch: geregistreerd partnerschap) were introduced in law in the Netherlands. These were meant for same-sex couples as an alternative to marriage, though they can also be entered into by opposite-sex couples, and in fact about one third of the registered partnerships between 1998 and 2001 were of opposite-sex couples. For the law, registered partnerships and marriage convey the same rights and duties, especially after some laws were changed to remedy inequalities with respect to inheritance and some other issues.

Marriage legislation

As early as the mid-eighties, a group of gay activists, headed by Henk Krol - then and now the editor-in-chief of the Gay Krant - asked the government to allow same sex couples to marry. Parliament decided in 1995 to create a special commission, which was to investigate the possibility of same-sex marriages. At that moment, the Christian Democrats (Christian Democratic Appeal) for the first time since the introduction of full democracy weren't part of the ruling coalition. The special commission finished its work in 1997 and concluded that civil marriage should be opened up. After the elections of 1998, the government promised to tackle the issue. In September 2000 the final legislation draft was debated in parliament.

The marriage bill obtained a majority of 109 against 33 votes in the Lower House of Parliament. The Upper House approved the bill on 19 December 2000. Only the Christian parties, which held 26 of the 75 seats at that time, voted against the bill. Though they are now the largest party in the present coalition (2006), the Christian Democratic Appeal has not shown the slightest inclination to repeal the law.

The main article in the Act changed article 1:30 in the existing marriage law (in the Civil Code) into:

Een huwelijk kan worden aangegaan door twee personen van verschillend of van gelijk geslacht.

(A marriage can be contracted by two people of different or the same sex)

At the stroke of midnight 1 April 2001, four same-sex couples were married by the Mayor of Amsterdam, Job Cohen. He specifically became a registrar to officiate the weddings. A few months before, Mayor Cohen was the junior minister of Justice in the Government and responsible for putting the new marriage and adoption laws through parliament.

Restrictions

Same-sex marriages are fully equivalent to opposite-sex marriages in the Netherlands with one restriction relating to adoption of children. If a woman in a same-sex marriage has a child, her wife will not count as the child's father or mother; unless and until she adopts the child, she will remain under law a stepmother; on adoption, she will be the (second) mother. A law is now being prepared to remove this discrepancy.

Residency

The rules about nationality and residence are the same as for any other marriage in the Netherlands: at least one partner must either have Dutch nationality or reside in the country. There is no guarantee that a same-sex marriage will be recognized in other countries. It's likely that they may only be accepted in countries that recognize civil unions for same-sex couples.

Netherlands Antilles and Aruba

It is not possible for same-sex couples to marry in the Netherlands Antilles (NA) or Aruba. Whether a Dutch same-sex marriage is recognized in the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba was unclear for a long time. The Aruban government initially refused, but a judge has ruled that it should. The Aruban government appealed, and in April 2007 the Dutch Supreme Court, which has also jurisdiction in the NA and Aruba, ruled that a Dutch same-sex marriage should also be recognized in the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba.

Opposition

There was strong opposition from fundamentalist religious groups to the introduction of same-sex marriage (see e.g. Khalil el-Moumni). After the parliament legalized same-sex marriage the Protestant Church of the Netherlands decided that individual churches have the right to decide whether or not to bless other relationships between two persons as a union of love and faith for the face of God; in practice many churches will conduct these ceremonies. ^[1]

Local governments are obliged to perform civil same-sex marriages, and they can require their personnel to marry same-sex couples; however, if their existing contract did not state this requirement, they cannot be fired over a refusal to do so.

Some local councils choose not to require registrars who object to same-sex marriage to perform ceremonies; though this is usually a decision made by Christian political parties, it can be said that it would not benefit a same-sex couple if the official performing the marriage was unhappy doing so, potentially ruining the occasion.

In 2007, controversy arose when the new government (Fourth Balkenende cabinet) announced in its government policy statement that individual officials who object to same-sex marriage on principle may refuse to marry such couples.^[2] Many liberal and socialist parties opposed this policy, as they claimed it is the job of a registrar to marry all couples regardless of gender.^[3] The opposition parties stated that if an official opposed this aspect of the job, he or she should not perform that job at all.^[4] The municipality of Amsterdam announced that they would not comply with this policy, and that registrars there would still be obliged to marry same-sex couples.^[5] In reaction to this, many other municipalities announced their refusal to this proposal, as well. The Balkenende government then claimed that deciding this issue wasn't in the political scope of municipalities, but solely that of the state.

Statistics

According to provisional figures from Statistics Netherlands, for the first six months, same-sex marriages made up 3.6% of the total number of marriages: a peak of around 6% in the first month followed by around 3% in the remaining months: about 2,100 men and 1,700 women in total. By June 2004, more than 6,000 same-sex couples had married.^[6] In March 2006, Statistics Netherlands released estimates on the number of same-sex marriages each year - 2,500 in 2001, 1,800 in 2002, 1,200 in 2004, and 1,100 in 2005.^[7]

References

^ National Service Centre PCN, The Uniting Protestant Churches in the Netherlands and homosexuality, November 2004.
^ Officials allowed to object against same-sex marriage
^ Left-wing opposes the right to refuse same-sex marriage (Dutch)
^ Arguments against government plans (Dutch)
^ Statement of the municipality of Amsterdam (Dutch)
^ http://globalgayz.com/eurounion-news.html
^ http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/03/032006dutchWed.htm

External links

Netherlands Ministry of Justice factsheet (in English)

	Same-sex marriage by country
Performed nationwide in	Netherlands (2001) Belgium (2003) Spain (2005) Canada (2005) South Africa (2006)
Performed statewide in	Massachusetts, USA (2004)
Foreign same-sex marriage recognized in	Israel (2006) - Aruba (2007) - Netherlands Antilles (2007)
Debate in other countries and regions	Argentina - France - Latvia - Lithuania - New Zealand - Australia- Norway- Portugal - Romania - Sweden - Taiwan - United Kingdom - United States: California, Florida, Iowa, Maryland, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington

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