The Dutch legalized same-sex marriage in 2001. Who followed?
Updated 8:08 AM;
AMSTERDAM (AP) Twenty years ago, just after the stroke of midnight on April 1, the mayor of Amsterdam married four couples in City Hall as the Netherlands became the first country in the world with legalized same-sex marriages.
“There are two reasons to rejoice,″ Mayor Job Cohen told the newlyweds before pink champagne and pink cake were served. ″You are celebrating your marriage, and you are also celebrating your right to be married.″
Same-sex marriage is now legal in 28 countries worldwide, as well as the self-governing island of Taiwan. That includes most of Western Europe. Yet its spread has been uneven Taiwan is the only place in Asia to take the step; South Africa is the only African country to do so.