Netherlands Becomes First Country to Allow Same-intercourse Marriage (2001)

[TFD]

In 1997, a Dutch parliamentary commission tasked with investigating the advisability of same-intercourse unions concluded that same-intercourse couples should be given the right to enter into civil marriages. Legislation was finalized in late 2000, and at the stroke of midnight on April 1, 2001, four same-intercourse couples were married by the mayor of Amsterdam, making the Netherlands the first nation to legally recognize same-intercourse marriages. How many same-intercourse couples took advantage of the new law in that first year? Discuss