00:00Three same-sex couples tied the knot just after midnight at Amsterdam City Hall on Wednesday
00:05in honor of the 25th anniversary of the world's first gay marriages.
00:10The celebration honored the 2001 group wedding when four same-sex couples were married
00:16in a landmark ceremony for LGBTQ plus rights that paved the way for similar legislation
00:22in nearly 40 countries around the world.
00:25Some of the couples who exchanged vows on that momentous night were present at the anniversary
00:30wedding ceremony, as well as Prime Minister Rob Jette, who himself is openly gay and plans
00:36to marry his partner soon.
00:38As a Prime Minister, I'm very proud that we celebrate 25 years of universal marriage here
00:42in the Netherlands.
00:43And also for me personally, I can still remember when I was 14 years old watching TV, seeing
00:48the first couples getting married here in Amsterdam.
00:50That was also very inspiring and emancipating for me personally, as it has been for so
00:55many others.
00:56While such weddings are commonplace now in the Netherlands, Jette says there is still more
01:00work to be done.
01:01Yeah, I think the Netherlands needs to get back on track, especially protecting trans persons
01:07in the Netherlands or creating better legislation for surrogacy to make sure that we become a
01:13top ten country again in terms of queer rights.
01:16Since 2001, more than 36,000 same-sex couples have married, according to the country's official
01:23statistics office.
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