Same-sex marriage in the Netherlands
Polling suggests that a significant majority of Dutch people support the legal recognition of same-sex marriage.
[3] Same-sex marriage has been legal in Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, special municipalities of the Netherlands, since 10 October 2012, and in the constituent countries of Aruba and Curaçao since 12 July 2024.
The final constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Sint Maarten, does not perform or fully recognize same-sex marriages.
The couple can record a contract (samenlevingscontract) with a notary to receive some limited financial benefits, including for tax and pension purposes.
[12] The States General of the Netherlands decided in 1995 to create a special commission to investigate the possibility of recognizing same-sex marriages.
The special commission finished its work in 1997 and concluded that civil marriage should be extended to include same-sex couples.
A few months earlier, Mayor Cohen had been junior Minister of Justice of the Netherlands and was responsible for putting the new marriage and adoption laws through Parliament.
In Dutch, same-sex marriage is known as huwelijk tussen personen van gelijk geslacht or commonly homohuwelijk (pronounced [ˈɦoːmoːˌɦyʋələk]).
[26][27] On 6 April 2016, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bert Koenders and Minister of Security and Justice Ard van der Steur confirmed the Dutch position that, like other couples, same-sex couples who are not Dutch residents or nationals cannot marry in the country.
The move came after the Liberal Democratic Party had asked the ministers to look into allowing non-resident foreigners to take advantage of the Netherlands' same-sex marriage law.
However, subsequent rulings have established that same-sex marriages are not automatically entitled to the same privileges (e.g. social security) extended to married couples of the opposite sex.
[33] Aruba has also recognised registered partnerships offering several of the rights and benefits of marriage for same-sex and opposite-sex couples since September 2021.
[35][36] In 2007, controversy arose when the new Fourth Balkenende Cabinet announced in its policy statement that officials who object to same-sex marriage on principle may refuse to marry such couples.
Previously, the government had held that if an heir wanted to marry a partner of the same sex, they would have to forfeit their right to the throne.
[42][43] A 2021 study by economists Shuai Chen and Jan van Ours showed that from 2001 onwards levels of anxiety and depression fell drastically among individuals in same-sex relationships and largely converged to those of heterosexuals.
Chen and van Ours found that the legalisation of same-sex marriage, as well as supportive societal attitudes, significantly improved the mental health of LGBT people.
More importantly, the legal recognition of same-sex marriage improved mental health for both male and female sexual minorities irrespective of their own marital status.
In 1983, the union of two Protestant women, Harmanna Kalsbeek and Ria Bultena, was blessed at St. Joseph Cathedral in Groningen.
[58] According to an Ifop poll conducted in May 2013, 85% of the Dutch population supported allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt children.
[60] A Pew Research Center poll, conducted between April and August 2017 and published in May 2018, showed that 86% of Dutch people supported same-sex marriage, 10% were opposed and 4% did not know or had refused to answer.
[64] A Pew Research Center poll conducted between February and May 2023 showed that 89% of Dutch people supported same-sex marriage, 10% were opposed and 1% did not know or had refused to answer.
The survey also showed that 94% of Dutch people thought that "there is nothing wrong in a sexual relationship between two persons of the same sex", while 6% disagreed.
