AMSTERDAM — The mayor of Amsterdam presided over the weddings of five American-Dutch gay, lesbian and transgender couples on a boat during the city’s Gay Pride festival Saturday, challenging the United States to legalize same-sex marriage.
Mayor Job Cohen also performed the first weddings in the Netherlands after the country began allowing same-sex marriages in 2001.
“We’ve come really far, farther than we ever thought was possible in just a few years,” Cohen said in an interview between ceremonies. “There’s still a lot to do, that’s the message.”
Each marriage Saturday included one partner from New York and one from the Netherlands.
The marriages also were part of celebrations of the 400th anniversary of New York-Netherlands ties. The Associated Press
