Today at 07:02 • Updated today at 07:34
The first gay wedding in the world almost took place in Best. This is what former editor-in-chief of the GayKrant Henk Krol says in an interview with Omroep Brabant. This week marks 25 years since same-sex couples first tied the knot. “We have written world history here in Best, but unfortunately Amsterdam has run away with it.”
Henk Krol fought for gay marriage for more than 25 years. He did this on the Hoofdstraat in Best with the Gaykrant. “This is where the idea originated,” says Krol as he stands at the old office of the Gaykrant. “The idea here from Brabant has spread all over the world.”
The farmers from Best
“Many hours were spent here trying to figure out how to approach it. There was a lot of resistance,” says Krol. For example, he often heard that a marriage is something between a man and a woman, ‘period’. “But I wanted to continue until the end, continue until marriage was opened. People often thought ‘oh, those farmers there in Best’. But here we have achieved it.”
Henk Krol and lawyer Jan Wolter Wabeke discovered that the law nowhere stated that marriage between two men was prohibited, it was just not done.
“Can we find a municipality somewhere where two men or two women are allowed to marry? That was the question,” Krol reflects. He and lawyer Wabeke approached the municipality of Best. “We went to the then mayor Hans de Widt. ‘Would you dare?’ we asked him.”
Sad about gay marriage in Amsterdam
De Widt needed a week to think. “I think it should be possible. Let Best be the first municipality in the world where we perform a same-sex marriage,” was De Widt’s response, according to Krol.
But… the court in Den Bosch advised not to do it. Not because they were against gay marriage. “They advised us to go to Amsterdam. That would be better if we wanted same-sex marriage to be introduced nationally and if it would come to court.”
Facts about gay marriage
- Since 2001, 36,000 same-sex couples have married
- In the first year, 600 male couples and 500 female couples got married. They are celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary this year
- The age difference between the partners is on average 7 years greater in male couples than in female couples (5 years) and opposite-sex couples (4 years).
- Over the past five years, there have been an average of 900 marriages between two women and 750 marriages between two men each year
- Most married gay couples in Brabant live in Zundert: 27.4 couples per thousand married people are of the same sex. The fewest live in Boekel: 6.4 couples per thousand married people
Source: CBS
Despite the fact that the first gay wedding in the world took place in Amsterdam on April 1, 2001 and that Henk Krol still thinks that was the best day of his life, he is also a bit disappointed. “It would have been more fun if that first wedding had been in Best. But the idea comes from here, let’s be much more proud of that.”
He has been advocating for a monument in Best for years to give this piece of world history a place where it once originated. “Gay couples from all over the world are now going to Amsterdam, they could also have come to Best if there was something tangible here.”
World news
Krol smiles from ear to ear when he talks about gay marriage. “I think it’s so great that we made this happen. We were the first and 25 years later, same-sex marriage is in more than forty countries.”
On April 2, 2001, the day after the first gay wedding, the front pages of newspapers around the world were full of photos and reports from Amsterdam. “It was even in an Arabic newspaper,” says Krol when he shows the front page. That newspaper was not positive. ‘Wedding ceremony for two ‘dubious’ women’ and ‘the world’s disgust with them’ was read, among other things.
Krol received invitations from all over the world. “I have been to Canada, Taiwan, Mexico and Cuba and almost everywhere we achieved same-sex marriage. The idea here from Brabant has spread around the world.”
Resistance is back
“We have to be very careful,” says Krol about the acceptance of gays in 2026. “We were at the point where we thought we had achieved everything. But we now see that there is a lot of resistance again and that acceptance is somewhat on the decline.” According to Krol, we have to be vigilant about this. “But, it is still fantastic here in the Netherlands and we are still leading the way.”
The former editor-in-chief of the Gaykrant mainly sees that people from outside the Netherlands find it difficult to accept the gay community. “We shouldn’t scold that and we shouldn’t make a fuss about it. Twenty or thirty years ago, not all Dutch people were ready yet. It has worked here in the Netherlands, when people come here we have to teach them our norms and values.”
