A few seconds after midnight on April 1 2001, the first gay weddings on earth took place in Amsterdam town hall. Four couples were simultaneously married by the city's mayor, Job Cohen. I grew up in the Netherlands, and re-watching the scenes, I found them that typically Dutch thing: sexual revolution, bourgeois style. The newly-weds exchanged the traditional kisses while ageing fathers in suits and ties beamed from the town hall's benches. When the couples signed the register, they looked just like the stolid burghers of 17th-century Dutch paintings, except gay.
2001年4月1日午夜，当秒针刚刚走过12点，地球上第一场同性婚礼在阿姆斯特丹的市政厅内举行。该市市长约布•科恩(Job Cohen)为四对新人主持了集体婚礼。我在荷兰长大，再次观看当年的婚礼场景时，我发现了一些典型的荷兰元素：性解放以及布尔乔亚风格。新婚伴侣们按照传统互相亲吻，而身着西装领带、年事已高的父亲们则满面笑容地坐在市政厅的长椅上。当新人们在婚姻登记表上签字时，他们看起来和17世纪荷兰画作中神情淡漠的市民非常相似，唯一的区别就在于他们是同性恋者。