I Amsterdam sign in rainbow colors for 15-year LGBT marriage anniversary

Friday is the 15th anniversary of the first legal same-sex marriage in Amsterdam and the capital is celebrating by painting the I Amsterdam sign in rainbow colors.  On April 1st, 2001 then mayor Job Cohen married three gay couples and a lesbian couple. The first legal same-sex marriages not only in the Netherlands, but in the world. Other countries followed the Netherlands' example and same-sex marriage is now also legal in, among others, Belgium, Spain, Ireland, South Africa, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Iceland, Argentina and some states in the United States. Amsterdam is celebrating the 15th anniversary of marriage equality by painting the I Amsterdam sign in rainbow colors. The sign will be unveiled by Diversity alderman Simone Kukenheim on Friday. "The I Amsterdam logo in rainbow colors symbolizes the importance that this college attaches to strengthening the positions of LGBTI's.", Kukenheim said in a press release. "I want that you can be who you are in Amsterdam. Amsterdam was and is a pioneer in equal rights for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgenders and inter-sexuals." The unveiling will happen outside Amsterdam's city hall Stopera at 9:30 a.m. Attendees include COC director Coen van Dijk and former parliamentarian Coos Huijsen, the first openly gay parliamentarian in the world.