(Amsterdam, Netherlands) - The Supreme Court of Netherlands ruled that a same-sex marriage performed in the Netherlands must be recognised on Aruba, a semi-autonomous Dutch dependency in the Antilles. Charlene and Esther Oduber-Lamers were legally wed in the Netherlands in 2001. They wanted to be entered as a married couple in the civil register in Aruba, but the municipal official for the civil register in Aruba had refused to grant their request.
The Dutch women went to court and won in the appeal case as well. Subsecuently, Aruba appealed the case once again to the Supreme Court to overturn the decision.
The Supreme Court found now that any legal document drawn up by a civil servant in the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles or Aruba is valid on the entire territory of the kingdom.
