Antillean-court-finds-for-samesex-couple

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Published: Monday 21 July 2008 09:42 UTC
Last updated: Monday 21 July 2008 09:42 UTC
The Court of First Instance of the Netherlands Antilles has ruled that gay and lesbian couples have the same rights and obligations in the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba as they do in the Netherlands. The court in Willemstad added that all marriages entered into in the Kingdom of the Netherlands have identical legal weight and must be treated equally.

The case was brought by a woman who wanted to include her partner and one of her children in her health insurance policy. The government-run Office of Health Insurance in Curaçao turned down her request on the grounds that the partner and child were not members of her family since "a marriage of people of the same sex is not socially accepted."

The court has ordered the insurance office to revise its standpoint and pay the couple all damages in the case. A civil court will decide the extent of the damages.