EXPIRED: 10/29/11 – Axel Axgil, 96, and his longtime partner Eigil Axgil, lived in Denmark. Back in 1989 they were the 1st gay couple to enter into a registered, legal same-sex partnership anywhere in the world. They adopted the shared surname, Axgil, a combination of their first names names, as an expression of their commitment.
In 1948 Axel founded F-48 (The Association of 1948), Denmark’s first gay rights organization. In 3 years membership had grown to 1,339 w/ branches in Sweden and Norway. By ’85, F-48 became the Danish National Association of Gays and Lesbians.
In 1989, Denmark became the first nation in the world to recognize domestic partnerships for same-sex couples. That same year Axel and Eigil were married by Tom Ahlberg, the deputy mayor of Copenhagen, having already been a committed couple for 40 years.
Eigil died six years later at 73. Axel was a widower for 16 years thereafter.
Now they are together again. As it should be.
uRdead2me 