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Axel & Eigil at their marriage
in 1989. |
Axel Lundahl-Madsen and partner Eigil Eskildsen founded a gay rights organization together in Denmark in 1948. Four decades later, in 1989, they were allowed to marry, at a ceremony conducted by the deputy mayor of Copenhagen, Tom Ahlberg. The couple combined their first names to create a new surname for themselves, Axgil. They were the first gay couple in modern history to have a legally recognized marriage.
Axel, born in 1915, died today (October 29, 2011) at the age of 96. Eigil preceded him in death in 1995 at the age of 73. Their partnership lasted 47 years, they were only allowed to be married for six of those years, and then Axel lived another 16 years after Eigil had died.
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