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Spanish national police celebrates its first gay wedding on the force

Jessica Jones
Jessica Jones - [email protected]
Spanish national police celebrates its first gay wedding on the force
The pair met on the force. Photo: Robert Couse-Baker / Flickr

Spain may have led the way when it came to gay marriage but it has only just celebrated another first: the first ever same-sex marriage between officers in the country’s national police force.

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Chema and Jonathan are partners in life and in love, having met while serving in Spain’s Policia Nacional, the pair have been together for five years and on Saturday became the first same sex police officers to marry in Spain.

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Although Spain was a pioneer when it came to gay rights, becoming only the third country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage in 2005, Chema and Jonathan are the first policemen to get married in Spain.

Chema, from Jerez and Jonathan, from Algeciras, got married in full dress uniform on Saturday in the grand surroundings of the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art in Jerez de la Frontera.

While the couple might be the first gay pair to marry, they are certainly not the only gay policemen in Spain’s force:

"We are not the first gays in the police, we have lots of gay friends in the force," Chema told Spanish radio station, Canal Sur Radio.

He added that he hoped their wedding would help to achieve "normalization". 

"If it helps someone who is being bullied in school for their sexual orientation to see it as something normal, then that’s great. It’s not something that should be hidden just because you belong to a particular institution," he added.

Many Spaniards took to social media to congratulate the pair on their marriage.

"Congratulations Chema and Jonathan, I wish them the utmost happiness. Congratulations also to the police and to all of Spain," wrote Jaume d'Urgell on Twitter. 

And the pair will not be rushing back to patrolling the streets of Spain; they are heading straight off on their honeymoon, a coast to coast trip through the United States, from Seattle to San Diego. 

Read more: The best gay wedding destinations in Spain 

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