EIGIL AXGIL(1922-1995): PHOTO FROM 1995

Eigil & Axel´s partnership lasted 46 years. Picture from 1989

by Rex Wockner

Eigil Axgil, half of the first legally married gay couple in the world, died Sept. 22 at the age of 73. Eigil and his lover of 46 years, Axel Axgil, were married in Copenhagen Oct. 1, 1989, the day Denmark became the first nation to allow gay marriage. Ten other gay-male couples married the same day, but the Axgils went first because they were pioneers of the Danish gay movement. Axel was the first person to come out publicly in Denmark, in 1948. He was fired the next day from his accounting job at an auto-body shop. In a 1989 interview with OUTLINES reporter Rex Wockner in Copenhagen five minutes before he tied the knot, Eigil said: "We just never could have dreamed we would get this far. Of course, we always hoped we would be fully accepted and have the same rights as others. "If everyone comes out of the closet, then this will happen everywhere," Eigil promised. "Be open. Come out. Keep fighting. This is the only way to move anything!"

  LOS ANGELES TIMES 9/29, OBITUARIES, Eigil Axgil, Gay Activist

Eigil Axgil, 73, whose lifelong crusade for gay rights made Denmark the first country in the world to allow same-sex marriages. On Oct. 1, 1989, he and Axel Axgil became the first gay men to take marriage vows legally. That was the same day a law took effect in Denmark that allowed homosexuals to register marriages. In 1948, the men-at the time using their original names Eigil Eskildsen and Axel Lundahl-Madsen-founded the National Homosexual Assn., one of the oldest gay rights groups in Europe... Shortly after their arrest, the men melded their first names into a new surname, Axgil, and had used it ever since in a public show of defiance. Six years ago, Danish legislators approved a law giving homosexuals all the rights and obligations of marriage, except adopting a child or obtaining semen for conception. On Sept. 22 in Copenhagen  

 

[ASSOCIATED PRESS]

(....) STRANGELY, IT WAS THE VERY DAY OF THAT WEDDING THAT ONE MEMBER OF THE FIRST GAY COUPLE TO REGISTER THEIR PARTNERSHIP IN DENMARK, AFTER A LIFETIME CRUSADING FOR THE RIGHT TO DO SO, DIED. EIGIL AXGIL WAS 73. HE'S SURVIVED BY HIS PARTNER AXEL AXGIL -- THEY CREATED THEIR LAST NAME BY COMBINING THEIR FIRST NAMES. TOGETHER, THEY FOUNDED DENMARK'S NATIONAL HOMOSEXUAL ASSOCIATION IN 1948.

Date: Mon, 2 Oct 1995 08:02:09 +0100 (MEZ) From: Bj|rn Skolander <[email protected]> Thursday, September 27, 1995 OBITUARY EIGIL AXGIL, DANISH GAY LEADER, 71 Copenhagen, Sept. 27 - Eigil Axgil, whose lifelong crusade for gay rights made Denmark the first country in the world to allow same-sex marriages, has died at 71, a newspaper reported today. Mr. Axgil died Friday. The cause of his death was not immediately available. On Oct. 1, 1989, he and Axel Axgil became the first gay men to take marriage vows legally. That was the same day that a law took effect in Denmark that allowed homosexuals to register marriages. In 1948, the men - at the time using their original names Eigil Eskildsen and Axel Lundahl-Madsen - founded the National Homosexual Association, one of the oldest gay rights groups in Europe. Six years ago, Danish legislators approved a law giving homosexuals all the rights and obligations of marriage, except adopting a child or obtaining semen for conception. Other countries in Europe soon followed suit.