People demonstrate for the legalization of gay marriage and parenting on December 16, 2012 in Paris, France.
Antoine Antoniol/Getty Images
There are currently 32 countries that allow same-sex couples to marry.
The latest country to pass legislation was Slovenia, which did so on October 4, 2022.
Most countries have legalized same-sex marriage via legislation, but some were through court decisions.
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People fighting for same-sex marriage rights around the world have seen global support increase in recent years. Australia, Malta, and Germany legalized same-sex marriage in 2017, and Taiwan made history in 2019, becoming the first government in Asia to welcome legislation on marriage equality.
Slovenia became the first post-communist country to legalize it on October 4, 2022, after the Constitutional Court of Slovenia overturned a prior ban on same-sex marriages in July, arguing that it violated the country’s constitution. The court gave the Slovenian government six months to pass legislation to rectify it.
“With these changes, we are recognizing the rights of same-sex couples that they should have had for a long time,” State Secretary Simon Maljevac told lawmakers at the time.
There are currently only 32 countries that allow same-sex couples to marry.
Keep scrolling to read the full list:
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The legislation gave same-sex couples the right to marry, divorce, and adopt children.
Source: CBS News
flamenc/Creative Commons
Beginning in 1998, the Belgian parliament offered limited rights to same-sex couples through registered partnerships. In 2003, the parliament legally recognized same-sex marriages.
Source: The Guardian
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In 1999, some provincial governments extended common law marriages to gay and lesbian couples, providing them with most of the legal benefits of marriage but laws varied across the country.
Source: CBC News
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The law guaranteed identical rights to all married couples regardless of sexual orientation.
Source: New York Times
Lesbian Angels/Creative Commons
Exemptions were also included in the new marriage law. Both religious institutions and civil officers could refuse to conduct same-sex marriage ceremonies.
Source: NBC News
Graeme Maclean/Creative Commons
In January 2009, the bill was enacted into law, and gay couples were legally granted the right to marry, adopt children and receive artificial insemination.
Source: NBC News
Sergey Ashmarin/Creative Commons
The bill passed with 261 votes in favor, 22 votes against and had 16 abstentions.
Source: BBC News
Henna/Creative Commons
Iceland’s then-Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir married her longtime partner Jonina Leosdottir as the law came into effect.
Source: The Telegraph
Pedro/Creative Commons
Portugal had passed a measure legalizing same-sex marriage in February of 2010, but Portugal’s former president, Anibal Cavaco Silva, asked the Constitutional Court to review the measure. In April 2010, the Constitutional Court declared the law to be constitutionally valid.
Source: The Guardian
Beatrice Murch/Creative Commons
Prior to the same-sex marriage law, a number of local jurisdictions, including the nation’s capital, Buenos Aires, had enacted laws allowing gays and lesbians to enter into civil unions.
Source: The Guardian
Ankara/Creative Commons
Denmark was the first country to allow same-sex couples to register as domestic partners in 1989.
Source: BBC News
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Civil unions have been permitted in Uruguay since 2008, and in 2009 gay and lesbian couples were given adoption rights.
Source: BBC News
Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images
The law won approval by a 77-44 margin in the country’s legislature, which included support from former Prime Minister John Key.
Source: SBS News
Antoine Antoniol/Getty Images
Hollande’s signature had to wait until a court challenge brought by the conservative opposition party, the UMP, was resolved. France’s highest court, the Constitutional Council, ruled that the bill was constitutional.
Source: The Guardian
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Prior to the law, only some of Brazil’s 27 jurisdictions had allowed same-sex marriage.
Source: The Australian
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Northern Ireland and Scotland are semi-autonomous and have separate legislative bodies to decide many domestic issues. In 2017, a judge dismissed two cases on same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland.
Source: BBC News
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In addition to allowing same-sex couples to wed, the measure gave churches and other religious groups the option to decide whether or not they want to service same-sex marriages.
Source: BBC News
US Embassy Luxembourg/Creative Commons
The bill was spearheaded by the country’s Prime Minister, Xavier Bettel. Bettel married his long-time partner Gauthier Destenay a few months after the legislation passed.
Source: Reuters
Markus Koljonen/Creative Commons
The bill started out as a public petition and was passed with 101-90 votes.
Source: Reuters
Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images
62% of the referendum’s respondents voted “yes” to amend the Constitution of Ireland to recognize same-sex marriage. Thousands of Irish emigrants had traveled home to participate in the popular vote.
Source: BBC News
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Although Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark, it was not subject to Denmark’s 2012 ruling on legalizing same-sex marriage.
Source: Copenhagen Post
Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images
Same-sex marriage had been legal in 37 out of the 50 US states, plus the District of Columbia, prior to the 2015 ruling.
Source: CNN
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Same-sex couples were already allowed to form civil partnerships before the ruling.
Source: BBC News
Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Germany gave full marital rights to homosexual couples in a vote that Chancellor Angela Merkel voted against.
Source: New York Times
Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Despite opposition from the Catholic Church on the small Mediterranean island, marriage equality was passed by a landslide 66-1 vote.
Source: The Independent
Scott Barbour/Getty Images
Same-sex couples were officially allowed to marry beginning January 9, 2018, more than a month after it was legalized in the country.
SAM YEH/AFP/Getty Images
Taiwan, which considers itself an independent democracy that champions human rights issues, passed a bill in favor of marriage equality by an overwhelming margin in 2019. The bill allows full legal marriage rights for same-sex couples and also offers limited adoption rights.
AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa
Ecuador has recognized same-sex partnerships since 2015, but the Constitutional Court officially approved same-sex marriages on June 12, 2019.
The court instructed the government to pass legislation that will cement equal rights for all citizens who wish to marry.
Manuel Arnoldo Robert Batalla/Getty Images
Costa Rica passed a bill to allow same-sex marriage on May 26, 2020.
“May empathy and love be the compass that guides us forward and allow us to move forward and build a country that has room for everyone,” President Carlos Alvarado Quesada wrote on Twitter following the ruling.
Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images
The people of Switzerland backed up their government’s decision months later when a September 2021 public referendum confirmed same-sex marriage by 64%.
Photo by Claudio Santana/Getty Images
The country’s senate and lower house had previously passed a marriage equality bill expanding access.
Same-sex unions had been legal in the country beginning in 2015.
JURE MAKOVEC/AFP via Getty Images
The Constitutional Court of Slovenia overturned a prior ban on same-sex marriages in July 2022, arguing that it violated the country’s constitution. The court gave the Slovenian government six months to pass legislation to rectify it.
Editor’s note: This list was first published in November 2017 and has been updated to reflect recent developments.