The FINANCIAL — Since the first same-sex marriages took place in the Netherlands in 2001, more than 30 other jurisdictions have enacted laws allowing gays and lesbians to marry, mostly in Europe and the Americas. This interactive table by Pew Research allows you to sort those places by name, region and the year legal same-sex marriage took effect. It also includes some key facts about the process in each jurisdiction.
| Country | Year | Region | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andorra | 2023 | Europe | Parliament in the small mountainous country between France and Spain voted to legalize same-sex marriage. |
| Argentina | 2010 | Latin America-Caribbean | First country in Latin America to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry. |
| Australia | 2017 | Asia-Pacific | Voters supported legalizing same-sex marriage by a 61.6% to 38.4% margin in a non-binding nationwide referendum. |
| Austria | 2019 | Europe | A court ruling in 2017 eventually led to the change. |
| Belgium | 2003 | Europe | Second country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage, after its neighbor, the Netherlands. |
| Brazil | 2013 | Latin America-Caribbean | About half of Brazil’s 27 jurisdictions had allowed same-sex marriage until a court ruling made it legal nationwide. |
| Canada | 2005 | North America | Same-sex marriage was legal in a majority of Canada’s provinces before Parliament passed national legislation. |
| Chile | 2022 | Latin America-Caribbean | Sixth South American country to legalize same-sex marriage. |
| Colombia | 2016 | Latin America-Caribbean | Colombia’s Constitutional Court legalized same-sex marriage by a 6-3 vote. |
| Costa Rica | 2020 | Latin America-Caribbean | First Central American country to legalize same-sex marriage. |
| Cuba | 2022 | Latin America-Caribbean | Change allowing same-sex marriage was part of a broader referendum on family law that passed by a 66.9% to 33.1% vote. |
| Denmark | 2012 | Europe | Same-sex marriage became legal through a separate process in Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, in 2016. |
| Ecuador | 2019 | Latin America-Caribbean | Court ruling made Ecuador the fifth South American country to allow gays and lesbians to wed. |
| Finland | 2017 | Europe | The law, passed by Parliament in 2014, started out as a “citizens’ initiative” – a public petition with nearly 167,000 signatures. It came into effect in 2017. |
| France | 2013 | Europe | Then-French President François Hollande signed the law after an unsuccessful court challenge. |
| Germany | 2017 | Europe | Legislation passed after then-Chancellor Angela Merkel said members of her ruling Christian Democratic Union should vote their conscience even though the party formally opposed same-sex marriage. |
| Iceland | 2010 | Europe | After the law took effect, the country’s prime minister at the time, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, wed her longtime partner, Jónína Leósdóttir, becoming one of the first people to marry under the statute. |
| Ireland | 2015 | Europe | First country to legalize same-sex marriage through a popular referendum, with more than six-in-ten Irish voters (62%) in favor. |
| Luxembourg | 2015 | Europe | The bill was championed by the country’s prime minister, Xavier Bettel, who is openly gay. |
| Malta | 2017 | Europe | Parliament almost unanimously voted to legalize same-sex marriage. |
| Mexico | 2022 | Latin America-Caribbean | Same-sex marriage eventually became legal nationally after the Supreme Court declared state bans unconstitutional in 2015. |
| Netherlands | 2001 | Europe | First country to legalize same-sex marriage after Parliament passed the law in December 2000. |
| New Zealand | 2013 | Asia-Pacific | First country in the Asia-Pacific region to allow gays and lesbians to wed. |
| Norway | 2009 | Europe | The law replaced a 1993 statute permitting civil unions. |
| Portugal | 2010 | Europe | Measure passed by Parliament was approved by Portugal’s Constitutional Court. |
| Slovenia | 2022 | Europe | First country in formerly communist Eastern Europe to legalize same-sex marriage. |
| South Africa | 2006 | Sub-Saharan Africa | Only African country where same-sex marriage is legal; several countries on the continent have passed laws that ban homosexuality in recent years. |
| Spain | 2005 | Europe | Became the third country globally to legalize same-sex marriage after a vote in its closely divided Parliament. |
| Sweden | 2009 | Europe | Gay and lesbian couples in Sweden previously had been allowed to register for civil unions since 1995. |
| Switzerland | 2022 | Europe | Nearly two-thirds of Swiss voters (64.1%) cast ballots in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage in a 2021 referendum. |
| Taiwan | 2019 | Asia-Pacific | A court ruling prompted a change in the law that made Taiwan the first jurisdiction in Asia to permit gays and lesbians to wed. |
| United Kingdom | 2014 | Europe | Legal same-sex marriage took effect in Northern Ireland in 2020, six years after the change in England and Wales. Separate legislation was enacted in Scotland in 2014. |
| United States | 2015 | North America | Thirty-six states and the District of Columbia had legalized same-sex marriage before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution guarantees it throughout the country. |
| Uruguay | 2013 | Latin America-Caribbean | Second Latin American country to legalize same-sex marriage, following Argentina. |
Discussion about this post