Now You Know: Countries Where Same Sex Marriage is Legal

“ I support gay marriage. I believe they have a right to be as miserable as the rest of us.”

~~ Kinky Friedman, American humorist.

New York, N.Y.  Even though Friedman’s statement was made in jest, the idea, of supporting gay marriage, is growing globally. In the fifteen years since The Netherlands became the first country to legalize same-sex marriage, acceptance is growing and many observers forecast a global acceptance before the halfway mark of the century.

Male Couple Being Wed Adjacent to an Oceanside Harbor.

Credit: Wikilink: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOMA.

Same-sex matrimony is now legal in 36 states in America. Those states have about 65% of the population. Other countries have legalized same-sex marriage totally. In 2000, The Netherlands was the earliest country to legalize same-sex marriages and the legislation at the time allowed gay couples to marry, divorce and even adopt children. Despite Scotland turning its back on independence in 2014, the country did approve gay marriage . The country’s parliament legalized gay marriage in February 2014, but the same legislation legalizing gay marriage gave religious orders the option of not performing marriages for gay couples.

Openly gay Prime Minister Xavier Bettel of Luxembourg, signed a bill in June 2014 which allows for same-sex couples to marry and adopt kids. In 2013, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II paved the way for same-sex marriage when she signed a bill passed by Parliament. It wasn’t clear sailing though and generated plenty of controversy. The bill had the backing of Prime Minister Camera but many in his conservative party opposed it and a two-hour debate in the House of Commons followed. A two-hour debate was nothing compared to the protests that swept through France before the bill was finally signed in 2013 .

The New Zealand parliament faced stiff resistance from the country’s Family First program but eventually passed the bill legalizing same-sex marriage . In 2010, ultra-conservative and very Catholic Argentina became the leading nation in South America to authorize same-sex marriage. Uruguay and Brazil both passed legislation in 2013 leaving the rest of the continent unfriendly to gay marriage.

Countries Allowing Gay Marriage

Luxembourg 2014

Scotland 2014

England and Wales 2013

Brazil 2013

France 2013

New Zealand 2013

Uruguay 2013

Denmark 2012

Argentina 2010

Portugal 2010

Iceland 2010

Sweden 2009

Norway 2009

South Africa 2006

Spain 2005

Canada 2005

Belgium 2003

The Netherlands 2000

Countries with Varied Legalization

Two countries, Mexico and the United States have partially legalized same-sex marriage.

Mexico

In 2009, Mexico City government legalized same-sex marriage within its jurisdiction. While the decision was challenged in court, the Mexico Supreme Court upheld the law. Later, the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriages conducted in Mexico City were valid and they must also be accepted throughout the nation. In 2011, the Mexican state of Quintana Roo voted to allow gay marriages. Coahuila, in northern Mexico, approved same-sex marriages in 2014.

United States 2003

Massachusetts, the New England state, was the original to make same-sex marriages legal in the U.S. Since then, 36 states, as well the District of Columbia, have recognized gay marriage. Court decisions, legislative actions and statewide referendums are challenging the law in many of the remaining states. In 2013, the nation’s Supreme Court marked out a portion of the national Defense of Marriage Act resulting in mandating the national government recognize same-sex marriage in states where such unions are legal.

Three American territories, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands neither prohibit nor recognize same-sex marriage.

It could be decades before same-sex marriage is universally adopted. Until it is, Friedman will just have to understand that not everyone has the right to be miserable.

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