![]() However, legislators in Greenland passed a bill in May 2015 to legalize same-sex marriage on the world’s biggest island. Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, was not subject to Denmark’s same-sex marriage law, which was enacted in 2012. See a timeline highlighting changes in state policies from 1995-2015. ![]() Before the ruling, 36 states and the District of Columbia had legalized same-sex marriage. The 5-4 decision rests in part on the court’s interpretation of the 14th Amendment, and states that limiting marriage only to heterosexual couples violates the amendment’s guarantee of equal protection under the law. ![]() Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution guarantees it throughout the country. The country’s Constitutional Court, by a 6-3 vote, ruled that that “all people are free to choose independently to start a family in keeping with their sexual orientation … receiving equal treatment under the constitution and the law,” according to the wire service Agence France-Presse.Įleven years after same-sex marriage was first made legal in Massachusetts, the U.S. On April 28, 2016, Colombia became the fourth country in Catholic-majority South America to legalize same-sex marriage, following Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. The 393-226 vote in the nation’s Bundestag (or Parliament) came just days after Chancellor Angela Merkel surprised many by saying that members of her ruling Christian Democratic Union should be able to vote their conscience on the issue even though the party formally opposes same-sex marriage. On June 30, 2017, Germany became the 15th European country to enact legislation allowing same-sex couples to wed. Malta’s parliament almost unanimously voted to legalize same-sex marriage in July 2017, despite opposition from the Catholic Church on the small Mediterranean island. Along with New Zealand, Australia became the second country in the Asia-Pacific region to make same-sex marriage legal. Passage came just three weeks after Australians voted in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage, by a 62% to 38% margin, in a non-binding, nationwide referendum. 7, 2017, the Australian Parliament passed legislation allowing gay and lesbian couples to legally wed. Austria’s legislature did not act to counter the ruling, leading to the first same-sex weddings at the beginning of 2019. The court also ruled that, unless the country’s legislature passed a law to the contrary, gays and lesbians should be allowed to wed by Jan. But in 2017, Austria’s highest court ruled that these partnerships are inherently discriminatory. The country had granted gay and lesbian couples the right to enter into a civil partnership in 2010. 1, 2019, Austria joined the vast majority of Western European countries in legalizing same-sex marriage. The court gave the nation’s legislature until May 24, 2019, to change Taiwan’s marriage laws to accommodate same-sex couples. The vote in Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan (the official name of Taiwan’s unicameral parliament) was prompted by a 2017 decision by the country’s Constitutional Court, which struck down a law defining marriage as being between a man and woman. On May 17, 2019, Taiwan’s legislature passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage and making the island nation the first country in Asia to permit gays and lesbians to wed. ![]() The decision, which went into effect immediately, makes the Andean mountain nation the fifth country in Latin America to allow gays and lesbians to wed. On June 12, Ecuador’s Constitutional Court ruled that that same-sex couples have a right to marry. Northern Ireland had been the last part of the UK where same-sex marriage was banned England and Wales moved to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed in 2013 and Scotland followed in 2014 (see below). British lawmakers justified the change (which was accompanied by the legalization of abortion) because the Northern Irish parliament was suspended in January 2017 due to a stalemate between Northern Ireland’s parties. Although Northern Island is a constituent of the United Kingdom, with its own parliament at Stormont, the change in its marriage laws ultimately came about due to action by the UK’s Parliament in London. In October 2019, same-sex marriage became legal in Northern Ireland. The country’s highest court in 2018 ruled that the nation’s law banning same-sex marriage was unconstitutional and said the ban would be nullified in 18 months unless the legislature acted before then, which it did not. In May 2020, Costa Rica became the first Central American country to legalize same-sex marriage.
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