User:VoodooIsland/Same-sex marriage legislation around the world

Part of the LGBT rights series
Legal status of same-sex unions
Marriage Andorra Argentina Australia Austria Belgium Brazil Canada Chile Colombia Costa Rica Cuba Denmark Ecuador Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Iceland Ireland Liechtenstein[α] Luxembourg Malta Mexico Netherlands[i] New Zealand[ii] Norway Portugal Slovenia South Africa Spain Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Thailand[α] United Kingdom[iii] United States[iv] Uruguay Recognized Israel[v] United States:[iv]  • American Samoa
Civil unions or registered partnerships but not marriage Bolivia Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Hungary Italy Latvia Monaco Montenegro San Marino United Kingdom:  • Bermuda  • Cayman Islands
Minimal recognition Bulgaria[vi] Cambodia[vii] China[viii]  • Hong Kong[ix] India[x] Japan[xi] Lithuania[vi] Namibia[xii] Nepal Netherlands:[i]  • Sint Maarten Poland[vi] Romania[vi][xiii] Slovakia[vi]
See also Same-sex union legislation Same-sex union court cases Timeline of same-sex marriage Recognition of same-sex unions in Africa Recognition of same-sex unions in Asia Recognition of same-sex unions in Europe Recognition of same-sex unions in the Americas Recognition of same-sex unions in Oceania Marriage privatization Divorce of same-sex couples Domestic partnership Military policy Adoption Listings by country LGBT rights by country or territory
Notes ^ a b Performed in the Netherlands proper (including the Caribbean Netherlands), as well as in Aruba and Curaçao. May be registered in Sint Maarten in such cases, but the rights of marriage are not guaranteed. ^ Neither performed nor recognized in Niue, Tokelau, or the Cook Islands. ^ Neither performed nor recognized in six British Overseas Territories. ^ a b Neither performed nor recognized in some tribal nations. Recognized but not performed in several other tribal nations and American Samoa. ^ Registered foreign marriages confer all marriage rights. Domestic common-law marriages confer most rights of marriage. Domestic civil marriage recognized by some cities. ^ a b c d e The Coman v. Romania ruling of the European Court of Justice obliges the state to provide residency rights for the foreign spouses of EU citizens. Some member states, including Romania, do not follow the ruling. ^ A "declaration of family relationship" is available in several of Cambodia's communes which may be useful in matters such as housing, but is not legally binding. ^ Guardianship agreements, conferring some limited legal benefits, including decisions about medical and personal care. ^ Inheritance, guardianship rights, and residency rights for foreign spouses of legal residents. ^ Courts have recognised guru–shishya, nata pratha or maitri karar–type contractual relationships, but they are not legally binding. ^ Some cities and prefectures issue partnership certificates, but they are not legally binding. ^ Marriages conducted abroad between a Namibian national and a foreign spouse recognized for residency rights. ^ Hospital visitation rights through a "legal representative" status. ^ a b Not yet in effect.
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For the status in the United States, see Same-sex marriage legislation in the United States.

Same-sex marriage is currently legal in seven countries, which include the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, South Africa, Canada, Norway, and Sweden.^[1] Six US states also recognize same-sex marriage, those being Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont (effective September 1), Maine (effective September 14), and New Hampshire (effective January 1, 2010).^[2] Numerous other countries and regions also grant some form of recognition to same-sex couples; though do not provide same-sex marriage. The issue of same-sex marriage has been a controversial debate throughout the world, and several regions and countries have passed statutory and constitutional amendments that explicitly prohibit the legal recognition of same-sex marriage, sometimes also barring any form of recognition.^[3]

The issue of granting marriage to same-sex couples is controversial in many jurisdictions, and therefore, many governments tend to opt for creating a civil union or common-law status for same-sex couples. As of July 2009, the debate of legalizing same-sex marriage has been officially proposed in almost a dozen countries, and debates over other forms of recognition continue within several others.

Country	Date	Same-sex union	Upper House		Lower house		Head of State	Final outcome
			Yes	No	Yes	No
Denmark	June 1989	Registered partnership [2]	Passed		Passed		Signed	Yes
Norway	April 1993	Registered partnership	Passed		Passed		Signed	Yes
Sweden	June 1994	Registered partnership [3]	Passed		Passed		Signed	Yes
Iceland	April 1996	Registered partnership [4]	Passed		Passed		Signed	Yes
Netherlands	January 1998	Registered partnership	Passed		Passed		Signed	Yes
Belgium	January 1999	Civil Union	Passed		Passed		Signed	Yes
France	November 1999	Pacte civil de solidarité	Passed		Passed		Signed	Yes
Netherlands	December 2000	Same-sex marriage	75	26	109	33	Signed	Yes
Portugal	March 2001	União de Facto (gender neutral)	Passed		Passed		Signed	Yes
Germany	August 2002	Life Partnership	Passed		Passed		Signed	Yes
Finland	September 2002	Registered partnership	Passed		Passed		Signed	Yes
Belgium	February 2003	Same-sex marriage	46	15	91	22	Signed	Yes
Liechtenstein	2003	Registered partnership	10	15	n/a	n/a	-	No
Croatia	July 2004	Unregistered cohabitation	Passed		Passed		Signed	Yes
United Kingdom	November 2004	Civil Partnership [5]	251	136	426	29	Signed	Yes
New Zealand	November 2004	Civil union	n/a	n/a	65	55	Signed	Yes
Luxembourg	2004	Civil union	Passed		Passed		Signed	Yes
Switzerland	June 2005	Registered partnership	Nationwide referendum (58%)					Yes
Spain	June 2005	Same-sex marriage	131	119	187	147	Signed	Yes
Canada	June 2005	Same-sex marriage	47	21	158	133	Signed	Yes
Czech Republic	June 2005	Registered partnership	65	14	86	54	Vetoed, overridden	Yes
Slovenia	July 2005	Registered partnership	Passed		44	3	Signed	Yes
South Arica	November 2006	Same-sex marriage	Passed		230	41	Signed	Yes
Colombia	June 2007	Civil union	29	34	62	43	-	No
Luxembourg	July 2007	Same-sex marriage	22	38	n/a	n/a	-	No
Hungary	November 2007	Registered partnership	n/a	n/a	185	154	Signed	Ruled unconstitutional
Norway	June 2008	Same-sex marriage	23	17	84	41	Signed	Yes
Romania	July 2008	Civil union [6]	Failed		-	-	-	No
Ecuador	September 2008	Civil union	Nationwide constitutional referendum (63.93%)					Yes
Portugal	October 2008	Same-sex marriage	n/a	n/a	28	202	-	No
Uruguay	December 2008	Civil union	Passed				Signed	Yes
Sweden	April 2009	Same-sex marriage	n/a	n/a	261	22	Signed	Yes
Hungary	April 2009	Registered partnership	n/a	n/a	199	159	Signed	Yes
Ireland	July 2009	Civil partnership	Pending		-	-	-
Venezuela	July 2009	Same-sex marriage [7]	Pending		-	-	-
Costa Rica	July 2009	Civil union [8]	Pending		-	-	-
Luxembourg	July 2009	Same-sex marriage [9]	Proposed		-	-	-
Slovenia	July 2009	Same-sex marriage [10]	Proposed		-	-	-
Portugal	September 2009	Same-sex marriage [11]	Proposed		-	-	-
Uruguay	September 2009	Same-sex marriage [12]	Proposed		-	-	-
Argentina	2009	Same-sex marriage [13]	Proposed		-	-	-
Iceland	2009	Same-sex marriage [14]	Proposed		-	-	-
Israel	2009	Same-sex marriage [15]	Proposed		-	-	-
Scotland	2009	Same-sex marriage [16]	Proposed		-	-	-
Nepal	2009-2010	Same-sex marriage [17]	Proposed		-	-	-
Estonia	2009	Civil union	Proposed		-	-	-

Country	Date	Ban on	Upper House		Lower house		Head of state	Final outcome
			Yes	No	Yes	No
Bulgaria	July 1991	Same-sex marriage2 [18]	Passed		Passed			Yes
Lithuania	1992	Same-sex marriage2 [19]	Passed		Passed			Yes
Moldova	July 1994 [20]	Same-sex marriage2	Passed		Passed			Yes
Ukraine	June 1996 [21]	Same-sex marriage2	315	85	n/a			Yes
Poland	April 1997	Same-sex marriage [22]	Nationwide constitutional referendum (52.71%)					Yes
Honduras	March 2005	Same-sex marriage	Passed		Passed		Signed	Yes
Uganda	September 2005	Same-sex marriage	n/a		111	17	Signed	Yes
Latvia	December 2005	Same-sex marriage	Passed		Passed		Signed	Yes
Serbia	October 2006	Same-sex marriage [23]	Nationwide constitutional referendum (53%)					Yes
El Salvador	2006	Same-sex marriage [24]	Failed		-		-	No
Montenegro	October 2007	Same-sex marriage2 [25]	55	21	n/a			Yes
Ecuador	September 2008	Same-sex marriage	Nationwide constitutional referendum (63.93%)					Yes
Bolivia	January 2009	Same-sex marriage and civil unions	Nationwide constitutional referendum (61.43%)					Yes
Dominican Republic	June 2009	All same-sex unions [26]	Passed		Passed		Pending
El Salvador	June 2009	Same-sex marriage [27]	Pending		Passed		-
Cayman Islands	2009	All same-sex unions	Proposed		-	-	-
Nigeria	2009	All same-sex unions1	Proposed		-	-	-

¹ Not only does the proposal in Nigeria prohibit any form of same-sex relationship from being recognized by the state, it also prescribes five years prison time for anyone found participating in a same-sex union; which includes anyone who "performs, witnesses, aids, or abets" a same-sex marriage. The legislation would also prescribe the same prison sentence for anyone who engages in male-to-male intercourse, lesbianism, or organizes a gay rights organization.^[4]
2 The ban on same-sex marriage or ban on same-sex marriage and other kinds of same-sex unions was an amendment within a constitution that was approved or rejected by the government.

Country	Year	Description	Restrictions unconstitutional?
Israel	1994	An Israeli court ruled that same-sex couples are entitled to the same common law benefits as opposite-sex couples.	Yes
South Korea	2004	The Democratic Party of South Korea led a challenge to the government's exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage in 2004. [28]	No developments
South Africa	December 2005	In December 2005, the Constitutional Court of South Africa ruled that restricting marriage to same-sex couples was unconstitutional. [29]	Yes
Costa Rica	May 2006	The Supreme Court of Costa Rica ruled 5-2 that restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples what not unconstitutional. [30]	No
United Kingdom	July 2006	The High Court ruled that recognizing same-sex marriages performed abroad as "civil partnerships" over marriages was not discriminatory. [31]	No
Israel	November 2006	The Supreme Court of Israel ruled that the government must recognize same-sex marriages performed abroad on par with opposite-sex marriages that have been performed abroad. [32]	Yes
Colombia	February 2007	A Colombian court ruled that some common law benefits must be extended to same-sex couples. [33]	Yes
Aruba	April 2007	The Supreme of the Netherlands ruled that Aruba must recognize all Dutch marriages, including same-sex marriages. [34]	Yes
Netherlands Antilles	April 2007	The Supreme Court of the Netherlands's ruling applied to the Netherlands Antilles in addition to Aruba.	Yes
Nepal	November 2008	The government has been ordered to include a same-sex couple inclusive marriage law in the upcoming 2010 constitution. A seven-member committee currently works to study the same-sex marriage laws of other countries and propose a same-sex marriage bill before the government. [35]	Yes
Colombia	January 2009	The constitutional court later ruled that the benefits for same-sex couples must be expanded. [36]	Yes
Slovenia	July 2009	The Constitutional Court of Slovenia ruled that the registered partnership law excluding registered partners from inheritance rights was discriminatory; giving the Parliament sixth months to respond to the ruling. [37]	Yes
Brazil	July 2009	The constitutionality of Brazil's same-sex couple exclusive marriage law is under challenge in the Supreme Court.
Greece	2009	A same-sex couple who recently had their marriage ruled invalid has announced their intention to appeal the ruling.

• Civil union
• Registered partnership
• Domestic partnership
• LGBT rights by country or territory
• Same-sex marriage legislation in the United States