Same-sex marriage is legal in more than thirty countries.
India’s Supreme Court is expected to rule on pleas for legal validation of same-sex marriage. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Ravindra Bhat, Hima Kohli and PS Narishma had reserved its judgment on the petitions on May 11 after a 10-day marathon hearing. The central government opposes the recognition of same-sex marriage, calling it an idea of the urban elite and claiming that parliament should determine and discuss the issue.
Twenty-three countries around the world have legalized same-sex marriage after a nationwide vote, while ten countries have legalized it through court rulings.
Here is a list of more than 30 countries where marriage equality exists:
- Netherlands: 2001
- Belgium: 2003
- Canada: 2005
- Spain: 2005
- South Africa: 2006
- Norway: 2009
- Sweden: 2009
- Iceland: 2010
- Portugal: 2010
- Argentina: 2010
- Denmark: 2012
- Uruguay: 2013
- New Zealand: 2013
- France: 2013
- Brazil: 2013
- England and Wales: 2014
- Scotland: 2014
- Luxembourg: 2015
- Ireland: 2015
- United States: 2015
- Greenland: 2016
- Colombia: 2016
- Finland: 2017
- Germany: 2017
- Malta: 2017
- Australia: 2017
- Austria: 2019
- Taiwan: 2019
- Ecuador: 2019
- Ireland: 2020
- Costa Rica: 2020
- Switzerland: 2022
- Mexico: 2022
- Chile: 2022
- Slovenia: 2022
- Cuba: 2022
- Andorra: 2023
- Estonia: 2024
The data comes from the Human Rights Campaign report entitled ‘Marriage Equality Around the World’. According to the organization, debates on marriage equality are also underway in the Czech Republic, Japan, the Philippines and Thailand.
