2015 gay marriage countries

Marriage Equality Around the World

The Human Rights Campaign tracks developments in the legal recognition of same-sex marriage around the world. Working through a worldwide network of HRC global alumni and partners, we lift up the voices of community, national and regional advocates and share tools, resources, and lessons learned to authorize movements for marriage equality.

Current State of Marriage Equality

There are currently 38 countries where same-sex marriage is legal: Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Uruguay. 

These countries have legalized marriage equality through both legislation and court decisions. 

Countries that Legalized Marriage Equality in 2025

Liechtenstein: On May 16, 2024, Liechtenstein's government passed a bill in favor of marriage equality. The law went into effect January 1, 2025.

Same-sex marriage represents a critical milestone in the Homosexual rights movement, allowing couples of the same sex to legally marry and receive the same marital benefits as heterosexual couples. The journey towards legalization has been varied across the globe, influenced by cultural, religious, and political factors. In some regions, the push for marriage equality has gained significant traction and achieved legal recognition, often after prolonged public and legal battles.

While full marriage equality is celebrated in many places, an alternative approach through civil unions or household partnerships persists in others. These frameworks typically grant a subset of rights that marriage offers, focusing on aspects like property rights or hospital visitation. However, they often collapse short in areas such as inheritance, pension rights, and parental responsibilities, stressing a gap in the legal recognition of relationships.

The acceptance and implementation of same-sex marriage have brought substantial legal benefits, including inheritance rights, tax reductions, and enhanced health insurance options, which are key for the security and well-being of families. This progr

Gay Marriage Around the World

A growing number of governments around the world are considering whether to grant legal recognition to same-sex marriages. So far, more than two dozen countries have enacted national laws allowing gays and lesbians to marry, mostly in Europe and the Americas. In Mexico, some jurisdictions allow same-sex couples to wed, while others do not.

Countries That Allow Lgbtq+ Marriage


Countries Where Queer Marriage is Legal in Some Jurisdictions

Countries That Permit Gay Marriage

Australia (2017)

On Dec. 7, 2017, the Australian Parliament passed legislation allowing gay and womxn loving womxn couples to legally wed. 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. Along with New Zealand, Australia became the second country in the Asia-Pacific region to to create same-sex marriage legal.

Malta (2017)

Malta’s parliament almost unanimously voted to legalize same-sex marriage in July 2017, despite opposition from the Catholic Church on the minor Mediterranean island.

Germany (2017)

On June 30, 2017, Germany became the 15th European nation to enac

Here are the countries where same-sex marriage is officially legal

June 26 marks the fifth anniversary of gay marriage being legalized across the entire Combined States.

To commemorate this milestone in LGBTQ history, we are taking a see at countries around the world that have officially legalized same-sex marriage. Nearly 30 out of 195 countries contain passed laws allowing gay marriage, according to the Pew Research Center.

Below is a timeline for the countries where same-sex marriage is officially legal. The year marks when the law was first enacted in that country.

2000: The Netherlands

The country became the first in the world to legalize same-sex marriage. The following year, four couples married in the world’s first same-sex wedding in 2001. [Associated Press]

2003: Belgium

Three years after the recent law was enacted, the country’s parliament granted same-sex couples the right to adopt in 2006. [Pew Research Center]

2005: Canada

The nation's traditional definition of civil marriage was changed to include the union between lgbtq+ couples. [Pew Analyze Center]

2005: Spain

The fresh law gave lgbtq+ couples all of the same marital and adoption righ 2015 gay marriage countries

Gay marriage declared legal across the US in historic supreme court ruling

Same-sex marriages are now legal across the entirety of the United States after a historic supreme court judgment that declared attempts by conservative states to exclude them unconstitutional.

In what may prove the most vital civil rights case in a generation, five of the nine court justices determined that the right to marriage equality was enshrined under the equivalent protection clause of the 14th amendment.

Victory in the case – known as Obergefell v Hodges, after an Ohio man who sued the state to get his name listed on his late husband’s death certificate – capped years of campaigning by LGBT rights activists, high-powered attorneys and couples waiting decades for the justices to rule. It immediately led to scenes of jubilation from coast to coast, as campaigners, politicians and everyday people – gay, straight and in-between – hailed “a victory of love”.

The ruling, in which Justice Anthony Kennedy cast the deciding vote,means the number of states where gay marriage is legal will rise – albeit after some stalling – from 37 to 50.

“They ask for equivalent dignity in the eyes of the law,” Kennedy wrote in