Where Europe stands on gay marriage and civil unns | Pew Rearch Center

Contents:

• COUNTRI WHERE GAY MARRIAGE IS LEGAL 2023
• HOMOSEXUALY: THE UNTRI WHERE IS ILLEGAL TO BE GAY
• COUNTRI WHERE GAY MARRIAGE IS LEGAL
• WHERE EUROPE STANDS ON GAY MARRIAGE AND CIVIL UNNS
• THE FIRST COUNTRI TO LEGALIZE GAY MARRIAGE
• THE ARE ALL THE UNTRI THAT HAVE LEGALISED GAY MARRIAGE

COUNTRI WHERE GAY MARRIAGE IS LEGAL 2023

Not every untry the world is volved the nversatn surroundg gay marriage, but a large percentage of the world’s natns have eher legalized same-sex marriage, permted gay marriage certa parts of the untry, allows civil unns between dividuals of the same sex, or actively rtricts gay marriage.

The number of untri that have not legalized gay marriage outweighs the number of untri that do, which uld take a turn the oppose directn as natns progrs over time. Rsia is an example of a natn that do not necsarily crimalize same-sex upl, but the ernment plac ser rtrictns on people who are gay, which is still a way of censorg relatnships that are not heterosexual.

Sce the first same-sex marriag took place the Netherlands 2001, more than 30 other jurisdictns have enacted laws allowg gays and lbians to marry, mostly Europe and the Ameris.

HOMOSEXUALY: THE UNTRI WHERE IS ILLEGAL TO BE GAY

Netherlands2001EuropeFirst untry to legalize same-sex marriage after Parliament passed the law December Zealand 2013Asia-PacificFirst untry the Asia-Pacific regn to allow gays and lbians to 2009EuropeThe law replaced a 1993 statute permtg civil unns. Slovenia 2022EuropeFirst untry formerly munist Eastern Europe to legalize same-sex Ai 2006Sub-Saharan AiOnly Ain untry where same-sex marriage is legal; several untri on the ntent have passed laws that ban homosexualy recent 2005EuropeBeme the third untry globally to legalize same-sex marriage after a vote s closely divid 2009EuropeGay and lbian upl Swen prevly had been allowed to register for civil unns sce 1995. 1%) st ballots favor of legalizg same-sex marriage a 2021 2019Asia-PacificA urt lg prompted a change the law that ma Taiwan the first jurisdictn Asia to perm gays and lbians to Kgdom 2014EuropeLegal same-sex marriage took effect Northern Ireland 2020, six years after the change England and Wal.

Same-Sex Marriage Legalizatn by CountryThe Dutch triggered a polil and social shift that has spread across large swaths of the take part the gay pri nga, May 13, 2023, Havana. Icelandic Prime Mister Johanna Sigurdardottir ma history Febary 2009 when she beme the untry's first female prime mister and the world's first openly gay head of marriage beme legal Swen on May 1, 2009, followg the enactment of a marriage law passed by the Swedish Parliament early April. June 26 marks the fifth anniversary of gay marriage beg legalized across the entire Uned memorate this tone LGBTQ history, we are takg a look at untri around the world that have officially legalized same-sex marriage.

COUNTRI WHERE GAY MARRIAGE IS LEGAL

Revelers on a boat para the Prsengracht nal participatg the Amsterdam Canal Para durg Amsterdam Gay Pri on Augt 2, 2014 Amsterdam, Juen/Getty ImagThe legislatn gave same-sex upl the right to marry, divorce, and adopt CBS News2. Spectators watch along Yonge Street, at the annual Pri Ftival para, July 3, 2016, Toronto, Ontar, Willms/Getty ImagIn 1999, some provcial ernments extend mon law marriag to gay and lbian upl, providg them wh most of the legal benefs of marriage but laws varied across the CBC News4. A reveler drsed wh a gay pri flag walks the streets next to Cibel Square before the Pri Para durg the Madrid Gay Pri Ftival on June 29, 2016, Madrid, Blazquez Domguez/Getty ImagThe law guaranteed intil rights to all married upl regardls of sexual New York Tim5.

A fjord Norway, wh the Norwegian flag the foreground, October 14 Maclean/Creative CommonsIn January 2009, the bill was enacted to law, and gay upl were legally granted the right to marry, adopt children and receive artificial NBC News7. Beatrice Murch/Creative CommonsPrr to the same-sex marriage law, a number of lol jurisdictns, cludg the natn's pal, Buenos Air, had enacted laws allowg gays and lbians to enter to civil The Guardian11.

WHERE EUROPE STANDS ON GAY MARRIAGE AND CIVIL UNNS

Denmark's legalizatn me 2012 after Queen Margrethe II gave her royal assent to the proposed Danish Natnal Associatn of Gays & Lbians at Copenhagen's LGBT Pri March CommonsDenmark was the first untry to allow same-sex upl to register as domtic partners BBC News12. Uguay fans celebrate as Uguay sr their first goal agast England as seen on the screen set up at Word Cup FIFA Fan Ft on Copabana beach June 19, 2014 R Janeiro, Raedle/Getty ImagCivil unns have been permted Uguay sce 2008, and 2009 gay and lbian upl were given adoptn BBC News13. In 2017, Germany beme the 15th European untry to allow same-sex upl to Greens Party parliamentarian Volker Beck celebrat followg a vote at the nearby Bunstag which approved gay marriage Germany on June 30, 2017, Berl, Gallup/Getty ImagGermany gave full maral rights to homosexual upl a vote that Chancellor Angela Merkel voted New York Tim25.

Ecuador's hight urt approved same-sex marriage a 5-4 rights activists prott outsi of the Constutnal Court, wag for the urt's cisn on gay marriage, Quo, Ecuador, Tuday, June 4, Photo/Dolor OchoaEcuador has regnized same-sex partnerships sce 2015, but the Constutnal Court officially approved same-sex marriag on June 12, urt stcted the ernment to pass legislatn that will cement equal rights for all cizens who wish to BBC29. Image source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Kamala Harris has been a vol supporter of LGBTQ rightsUS Vice-Print Kamala Harris who is on a tour of three Ain untri - Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia - has drawn cricism over her support for LGBTQ Ghana, a speech llg for "all people be treated equally" she appeared to cricise a bill before the untry's parliament which crimalis advocy for gay rights and propos jail terms for those that intify as lbian, gay, bisexual, or untry's Speaker Alban Bagb later lled her remarks "unmocratic" and urged lawmakers not to be "timidated by any person" Tanzania, a former mister spoke agast US support for LGBTQ rights ahead of the vis and Zambia some opposn policians have threatened to hold is homosexualy still outlawed?

In the same month, the high urt Barbados stck out laws that crimalised gay July last year, the urts Antigua and Barbuda clared a law crimalisg same-sex acts between nsentg adults Febary 2021, Angola's Print Joao Louren signed to law a revised penal to allow same-sex relatnships and ban discrimatn on the basis of sexual 2020, Gabon reversed a law that had crimalised homosexualy and ma gay sex punishable wh six months prison and a large fe. Mozambique and the Seychell have also scrapped anti-homosexualy laws recent there are untri where existg laws outlawg homosexualy have been tightened, cludg Nigeria and 's parliament recently passed a law to crack down on homosexual activi, promptg wispread source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Campaign agast LGBTQ rights some Ain untri has tensified recent weeksAnd some untri, efforts to get the laws removed have May 2019, the high urt Kenya upheld laws crimalisg homosexual acts. And many plac, breakg the laws uld be punishable by long prison of the 53 untri the Commonwealth - a loose associatn of untri most of them former Brish loni - 29 have laws that crimalise homosexualy.

THE FIRST COUNTRI TO LEGALIZE GAY MARRIAGE

Although the origal Brish laws applied only to men, untri that crimalise homosexualy today also have penalti for women who have sex wh Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn (Ilga) monors the progrs of laws relatg to homosexualy around the says the ath penalty is the legally prcribed punishment for same-sex sexual acts Bnei, Iran, Mrania, Sdi Arabia, Yemen and some northern stat of five untri - Afghanistan, Pakistan, Qatar, Somalia, and the Uned Arab Emirat - there is no legal clary and the ath penalty uld be source, AFPImage ptn, An Indian gay rights activist protts agast a urt lg 2013 upholdg a law which crimalis gay repealed the ath penalty for nsensual same-sex sexual acts observers note that the risk of prosecutn some plac is mimal. For example, a 2017 report on Jamai by the UK Home Office said that Jamai was regard as a homophobic society, but that the "thori do not actively seek to prosecute LGBT persons".

A movement fightg for gay rights the untry had been active sce the 1980s until the Dutch Parliament gave and tablished a missn to look to the issue of gay rights 1995. The legalizatn of gay marriage the untry was as a rult of the enactment of the Civil Marriage Act which had been troduced to the Hoe of Commons as a bill Febary 2005 by the Prime Mister. Sce then, however, Hungarian lawmakers and populist Prime Mister Viktor Orban have passed several anti-LGBTQ+ laws, cludg on that prohib same-sex upl om adoptg children and ban any ntent emed to promote beg gay or transgenr om beg distributed to people unr the age of eighteen.

THE ARE ALL THE UNTRI THAT HAVE LEGALISED GAY MARRIAGE

Meanwhile, Chechnya, a semitonomo republic wh Rsia, dozens of men spected of beg gay have been taed, tortured, and even killed two separate official crackdowns sce 2017. When Qatar hosted the 2022 FIFA World Cup, s anti-LGBTQ+ laws were wily cricized; prohibs gay sex, and secury forc have asslted transgenr women and other LGBTQ+ people, acrdg to Human Rights Watch. In 2018, Lebane urts set a potential precent for the crimalizatn of gay sex, but the untry ntued to crack down on peaceful LGBTQ+ gathergs 2021 and banned them outright 2022.

However, there have been recent advanc: the Aobarometer poll found that majori three untri addn to South Ai—Cape Ver, Mri, and Namibia—are tolerant of homosexualy. While the new legislatn guaranteeg that right is far om perfect – for example, don’t allow a Taiwane person to marry a same-sex natnal of another untry where same-sex marriage is not legal – is the first legislatn legalizg same-sex marriage any Asian heterosexual upl enjoy the right to marry, adopt children, and receive their partners’ pensn benefs after ath, homosexual upl many untri face discrimatn all of the pile the untri where same-sex marriage is officially legal, 24/7 Wall St. Study has shown that heterosexual upl divorce at higher rat than homosexual upl, wh some stat havg lower divorce rat than others, and wh each state, plac where more people are gettg divorced.

The untry's Prime Mister at the time, Social Democrat Johanna Sigurdardottir, was the first openly gay head of state the world, and soon after the bill passed she married her long-time partner one of the first same-sex marriag Iceland.