Marriage Equality Around the World

Amsterdam City Hall, April 1, 2001 - Photo by Rex Wockner

Article maintained with assistance from Evan Wolfson and Rob Salerno. Last update: Sept. 24, 2024.

Same-sex couples can marry in 39 nations and in 49 other discrete jurisdictions around the world:

Netherlands (2001), Saba (2012), Bonaire (2012), Sint Eustatius (2012), Aruba (2024), Curaçao (2024)

Belgium (2003)

Canada (2003-2005)

USA (2004-2015), Guam (2015), Northern Mariana Islands (2015), Puerto Rico (2015), U.S. Virgin Islands (2015)

Spain (2005), Canary Islands (2005), Ceuta (2005), Melilla (2005)

South Africa (2006)

Norway (2009)

Sweden (2009)

Argentina (2010)

Iceland (2010)

Portugal (2010), Azores (2010), Madeira (2010)

Mexico (2010-2022; full article here)

Denmark (2012), Greenland (2016), Faroe Islands (2017)

France (2013), French Guiana (2013), French Polynesia (2013), Guadeloupe (2013), Martinique (2013), Mayotte (2013), New Caledonia (2013), Réunion (2013), Saint Barthélemy (2013), Saint Martin (2013), Saint Pierre and Miquelon (2013), Wallis and Futuna (2013)

Brazil (2013)

Uruguay (2013)

New Zealand (2013)

England and Wales (2014), Akrotiri and Dhekelia (2014), British Indian Ocean Territory (2014, 2015), Scotland (2014), South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (2014), Pitcairn Islands (2015), Ascension Island (2016), Isle of Man (2016), British Antarctic Territory (2016), Gibraltar (2016), Guernsey (2017), Falkland Islands (2017), Tristan da Cunha (2017), Saint Helena (2017), Jersey (2018), Alderney (2018), Northern Ireland (2020), Sark (2020)

Luxembourg (2015)

Ireland (2015)

Colombia (2016) • Same-sex polygamy (2017)

Finland (2017)

Malta (2017)

Germany (2017)

Australia (2017), Christmas Island (2017), Cocos (Keeling) Islands (2017), Norfolk Island (2017)

Austria (2019)

Taiwan (2019)

Ecuador (2019)

Costa Rica (2020)

Chile (2022), Easter Island (2022)

Switzerland (2022)

Slovenia (2022)

Andorra (2022)

Cuba (2022)

Nepal (2023)

Estonia (2024)

Greece (2024)

Liechtenstein (1/1/25)

Thailand (1/22/25)

Notes

12 nations bound by Inter-American Court ruling

"THE COURT DECIDES ... by six votes to one that: ... Under Articles 1(1), 2, 11(2), 17 and 24 of the [American] Convention [on Human Rights], States must ensure full access to all the mechanisms that exist in their domestic laws, including the right to marriage, to ensure the protection of the rights of families formed by same-sex couples, without discrimination in relation to those that are formed by heterosexual couples, as established in paragraphs 200 to 228."

In a binding ruling made on Nov. 24, 2017, and published Jan. 9, 2018, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights instructed 20 nations that are signatories to the American Convention on Human Rights to let same-sex couples marry: Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname and Uruguay. Eight of the nations — Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico and Uruguay — have marriage equality. Courts in Ecuador and Costa Rica brought in marriage equality because of the Inter-American Court ruling.

"All countries are obligated to apply the Convention as the court applies it, so it is binding on all as precedent," said Hunter T. Carter, a partner at Arent Fox who has tried a case in the Inter-American Court and represented Chilean same-sex couples in the Inter-American system.

Dutch Caribbean

Overseas municipalities Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius and constituent countries Aruba and Curaçao have marriage equality. Constituent country Sint Maarten does not, though it partially recognizes Dutch marriages from elsewhere.

Mexico

Mexico achieved marriage equality state-by-state between March 2010 and October 2022. My article on how it played out is here.

French places

All overseas departments and collectivities — see the France entry above — have marriage equality. The links above show a same-sex couple marrying in nine of the 11 jurisdictions.

British places

Nineteen UK-associated jurisdictions have marriage equality: England and Wales (2014), Akrotiri and Dhekelia (2014), British Indian Ocean Territory (2014, 2015), Scotland (2014), South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (2014), Pitcairn Islands (2015), Ascension Island (2016), Isle of Man (2016), British Antarctic Territory (2016), Gibraltar (2016), Guernsey (2017), Falkland Islands (2017), Tristan da Cunha (2017), Saint Helena (2017), Jersey (2018), Alderney (2018), Northern Ireland (2020), and Sark (2020).

Six British overseas territories do not have marriage equality: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, and Turks and Caicos Islands.

Bermuda had marriage equality in 2017 and again from 2018 to 2022. It was terminated on March 14, 2022, by the court of final appeal, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in the United Kingdom. The judgment is here. The Cayman Islands had marriage equality for 13 days in 2019. It was blocked with finality on March 14, 2022, by the court of final appeal, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in the United Kingdom. The judgment is here.

The six remaining UK jurisdictions can still achieve marriage equality if their legislatures pass it, if the UK government imposes it, or possibly via the European Court of Human Rights. There is also a case from the British Virgin Islands before the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.

Ireland

On May 22, 2015, Ireland became the first nation to bring in marriage equality by popular vote. Irish people amended their constitution by a landslide margin of 62.07% to 37.93%.

U.S. territories

Four of the five U.S. territories — Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands — were covered by the U.S. Supreme Court's nationwide marriage-equality ruling on June 26, 2015. American Samoa was not.

The United States Minor Outlying Islands — Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Atoll, Palmyra Atoll and Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean, and Navassa Island in the Caribbean Sea — would have marriage equality. Their population nowadays is a small number of temporarily assigned scientists and military personnel.

Antarctica

Same-sex couples can marry in Antarctica. Nations that claim portions of the continent include Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom, all of which have marriage equality.

On the high seas

Same-sex couples can marry at sea on Celebrity Cruises ships, courtesy of the Malta Parliament's passage of marriage equality in July 2017.

U.S. Indian tribes

There are 574 of them and they are not covered by the June 26, 2015, U.S. Supreme Court ruling that brought in marriage equality nationwide. At least 32 tribes, listed below, have legalized same-sex marriage to date. A number of others follow the marriage law of the state in which they are located, so marriage equality is in place without additional tribal action.

• Coquille Indian Tribe in Oregon (2009)
• Mashantucket (Western) Pequot Tribal Nation in Connecticut (2010)
• Suquamish Tribe in Washington (2011)
• Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe in Washington (2012)
• Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians in Michigan (2013)
• Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in Washington (2013)
• Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians in Michigan (2013)
• Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel in California (2013)
• Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes in Oklahoma (2013)
• Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe in Minnesota (2013)
• Puyallup Tribe of Indians in Washington (2014)
• Eastern Shoshone Tribe and Northern Arapaho Tribe in Wyoming (2014)
• Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes in Alaska (2015)
• Oneida Tribe in Wisconsin (2015)
• Keweenaw Bay Indian Community in Michigan (2015)
• Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians in Oregon (2015)
• Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde in Oregon (2015)
• Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians in Wisconsin (2016)
• Tulalip Tribes in Washington (2016)
• Menominee Indian Tribe in Wisconsin (2016)
• Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma (2016)
• Prairie Island Mdewakanton Dakota Community in Minnesota (2017)
• Osage Nation in Oklahoma (2017)
• Ho-Chunk Nation in Wisconsin (2017)
• Ak-Chin Indian Community in Arizona (2017)
• Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota (2019)
• Bay Mills Indian Community in Michigan (2019)
• Colorado River Indian Tribes in Californa/Nevada/Arizona (2019)
• Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians in North Dakota (2020)
• Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska (2022)
• Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma (2022)
• Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (2023)

Watch list

This section is now a separate article: Worldwide Marriage Equality Watch List. Click here to read about the places on the planet most likely to see marriage equality next, as well as places where marriage equality has become a high-profile topic.

Geography lesson

Where are those 49 other jurisdictions of Australia, Chile, Denmark, France, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, UK and USA?

Australia
• Christmas Island » Indian Ocean
• Cocos (Keeling) Islands » Indian Ocean
• Norfolk Island » South Pacific Ocean

Chile
• Easter Island » South Pacific Ocean

Denmark
• Faroe Islands » North Atlantic Ocean
• Greenland » between North Atlantic and Arctic oceans

France
• French Guiana » South America
• French Polynesia » South Pacific Ocean
• Guadeloupe » Caribbean Sea
• Martinique » Caribbean Sea
• Mayotte » Indian Ocean
• New Caledonia » South Pacific Ocean
• Réunion » Indian Ocean
• Saint Barthélemy » Caribbean Sea
• Saint Martin » Caribbean Sea
• Saint Pierre and Miquelon » next to Newfoundland
• Wallis and Futuna » South Pacific Ocean

Netherlands
• Aruba » Caribbean Sea
• Bonaire » Caribbean Sea
• Curaçao » Caribbean Sea
• Saba » Caribbean Sea
• Sint Eustatius » Caribbean Sea

Portugal
• Azores » North Atlantic Ocean
• Madeira » North Atlantic Ocean

Spain
• Canary Islands » North Atlantic Ocean
• Ceuta » Africa
• Melilla » Africa

United Kingdom
• Akrotiri and Dhekelia » Cyprus
• Alderney » English Channel
• Ascension Island » South Atlantic Ocean
• British Antarctic Territory
• British Indian Ocean Territory
• Falkland Islands » South Atlantic Ocean
• Gibraltar » attached to Spain
• Guernsey » English Channel
• Isle of Man » Irish Sea
• Jersey » English Channel
• Northern Ireland » Island of Ireland
• Pitcairn Islands » South Pacific Ocean
• Saint Helena » South Atlantic Ocean
• Sark » English Channel
• Scotland » Great Britain
• South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands » South Atlantic Ocean
• Tristan da Cunha » South Atlantic Ocean
• Wales » Great Britain

USA
• Guam » North Pacific Ocean
• Northern Mariana Islands » North Pacific Ocean
• Puerto Rico » Caribbean Sea
• U.S. Virgin Islands » Caribbean Sea

Worldwide Marriage Equality Watch List

Amsterdam City Hall, April 1, 2001

This is a companion article to my article Marriage Equality Around the World. Here we track the nations and other jurisdictions most likely to see marriage equality next, as well as places where marriage equality has become a high-profile topic. Last update: Oct. 30, 2024.

Bolivia

In March 2023, Bolivia's Constitutional Court legalized same-sex "free unions" that carry all the rights and obligations of marriage. The reasoning of the ruling, the language of Bolivia's constitution, and the interplay between the Bolivian constitution and rulings of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights suggest that if activists pursue marriage equality, they should win that, too. Bolivia is required to bring in marriage equality by the Inter-American Court's 2017 marriage equality ruling, and doubly required to do so because of the manner in which Inter-American Court rulings are incorporated into the nation's constitution.

Six British overseas territories

Nineteen UK-associated jurisdictions have marriage equality: England and Wales (2014), Akrotiri and Dhekelia (2014), British Indian Ocean Territory (2014, 2015), Scotland (2014), South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (2014), Pitcairn Islands (2015), Ascension Island (2016), Isle of Man (2016), British Antarctic Territory (2016), Gibraltar (2016), Guernsey (2017), Falkland Islands (2017), Tristan da Cunha (2017), Saint Helena (2017), Jersey (2018), Alderney (2018), Northern Ireland (2020), and Sark (2020).

Six British overseas territories do not have marriage equality: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, and Turks and Caicos Islands.

Bermuda had marriage equality in 2017 and again from 2018 to 2022. It was terminated on March 14, 2022, by the court of final appeal, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in the United Kingdom. The judgment is here. The Cayman Islands had marriage equality for 13 days in 2019. It was blocked with finality on March 14, 2022, by the court of final appeal, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in the United Kingdom. The judgment is here.

The six remaining UK jurisdictions can still achieve marriage equality if their legislatures pass it, if the UK government imposes it, or possibly via the European Court of Human Rights. There is also a case from the British Virgin Islands before the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.

Czech Republic

The Chamber of Deputies rejected marriage equality in February 2024. The push may resume in the Senate.

Dutch Caribbean

Overseas municipalities Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius and constituent countries Aruba and Curaçao have marriage equality. Constituent country Sint Maarten does not. The Netherlands was the first country in the world to bring in marriage equality in 2001. Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius got marriage equality in 2012. The Dutch Supreme Court brought marriage equality to Aruba and Curaçao in 2024.

El Salvador

There are multiple marriage-equality lawsuits before the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice, which is bound by the 2017 Inter-American Court of Human Rights marriage equality ruling to rule for marriage equality. In January 2020, Justice Aldo Cáder said the court planned to rule before April 2020. In September 2021, President Nayib Bukele suggested he opposes marriage equality.

Guatemala

In March 2022, Congress passed a bill that explicitly banned marriage for same-sex couples, contravening the November 2017 marriage equality ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which is binding on Guatemala. Two days later, President Alejandro Giammattei said he would veto the bill if Congress did not withdraw it because it was unconstitutional and violated international conventions Guatemala is a party to. Four days later, Congress voted to "archive" the bill and not send it to Giammattei's desk.

Honduras

The Constitution Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice rejected marriage equality in January 2022 and several cases (1 • 2 • 3) have been taken to the Inter-American human rights system. In 2017, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued a marriage equality ruling binding on 20 nations, including Honduras. Twelve of the nations still have not brought in marriage equality.

Hong Kong

In October 2019, the Court of First Instance of the High Court of Hong Kong ruled against a lesbian who sued for access to marriage, alleging that her constitutional rights to privacy and equality were being violated. The court said the word "marriage" in Hong Kong law refers to heterosexual marriage and the case did not present "sufficiently strong or compelling" evidence for ruling otherwise. It added that legislators should deal with recognizing same-sex relationships. In August 2019, single-issue activist group Hong Kong Marriage Equality launched.

India

On Oct. 17, 2023, the Supreme Court of India declined to bring in marriage equality in a ruling that otherwise soared with LGBTQI-friendly rhetoric. The judgments kicked any decision on marriage equality to the nation's parliament. The court added, however, that India's states are free to bring in marriage equality without a national law. India has 28 states and 8 union territories.

Jamaica

In July 2019, a legal case was launched at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights seeking to bring marriage equality to Jamaica. It argues that Jamaica's constitution is in violation of the American Convention on Human Rights, which the nation signed four decades ago. In December 2022, the commission accepted the case.

Japan

Multiple courts have ruled against the ban on same-sex marriages, most recently in October 2024, but the ban remains. Same-sex couples filed marriage equality lawsuits nationwide on Valentine's Day 2019 and a marriage equality bill was introduced in the legislature, the National Diet, in June 2019.

Lithuania

In April 2023, three couples sued the national government to force it to recognize and allow same-sex marriages. In March 2024, they decided to take their case to the European Court of Human Rights.

Mexico

Mexico achieved marriage equality state-by-state between March 2010 and October 2022. There is still a bit of clean-up that needs to happen. I have a detailed article here.

Namibia

In May 2023, Namibia's Supreme Court ordered the government to recognize same-sex marriages entered into abroad between a Namibian and a foreigner. The case centered on residency rights for two non-Namibian spouses.

Panama

The Supreme Court of Justice rejected marriage equality in February 2023. The ruling directly contravenes the Inter-American Court of Human Rights' 2017 marriage equality ruling, which is binding on Panama and 19 other nations. The court said: "The ruling indicates that there is a reality, and that is, up to now, the right to marriage equality has not gone beyond being an aspiration that, although legitimate for the groups involved, does not have the category of a human right or fundamental right, being that it lacks conventional and constitutional recognition."

Paraguay

In the wake of the November 2017 marriage-equality ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, activist group SomosGay announced two new lawsuits at the nation's Supreme Court of Justice. As a first step, the suits seek recognition of two marriages of same-sex couples who married abroad.

Peru

In June 2022, the Constitutional Court rejected cases seeking registration of Peruvian same-sex couples' marriages entered into in other countries. The court reportedly said that bringing in marriage equality requires a change in the nation's constitution, that it would be an abuse of the court's position to impose marriage equality, that the 2017 Inter-American Court of Human Rights marriage equality ruling is not binding on Peru, and that the Inter-American human rights system suffers from "ideologization."

In January 2023, Congress' Justice and Human Rights Committee "archived" a marriage equality bill, sending it to the legislative "freezer," as they say in Spanish.

At the time of the Inter-American Court ruling — which is binding on 20 countries, including Peru — the president of Peru's Supreme Court of Justice, Duberlí Rodríguez, stated, "Peru is part of the Inter-American system and the organism that defends and protects these rights is called the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and ... if the court has taken a decision, I believe that all the parties are called to respect that decision."

The only countries in South America without marriage equality are Bolivia, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.

Philippines

In September 2019, the Supreme Court unanimously dismissed a marriage-equality case it had heard in June 2018. While acknowledging that the Constitution "does not define or restrict marriage on the basis of sex," the justices said the plaintiff lacked standing, violated the principle of hierarchy of courts, and failed to raise a justiciable controversy.

Poland

In December 2022, a same-sex couple married in Germany said they will take the matter of Poland's refusal to recognize them as married to the European Court of Human Rights.

Romania

An attempt to obstruct marriage equality by rewriting the definition of "family" in the constitution failed in October 2018 when an inadequate percentage of voters showed up to vote in a nationwide referendum. Thirty percent of all voters needed to cast a ballot for the referendum result to be valid, but only 20.41 percent did. LGBT leaders and others had called on voters to boycott the referendum. In September 2018, Romania's Constitutional Court ruled that same-sex couples must have the same "legal and juridical recognition of their rights and obligations" as opposite-sex couples. In May 2023, the European Court of Human Rights ordered Romania to legalize same-sex unions.

Slovakia

In June 2022, Slovakia's Constitutional Court said it will rule on recognition of same-sex marriages entered into in other countries.

South Korea

In November 2019, LGBTs filed 1,056 complaints at the National Human Rights Commission of Korea demanding marriage equality. Gagoonet, the Korean Network for Partnership and Marriage Rights of LGBT, said the mass complaints target the president, prime minister, heads of ministries and local governments, and the National Assembly chair. "Korean same-sex couples are not guaranteed the rights of marriage and family life, which are basic rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Korea," Gagoonet said. "Because of the lack of recognition, same-sex couples in Korea suffer from an infringement of economic and social rights, including social security, access to healthcare and housing, and workplace benefits."

Suriname

In January 2023, Suriname's Constitutional Court ruled that the Central Bureau for Civil Affairs (Centraal Bureau voor Burgerzaken) did not have to record the marriage of a Surinamese male couple who got married in Argentina. The court said the man-woman definition of marriage in the Civil Code does not violate the constitution or international treaties the South American nation has signed. Suriname is a signatory to the American Convention on Human Rights and is bound to bring in marriage equality by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights' 2017 marriage equality ruling.

Venezuela

Two marriage-equality lawsuits have long been at the final stage in the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, according to Venezuela Igualitaria. One lawsuit targets a Civil Code article that says, "Marriage cannot be contracted except between one man and one woman." The other lawsuit alleges a "legislative omission" resulting from the National Assembly's failure to take up the Equal Civil Marriage Bill. In October 2020, President Nicolás Maduro suggested the National Assembly should address marriage equality in its term that began in January 2021 but he later said it isn't a "priority."

Western Europe

The only nations in Western Europe without marriage equality are Italy and the microstates Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City.

Mexico's Wild Ride to Marriage Equality

Article maintained with help from Geraldina González de la Vega and Alex Alí Méndez Díaz. Last update: June 14, 2023.

Alex Alí Méndez Díaz

Between March 2010 and October 2022, Mexico achieved marriage equality state-by-state in all 31 states and federal capital Mexico City.

The process gained steam after 2015 when the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) issued "jurisprudence" declaring that bans on marriage equality were unconstitutional. The ruling did two things: It put the states on notice that they needed to pass marriage equality and it created a pathway in states without marriage equality for a couple to go to a federal judge and get an injunction (amparo) forcing local officials to let them marry.

The 2015 SCJN ruling said: "Marriage. The law of any federative entity that, on the one hand, considers that the purpose of it [marriage] is procreation and/or that defines it as that which is celebrated between a man and a woman, is unconstitutional." ("Matrimonio. La ley de cualquier entidad federativa que, por un lado, considere que la finalidad de aquél es la procreación y/o que lo defina como el que se celebra entre un hombre y una mujer, es inconstitucional.")

The ruling resulted from a project by activist-lawyer Alex Alí Méndez Díaz and his organization México Igualitario that involved getting enough identical cases before the Supreme Court from multiple states to create an opportunity for the court to declare jurisprudence against bans on marriage equality.

Although marriage equality is now in place nationwide, the process is not quite finished because four states have marriage equality only because their individual bans were struck down by the Supreme Court or because the state executive branch has chosen not to enforce a ban that is still on the books. In Mexico's system, these four states need to actually write marriage equality into their laws to comply with the 2015 Supreme Court ruling.

Below is how each state achieved marriage equality to date. The four states that still need to update their legal codes are Aguascalientes, Chiapas, Chihuahua and Guanajuato.

• Aguascalientes (SCJN ruling)
• Baja California (nonenforcement, then legislative passage)
• Baja California Sur (legislative)
• Campeche (legislative)
• Chiapas (SCJN ruling)
• Chihuahua (ban not being enforced)
• Coahuila (legislative)
• Colima (legislative)
• Durango (nonenforcement, then legislative)
• Guanajuato (ban not being enforced)
• Guerrero (legislative)
• Hidalgo (legislative)
• Jalisco (SCJN ruling, then legislative)
• Estado de México (legislative)
• Mexico City (legislative)
• Michoacán (legislative)
• Morelos (legislative)
• Nayarit (legislative)
• Nuevo León (SCJN ruling, then legislative)
• Oaxaca (legislative)
• Puebla (SCJN ruling, then legislative)
• Querétaro (legislative)
• Quintana Roo (administrative ruling that existing law was gender-neutral)
• San Luis Potosí (legislative)
• Sinaloa (legislative)
• Sonora (legislative)
• Tabasco (legislative)
• Tamaulipas (legislative)
• Tlaxcala (legislative)
• Veracruz (SCJN ruling, then legislative)
• Yucatán (legislative)
• Zacatecas (legislative)

In states where bans died via a Supreme Court ruling, here's what happened: When any law is passed in Mexico and takes effect, there is a 30-day window for certain governmental entities to challenge the law with an action of unconstitutionality at the Supreme Court. Starting in 2016, the states were individually targeted with actions of unconstitutionality by human rights commissions immediately after passing various laws that either repeated the man-woman definition of marriage or closely intersected with marriage law (such as laws regarding pensions, health-care benefits or concubinage).

Adoption

Same-sex couples have adoption rights nationwide. The Supreme Court reiterated its jurisprudence in 2016, writing: "ADOPTION. The best interest of the minor is based on the suitability of the adopters, within which are irrelevant the type of family into which [the minor] will be integrated, as well as the sexual orientation or civil status of [the adopters]." ("Adopción. El interés superior del menor de edad se basa en la idoneidad de los adoptantes, dentro de la cual son irrelevantes el tipo de familia al que aquél será integrado, así como la orientación sexual o el estado civil de éstos.")

LGBT Antidiscrimination Laws in the United States

National Equality March, Washington, D.C., October 11, 2009. Photo by Rex Wockner

Last update: March 9, 2022

On June 15, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court banned discrimination in employment based on sexual orientation or gender identity, saying LGBT people are protected by the 1964 Civil Rights Act's ban on workplace sex discrimination.

The 6-3 decision, written by Trump appointee Justice Neil Gorsuch, said: "An employer who fired an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex. Sex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly what Title VII [of the Civil Rights Act] forbids."

Prior to the Supreme Court ruling, job discrimination based on sexual orientation was banned in only 23 of the 50 states and two of the five territories, under state and territory law, and in one more state under a federal appeals court ruling. And job discrimination based on gender identity was banned in 22 states and two territories, under state and territory law, and in four more states under a federal appeals court ruling.

Laws in states and territories

Employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity is banned nationwide by the Supreme Court ruling. LGBT people have additional protections, in the areas of housing and public accommodations, in 24 states.

Twenty-two states prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing and public accommodations: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington. So does the federal district, Washington, D.C.

Wisconsin prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation but not gender identity in employment, housing and public accommodations. Utah prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment and housing but not in public accommodations. Guam and Puerto Rico (U.S. territories) also prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment before the nationwide Supreme Court ruling.

In states with no sexual-orientation or gender-identity protections in the remaining areas of housing and public accommodations, it is common to find protections at the municipal level in large cities and university towns. Local nondiscrimination ordinances, however, sometimes do not have the teeth of state or federal laws.