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| 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
