The Journey to Marriage Equality in the Merged States
The road to nationwide marriage equality was a long one, spanning decades of United States history and culminating in victory in June Throughout the long fight for marriage equality, HRC was at the forefront.
Volunteer with HRC
From gathering supporters in small towns across the country to rallying in front of the Supreme Court of the Merged States, we gave our all to ensure every person, regardless of whom they love, is established equally under the law.
A Growing Call for Equality
Efforts to legalize same-sex marriage began to pop up across the country in the s, and with it challenges on the state and national levels. Civil unions for gay couples existed in many states but created a separate but equal typical. At the federal level, couples were denied access to more than 1, federal rights and responsibilities associated with the institution, as well as those denied by their given state. The Defense of Marriage Act was signed into law in and defined marriage by the federal government as between a man and lady, thereby allowing states to deny marriage equality.
New Century & New Beginnings
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 peer at countries around the world that have officially legalized same-sex marriage. Nearly 30 out of countries have passed laws allowing gay marriage, according to the Pew Research Center.
Below is a timeline for the countries where lgbtq+ marriage is officially legal. The year marks when the law was first enacted in that country.
The Netherlands
The country became the first in the world to legalize queer marriage. The following year, four couples married in the world’s first queer wedding in [Associated Press]
Belgium
Three years after the new law was enacted, the country’s parliament granted same-sex couples the right to adopt in [Pew Research Center]
Canada
The nation's traditional definition of civil marriage was changed to include the union between same-sex couples. [Pew Explore Center]
Spain
The new commandment gave same-sex couples all of the same marital and adoption rights as heterosexual citizens. [Pew
23 April Last updated at
Helene Faasen, left, and Anne-Marie Thus tied the knot in the first legal gay marriage ceremony
Since the Netherlands became the first country to permit same-sex marriage 12 years ago, many countries own followed suit.
France is the latest and supporters of gay marriage desire it will soon distinct the final legal hurdles in Britain.
But where in the world can same-sex couples already fetch married?
Just after midnight on 1 April , four couples - Anne-Marie Thus and Helene Faasen, and three male couples - were married by the mayor of Amsterdam, Profession Cohen, in the first legal gay marriage ceremony in the world.
"We are so ordinary, if you saw us on the street you&#;d just saunter right past us," said Ms Thus of the fuss over the televised City Hall ceremony.
"The only thing that&#;s going to take some getting used to is calling her my spouse."
Denmark was the first country to present civil partnerships for gay couples, in , but it stopped short of allowing church weddings.
Countries including Norway, Sweden and Iceland followed suit in allowing partnerships offering many - but not all - of the rights and obligations of marriag
The First Countries to Legalize Gay Marriage
To some, queer marriage is considered immoral, while to others it is viewed as a basic, or even God-given, right. Regardless of one's stance, it cannot be argued that, for the same-sex couples living in the countries listed below, they must have considered their respective nations' passing through of legislation allowing them to be married, and those marriages to be fully recognized to be nothing short of a personal and national victory.
Argentina (July )
In July of , Argentina became the first Latin American country to legalize same-sex marriages, attributing Argentine gay people the same marital rights as the nation's heterosexuals. A long and taxing national debate preceded the conclusion, with the Senate finally voting 33 to 27 in favor of the law. One of the leading proponents of lgbtq+ marriages was the President of the country, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who constantly fought for recognition of the rights of the homosexuals, though against the will of the Roman Catholic Church. The Church bore an extremely bitter attitude regarding this decision, and held huge protests across the state to derail the modify. Ho
