Thailand joins dozens of other states to legalize same-sex marriage

By AFP   January 22, 2025 | 06:17 pm PT
Thailand joins dozens of other states to legalize same-sex marriage
People take part in the annual LGBTQ Pride parade in Bangkok, Thailand, June 4, 2023. Photo by Reuters
With Thailand set to become the biggest nation in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage on Thursday, we look at the situation across the globe.

While the right to marry has already been legalized in 37 other UN member states, homosexuality remains banned in many parts of the world.

Europe, gay marriage pioneers

On Oct. 1, 1989, for the first time in the world, several gay couples in Denmark tied the knot in civil unions, giving their relationships a legal standing but falling short of full marriage.

It was the Netherlands that first allowed same-sex marriages in April 2001.

Since then another 21 European states have followed suit: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the principality of Liechtenstein earlier this month.

Some European states have authorized same-sex civil union but without having legalized gay marriage, including Italy, Hungary, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Czech Republic and the principality of Monaco.

Progress in the Americas

Canada was the first American country to authorize same-sex marriage in 2005.

In 2015 the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage nationwide at a time when it was banned in 14 out of 50 states.

However, the United States' first gay marriage actually took place in 1971, when a Minnesota couple obtained a marriage license thanks to a legal loophole.

The marriage was eventually recognized in 2019, after a five-decade legal battle.

In Latin America nine countries allow same-sex marriages: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico and Uruguay.

Bolivia recognizes civil unions between people of the same sex but not marriage.

Taiwan, first in Asia

Taiwan in 2019 became the first Asian territory to allow gay marriage.

Nepal's Supreme Court in 2023 issued an interim order allowing all same-sex and trans couples to register their marriages, and in November that year, an LGBTQ couple acquired a marriage certificate.

Other couples have followed in their footsteps, but the country has not yet passed any official legislation.

Japan is the only G7 member not to authorize marriages or civil unions for all. But several local administrations have begun to officially recognize people of the same sex living together as couples.

Australia (2017) and New Zealand (2013) are the only places in the wider Asia-Pacific region to have passed gay marriage laws.

Vietnam decriminalized gay marriage celebrations in 2015 but stopped short of full legal recognition for same-sex unions.

In the Middle East, where LGBTQ people face grave rights abuses, Israel leads the way, recognizing same-sex marriages that are sealed elsewhere although not allowing such unions in the country itself.

Several countries in the conservative region still have the death penalty for homosexuality, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Africa: one exception

South Africa is the sole nation on the African continent to allow gay marriage, which it legalized in 2006.

Around 30 African countries ban homosexuality, with Mauritania, Somalia and Sudan having the death penalty for same-sex relations.

 
 
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