Same-Sex Marriage Now Legal In 30 Countries
Same-sex marriage, which Switzerland approved in a referendum on Sunday, is now legal in 30 countries, but homosexuality remains banned in many parts of the world. Here is an overview of the global situation. On October 1, 1989, for the first time in the world, several gay couples in Denmark tied the knot in legal civil unions. Danish homosexual couples would, however, have to wait until 2012 to be allowed to marry in church. The right to a religious marriage ceremony was first allowed in the Netherlands in 2001. Thirteen European countries followed: Belgium, Britain, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. Austria allowed gay marriage from 2019. In Switzerland, same-sex couples could only register a civil partnership until the parliament approved marriage late last year. Opponents launched a referendum against the decision under Switzerland’s direct democracy system, only to be defeated by Sunday’s vote, in which 64 percent backed same-sex marriage. Some countries allow only civil partnerships for gays, including Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy and Switzerland. The Czech government has backed draft legislation that would make the country the first post-communist member of the European Union to legalize same-sex...
