States that approve gay marriage

A growing number of governments around the world are considering whether to grant legal recognition to same-sex marriages. So far, 30 countries and territories have enacted national laws allowing gays and lesbians to marry, mostly in Europe and the Americas. In Mexico, some jurisdictions allow same-sex couples to wed, while others do not. Below is a list of countries that have legalized the practice, with the most recent countries to do so shown first. Northern Ireland had been the last part of the UK where same-sex marriage was banned; England and Wales moved to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed in and Scotland followed in see below.

Same-sex marriage in the United States expanded from one state in to all fifty states in through various state court rulings, state legislation, direct popular votes, and federal court rulings. Same-sex marriage is also referred to as gay marriage , while the political status in which the marriages of same-sex couples and the marriages of opposite-sex couples are recognized as equal by the law is referred to as marriage equality. The fifty states each have separate marriage laws , which must adhere to rulings by the Supreme Court of the United States that recognize marriage as a fundamental right that is guaranteed by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution , as first established in the landmark civil rights case of Loving v. Civil rights campaigning in support of marriage without distinction as to sex or sexual orientation began in the s. Nelson saw the Supreme Court of the United States decline to become involved.

CNN Not too long ago, the question was what states would be among the first to allow same-sex marriages. Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds. Photos: Same-sex marriage in the U. Carlos McKnight of Washington waves a flag in support of same-sex marriage outside the U.

Washington, DC legalized gay marriage on Mar. Francis, Hugo M. Are people born gay? Pros and cons in debate over origin of sexual orientation 3. Proper citation depends on your preferred or required style manual.