These are the 38 countries that have legalized marriage equality (in order)
03/19/25
LGBTQ+ celebrations from around the world. 38 countries have legalized marriage equality.
Shutterstock Editorial: MatthieuCattin; berlinpictures16; Alfredo Hernandez Rios; Wut_Moppie; BenjaminCarverIf you were born in 2000 or earlier, you're older than marriage equality in every country.
To date, only 38 nations allow same-sex couples to marry, and none of them did before 2001. From the first in 2001 to the latest in 2025, here are all the countries that have marriage equality, in order of when each law went into effect.
Related: Looking to move abroad? Here are 10 countries LGBTQ+ people could consider
The Netherlands
Pride parade in a canal in Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2023)
Wut_Moppie/Shutterstock
The Netherlands was the first country to legalize marriage equality after the Dutch parliament passed a bill in December, 2000, which went into effect the following April. It had granted same-sex couples legal partnership since 1998.
Belgium
Large rainbow flag in Brussels, Belgium (2023)
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Belgium drew inspiration from the Netherlands and became the second country to legalize marriage equality in June, 2003. The bill was passed by the Senate in November, 2002, then by the Chamber of Representatives in January, 2003, after which it was approved by King Albert II.
Spain
A dancer at an LGBTQ+ Pride parade in Barcelona, Spain (2021)
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Spain became the third country to legalize marriage equality by a vote of 187–147 in June, 2005, despite staunch opposition from the Catholic Church. The law took effect just days later in July.
Canada
Rainbow and Canadian flags on motorcycles at Toronto, Canada Pride (2016)
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As some Canadian provinces began legalizing marriage equality through court cases and legislation in 2003, the federal government was prompted to pass the Civil Marriage Act in 2005. Canada was the first country outside of Europe to allow same-sex couples to marry.
South Africa
Rainbow flags at Pride event in Cape Town, South Africa (2019)
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South Africa passed the Civil Union Act in 2006, becoming the first African country to legalize marriage equality. To this day, it is the only African country to allow same-sex couples to marry.
Norway
LGBTQ+ activists with signs and rainbow flags in Bergen, Norway (2016)
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Norway passed the Gender-Neutral Marriage Act in 2008 which went into effect at the beginning of 2009. The measure granted same-sex couples the right to marry, as well as adopt, and undergo artificial insemination.
Sweden
Rainbow and Swedish flags at Stockholm, Sweden Pride celebration (2024)
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Sweden followed Norway by passing a gender-neutral marriage act in April, 2009, which went into effect the next month. The legislation, which passed in a vote of 261-22, amended the marriage code to define marriage as a union of "two spouses."
Portugal
Pride parade with flags in Lisbon, Portugal (2018)
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Portugal legalized marriage equality in January, 2010, granting same-sex couples rights in marriage, taxes, inheritance and housing, but not in adoption. A separate law allowing adoption was passed in 2016.
Iceland
Rainbow street in Reykjavik, Iceland (2024)
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Iceland would pass a gender-neutral marriage bill one year after Norway and Sweden in June, 2010. There were no votes against the legislation.
Argentina
Balloon float in LGBTQ+ Pride parade in Buenos Aires, Argentina (2023)
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Argentina became the first country in Latin America and the second country in the Americas to legalize marriage equality in July, 2010.
Denmark
Man with rainbow belt and suspenders at Pride in Copenhagan, Denmark (2023)
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Denmark was slightly behind other Nordic countries when it enacted marriage equality legislation in June, 2012. Greenland, which is under Danish control, would not get marriage equality until 2016 when Denmark's parliament passed a separate bill with no votes against.
United Kingdom
Drag queens in car at Pride parade in Canterbury Kent, United Kingdom (2023)
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The British Parliament passed the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act of 2013 in July of that year, legalizing marriage equality for England and Wales. The Scottish Parliament would pass its own legislation in 2014, but Northern Ireland would not legalize marriage equality until 2020.
Brazil
Long rainbow flag at Copacabana beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2014)
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Brazil's National Council of Justice ruled that same-sex couples could not be denied marriage licenses on May 16, 2013, though adoption had been legal since 2010.
France
Rainbow flags under the statue Marianne in Paris, France (2019)
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France passed law no. 2013-404 in 2013, allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt children. The bill was passed on May 18, just two days after Brazil's.
Uruguay
Pride flag in plaza in Montevideo, Uruguay (2022)
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Uruguay passed marriage equality before Brazil and France on May 3, 2013, but the law did not go into effect until after the other countries on August 5, 2013.
New Zealand
Emergency responders in Pride parade in Wellington, New Zealand (2024)
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New Zealand's parliament amended the 1955 Marriage Act with the Definition of Marriage Amendment Act in August, 2013, making it the first country in Oceania to legalize marriage equality.
Luxembourg
LGBTQ+ Pride parade in Esch Sur Alzette, Luxembourg (2023)
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The Luxembourg House of Representatives voted in June, 2014 to legalize marriage equality in a vote 56-4. The law took effect at the beginning of 2015. The Prime Minister married his longtime partner shortly after.
United States
American flags with rainbow stripes outside the White House in Washington D.C., United States (2017)
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Massachusetts became the first state to legalize marriage equality in 2003. Other states following suit would eventually lead to the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing it nationally, Obergefell v. Hodges. Congress later passed the Respect for Marriage Act in 2022, which was signed by President Joe Biden that December.
Ireland
Drag queens and trans flags on a float in Dublin, Ireland LGBTQ+ Pride parade (2022)
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Ireland was the first country to legalize marriage equality through a national referendum in May, 2015, in which 62 percent voted in favor. The constitutional change later went into effect August.
Colombia
Rainbow flag in front of Bogota, Colombia city center (2021)
MatthieuCattin/Shutterstock
Colombia's Constitutional Court ruled 6-3 in April, 2016 to legalize marriage equality after several years of waiting for the nation's Congress to approve same-sex unions. The court initially ruled in June, 2011 that if Congress failed to do so within two years, same-sex couples would have the right to ask judges and notaries to “formalize and solemnize” their “contractual relationships.”
Finland
LGBTQ+ Pride in Helsinki Senate Square, Finland (2019)
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Finland was the last Nordic country to legalize marriage equality after over 167,000 citizens signed a petition in support of it. Despite the Finnish Parliament approving the legislation in 2014, the law would not go into effect until 2017.
Malta
Diversity banner at LGBTQ+ Pride in Valletta, Malta (2022)
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There was only one vote against the Marriage Act and other Laws (Amendment) to make marriage equality legal in Malta, compared to 66 in favor. The bill was signed into law by President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca in August, 2017, and went into effect a month later.
Germany
Brandenburg Gate lit in rainbow colors in Berlin, Germany (2016)
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The German parliament voted 393-226 to approve a bill granting same-sex couples the right to marry and adopt in June, 2017. The law went into effect at the beginning of October that year.
Australia
Marriage equality sign at rally in Brisbane, Australia (2015)
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Australia's government voted to redefine marriage in the 1961 Marriage Act as "a union of two people" in 2017. The decision came after the government sent out a survey asking if same-sex couples should be allowed to marry, which over 80 percent of eligible voters responded to, and 61.6 percent of participants voted "yes."
Austria
Pride march in Vienna, Austria (2024)
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Austria's Constitutional Court voted to legalize marriage equality in December, 2017. The ruling would not go into effect until over a year later at the start of 2019.
Taiwan
Marriage equality rally outside Presidential Office Buildingin Taiwan (2016)
weniliou/Shutterstock
Taiwan courts issued a landmark ruling affirming marriage equality in 2017, which the legislature would approve in May, 2019. The country was the first in Asia to allow same-sex couples to marry.
Ecuador
LGBTQ+ Pride parade in Quito, Ecuador (2011)
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Ecuador's Constitutional Court upheld marriage equality in June, 2019 after two same-sex couples challenged a law that only permitted civil unions.
Costa Rica
LGBTQ+ festival on a beach in Puntarenas, Costa Rica (2024)
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The Supreme Court of Justice of Costa Rica nullified the sections of the nation's Family Code in August, 2018 after determining them to be unconstitutional. The Legislative Assembly was given 18 months to rewrite the law, and marriage equality was finally enacted in May, 2020.
Chile
Santiago de Chile March for LGBTQ+ Pride (2022)
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President Sebastián Piñera announced his intent to sponsor a marriage equality bill in June, 2021, which led to legislation being approved and taking effect shortly after in March, 2022. This also undid the requirement that married transgender people must divorce in order to legally change their gender.
Switzerland
Pride parade in Lugano, Switzerland (2018)
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Switzerland followed Ireland's lead and legalized marriage equality in a referendum that earned 64.1 percent of vote in September, 2021. It also protected adoption and in vitro fertilization.
Slovenia
Rainbow flag outside of city hall building in Ljubljana, Slovenia (2016)
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Slovenia was the first post-communist nation to legalize marriage equality when a Constitutional Court ruled that the country's previous ban was unconstitutional. The decision, made July 8, 2022, came into effect the next day.
Cuba
LGBTQ+ Pride parade in Havana, Cuba (2018)
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Voters in Cuba approved marriage equality with a referendum in September, 2022. It had the highest percentage of any referendum involving marriage equality at 66.9 percent.
Mexico
Men in cowboy hats and blue shirts shoot off rainbow smoke flares in front of Mexico City monument (2024)
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Marriage equality became legal in all of Mexico's states in October, 2022 after Tamaulipas became the last of the country's 32 states to pass legislation allowing same-sex couples to marry. The country's supreme court ruled in 2015 that state laws that prohibited marriage equality were unconstitutional, but some states took several years to implement the ruling.
Andorra
Rainbow bench in the city center of Andorra la Vella
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Marriage equality became legal in Andorra in February, 2023, seven months after the General Council voted to expand the rights of same-sex couples to include civil marriage and over nine years after it first allowed civil unions in December, 2014.
Estonia
Annual Baltic LGBTQ+ Pride festival in Tallinn Estonia (2023)
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Estonia's parliament voted in favor of marriage equality in June, 2023, becoming the first post-Soviet Union country to allow same-sex couples to marry. The law went into effect January, 2024.
Greece
Giant rainbow flag at march in Thessaloniki, Greece (2015)
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Greece became the first Orthodox Christian country to legalize marriage equality and adoption in February, 2024. The local church on the island of Corfu announced after it would deny communion and other religious ceremonies to the lawmakers who voted in favor.
Liechtenstein
Eschen Liechtenstein border sign (2022)
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There was only one vote against the bill legalizing marriage equality in Liechtenstein's parliament, compared to 24 in favor. The law was passed in May, 2024, and went into effect at the start of 2025.
Thailand
Two brides in Bangkok, Thailand (2023)
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After it was approved by parliament, a marriage equality bill was signed into law by Thailand's King in September, 2024, and went into effect in January, 2025. It was Southeast Asia’s first country to allow same-sex couples to marry.
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