A Global Look At Gay Marriage
While a number of nations recognize civil unions, only a few countries have passed laws recognizing same-sex marriages:
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In December 2000, the Dutch parliament passed legislation that gave same-sex couples the right to marry, divorce and adopt children. In 2001, the Netherlands became the first country to offer full marriage rights to gay couples.
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Beginning in 1998, the Belgian parliament offered limited rights to same-sex couples by creating registered partnerships. Same-sex couples could register with a city clerk and formally assume joint responsibility for a household. Five years later, in January 2003, parliament legalized same-sex marriage, giving gay and lesbian couples the same tax and inheritance rights as heterosexual couples.
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A closely divided parliament legalized same-sex marriage in 2005, guaranteeing identical rights to all married couples regardless of sexual orientation. The new measure added brief, relatively simple language to the existing marriage statute: "Marriage will have the same requirements and results when the two people entering into the contract are of the same sex or of different sexes."
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In 1999, Canada's governments extended "common law" marriages to gay and lesbian couples. Through a series of court cases beginning in 2003, same-sex marriage gradually became legal in nine of the country's 13 provinces and territories. In 2005, Parliament passed legislation making same-sex marriage legal nationwide. In 2006, an effort to reconsider the issue was defeated, leaving the law unchanged.
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South Africa's parliament legalized same-sex marriage in November 2006, one year after the country's highest court ruled that the existing, more restrictive marriage laws violated the constitution's guarantee of equal rights. The law allows for religious institutions and civil officers to refuse to conduct same-sex marriage ceremonies, a provision that critics claim violates the rights of same-sex couples under the constitution.
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Gay couples in Norway will be granted the
same rights as heterosexuals to marry, adopt and undergo artificial insemination under a new equality law passed June 17, 2008. The law replaces 1993 legislation that gave gays the right to enter civil unions, but did not allow church weddings or adoption. It takes effect Jan. 1, 2009.
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Same-sex marriages will be recognized in Sweden starting May 1, 2009, following the adoption of a new, gender-neutral law on marriage by the Swedish parliament on April 1, 2009. Existing registered partnerships will remain in force, and can be converted to a marriage if the parties so desire, either through a written application or through a formal ceremony. Sweden became the seventh country to open marriage to same sex couples nationwide.
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Credits:
CBS, AP, The Pew Forum On Religion & Public Life
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