Celebrating 5 Years Of Marriage Equality In The US

It was five years ago today that the U.S. Supreme Court issued its historic ruling, Obergefell v. Hodges, making same-sex marriage legal across the entire United States. In light of the happy occasion, I thought it would be a good idea to take a look back at how marriage equality has spread across the globe. Currently, 32 countries recognize same-sex marriage. On September 12, 2000, The Netherlands became the first nation on the planet to legalize marriage equality. On April 1, 2001, the day the law went into effect, the world watched as four same-sex couples exchanged marriage vows in a ceremony officiated by the mayor of Amsterdam. In July 2010, Argentina led the way in South America after several cities including Buenos Aires had allowed gays and lesbians to enter into civil unions. While Denmark made marriage equality legal in 2012, it’s worth noting they were the first country in the world to recognize same-sex couples as domestic partners.

In 2015, Ireland became the first country to legalize same-sex marriage via popular vote. Until then, other countries came to marriage equality via court ruling or legislation. In 2019, Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalize marriage equality. Last month, Costa Rica became the first nation in Central America to recognize same-sex marriage. Here are the 32 countries (so far) that have legalized same-sex marriage (in chronological order): The Netherlands Belgium Spain Canada South Africa Norway Sweden Argentina Portugal Iceland Denmark Uruguay Brazil New Zealand England Wales France Luxembourg Scotland United States Ireland Finland Greenland Colombia Malta Australia Germany Austria Taiwan Ecuador Northern Ireland Costa Rica (source: ABC News)