Marriage in Spain may be contracted via the religious or civil authorities. Minors may not marry unless they are emancipated minors. Both foreigners and Spanish citizens may marry in Spain. [1] Same-sex marriage in Spain has been recognized since 3 July 2005. [2]
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. As of 2022, marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Cuba in September 2022. In Andorra, a law allowing same-sex marriage will come into force on 17 February 2023.
Same-sex marriage in Argentina has been legal since July 22, 2010. A bill to legalize same-sex marriage was passed by the Chamber of Deputies on May 5, 2010, and by the Senate on July 15. President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner gave her assent on July 21, and the law went into effect the following day.
This article contains a timeline of significant events regarding same-sex marriage and legal recognition of same-sex couples worldwide. It begins with the history of same-sex unions during ancient times, which consisted of unions ranging from informal and temporary relationships to highly ritualized unions, and continues to modern-day state-recognized same-sex marriage. Events concerning same-sex marriages becoming legal in a country or in a country's state are listed in bold.
Marriage law refers to the legal requirements that determine the validity of a marriage, and which vary considerably among countries. See also Marriage Act.
The legal status of same-sex marriage has changed in recent years in numerous jurisdictions around the world. The current trends and consensus of political authorities and religions throughout the world are summarized in this article.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Mexico have expanded in recent years, in keeping with worldwide legal trends. The intellectual influence of the French Revolution and the brief French occupation of Mexico (1862–67) resulted in the adoption of the Napoleonic Code, which decriminalized same-sex sexual acts in 1871. Laws against public immorality or indecency, however, have been used to prosecute persons who engage in them.
Same-sex marriage is legally recognized throughout Mexico, though access is uneven at the state and municipal level. Only civil marriages are recognized by Mexican law, and all proceedings fall under state legislation. Since August 2010, same-sex marriages performed anywhere within Mexico are recognized by the 31 states without exception, and fundamental spousal rights also apply to same-sex couples across the country. In June 2015, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation ruled that state bans on same-sex marriage violate the federal constitution. The court's ruling is considered a "jurisprudential thesis" and did not invalidate any state laws, but required judges and courts throughout Mexico to approve all applications for same-sex marriages.
This article summarizes the same-sex marriage laws of states in the United States. Via the case Obergefell v. Hodges on June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States legalized same-sex marriage in a decision that applies nationwide, with the exception of American Samoa and sovereign tribal nations.
Same-sex marriage in Costa Rica has been legal since May 26, 2020 as a result of a ruling by the Supreme Court of Justice. Costa Rica was the first country in Central America to recognize and perform same-sex marriages.
Same-sex marriage in Cuba has been legal since 27 September 2022, after a majority of voters approved the legalization of same-sex marriage at a referendum two days prior. The Constitution of Cuba prohibited same-sex marriage until 2019, and in May 2019 the government announced plans to legalize same-sex marriage. A draft family code containing provisions allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt was approved by the National Assembly of People's Power on 21 December 2021. The text was under public consultation until 6 June 2022, and was approved by the Assembly on 22 July 2022. The measure was approved by two-thirds of voters in a referendum held on 25 September 2022. President Miguel Díaz-Canel signed the new family code into law on 26 September, and it took effect upon publication in the Official Gazette the following day.
Laws regarding incest vary considerably between jurisdictions, and depend on the type of sexual activity and the nature of the family relationship of the parties involved, as well as the age and sex of the parties. Besides legal prohibitions, at least some forms of incest are also socially taboo or frowned upon in most cultures around the world.
Same-sex marriage in Spain has been legal since July 3, 2005. In 2004, the nation's newly elected government, led by Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero of the Socialist Workers' Party, began a campaign to legalize same-sex marriage, including the right of adoption by same-sex couples. After much debate, a law permitting same-sex marriage was passed by the Cortes Generales by a vote of 187–147 on June 30, 2005, and published on July 2. The law took effect the next day, making Spain the third country in the world to allow same-sex couples to marry on a national level, after the Netherlands and Belgium, and 17 days ahead of the right being extended across all of Canada.
Venezuela does not recognize same-sex unions.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) people in American Samoa face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Same-sex sexual activity became legal in the territory in 1980, but same-sex couples are not eligible for the rights and benefits available to different-sex married couples. American Samoa remains the only part of the United States along with select Native American tribal jurisdictions to enforce a ban on same-sex couples marrying.
El Salvador recognizes neither same-sex marriage, civil unions or any other legally recognized union for same-sex couples. A proposal to constitutionally ban same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex couples was rejected twice in 2006, and once again in April 2009 after the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) refused to grant the measure the four votes it needed to be ratified.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Paraguay face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal in Paraguay, but same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for all of the same legal protections available to opposite-sex married couples. Paraguay remains one of the few conservative countries in South America regarding LGBT rights.
The Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges that legalized same-sex marriage in the states and most territories did not legalize same-sex marriage on Indian reservations. In the United States, Congress has legal authority over tribal reservations. Thus, unless Congress passes a law regarding same-sex marriage that is applicable to tribal governments, federally recognized American Indian tribes have the legal right to form their own marriage laws. As such, the individual laws of the various United States federally recognized Native American tribes may set limits on same-sex marriage under their jurisdictions. At least twelve reservations specifically prohibit same-sex marriage and do not recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions; these reservations, alongside American Samoa, remain the only parts of the United States to enforce explicit bans on same-sex couples marrying.
Same-sex marriage in Zacatecas has been legal since 30 December 2021. On 14 December 2021, the Congress of Zacatecas passed a same-sex marriage bill by 18 votes to 10. The legislation was published in the official state gazette on 29 December, and came into force the following day. Prior to statewide legalisation, five municipalities of Zacatecas issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples despite a state ban, comprising about a quarter of the state population. These five municipalities were Zacatecas City, Cuauhtémoc, Villanueva, Miguel Auza and Fresnillo.
This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the year 2020.
Same-sex marriage in Tabasco is currently not legal. Bills to legalize civil unions or same-sex marriage in Tabasco have been proposed numerous times over the past decade, but none have passed the Congress of Tabasco.
