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Several countries in the Americas grant legal recognition to same-sex unions, with almost 85 percent of people in both North America and South America living in jurisdictions providing marriage rights to same-sex couples.
In North America, same-sex marriages are recognized and performed without restrictions in Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico, and the United States. [nb 1]
Same-sex marriages are also performed in the Dutch territories of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, the Danish autonomous territory of Greenland, and in all French overseas departments and collectivities (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin and Saint Pierre and Miquelon). Furthermore, Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten recognize same-sex marriages performed in the Netherlands, and Aruba also performs registered partnerships. The British Territories of Bermuda and the Cayman Islands also perform civil partnerships.
In South America, same-sex marriages are recognized and performed without restrictions in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Uruguay as well as the jurisdictions of French Guiana, the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Free unions that are equivalent to marriage have begun to be recognized in Bolivia.
On 8 January 2018, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) ruled that the American Convention on Human Rights mandates and requires the legalization of same-sex marriage. The landmark ruling was fully binding on Costa Rica and set a "binding precedent" in the other signatory countries. The Court recommended that governments issue temporary decrees legalizing same-sex marriage until new legislation is brought in. The ruling applies to Barbados, Bolivia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Suriname. The Supreme Courts of Honduras, [1] Panama, [2] Peru [3] and Suriname [4] have rejected the IACHR ruling, while the Supreme Courts of Costa Rica and Ecuador adhered to it.
Status | Country | Legal since | Country population (Last count, 2015 est.) |
---|---|---|---|
Marriage (11 countries) | Argentina | 2010 [5] | 43,590,400 |
Brazil | 2013 [6] | 205,574,000 | |
Canada | 2005 [7] | 35,819,000 | |
Chile | 2022 [8] [9] | 18,191,900 | |
Colombia | 2016 [10] | 48,509,200 | |
Costa Rica | 2020 [11] | 4,851,000 | |
Cuba | 2022 [12] | 11,252,000 | |
Mexico | 2022 [13] | 121,006,000 | |
Ecuador | 2019 [14] | 16,278,844 | |
United States | 2015 [15] [16] | 321,234,000 | |
Uruguay | 2013 [17] | 3,480,222 | |
Subtotal | — | — | 829,786,566 (84.62% of the American population) |
Other form of recognition † Country subject to IACHR ruling on same-sex marriage | Bolivia † (free unions officially recognised starting in 2020; nationwide since 2023) | 2023 [18] | 10,985,059 |
Subtotal | — | — | 10,985,059 (1.12% of the American population) |
Total | — | — | 840,771,625 (85.74% of the American population) |
No recognition (19 countries) † Country subject to IACHR ruling on same-sex marriage | Homosexuality is legal | ||
Antigua and Barbuda | — | 89,000 | |
Bahamas | — | 379,000 | |
Barbados † | — | 283,000 | |
Belize | — | 369,000 | |
Dominica | — | 71,000 | |
El Salvador † | — | 6,460,000 | |
Guatemala † | — | 16,176,000 | |
Haiti † | — | 10,994,000 | |
Nicaragua † | — | 6,514,000 | |
Panama † | — | 3,764,000 | |
Peru † | — | 31,488,700 | |
Saint Kitts and Nevis | — | 46,000 | |
Suriname † | — | 534,189 | |
Trinidad and Tobago | — | 1,357,000 | |
Venezuela | — | 31,648,930 | |
Homosexuality is illegal but legislation is not enforced | |||
Guyana | — | 746,900 | |
Saint Lucia | — | 172,000 | |
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | — | 110,000 | |
Homosexuality is illegal | |||
Grenada | — | 104,000 | |
Subtotal | — | — | 111,306,719 (11.35% of the American population) |
Constitutional ban on marriage (5 countries) ** Homosexuality is illegal † Country subject to IACHR ruling on same-sex marriage | Dominican Republic † | 2010 [19] | 9,980,000 |
Honduras † | 2005 [20] [21] | 8,950,000 | |
Jamaica** | 2011 [22] | 2,729,000 | |
Paraguay † | 1992 [23] | 6,854,536 | |
Subtotal | — | — | 28,513,536 (2.91% of the American population) |
Total | — | — | 139,820,255 (14.26% of the American population) |
On 9 January 2018, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued an advisory opinion that states party to the American Convention on Human Rights must grant same-sex couples accession to all existing domestic legal systems of family registration, including marriage, along with all rights that derive from marriage. The opinion was issued after the Government of Costa Rica sought clarification of its obligations to LGBT people under the convention. [80] The opinion sets precedent for all 23 member states, 19 of which did not recognize same-sex marriage at the time of the ruling: Barbados, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Grenada, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Suriname. Of these, all but Dominica, Grenada and Jamaica recognize the jurisdiction of the Court. [81] However, states must each individually apply the ruling before it takes effect.
Venezuela: In October 2020, President Nicolás Maduro called on Congress to debate a same-sex marriage bill. [82] On 24 February 2022, Vanessa Robertazzo, deputy of the opposition Cambiemos Movimiento Ciudadano party, introduced a same-sex marriage bill to the National Assembly. [83]
Aruba and Curaçao : The opposition Accion21 party introduced a bill to allow same-sex marriage in Parliament in June 2021. On 6 December 2022, the Joint Court of Justice of Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten ruled that the ban on same-sex marriage in Aruba and Curaçao was unlawful discrimination. The effect of the ruling is stayed pending appeal and cassation. [84]
British Overseas Territories : In July 2022, Labour Party Peer Lord Michael Cashman introduced a private member's bill in the House of Lords that would compel governors of each of the six British Overseas Territories where same-sex marriage is not currently legal (Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, and Turks and Caicos) to pass laws legalizing it. The territories are also bound by the European Convention on Human Rights to pass laws legalizing some form of same-sex union, although to date only Bermuda and Cayman Islands have done so. [85]
Honduras: In May 2022, the deputy of the Libertad y Refundación Party, Manuel Rodríguez, presented a bill in congress to legalize same-sex marriage. [86]
Peru: Congressman Alejandro Cavero has introduced a bill to allow same-sex civil unions that will not allow adoption, but it has not been brought up for debate in the justice committee. [87]
Country | Pollster | Year | For | Against | Neutral [lower-alpha 1] | Margin of error | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Antigua and Barbuda | AmericasBarometer | 2017 | 12% | - | - | [88] | |
Argentina | Ipsos | 2023 | 70% | 16% [8% support some rights] | 14% not sure | ±3.5% | [89] |
Aruba | 2021 | 46% | [90] | ||||
Bahamas | AmericasBarometer | 2014 | 11% | - | - | [91] | |
Belize | AmericasBarometer | 2014 | 8% | - | - | [91] | |
Bolivia | AmericasBarometer | 2017 | 35% | - | - | [88] | |
Brazil | Ipsos | 2023 | 51% | 29% [15% support some rights] | 20% not sure | ±3.5% [lower-alpha 2] | [89] |
Canada | Ipsos | 2023 | 69% | 17% [7% support some rights] | 15% not sure | ±3.5% | [89] |
Chile | Ipsos | 2023 | 65% | 24% [18% support some rights] | 12% | ±3.5% | [89] |
Colombia | Ipsos | 2023 | 49% | 33% [21% support some rights] | 18% | [89] | |
Costa Rica | CIEP | 2018 | 35% | 64% | 1% | [92] | |
Cuba | Gallup | 2019 | 63.1% | 36.9% | [93] | ||
Dominica | AmericasBarometer | 2017 | 10% | - | - | [88] | |
Dominican Republic | CDN 37 | 2018 | 45% | 55% | - | [94] | |
Ecuador | AmericasBarometer | 2019 | 22.9% | 51.3% | 25.8% | [95] | |
El Salvador | Universidad Francisco Gavidia | 2021 | 82.5% | [96] | |||
Grenada | AmericasBarometer | 2017 | 12% | - | - | [88] | |
Guatemala | AmericasBarometer | 2017 | 23% | - | - | [88] | |
Guyana | AmericasBarometer | 2017 | 21% | - | - | [91] | |
Haiti | AmericasBarometer | 2017 | 5% | - | - | [88] | |
Honduras | CID Gallup | 2018 | 17% | 75% | 8% | [97] | |
Jamaica | AmericasBarometer | 2017 | 16% | - | - | [88] | |
Mexico | Ipsos | 2023 | 58% | 28% [17% support some rights] | 14% not sure | ±4.8% [lower-alpha 2] | [89] |
Nicaragua | AmericasBarometer | 2017 | 25% | - | - | [88] | |
Panama | AmericasBarometer | 2017 | 22% | - | - | [88] | |
Paraguay | AmericasBarometer | 2017 | 26% | - | - | [88] | |
Peru | Ipsos | 2023 | 41% | 40% [24% support some rights] | 19% | ±3.5% [lower-alpha 2] | [89] |
Saint Kitts and Nevis | AmericasBarometer | 2017 | 9% | - | - | [88] | |
Saint Lucia | AmericasBarometer | 2017 | 11% | - | - | [88] | |
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | AmericasBarometer | 2017 | 4% | - | - | [88] | |
Suriname | AmericasBarometer | 2014 | 18% | - | - | [91] | |
Trinidad and Tobago | AmericasBarometer | 2014 | 16% | - | - | [91] | |
United States | Marquette | 2022 | 72% | 28% | – | [98] | |
Selzer | 2022 | 74% (83%) | 13% (17%) | 13% not sure | [99] [100] | ||
Quinnipiac | 2022 | 68% (77%) | 22% (23%) | 10% | [101] | ||
Ipsos | 2023 | 54% | 31% [14% support some rights] | 15% not sure | ±3.5% | [89] | |
Uruguay | Equipos Consultores | 2019 | 59% | 28% | 13% | [102] | |
Venezuela | Equilibrium Cende | 2023 | 55% (63%) | 32% (37%) | 13% | [103] |
Country | Pollster | Year | For | Against | Neutral [lower-alpha 1] | Margin of error | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aguascalientes | INEGI | 2017 | - | 35.9% | - | [104] | |
Baja California | INEGI | 2017 | - | 30.7% | - | [104] | |
Baja California Sur | INEGI | 2017 | - | 42.1% | - | [104] | |
Bermuda | OUTBermuda | 2020 | 53% | 35% | 11% | [105] | |
Campeche | INEGI | 2017 | - | 56.1% | - | [104] | |
Chiapas | INEGI | 2017 | - | 58.7% | - | [104] | |
Chihuahua | INEGI | 2017 | - | 36.4% | - | [104] | |
Coahuila | INEGI | 2017 | - | 46.8% | - | [104] | |
Colima | INEGI | 2017 | - | 39.2% | - | [104] | |
Durango | INEGI | 2017 | - | 38.8% | - | [104] | |
Guanajuato | INEGI | 2017 | - | 38.7% | - | [104] | |
Guerrero | INEGI | 2017 | - | 54% | - | [104] | |
Hidalgo | INEGI | 2017 | - | 41.7% | - | [104] | |
Jalisco | INEGI | 2017 | - | 34.2% | - | [104] | |
Mexico City | INEGI | 2017 | - | 28.6% | - | [104] | |
Michoacán | INEGI | 2017 | - | 46% | - | [104] | |
Morelos | INEGI | 2017 | - | 38.5% | - | [104] | |
Nayarit | INEGI | 2017 | - | 38.8% | - | [104] | |
Nuevo León | INEGI | 2017 | - | 44.4% | - | [104] | |
Oaxaca | INEGI | 2017 | - | 52.2% | - | [104] | |
Puebla | INEGI | 2017 | - | 37.1% | - | [104] | |
Puerto Rico | Pew Research Center | 2014 | 33% | 55% | 12% | [106] | |
Querétaro | INEGI | 2017 | - | 32.4% | - | [104] | |
Quintana Roo | INEGI | 2017 | - | 37.9% | - | [104] | |
San Luis Potosí | INEGI | 2017 | - | 38.6% | - | [104] | |
Sinaloa | INEGI | 2017 | - | 37.7% | - | [104] | |
Sonora | INEGI | 2017 | - | 31.4% | - | [104] | |
State of Mexico | INEGI | 2017 | - | 33.8% | - | [104] | |
Tabasco | INEGI | 2017 | - | 56.5% | - | [104] | |
Tamaulipas | INEGI | 2017 | - | 44.4% | - | [104] | |
Tlaxcala | INEGI | 2017 | - | 43.9% | - | [104] | |
Veracruz | INEGI | 2017 | - | 54.3% | - | [104] | |
Yucatán | INEGI | 2017 | - | 43% | - | [104] | |
Zacatecas | INEGI | 2017 | - | 37.4% | - | [104] |
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Chile since 10 March 2022. In June 2021, President Sebastián Piñera announced that his government would sponsor a bill to legalize same-sex marriage. The Senate of Chile passed the legislation on 21 July 2021, and the Chamber of Deputies gave its approval on 23 November 2021. Disagreements on some aspects of the bill led to the formation of a mixed commission to discuss it. Both chambers of the National Congress approved an identical version of the bill on 7 December 2021. President Piñera signed the legislation into law on 9 December, and it was published in the Diario Oficial de la República de Chile on 10 December. The law took effect 90 days later, with the first same-sex marriages taking place on 10 March 2022. Chile was the sixth country in South America and the 29th in the world to allow same-sex couples to marry.
Same-sex marriage is legally recognized and performed throughout Mexico since 31 December 2022. On 10 August 2010 the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation ruled that same-sex marriages performed anywhere within Mexico must be recognized by the 31 states without exception, and fundamental spousal rights except for adoption have also applied to same-sex couples across the country. Mexico was the fifth country in North America and the 33rd worldwide to allow same-sex couples to marry nationwide.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Colombia since 28 April 2016 in accordance with a 6–3 ruling from the Constitutional Court of Colombia that banning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional under the Constitution of Colombia. The decision took effect immediately, and made Colombia the fourth country in South America to legalize same-sex marriage, after Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. The first same-sex marriage was performed in Cali on 24 May 2016. Colombia has also recognised same-sex de facto unions, providing some of the rights and benefits of marriage, since 2007.
Laws governing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights are complex and diverse in the Americas, and acceptance of LGBT persons varies widely.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Ecuador since 8 July 2019 in accordance with a Constitutional Court ruling issued on 12 June 2019 that the ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional under the Constitution of Ecuador. The ruling took effect upon publication in the government gazette on 8 July. Ecuador became the fifth country in South America to allow same-sex couples to marry, after Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Colombia, but adoption by married couples remains restricted to opposite-sex couples. The country has also recognized same-sex civil unions since 2008.
Venezuela does not recognize same-sex unions. In 2008, the Supreme Tribunal of Justice ruled that the Constitution of Venezuela neither prohibits nor requires the recognition of same-sex marriage. In January 2015, a lawsuit seeking to legalise same-sex marriage in Venezuela was filed with the Supreme Tribunal, which announced in April 2016 that it would hear the case, though no decision has been made as of August 2023. On 24 February 2022, a deputy of the opposition Cambiemos Movimiento Ciudadano party introduced a same-sex marriage bill to the National Assembly.
Same-sex marriage is legal in the following countries: Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Uruguay.
El Salvador does not recognize same-sex marriage, civil unions or any other legal 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.
Same-sex marriage is legal in the following countries: Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Nepal, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Uruguay. Same-sex marriage is recognized, but not performed in Israel. Furthermore, same-sex marriages performed in the Netherlands are recognized in Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Morelos since 5 July 2016. A bill to amend the State Constitution to legalize same-sex marriage in Morelos passed Congress on 18 May 2016 by 20 votes to 6. Ratification by a majority of the state's 33 municipalities was confirmed on 27 June 2016. The law was published in the official state gazette on 4 July 2016 and took effect the following day.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Querétaro since 13 November 2021. On 22 September 2021, the state Congress passed a law legalizing same-sex marriage in Querétaro. The law was published in the state's official gazette on 12 November, and took effect the following day. Previously, same-sex couples could marry in eight of the eighteen municipalities of Querétaro, comprising 60% of the state's population, despite a state law prohibiting same-sex marriage.
Same-sex marriage is legal in Puebla in accordance with a ruling from the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation. On 1 August 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that the same-sex marriage ban containted in the state's Civil Code violated Articles 1 and 4 of the Constitution of Mexico, legalizing same-sex marriage in the state of Puebla. The ruling was officially published in the Official Journal of the Federation on 16 February 2018.
Same-sex unions are currently not recognized in Honduras. Since 2005, the Constitution of Honduras has explicitly banned same-sex marriage. In January 2022, the Supreme Court dismissed a challenge to this ban, but a request for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to review whether the ban violates the American Convention on Human Rights is pending. A same-sex marriage bill was introduced to Congress in May 2022.
Same-sex marriage is legal in Nuevo León is legal in accordance with a ruling from the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation on 19 February 2019 that the state's ban on same-sex marriage violated the Constitution of Mexico. The ruling came into effect on 31 May 2019 upon publication in the Official Journal of the Federation. By statute, in Mexico, if any five rulings from the courts on a single issue result in the same outcome, legislatures are bound to change the law. In the case of Nuevo León, almost 20 individual amparos were decided with the same outcome, yet the state did not act. On 19 February 2019, the Supreme Court issued a definitive ruling in an action of unconstitutionality, declaring the state's same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional, void and unenforceable. Same-sex marriage was codified into law by the Nuevo León Congress on 14 June 2023.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Zacatecas 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.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Hidalgo since 11 June 2019. A bill for the legalization of same-sex marriages in Hidalgo was approved by the state Congress on 14 May 2019. It was published in the official state journal on 10 June and took effect the following day.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in San Luis Potosí since 21 May 2019. The state Congress approved a bill to legalize same-sex marriage on 16 May 2019. It was signed into law by Governor Juan Manuel Carreras on 17 May and published in the official state journal on 20 May. The law took effect the following day, legalizing same-sex marriage in San Luis Potosí.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Yucatán since 4 March 2022. On 25 August 2021, the Congress of Yucatán removed a constitutional ban on same-sex marriages. The new law entered into force on 7 September 2021. Congress had 180 days to change statutory law to accommodate same-sex marriage, and did so unanimously on 1 March. The law took effect three days later, and made Yucatán the 25th Mexican state to legalize same-sex marriage.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Tabasco since 27 October 2022. A bill to legalise same-sex marriage was passed by the Congress of Tabasco on 19 October 2022. It was signed by Governor Carlos Manuel Merino Campos, and published in the official state journal on 26 October, taking effect the next day. Tabasco was the fourth-to-last state in Mexico to legalize same-sex marriage.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Tamaulipas since 19 November 2022. On 26 October 2022, the Congress of Tamaulipas passed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in a 23–12 vote. The bill was published in the official state journal on 18 November, and took effect the following day. Tamaulipas was the second-to-last state in Mexico to legalize same-sex marriage.
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: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)Solid majorities across both parties agree that... marrying someone of the same sex...are rights that should be guaranteed to all citizens...