Europe gay marriage laws

Paris — The first-ever gay civil unions in Denmark 30 years ago paved the way for full same-sex marriages that are today allowed in 28 countries, even though homosexuality remains illegal in some parts of the world. On October 1, , for the first time in the world, several gay couples in Denmark tied the knot in legal civil unions. Danish homosexual couples would however have to wait until to be allowed to marry in church. The Czech government has backed draft legislation that would make the country the first post-communist member of the European Union to legalise same-sex marriage, but its fate is uncertain. Slovenia also allows civil partnerships but in rejected in a referendum a proposal to legalise gay marriage.

A growing number of governments around the world are considering whether to grant legal recognition to same-sex marriages. So far, 30 countries and territories have enacted national laws allowing gays and lesbians to marry, mostly in Europe and the Americas. In Mexico, some jurisdictions allow same-sex couples to wed, while others do not. Below is a list of countries that have legalized the practice, with the most recent countries to do so shown first. Northern Ireland had been the last part of the UK where same-sex marriage was banned; England and Wales moved to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed in and Scotland followed in see below.

Societies have resolved the intertwined issues of sexuality, reproduction, and marriage in myriad ways. Their responses regarding the morality , desirability, and administrative perquisites of same-sex partnerships have been equally diverse. Notably, however, by the beginning of the 21st century most countries opted for one of only three legal resolutions to these intersecting problems: to ignore same-sex partnerships, to criminalize them, or to grant them a status similar or equal to that of heterosexual marriage.

Same-sex sexual activity is legal in all EU states and discrimination in employment has been banned since However EU states have different laws when it comes to any greater protection, same-sex civil union , same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex couples. The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union makes in Articles 10 and 19 provisions for combating discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.