Same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal sex. As of 2024, marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 36 countries,[1][2][3] with a total population of 1.3 billion people (17% of the world's population). The most recent country to legalise same-sex marriage is Greece.[4]

Adoption rights are not necessarily covered, though most states with same-sex marriage allow those couples to jointly adopt as other married couples can. In contrast, 35 countries (as of 2023) have definitions of marriage in their constitutions that prevent marriage between couples of the same sex, most enacted in recent decades as a preventative measure. Some other countries have constitutionally mandated Islamic law, which is generally interpreted as prohibiting marriage between same-sex couples. In six of the former and most of the latter, homosexuality itself is criminalized. It is legally recognized in a large majority of the world's developed democracies; notable exceptions are Italy, Japan, South Korea and the Czech Republic. It is not yet recognized in any of the world's Islamic polities. Some countries, such as China and Russia, restrict advocacy for same-sex marriage.[5][6]

There are records of marriage between men dating back to the first century.[7] The first same-sex couple to be married legally in modern times were Michael McConnell and Jack Baker in 1971 in the United States; they were married in the county of Blue Earth County, Minnesota.[8] The first law providing for marriage equality between same-sex and opposite-sex couples was passed in the continental Netherlands in 2000 and took effect on 1 April 2001.[9] The application of marriage law equally to same-sex and opposite-sex couples has varied by jurisdiction, and has come about through legislative change to marriage law, court rulings based on constitutional guarantees of equality, recognition that marriage of same-sex couples is allowed by existing marriage law, and by direct popular vote, such as through referendums and initiatives.[10][11] The most prominent supporters of same-sex marriage are the world's major medical and scientific communities,[12][13][14] along with human rights and civil rights organizations,[15] while its most prominent opponents are religious fundamentalist groups.[16] Polls consistently show continually rising support for the recognition of same-sex marriage in all developed democracies and in many developing countries.

Scientific studies show that the financial, psychological, and physical well-being of gay people are enhanced by marriage, and that the children of same-sex parents benefit from being raised by married same-sex couples within a marital union that is recognized by law and supported by societal institutions. Social science research indicates that the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage stigmatizes and invites public discrimination against gay and lesbian people, with research repudiating the notion that either civilization or viable social orders depend upon restricting marriage to heterosexuals.[17][18][19] Same-sex marriage can provide those in committed same-sex relationships with relevant government services and make financial demands on them comparable to that required of those in opposite-sex marriages, and also gives them legal protections such as inheritance and hospital visitation rights.[20] Opposition is based on claims such as that homosexuality is unnatural and abnormal, that the recognition of same-sex unions will promote homosexuality in society, and that children are better off when raised by opposite-sex couples. These claims are refuted by scientific studies, which show that homosexuality is a natural and normal variation in human sexuality, that sexual orientation is not a choice, and that children of same-sex couples fare just as well as the children of opposite-sex couples.[12]

  1. ^ "Grecia: il Parlamento approva matrimoni e adozioni per le coppie gay". Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  2. ^ "Same-Sex Marriage Around the World". Pew Research Center. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  3. ^ "Marriage Equality Around the World". Human Rights Campaign. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  4. ^ "Greece legalises same-sex marriage". Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  5. ^ VERPOEST, LIEN (2017). "The End of Rhetorics: LGBT policies in Russia and the European Union". Studia Diplomatica. 68 (4): 3–20. ISSN 0770-2965. JSTOR 26531664.
  6. ^ Huang, Wen (4 January 2001). "Gayness as a Western disease". Bay Area Reporter. Vol. 31, no. 1. Center for Bibliographical Studies and Research. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  7. ^ Williams, CA., Roman Homosexuality: Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 2009, p. 280, p. 284.
  8. ^ William N. Eskridg Jr. and Christopher R. Riano, "Marriage Equality: From Outlaws to In-Laws", Yale University Press (2020), Chapter 24.
  9. ^ Winter, Caroline (4 December 2014). "In 14 years, same-sex marriage has spread round the world". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 13 January 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  10. ^ "Same-sex Oklahoma couple marries legally under tribal law". KOCO. 26 September 2013. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  11. ^ "Clela Rorex, former Boulder County Clerk who issued first same-sex marriage license in 1975 dies at 78". 19 June 2022.
  12. ^ a b Multiple sources:
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference amici was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference cpa2006 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference bbc was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference religion was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Multiple sources:
  18. ^ "Brief of Amici Curiae American Anthropological Association et al., supporting plaintiffs-appellees and urging affirmance – Appeal from United States District Court for the Northern District of California Civil Case No. 09-CV-2292 VRW (Honorable Vaughn R. Walker)" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 December 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference aaa was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Handbook of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Administration and Policy — Page 13, Wallace Swan – 2004