In how many countries in the world is it legal to marry people of the same sex?

Same-sex or equal marriage is a reality in 39 countries, including the autonomous island of Taiwan, and Thailand was the latest to have approved it , in January of this year.

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The first country to authorize same-sex marriage was the Netherlands, in 2000; the law came into effect on April 1, 2001, and the first four same-sex weddings were held in Amsterdam that same day. Belgium followed in 2003, and Canada and Spain in 2005.

The Spanish law was therefore the fourth to be passed in the world, on June 30, 2005, two days after Canada's, but it was the third to come into force, on July 3, 2005.

South Africa would follow in 2006, Norway and Sweden in 2009; Portugal, Iceland, and Argentina in 2010; and Denmark in 2012.

Some states allow same-sex civil unions, with rights equal to or similar to those of marriage, but without that designation, as is the case in Croatia, Cyprus, Hungary, Italy, and the Czech Republic.

In other cases, such as Israel, same-sex weddings are not officiated, but same-sex marriages contracted abroad are permitted.

In Europe, a total of 22 countries allow such marriages: Germany, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Slovenia, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Iceland, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

And in eleven on the American continent: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, the United States, Mexico, and Uruguay.

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Completing the list are South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Taiwan (a semi-autonomous island of China), the first place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. In addition to Nepal - there is no definitive law yet, but a 2023 Supreme Court order allows temporary registries for this type of marriage throughout the country - and Thailand, where on January 22, 2025, LGBTI unions were guaranteed the same rights as heterosexual unions.

EFE.