A gay marriage map of the world in 2026 shows roughly 38 to 40 countries where same-sex couples can legally marry, a larger group that offers civil unions or partnerships instead, and a small third group that recognizes marriages performed abroad without performing them at home.1Pew Research Center. Key Facts About Same-Sex Marriage Around the World The Netherlands opened civil marriage to same-sex couples in 2001, and the map has grown steadily since, concentrated in Western Europe and the Americas with a slowly expanding presence in Asia.
Countries With Full Marriage Equality
Roughly 38 to 40 jurisdictions have fully legalized same-sex marriage, some by legislation, some by high-court ruling, and a few by popular vote.2CFR Education. Marriage Equality Around the World
The Americas
Canada legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in 2005. Argentina followed in 2010 as the first Latin American country to do so, with Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile, Costa Rica, and Cuba joining later. Cuba’s legalization came through a 2022 referendum that overhauled the country’s family code. Mexico’s legalization rolled out state by state over more than a decade rather than through a single national act. In the United States, the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges established marriage equality as a constitutional right nationwide.3Justia Law. Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015)
Europe
Europe holds the largest cluster on the map. The Netherlands led in 2001, and Belgium, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Iceland, Denmark, France, the United Kingdom (with Northern Ireland added in 2020), Luxembourg, Ireland, Finland, Germany, Malta, Austria, and Switzerland have followed.4Pew Research Center. Same-Sex Marriage Around the World Greece legalized same-sex marriage in February 2024, replacing a cohabitation-agreement system that had offered only limited rights. Liechtenstein’s amended Marriage Act took effect on January 1, 2025.1Pew Research Center. Key Facts About Same-Sex Marriage Around the World
Africa, Asia, and Oceania
South Africa is the only African country where same-sex couples can marry, a status it has held since the Civil Union Act took effect in 2006.5South African Government. Civil Union Act 17 of 2006 Taiwan became the first Asian country to legalize after its Constitutional Court ruled in 2017 that excluding same-sex couples violated both the right to equality and the freedom of marriage, giving the legislature two years to act.6Constitutional Court R.O.C. (Taiwan). Interpretation No. 748 – Same-Sex Marriage Case Thailand joined on January 22, 2025, when its equal marriage law took effect, making it the second country in Asia to reach full legalization.1Pew Research Center. Key Facts About Same-Sex Marriage Around the World In Oceania, both Australia and New Zealand have legalized. Australia’s route was unusual: Parliament amended the Marriage Act in December 2017 after a non-binding postal survey returned a 61.6 percent “yes” vote.7National Museum of Australia. Marriage Equality
Countries With Civil Unions or Partnerships Instead
A second layer of the map covers countries that offer legal arrangements short of full marriage. These typically grant some spousal rights while withholding others, and they often emerged as political compromises where full equality faced strong opposition.
Italy is the largest European example. Its Cirinnà Law, enacted in 2016, allows same-sex couples to enter civil unions that provide inheritance rights, mutual support obligations, and treatment equivalent to a surviving spouse for estate purposes.8Consiglio Nazionale del Notariato. Civil Unions Joint adoption rights are not included. In Japan, where national same-sex marriage legislation remains stalled despite multiple high court rulings finding the current ban unconstitutional, more than 200 municipalities issue partnership certificates. Those certificates help couples access public housing and insurance benefits but carry no force under national law.
The biggest practical limit of a civil union is portability. A marriage performed in one country with equality is recognized in most others that have it. A civil union often is not. Couples who relocate may find their legal partnership simply does not exist in their new jurisdiction, and in countries like the United States, civil unions do not trigger federal benefits, because agencies like the IRS, the Social Security Administration, and USCIS recognize only legal marriages.9Internal Revenue Service. Same-Sex Marriages Now Recognized for Federal Tax Purposes
Countries That Recognize Foreign Same-Sex Marriages
A third category covers jurisdictions that do not perform same-sex marriages locally but will recognize ones performed elsewhere. Israel is the best-known example. Same-sex couples cannot marry in Israel, but the Supreme Court ruled in 2006 that the Population Registrar must record same-sex marriages performed abroad. That registration gives couples access to certain legal protections tied to marital status, though the scope continues to evolve through case law.
Recognition of this kind usually rests on the place-of-celebration principle: if the marriage was valid where it was performed, the home country treats it as valid for specific legal purposes. Nepal has moved in a related but less settled direction. Its Supreme Court issued an interim order in 2023 allowing the registration of certain same-sex marriages, but the country’s civil code still defines marriage as between a man and a woman, leaving the legal picture uncertain until legislation catches up.
The United States: Federal Protection and Dormant State Bans
Two legal pillars hold up the U.S. portion of the map. The first is Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 Supreme Court decision holding that same-sex couples have a fundamental right to marry under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.3Justia Law. Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015) That ruling made marriage equality the law in every state, territory, and the District of Columbia.
The second is the Respect for Marriage Act, signed into law in December 2022. It provides a statutory backstop in case a future Supreme Court reverses Obergefell. The Act repealed the Defense of Marriage Act, replaced its definition with one recognizing any marriage between two individuals valid where performed, and prohibits any state from denying full faith and credit to an out-of-state marriage based on the sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin of the spouses.10Congress.gov. H.R.8404 – Respect for Marriage Act Both the Attorney General and harmed individuals can bring civil actions to enforce those protections.11Congress.gov. H.R.8404 – Respect for Marriage Act – Full Text
The State Bans Still on the Books
Despite Obergefell and the Respect for Marriage Act, a majority of U.S. states still carry constitutional amendments or statutes defining marriage as between one man and one woman. These provisions are unenforceable under current federal law, but they have not been repealed. Legal commentators sometimes call them “zombie laws” because they sit dormant until a change in federal law could reactivate them, much as pre-Roe abortion restrictions regained force after the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision.
A handful of states have proactively cleared this language. Nevada voters approved a repeal in 2020. In November 2024, voters in California, Colorado, and Hawaii each struck anti-marriage-equality provisions from their state constitutions. California’s measure went further than simple repeal, adding language declaring that the right to marry is a fundamental right. Colorado’s left the state constitution silent on the definition of marriage. Hawaii’s repealed the legislature’s authority to restrict marriage to opposite-sex couples.
More than 30 states still have dormant provisions on the books. For couples living in those states, marriages remain fully valid and recognized at both the state and federal level today. The concern is what could happen if the legal landscape shifts, which is why the repeal efforts continue state by state.