September 29, 2017
PARIS (AFP) - Germany celebrates its first gay marriages on Sunday after lawmakers voted in June to grant full marriage rights to same-sex couples who have since 2001 been allowed to live in civil unions.
It joins a host of European countries that allow gay marriages, which are still outlawed in most parts of the world. Here is a breakdown.
- European pioneers -
In April 2001 the Netherlands became the first country in the world to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry in a civil ceremony.
More than a dozen European countries have followed: Belgium, Britain (except Northern Ireland), Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.
Some European countries only allow same-sex couples to enter into civil partnerships including Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy and Switzerland.
In October 2014, Estonia became the first former Soviet republic to authorise this type of civil union.
Many eastern European countries -- including Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia -- deny homosexuals the right to marry or enter into unions.
In December 2015, Slovenians rejected in a referendum a proposal by their parliament to legalise gay marriage.
About 15 western European countries allow same-sex couples to adopt children, whether within marriage or civil partnerships. They include Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden.
Finland and Slovenia allow gay people to adopt their partner's children.
- Progress in the Americas -
Canada led the way in North America, authorising same-sex marriage and adoptions in June 2005.
In the United States, a Supreme Court decision in June 2015 legalised gay marriage nationwide. Fourteen states nonetheless still consider it to be illegal.
Mexico's federal capital was the pioneer in Latin America, authorising civil unions in 2007 and marriages in 2009 as well as adoption.
Same-sex marriages and adoptions are also legal in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay.
Chile's socialist President Michelle Bachelet in August sent to congress a bill to authorise gay marriages and adoptions, after having legalised same-sex civil unions in 2015.
In Haiti, the Senate voted that same month to ban gay marriage.
- Rare in Africa, Asia, Middle East -
On the African continent, where around 30 countries ban homosexuality, only in South Africa can gays legally marry and adopt children.
In the Middle East, Israel leads in terms of respect for homosexual rights, recognising gay marriages performed elsewhere even though such marriages are not performed in the country itself. Gay couples can adopt children.
In the Asia-Pacific region, the only country that allows gays to marry is New Zealand, which passed a law in April 2013.
Australia launched a contentious postal survey on same-sex marriage in September and has pledged a parliamentary vote on changing marriage laws if a 'Yes' vote prevails when the result is released on November 15.
Taiwan is set to legalise same-sex unions after its highest court in May ordered parliament to amend relevant laws within two years.