Four gay couples have asked India’s Supreme Court to recognise same-sex marriages, five years after the top court made a historic ruling to decriminalise homosexuality.
In Asia, Taiwan is the only place that currently recognises gay marriages, though pressure is building for reforms in Japan, Thailand and South Korea.
Here are the key facts about same-sex marriage around the world:
* The first country to legalise same-sex marriage was the Netherlands in 2001.
* Same-sex marriage is legal in 33 U.N. member states: Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay, and the United States.
* A total of 34 U.N. states have some other form of civil partnership for same-sex couples.
* In recent changes, Andorra legalised same-sex marriage in 2023, while Mexico, Cuba and Slovenia approved gay marriage last year.
* Taiwan became the first place in Asia where gay marriage is legal in 2019.
* In Africa, where having same-sex sexual relations is a crime in many countries and can lead to imprisonment or the death penalty, only South Africa allows same-sex marriage.
* Gay marriage is hotly contested by many religious groups. Gay marriage is hotly contested by many religious groups. Gay marriage is hotly contested by many religious groups. In 2022, conservatives in the United Methodist Church formed a breakaway over the issue. The Anglican Church in 2023 said it would uphold a bar on gay marriage but indicated it would not penalise churches that have ignored the ruling.
* A 2021 survey of 27 countries found that 54% of respondents supported the right of LGBTQ+ people to marry. The poll found a majority backed gay marriage in 16 countries, while only Russia and Malaysia had a majority in opposition.
Sources: ILGA State-Sponsored Homophobia report, Pew Research Centre, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Reuters, Ipsos LGBT+ Pride 2021 Global Survey.
Reporting by Lucy Middleton.
GAY TIMES and Openly/Thomson Reuters Foundation are working together to deliver leading LGBTQ+ news to a global audience.
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