List of states where gay marriage is legal 2014

Sixteen countries possess so far authorised marriages between people of the same sex.

• NETHERLANDS: In April 2001 became the first country in the nature to legalise marriage equality. Includes the right to adoption.
• BELGIUM: same sex couples in Belgium won the right to marry in June 2003 and in April 2006 parliament voted into law a bill allowing same sex couples to adopt children.
• SPAIN: In July 2005 became the third member of the European Union to transmit a law to let marriage equality. Gay and lesbian couples can adopt children.
• CANADA: The law allowing same sex couples to marry and adopt children came into force in July 2005.
• SOUTH AFRICA: In November 2006 became the first African country to legalise marriage equality.
• NORWAY: A January 2009 law allows same sex couples to marry and adopt children and permits lesbians to be artificially inseminated.
• SWEDEN: Sweden's same sex couples own been allowed to wed in religious or civil ceremonies since May 2009.
• PORTUGAL: Under a June 1, 2010 law Portugal legalised marriage equality, while excluding the right to adoption.
• ICELAND: Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir

  Where Same-Sex Marriage Stands in the 50 States

  If the past week is any indication, gay marriage is coming to a express near you — and soon.

  On Monday, Oregon became the 18th state to allow same-sex marriages. On Tuesday, Pennsylvania became the 19th. The next time, plaintiffs in Montana filed the first challenge to the ban on male lover marriage there, and the day after that, the same thing happened in South Dakota — disappearing North Dakota as the lone state with a ban that hasn't been challenged.

  "There really is not another issue out there that has gained so much support so fast," said Charles Joughin, national press secretary for Human Rights Campaign, a civil rights organization that works for lesbian, gay, bi and transgender equal rights.

  The gains in marriage equality have been a victory for not just queer couples, but for their families.

  Ever since Ben West and Paul Rummell of Portland, Ore., started fostering an 8-year-old named Jay in 2012, the minuscule boy who had been passed from foster dwelling to foster home had one question: "When am I going to possess a forever family?"

  West and Rummell — two plaintiffs in Oregon's case to reverse the ban on same-sex marriage — formally adop

  Here are the countries where same-sex marriage is officially legal

  June 26 marks the fifth anniversary of gay marriage being legalized across the entire Together States.

  To commemorate this milestone in LGBTQ history, we are taking a peek at countries around the world that have officially legalized same-sex marriage. Nearly 30 out of 195 countries possess passed laws allowing gay marriage, according to the Pew Research Center.

  Below is a timeline for the countries where same-sex marriage is officially legal. The year marks when the law was first enacted in that country.

  2000: The Netherlands

  The country became the first in the world to legalize same-sex marriage. The following year, four couples married in the world’s first same-sex wedding in 2001. [Associated Press]

  2003: Belgium

  Three years after the modern law was enacted, the country’s parliament granted same-sex couples the right to adopt in 2006. [Pew Research Center]

  2005: Canada

  The nation's traditional definition of civil marriage was changed to include the union between queer couples. [Pew Analyze Center]

  2005: Spain

  The fresh law gave gay couples all of the same marital and adoption righ
  
  

  Marriage & Connection Recognition Laws

  States with the independence to marry undertake not ban queer couples from entering into legal marriages. Some states also offer comprehensive partnership recognition, such as domestic partnerships or civil unions, to same- and different-sex couples. However, most states still contain constitutional amendments, statutes, or both banning marriage for queer couples, even after the 2015 Supreme Court case Obergefell extended marriage equality nationwide. For more on the current status of express marriage laws, watch MAP's 2022 report: Underneath Obergefell: A National Patchwork of Marriage Laws.

  • Marriage equality for same-sex couples(50 states , 5 territories + D.C.)

  • Comprehensive civil union or home partnership law (9 states + D.C.)

  • State has targeted religious exemption law (see note)

  
  Citations & More Information

  Recommended citation:
  Movement Advancement Project. "Equality Maps: Marriage & Relationship Recognition Laws."https://www.lgbtmap.org/equality-maps/marriage_relationship_laws. Accessed 08/01/2025.
  
  NOTE: Kansas permits faith-based organ

  Date Same Sex Marriage Legalized By State

  All 50 states in the United States have legalized same-sex marriage. Below are the dates when each state did so. On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage is a right guaranteed by the Constitution, thus making same-sex marriage legal in the 13 states that have not legalized same-sex marriage up to that point.

  By Date Rank State Name Date Equal Sex Marriage Legalized 1 Massachusetts May 17, 2004 2 Connecticut November 12, 2008 3 Iowa April 24, 2009 4 Vermont September 1, 2009 5 New Hampshire January 1, 2010 6 New York July 24, 2011 7 Washington December 9, 2012 8 Maine December 29, 2012 9 Maryland January 1, 2013 10 California June 28, 2013 11 Delaware July 1, 2013 12-T Minnesota August 1, 2013 12-T Rhode Island August 1, 2013 14 New Jersey October 21, 2013 15 Hawaii December 2, 2013 16 New Mexico December 19, 2013 17 Oregon May 19, 2014 18 Pennsylvania May 20, 2014 19 Illinois June 1, 2014 20-T Indiana October 6, 2014 20-T Oklahoma October 6, 2014