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Timeline of same-sex marriage

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Same-sex marriage
Performed nationwide in

Netherlands (2001)
Belgium (2003)
Spain (2005)
Canada (2005)
South Africa (2006)

Performed statewide in
Massachusetts, USA (2004)
Foreign same-sex marriage recognized in
Israel (2006)
Debate in other countries and regions

Aruba
Australia
Austria
China
Estonia
France
Ireland
Latvia
Lithuania
New Zealand
Portugal
Romania
Sweden
Taiwan
United Kingdom
United States:
  CA, CT, MD, NY, NJ, OR, WA

See also

Civil union
Registered partnership
Domestic partnership
Timeline of same-sex marriage
Listings by country

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A timeline of significant steps towards legal recognition of same-sex couples worldwide in modern history, followed by a timeline of notable same-sex marriages.

Contents

[edit] Significant steps towards legal recognition of same-sex couples

[edit] 2006

[edit] 2005

  • Uganda[2] and Latvia amend their constitutions to ban same-sex marriage.
  • December 19: The first civil partnership ceremony in Northern Ireland takes place.
  • December 5: The United Kingdom's legalization of civil partnerships comes into force, and the first registration takes place.
  • December 1: The Constitutional Court of South Africa finds restrictions on same-sex marriage in South Africa unconstitutional.
  • November 8: United States: Texas becomes the 18th state to write a ban on same-sex marriage into its constitution, defining marriage as "the union of one man and one woman" and prohibiting the state from "creating or recognizing any legal status identical or similar to marriage," when voters approved the amendment in the November elections.
  • July 19: Canada: the Civil Marriage Act (Bill C-38) is passed by the Canadian Senate. It became law on July 20 after receiving Royal Assent.
  • June 30: Spain: The Congress of Deputies passed the same-sex marriage bill for a second time, overruling the rejection of the Spanish Senate a week before. The law took effect on July 3, after it was publicized in the official government registry.
  • June 28: Canada: Canadian House of Commons passes Bill C-38, which will legalize same-sex marriage.
  • June 23: Canada: A judge in New Brunswick rules that same-sex couples have the right to equal marriage in that province.
  • June 5: A referendum is passed in Switzerland giving same sex couples the same inheritance and tax rights as married heterosexual couples. Switzerland's is a direct democracy and this referendum is binding.
  • May 12: United States: A federal judge in Omaha strikes down Nebraska's sweeping ban on same-sex marriages, civil unions, domestic partnerships, and other same-sex relationships. U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon ruled that the ban, known as Initiative 416, violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. This is the first state constitutional provision banning same-sex marriage to be ruled unconstitutional.
  • April 21: marriage bill passed by Spain's lower house of parliament.
  • April 7: United States: The Connecticut State Senate passes legislation that legalizes same-sex civil unions. On April 13, the bill is passed through the Connecticut House of Representatives with the added "marriage is between a man and a woman" definition. The bill is sent back to the Senate for approval. Finally, on April 20, the State Senate approved the amended bill by a vote of 26-8 and Republican Governor Jodi Rell signed the same-sex civil union bill into law.
  • April 7: United States: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg orders city agencies to recognize legal same-sex marriages from other states and countries. This order will give same-sex couples who married in places such as Massachusetts or Canada rights that couples recognized under the city's existing domestic partnership law do not have, including the power to make life-or-death medical decisions. Same-sex spouses will also be able to collect worker's compensation if a partner dies.
  • March 14: United States: Judge Richard Kramer of San Francisco County Superior Court said California's ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional.
  • February 22: United Kingdom: The British government announces December 5, 2005 as the implementation date for the Civil Partnership Act. Ceremonies can begin from December 19, 2005 in Northern Ireland, December 20 in Scotland and December 21 in England and Wales, after the mandatory waiting period, although under special circumstances the waiting period can be waived.
  • February 1: Canada: Bill C-38, which would extend civil marriage rights to same-sex couples across all of Canada, introduced in the House of Commons.
  • January 27: Sweden: The Swedish government announces the launching of a report into whether same-sex marriage should be legalized.

[edit] 2004

  • December 9: Canada: Acting on a reference question from Parliament, the Canadian Supreme Court states that a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in Canada would be constitutional. Prime Minister Paul Martin says his government will introduce same-sex marriage legislation in January.
  • December 8: Israel: The Israeli government indicates that it will recognize same-sex partnerships for certain benefits, and will introduce legislation formalizing this status.
  • December 8: New Zealand: Parliament passes civil union legislation by 65 votes to 55. The new law provides a way for de facto couples, including same-sex couples, to gain legal recognition of their relationships, but stops short of same-sex marriage.
  • November 30: South Africa: A South African court rules that the common law concept of marriage must be extended to include same-sex couples. Although the ruling does not immediately permit same-sex marriage in South Africa, it is considered a major step in that direction.
  • November 26: Canada: In one of Canada's largest class-action lawsuits, the Ontario Court of Appeal upholds a lower court ruling whereby Canadians whose same-sex partners died after April 1985 are entitled to Canada Pension Plan survivors' benefits.
  • November 17: United Kingdom: The British House of Lords passes the Civil Partnership Act to allow same-sex couples to obtain civil partnerships. This is the final legislative hurdle for the bill, which becomes law on receiving Royal Assent on November 18. It is expected that couples will be able to register partnerships from autumn or winter 2005, the delay being necessary to allow administrative changes.
  • November 9: Ireland: An Irish High Court judge rules that a lesbian couple who married in Canada may proceed with their case seeking to have their marriage recognized for the purposes of Irish tax law.
  • November 5: Canada: A judge in Saskatchewan rules that same-sex couples must enjoy the right to equal marriage in that province.
  • November 4: Canada: Two lesbian couples denied marriage licences file a lawsuit against the governments of Canada and of Newfoundland and Labrador, asking for the legalization of same-sex marriage in that province.
  • November 3: United States Results of November 2 vote confirms that state constitutional amendments prohibiting same-sex marriage are passed in eleven states: Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Ohio, Oregon, and Utah. The measures in Oregon, Mississippi, and Montana bar same-sex marriage only; those in the other states bar civil unions and domestic partnerships as well; and Ohio bars granting any benefits whatsoever to same-sex couples.
  • May 17: United States: Massachusetts - first legal same-sex marriages in the US performed.
  • February 12: United States, California: Newly-elected San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom issues the first same-sex marriage certificates in the US, purely as an exercise of executive power. These certificates were later nullified by the California Supreme Court. It is possible this action was performed partially in support of John Kerry's presidential bid, since it reduced the amount of attention on Massachusetts' forthcoming fully-legal (as decided by the judiciary) marriages.

[edit] 2003

  • November 18: United States: Massachusetts: decision in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health
  • June 17: Canada: The Canadian government announces that it will not appeal the Ontario appeals court ruling that permitted same-sex marriage. Instead, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien indicates that his government will introduce legislation to change the definition of marriage.
  • June 10: Canada: The Ontario Appeals Court rules that the law restricting marriage to heterosexual couples contravenes the equality provisions in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The court does not permit the province any grace time to bring its law in conformity with the ruling. Thus Ontario has become the first jurisdiction in North America to recognize same-sex marriages. Toronto announces that its city clerk will begin to issue marriage licences to same-sex couples, and two same-sex couples who filed suit have their marriages retroactively recognized. On June 11 the attorney general of Ontario announces that his government will conform to the court ruling.
  • May 1: Canada: The British Columbia Court of Appeal becomes the first provincial court of appeal to rule that the Canadian government must legally recognize same-sex marriage.
  • January 30: Belgium: Belgium extends civil marriage to same-sex couples.

[edit] 2002

  • December 13: Argentina: The City Legislature of Buenos Aires passes bill 1004 to provide a same-sex civil union registry
  • June 5: Sweden: Law passed allowing same-sex couples apply for adoption

[edit] 2001

  • August 1: Germany has allowed civil unions for same-sex couples.
  • April 1: The Netherlands: Laws that permit marriage for same-sex couples and grant same-sex couples adoption rights come into effect. Four same-sex couples are married at the stroke of midnight by the Mayor of Amsterdam. Civil servants in charge of marrying couples in the Netherlands are allowed to refuse to marry gay couples if they claim they are morally opposed to it, but only if they had been hired before the legalization. Anyone hired after that date cannot refuse to do so without being fired.
  • March 15: Portugal: The existing União de Facto law (non-registered civil partnership) is changed to include same-sex partners. Child adoption is only allowed for opposite-sex partners.

[edit] 2000

[edit] 1999

  • November: France: The French Parliament approves legislation (art. 515-1 et s. Code civil) that 1/ creates civil unions for gay and straight couples (called "Pacte Civil de Solidarité" truncated in "PaCS") and 2/ redefines the non-registred partnership as the stable union between two adults regardless of their gender (before this law, previous decisions of the French highest Court ruled that there could be no couple without appearance of marriage, therefore excluding gay people from any vision of family).

[edit] 1998

[edit] 1995

[edit] 1993

  • - Norway - civil unions legalized

[edit] 1989

[edit] Publicly noted same-sex unions

[edit] 2005

[edit] 2004

[edit] 2003

[edit] 2002

[edit] 1989

[edit] Notes

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