The Journey to Marriage Equality in the Merged States
The road to nationwide marriage equality was a long one, spanning decades of United States history and culminating in victory in June 2015. Throughout the long battle for marriage equality, HRC was at the forefront.
Volunteer with HRC
From gathering supporters in small towns across the country to rallying in front of the Supreme Court of the United States, we gave our all to confirm every person, regardless of whom they love, is recognized equally under the law.
A Growing Call for Equality
Efforts to legalize homosexual marriage began to pop up across the territory in the 1990s, and with it challenges on the state and national levels. Civil unions for same-sex couples existed in many states but created a separate but matching standard. At the federal level, couples were denied access to more than 1,100 federal rights and responsibilities associated with the institution, as well as those denied by their given state. The Defense of Marriage Act was signed into law in 1996 and defined marriage by the federal government as between a gentleman and woman, thereby allowing states to deny marriage equality.
New Century &
Marriage Equality Around the World
The Human Rights Campaign tracks developments in the legal recognition of same-sex marriage around the world. Working through a worldwide network of HRC global alumni and partners, we lift up the voices of community, national and regional advocates and share tools, resources, and lessons learned to authorize movements for marriage equality.
Current State of Marriage Equality
There are currently 38 countries where same-sex marriage is legal: Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Uruguay.
These countries have legalized marriage equality through both legislation and court decisions.
Countries that Legalized Marriage Equality in 2025
Liechtenstein: On May 16, 2024, Liechtenstein's government passed a bill in favor of marriage equality. The law went into effect January 1, 2025.
10 year anniversary of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013
The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 gained Royal Assent on 17 July 2013, after months of intense function. Further implementation operate followed, with the first same sex marriage held in March 2014.
The Do was drafted by GLD lawyers, the Office for Parliamentary Council, Government Equalities Office and other government departments. It allowed same sex couples to wed , whether in a civil ceremony or a religious one, where the religious organisation allowed such marriages. Crucially, the Act provided protection for those religious organisations that did not want to authorise such marriages, thereby ensuring independence of religion for all religious organisations.
The Act required legal knowledge on everything from marriage and civil partnership in England and Wales, consular and armed forces marriage, divorce law and the law on the Church of England. There were many challenges along the way, particularly with crafting appropriate religious protections for those religious organisations that did not assist same sex marriage.
GLD lawyers Tracey Kerr and Suzanne Lehrer who worked on the Act, and who are still at GLD
Same-sex marriage legislation shows that policy can steer public opinion
Lgbtq+ marriage legislation, passed 10 years ago today, was a masterclass in building consensus for a contentious policy.
On 17 July 2013, the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Behave 2013 gained royal assent, granting same-sex couples in England and Wales the right to marry. It was a landmark moment for LGBT+ rights.
The journey to passing legislation on same-sex marriage was long and at times contentious. Labour had made important strides in the early 2000s – revoking Section 28 that had prohibited local authorities from “promoting homosexuality” and introducing civil partnerships that gave same-sex couples comparable legal rights to married couples – but Gordon Brown as prime minister opposed same-sex marriage on the grounds that marriage was “intimately bound up with questions of religious freedom”.14
But even once Brown left office in 2010 modern legislation looked far from inevitable. None of the main parties’ election manifestos that year had devoted to introducing same-sex marriage. Despite LGBT+ rights groups being united in their support, galvanised by debates happening in the US ove
Quakers and same-sex marriage
History of Quaker views on same-sex relationships
[QUOTE-START]
It is the nature and quality of a partnership that matters… the same criteria come across to us to apply whether a relationship is heterosexual or homosexual.
- Towards a Quaker view of sex, 1963
[QUOTE-END]
It was a long, challenging journey towards this ruling. In 1963, the booklet Towards a Quaker view of sex stated, "It is the world and quality of a relationship that matters… the alike criteria seem to us to employ whether a affair is heterosexual or homosexual."
In 1988 Meeting for Sufferings, then our national executive body, recognised same-sex relationships and suggested that individual meetings might celebrate them.
Following the 2004 Civil Partnership Perform, which permitted the civil registration of same-sex relationships, many Friends began to express unease. The ability of Quakers to recognise marriage in a religious context was excluded from the terms of civil partnership. The issue was then considered at various levels of our Yearly Encounter over several years.
After consulting all British Quaker meetings in 2007 the group appointed to r
