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Marriage of persons of the same sex or gender / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal sex. As of 2023,[update] marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 34 countries that have a total population of more than 1 billion people (17% of the world's population), with the most recent being Andorra. It will become legal in a 35th country, Estonia, on 1 January 2024.
Adoption rights are not necessarily covered, though most states with same-sex marriage allow those couples to jointly adopt as other married couples can. In contrast, 35 countries (as of 2023) have definitions of marriage in their constitutions that prevent marriage between couples of the same sex, most enacted in recent decades as a preventative measure. Some other countries have constitutionally mandated Islamic law, which is generally interpreted as prohibiting marriage between same-sex couples. In six of the former and most of the latter, homosexuality itself is criminalized. There are records of marriage between men dating back to the 1st century.[1] It is legally recognized in a large majority of the world's developed democracies; notable exceptions are Italy, Japan, South Korea, Greece and the Czech Republic. It is not yet recognized in any of the world's Islamic polities. Some countries, such as China and Russia, ban advocacy for the legal recognition of same-sex marriages, alleging that same-sex marriage is a threat to their national culture.[2][3]
The first same-sex couple to be married legally in modern times were Michael McConnell and Jack Baker in 1971 in the United States; in the county of Blue Earth County, Minnesota.[4] The first law providing for same-sex marriage was passed in the continental Netherlands in 2000 and took effect on 1 April 2001.[5] The application of marriage law equally to same-sex and opposite-sex couples has varied by jurisdiction, and has come about through legislative change to marriage law, court rulings based on constitutional guarantees of equality, recognition that marriage of same-sex couples is allowed by existing marriage law, and by direct popular vote, such as through referendums and initiatives.[6][7]
Support to same-sex marriage is based on claim that the financial, psychological, and physical well-being of gay people are enhanced by marriage.[8][9], with also repudiating the notion that either civilization or viable social orders depend upon restricting marriage to heterosexuals.[10][11][12] Opposition to same-sex marriage is based on claims such as that homosexuality is unnatural and abnormal, that children are better off when raised by opposite-sex couples, that recognition of same-sex marriage violates freedom of religion and undermines religion, that legalizing same-sex marriage would lead to polygamous and incestuous marriages being legalized, that legalization would undermine the institutions of marriage and the family, that same-sex couples cannot procreate, and that the recognition of same-sex unions will promote homosexuality in society.[13][14][15] The causes of sexual orientation (still a matter of scientific debate) are including social environment (research has linked childhood gender nonconformity and homosexuality.[16][17]), which suggests homosexuality parents or early childhood experiences influence sexual orientation.[18] The other claims (violates freedom of religion, undermines the institutions of marriage and the family, leads to polygamous marriages being legalized, promotes homosexuality in society) are being studied.[13][15] Some social activists worry that same-sex marriage will make the "gay lifestyle" more attractive to young people.[19]