Same-sex marriages (SSM) & civil unions

Current status: U.S., Canada, Europe, etc.

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Current status in the U.S.:

At the moment, the United States is a bit of a patchwork quilt. A married same-sex couple with their children can go on a few hour long drive, wander through a number of states, briefly enter Canada, and change their status:

In Canada: they would be regarded as married. They and their children would have full provincial and federal rights.

In the U.S. depending upon the state they were in, they would be: Considered married, and having full state rights equivalent to being married. Recognized as being civil unionized, and having full state rights. Recognized as being in a domestic partnership and having some state rights Being forcibly divorced, considered roommates, having their children regarded as illegitimate, having no access to each other if one enters a hospital, unable to make medical decisions if their partner is incapacitated, etc.

As of 2009-MAY-08:

	Same-sex couples can marry in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa. They were able to marry in California for much of 2008.
	Same-sex couples in Maine can plan on marrying in mid-2009 and couples in Vermont can plan on marrying in early 2010 as SSM laws in those states become effective.
	A SSM bill is before Governor Lynch in New Hampshire.
	The District of Columbia and states of New York and New Mexico recognize valid SSMs performed elsewhere.
	State agencies in New York state recognize SSMs performed elsewhere.

Interracial couples had a similar situation back in the 1960's before the 1967 U.S. Supreme Court's ruling -- Loving v. Virginia -- made interracial marriages legal across the country.

According to Wikipedia on 2009-MAY-08:

Colors used in the above map:

Notes:

	States typically provide a few hundred benefits, protections and rights to same-sex married couples and their children.
	The 1,049 federal rights, benefits and privileges automatically given to married opposite-sex couples are denied same-sex couples because of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)

Current status in Canada:

Since 2005-JUL-20. all loving, committed couples -- both same-sex and opposite-sex -- have been able marry in all but one province and in all three territories of Canada, The one exception was Prince Edward Island (PEI). They initially couldn't figure out a process that would enable them to marry same sex couples. Their motivation quickly increased when they faced a lawsuit from a lesbian couple. Realizing that they had zero chance of winning at court, the province quickly devised a mechanism to do the job.

Both same-sex and opposite-sex couples can marry in Canada whether they are Canadians or citizens of another country.

More details.

Same-sex marriage in the rest of the world:

1. Year 2000: * Netherlands: Gay and lesbian couples, who are either citizens of the Netherlands or who have residency permits, are able to marry and adopt. This was the first country in the world to make same-sex marriages available. More details.
2. 2003: Belgium: Same-sex couples couples who are residents or citizens can marry, but cannot yet adopt. More details.
   
3. Spain: 2005: The country legalized SSM in 2005-JUN. More details.
   
4. Canada: 2005: The country legalized SSM in 2005-JUL-20. More details. Because of Canada's closeness to the U.S. in terms of culture and geography, we have covered events leading up to SSM in detail.
5. South Africa: 2006: Their Constitutional Court -- South Africa's highest court -- ruled on 2005-DEC that same-sex marriages must be legalized within a year. On 2006-NOV-15, their legislature passed a law legalizing same-sex marriage, by a vote of 230 to 41 with three abstentions.
6. Norway: 2008: Enabling legislation was passed during 2008-JUN; same-sex couples are now able to marry in 2009. More details.
   
7. Sweden: 2009: Enabling legislation was overwhelmingly passed by Parliament on 2009-APR-01. It will take effect on 2009-MAY-01. More details.

 * Years cited are when enabling legislation was passed. Most legislatures passed laws that only took effect months later.

Other notes:

	Europe: Many countries in Europe have created a type of civil union for same-sex couples which grant them most or all of the benefits and obligations of marriage.
	Israel: This country is unique in the world, in that most couples are not permitted to marry within their own country. Couples who are not Orthodox Jews must leave the country, get married elsewhere, return to Israel and register their foreign marriages. Due to a loophole in the law, this applies also to same-sex couples. The loophole is expected to be plugged eventually. More details.

Related essay:

Timeline of SSM events in the U.S., Canada, Europe, etc.

Reference used:

The following information source was used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlink are not necessarily still active today.

1. The large graphic is copied from Wikipedia at: http://en.wikipedia.org/ This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 License. You are free to share and make derivative works of the file under the conditions that you appropriately attribute it, and that you distribute it only under a license identical to this one. See: Official license. Image updated from Wikipedia periodically.

Copyright © 2003 to 2009 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update and review: 2009-MAY-08
Author: B.A. Robinson

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