# Recognition of same-sex unions in the Americas

Part of the LGBTQ rights series :
Legal status of same-sex unions :
Marriage
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
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Portugal
Slovenia
South Africa
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
United Kingdom
United States
Uruguay
Recognized
Israel
United States:
 • American Samoa :
Civil unions or registered partnerships but not marriage
Bolivia
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Hungary
Italy
Latvia
Monaco
Montenegro
San Marino
United Kingdom:
 • Bermuda
 • Cayman Islands :
Minimal recognition
Bulgaria
Cambodia
China
 • Hong Kong
India
Japan
Lithuania
Namibia
Nepal
Netherlands:
 • Sint Maarten
Poland
Romania
Slovakia :
See also
Same-sex union legislation
Same-sex union court cases
Timeline of same-sex marriage
Recognition of same-sex unions in Africa
Recognition of same-sex unions in Asia
Recognition of same-sex unions in Europe
Recognition of same-sex unions in the Americas
Recognition of same-sex unions in Oceania
Marriage privatization
Divorce of same-sex couples
Domestic partnership
Military policy
Adoption
Listings by country
LGBTQ rights by country or territory :
Notes
1 2 Performed in the Netherlands proper (including the Caribbean Netherlands), as well as in Aruba and Curaçao. May be registered in Sint Maarten in such cases, but the rights of marriage are not guaranteed.
↑ Neither performed nor recognized in Niue, Tokelau, or the Cook Islands.
↑ Neither performed nor recognized in six British Overseas Territories.
1 2 Neither performed nor recognized in some tribal nations of the US. Recognized but not performed in several other tribal nations and American Samoa.
↑ Registered foreign marriages confer all marriage rights in Israel. Domestic common-law marriages confer most rights of marriage. Domestic civil marriage recognized by some cities.
1 2 3 4 5 The Coman v. Romania ruling of the European Court of Justice obliges the state to provide residency rights for the foreign spouses of EU citizens. Some member states, including Romania, do not follow the ruling.
↑ A "declaration of family relationship" is available in several of Cambodia's communes which may be useful in matters such as housing, but is not legally binding.
↑ Guardianship agreements confer some limited legal benefits in China, including decisions about medical and personal care.
↑ Hong Kong provides inheritance, guardianship rights, and residency rights for foreign spouses of legal residents.
↑ Indian courts have recognised guru–shishya, nata pratha or maitri karar–type contractual relationships, but they are not legally binding.
↑ Most Japanese cities and prefectures issue partnership certificates, but they are not legally binding.
↑ Marriages conducted abroad between a Namibian national and a foreign spouse provide residency rights in Namibia.
↑ Romania provides hospital visitation rights through a "legal representative" status. :
LGBTQ portal :
vte :
Many countries in the Americas grant legal recognition to same-sex unions, with almost 85 percent of people in both North America and South America living in jurisdictions providing marriage rights to same-sex couples.
In North America, same-sex marriages are recognized and performed without restrictions in Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico, and the United States.
Same-sex marriages are also performed in the Dutch territories of Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, the Danish autonomous territory of Greenland, and in all French overseas departments and collectivities (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin and Saint Pierre and Miquelon). Furthermore, Sint Maarten recognizes same-sex marriages performed in the Netherlands. The British Territories of Bermuda and the Cayman Islands also perform civil partnerships.
In South America, same-sex marriages are recognized and performed without restrictions in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Uruguay as well as the jurisdictions of French Guiana, the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Free unions that are equivalent to marriage have begun to be recognized in Bolivia.

## Current situation
### National level

| Status | Country | Legal since | Country population (Last count, 2015 est.) |
| Marriage (11 countries) | Argentina | 2010 | 43,590,400 |
| Marriage (11 countries) | Brazil | 2013 | 205,574,000 |
| Marriage (11 countries) | Canada | 2005 | 35,819,000 |
| Marriage (11 countries) | Chile | 2022 | 18,191,900 |
| Marriage (11 countries) | Colombia | 2016 | 48,509,200 |
| Marriage (11 countries) | Costa Rica | 2020 | 4,851,000 |
| Marriage (11 countries) | Cuba | 2022 | 11,252,000 |
| Marriage (11 countries) | Ecuador | 2019 | 16,278,844 |
| Marriage (11 countries) | Mexico | 2022 | 121,006,000 |
| Marriage (11 countries) | United States | 2015 | 321,234,000 |
| Marriage (11 countries) | Uruguay | 2013 | 3,480,222 |
| Subtotal | — | — | 829,786,566 (84.62% of the American population) |
| Other form of recognition | Bolivia (free unions officially recognised starting in 2020; nationwide since 2023) | 2023 | 10,985,059 |
| Subtotal | — | — | 10,985,059 (1.12% of the American population) |
| Total - Countries with some form of recognition of same-sex unions | — | — | 840,771,625 (85.74% of the American population) |
| No recognition (19 countries) | Homosexuality is legal | Homosexuality is legal | Homosexuality is legal |
| No recognition (19 countries) | Antigua and Barbuda | — | 89,000 |
| No recognition (19 countries) | Bahamas | — | 379,000 |
| No recognition (19 countries) | Barbados | — | 283,000 |
| No recognition (19 countries) | Belize | — | 369,000 |
| No recognition (19 countries) | Dominica | — | 71,000 |
| No recognition (19 countries) | El Salvador | — | 6,460,000 |
| No recognition (19 countries) | Guatemala | — | 16,176,000 |
| No recognition (19 countries) | Haiti | — | 10,994,000 |
| No recognition (19 countries) | Nicaragua | — | 6,514,000 |
| No recognition (19 countries) | Panama | — | 3,764,000 |
| No recognition (19 countries) | Peru | — | 31,488,700 |
| No recognition (19 countries) | Saint Kitts and Nevis | — | 46,000 |
| No recognition (19 countries) | Suriname | — | 534,189 |
| No recognition (19 countries) | Trinidad and Tobago | — | 1,357,000 |
| No recognition (19 countries) | Venezuela | — | 31,648,930 |
| Homosexuality is illegal but legislation is not enforced |||
| No recognition (19 countries) | Guyana | — | 746,900 |
| No recognition (19 countries) | Saint Lucia | — | 172,000 |
| No recognition (19 countries) | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | — | 110,000 |
| No recognition (19 countries) | Grenada | — | 104,000 |
| No recognition (19 countries) | Subtotal | — | 111,306,719 (11.35% of the American population) |
| Constitutional ban on marriage (4 countries) * Homosexuality is illegal | Dominican Republic | 2010 | 9,980,000 |
| Constitutional ban on marriage (4 countries) * Homosexuality is illegal | Honduras | 2005 | 8,950,000 |
| Constitutional ban on marriage (4 countries) * Homosexuality is illegal | Jamaica* | 2011 | 2,729,000 |
| Constitutional ban on marriage (4 countries) * Homosexuality is illegal | Paraguay | 1992 | 6,854,536 |
| Subtotal | — | — | 28,513,536 (2.91% of the American population) |
| Total - Countries with no recognition of same-sex unions | — | — | 139,820,255 (14.26% of the American population) |

### Sub-national level

| Status | Country | Jurisdiction | Legal since |
| Marriage (60 jurisdictions) |
| Marriage (60 jurisdictions) | Denmark | Greenland | 2016 |
| Marriage (60 jurisdictions) | France | French Guiana Guadeloupe Martinique Saint Barthélemy Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon | 2013 |
| Marriage (60 jurisdictions) | Netherlands | Bonaire Sint Eustatius Saba | 2012 |
| Marriage (60 jurisdictions) | Netherlands | Aruba Curaçao | 2024 |
| Marriage (60 jurisdictions) | United Kingdom | South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Falkland Islands | 2014 2017 |
| Marriage (60 jurisdictions) | United States | Puerto Rico U.S. Virgin Islands | 2015 |
| Marriage (60 jurisdictions) | United States | Ak-Chin Indian Community (2017) Bay Mills Indian Community (2019) Blackfeet Nation (2014) Blue Lake Rancheria (2013) Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska (2015) Cherokee Nation (2016) Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes (2013) Chickasaw Nation (2022) Choctaw Nation (2023) Colorado River Indian Tribes (2019) Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians (2014) Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians (2015) Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (2013) Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon (2015) Coquille Indian Tribe (2009) Eastern Shoshone Tribe (2014) Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (2014) Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribes (2014) Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation (2014) Grand Portage Band of Chippewa (2013) Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians (2022) Hannahville Indian Community (2015) Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin (2017) Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel (2013) Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (2014) Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (2014) Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe (2013) Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians (2013) Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation (2010) Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin (2016) Northern Arapaho Tribe (2014) Oglala Sioux Tribe (2019) Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin (2015) Osage Nation (2017) Pascua Yaqui Tribe (2014) Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians (2013) Ponca Tribe of Nebraska (2018) Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe (2012) Prairie Island Indian Community (2017) Puyallup Tribe of Indians (2014) Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (2014) San Carlos Apache Tribe (2014) Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians (2015) Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians (2016) Suquamish Tribe (2011) Tulalip Tribes of Washington (2016) Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota (2020) White Mountain Apache Tribe (2015) Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska (2022) Yavapai-Apache Nation (2014) | Varies |
| Other type of partnership (2 jurisdictions) | United Kingdom | Bermuda Cayman Islands | 2018 2020 |
| Marriage recognized, but not performed (1 jurisdictions) | Netherlands | Sint Maarten (Dutch only) | 2007 |
| No recognition (4 jurisdictions) | United Kingdom | Anguilla British Virgin Islands Montserrat Turks and Caicos Islands | — |

## 2018 Inter-American Court of Human Rights advisory opinion

On 9 January 2018, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued an advisory opinion that states party to the American Convention on Human Rights should grant same-sex couples accession to all existing domestic legal systems of family registration, including marriage, along with all rights that derive from marriage. The opinion was issued after the Government of Costa Rica sought clarification of its obligations to LGBT people under the convention. The opinion sets precedent for all 23 member states, 19 of which did not recognize same-sex marriage at the time of the ruling: Barbados, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Grenada, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Suriname. Of these, all but Dominica, Grenada and Jamaica recognize the jurisdiction of the Court. The Supreme Courts of Honduras, Panama, Peru and Suriname have rejected the IACHR advisory opinion, while the Supreme Courts of Costa Rica and Ecuador adhered to it.

## Future legislation
### Marriage
#### Opposition proposals or proposals without a parliamentary majority

Honduras: In May 2022, the deputy of the Libertad y Refundación Party, Manuel Rodríguez, presented a bill in congress to legalize same-sex marriage. In December 2022, the Minister of Human Rights, Natalie Roque, said that the legalization of same-sex marriage was "not on the agenda" of the Castro Administration.
Sint Maarten: Following the December 2022 court ruling that Aruba's and Curaçao's same-sex marriage bans were unconstitutional, Melissa Gumbs, a member of the Parliament of Sint Maarten, said her party was planning on introducing a same-sex marriage bill to Parliament, noting that "there is precedent now within the Caribbean part of the kingdom (of the Netherlands) that it's not right to withhold same-sex marriage rights from people."

## Public opinion

Opinion polls for same-sex marriage by country :
| Country | Pollster | Year | For | Against | Neutral | Margin of error |
| Antigua and Barbuda | AmericasBarometer | 2017 | 12% | - | - | |
| Argentina | Ipsos | 2023 | 70% | 16% [8% support some rights] | 14% not sure | ±3.5% |
| Aruba | | 2021 | 46% | | | |
| Bahamas | AmericasBarometer | 2014 | 11% | - | - | |
| Belize | AmericasBarometer | 2014 | 8% | - | - | |
| Bolivia | AmericasBarometer | 2017 | 35% | - | - | |
| Brazil | Ipsos | 2023 | 51% | 29% [15% support some rights] | 20% not sure | ±3.5% |
| Canada | Ipsos | 2023 | 69% | 17% [7% support some rights] | 15% not sure | ±3.5% |
| Chile | Ipsos | 2023 | 65% | 24% [18% support some rights] | 12% | ±3.5% |
| Colombia | Ipsos | 2023 | 49% | 33% [21% support some rights] | 18% | |
| Costa Rica | CIEP | 2018 | 35% | 64% | 1% | |
| Cuba | Gallup | 2019 | 63.1% | 36.9% | | |
| Dominica | AmericasBarometer | 2017 | 10% | - | - | |
| Dominican Republic | CDN 37 | 2018 | 45% | 55% | - | |
| Ecuador | AmericasBarometer | 2019 | 22.9% | 51.3% | 25.8% | |
| El Salvador | Universidad Francisco Gavidia | 2021 | | 82.5% | | |
| Grenada | AmericasBarometer | 2017 | 12% | - | - | |
| Guatemala | AmericasBarometer | 2017 | 23% | - | - | |
| Guyana | AmericasBarometer | 2017 | 21% | - | - | |
| Haiti | AmericasBarometer | 2017 | 5% | - | - | |
| Honduras | CID Gallup | 2018 | 17% | 75% | 8% | |
| Jamaica | AmericasBarometer | 2017 | 16% | - | - | |
| Mexico | Ipsos | 2023 | 58% | 28% [17% support some rights] | 14% not sure | ±4.8% |
| Nicaragua | AmericasBarometer | 2017 | 25% | - | - | |
| Panama | AmericasBarometer | 2017 | 22% | - | - | |
| Paraguay | AmericasBarometer | 2017 | 26% | - | - | |
| Peru | Ipsos | 2023 | 41% | 40% [24% support some rights] | 19% | ±3.5% |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | AmericasBarometer | 2017 | 9% | - | - | |
| Saint Lucia | AmericasBarometer | 2017 | 11% | - | - | |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | AmericasBarometer | 2017 | 4% | - | - | |
| Suriname | AmericasBarometer | 2014 | 18% | - | - | |
| Trinidad and Tobago | AmericasBarometer | 2014 | 16% | - | - | |
| United States | Marquette | 2022 | 72% | 28% | – | |
| United States | Selzer | 2022 | 74% (83%) | 13% (17%) | 13% not sure | |
| United States | Quinnipiac | 2022 | 68% (77%) | 22% (23%) | 10% | |
| United States | Ipsos | 2023 | 54% | 31% [14% support some rights] | 15% not sure | ±3.5% |
| Uruguay | Equipos Consultores | 2019 | 59% | 28% | 13% | |
| Venezuela | Equilibrium Cende | 2023 | 55% (63%) | 32% (37%) | 13% | |
Opinion polls for same-sex marriage by dependent territory and sub-national entities :
| Country | Pollster | Year | For | Against | Neutral |
| Aguascalientes | INEGI | 2017 | - | 35.9% | - |
| Baja California | INEGI | 2017 | - | 30.7% | - |
| Baja California Sur | INEGI | 2017 | - | 42.1% | - |
| Bermuda | OUTBermuda | 2020 | 53% | 35% | 11% |
| Campeche | INEGI | 2017 | - | 56.1% | - |
| Chiapas | INEGI | 2017 | - | 58.7% | - |
| Chihuahua | INEGI | 2017 | - | 36.4% | - |
| Coahuila | INEGI | 2017 | - | 46.8% | - |
| Colima | INEGI | 2017 | - | 39.2% | - |
| Durango | INEGI | 2017 | - | 38.8% | - |
| Guanajuato | INEGI | 2017 | - | 38.7% | - |
| Guerrero | INEGI | 2017 | - | 54% | - |
| Hidalgo | INEGI | 2017 | - | 41.7% | - |
| Jalisco | INEGI | 2017 | - | 34.2% | - |
| Mexico City | INEGI | 2017 | - | 28.6% | - |
| Michoacán | INEGI | 2017 | - | 46% | - |
| Morelos | INEGI | 2017 | - | 38.5% | - |
| Nayarit | INEGI | 2017 | - | 38.8% | - |
| Nuevo León | INEGI | 2017 | - | 44.4% | - |
| Oaxaca | INEGI | 2017 | - | 52.2% | - |
| Puebla | INEGI | 2017 | - | 37.1% | - |
| Puerto Rico | Pew Research Center | 2014 | 33% | 55% | 12% |
| Querétaro | INEGI | 2017 | - | 32.4% | - |
| Quintana Roo | INEGI | 2017 | - | 37.9% | - |
| San Luis Potosí | INEGI | 2017 | - | 38.6% | - |
| Sinaloa | INEGI | 2017 | - | 37.7% | - |
| Sonora | INEGI | 2017 | - | 31.4% | - |
| State of Mexico | INEGI | 2017 | - | 33.8% | - |
| Tabasco | INEGI | 2017 | - | 56.5% | - |
| Tamaulipas | INEGI | 2017 | - | 44.4% | - |
| Tlaxcala | INEGI | 2017 | - | 43.9% | - |
| Veracruz | INEGI | 2017 | - | 54.3% | - |
| Yucatán | INEGI | 2017 | - | 43% | - |
| Zacatecas | INEGI | 2017 | - | 37.4% | - |