Same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriage, also called marriage equality, or gay marriage, is a legal marriage between two people of the same gender, usually the two parties’ legal sexes. As of 2024, same-sex marriages are legally performed and recognised in 36 countries, with a total population of 1.5 billion people (20 percent of the world’s population). The most recent country to legalise same sex marriage of Greece (if sub-regions are counted, then Aruba and Curaçao are too). Thailand and Liechtenstein will begin performing these marriages in late 2024.
Most developing countries and emerging powers (except some examples like Italy, South Korea, Japan, and Czechia) may allow marriages between two parties of the same sex. Some countries, such as the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China prohibit people same-sex marriage and its promotion as part of their censorship laws.https://www.jstor.org/stable/26531664
== Which countries recognise same-sex marriage? ==
Not all countries shown on the map are recognising same-sex marriage as of September 2024. Two countries are expected to allow same sex marriage in the future.
===Same-sex marriage===
* Andorra
* Argentina
* Australia
* Austria
* Belgium
* Brazil
* Canada
* Chile
* Costa Rica
* Cuba
* Denmark
* Ecuador
* Estonia
* Finland
* France
* Germany
* Greece
* Iceland
* Ireland
* Luxembourg
* Malta
* Mexico
* Netherlands
* New Zealand
* Norway
* Portugal
* Slovenia
* South Africa
* Spain
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* Taiwan
* United Kingdom
* United States
====Foreign====
* Israel
===Civil unions and registered partnerships===
* Bolivia
* Croatia
* Cyprus
* Czechia
* Hungary
* Italy
* Israel
* Latvia
* Monaco
* Montenegro
* San Marino
* United Kingdom:
** Bermuda
** Cayman Islands
=== Minimal recognition ===
* Bulgaria
* Cambodia
** 68 communes
* China
** Hong Kong
* India
* Japan
** 468 jurisdictions
* Lithuania
* Namibia
* Nepal
* Netherlands
** Sint Maarten
* Poland
* Romania
* South Korea
==Symbolism==
=== Marriage symbol ===
The marriage symbol (⚭) can be used to symbolise marriage. It depicts two rings interlocking. The symbol is also available as a Unicode character (U+26AD codepoint).https://emojipedia.org/marriage-symbol#emoji
It is even used on the Equaldex website. For example, this link: https://www.equaldex.com/region/ecuador
=== Interlocked gender symbols ===
The Double Mars (for gay men) and the double Venus (for lesbians) are also used for symbolising gay marriage as well as relationships and homosexuality.
==References==