Question: Same-sex marriage is legal (nationwide or in some parts) in which marriage a devolved issue in parts of the United Kingdom, and the status of same-sex marriage is different in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland?

 Marriage is a devolved issue in parts of the United Kingdom, and the status of same-sex marriage is different in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Same-sex marriage is legal in the United Kingdom, with the exception of Northern Ireland. <SEP> Marriage in England and Wales is legally recognised in the forms of both civil, and religious marriage for opposite sex couples only, and same sex marriage in register offices or an approved venue.  Same-sex marriages cannot be solemnised in the Church of England, due to the church's doctrine and views on marriage.  Canon laws forbid such from taking place.  Marriage laws in England and Wales have historically evolved separately from marriage laws in other jurisdictions in the United Kingdom.  There is a distinction between religious marriages, conducted by an authorised religious celebrant, civil marriages, conducted by a state registrar and same sex marriages, also conducted by a state registrar.  The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 (c. 30) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which legalised same-sex marriage in England and Wales.  The legal minimum age to enter into a marriage in England and Wales is sixteen years, although this requires parental consent if a participant is under eighteen.  Certain relatives are not allowed to marry.  For foreign nationals, there are also residency conditions that have to be met before people can be married.  Same-sex marriage was introduced under the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act in March 2014.  Prior to this, civil partnerships had been made available to same-sex couples in the United Kingdom in 2005, granting rights and responsibilities virtually identical to civil marriage.  Civil partnerships remain to be available to only same-sex couples, despite a call by Peter Tatchell for there to be an equal status regarding such civil unions.  The Isle of Man is the only part of the British Isles where civil partnership are available to all irrespective of gender. <SEP> Even before the "Obergefell v. Hodges" Supreme Court ruling making same-sex marriage legal across all the states of the United States, same-sex marriage was legal in all of the New England states: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, as well as in the neighboring states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware.  The New England region has been noted for being the nucleus of the same-sex marriage movement in the United States, with the region having among the most widespread and earliest legal support of any region.  In 2004, Massachusetts became the first state in the United States to legalize same-sex marriage, to be followed by three more states between October 2008 and June 2009.  This followed Vermont being the first-in-the-nation with civil unions in 2000.  Before the 2012 election, California (2008), Iowa (2009), New York (2011) and the District of Columbia (2010) had been the only U.S. jurisdictions outside New England to have performed same-sex marriages, though same-sex marriages in California had been halted following the passage of Proposition 8. <SEP> Same-sex marriage is legal (nationwide or in some parts) in the following countries: Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Uruguay.