Legal progress for gay couples
2008-06-17 15:08
The California law allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry is likely to lead to challenges in other US states where laws define marriage as only between a man and a woman.
The California law took effect on Monday after the state's Supreme Court overturned a ban on same-sex marriages on May 15.
Here is a look at legal history of rights for same-sex couples in several countries since 1989.
1989
June - Denmark passes a law allowing homosexuals to enter a
registered partnership, giving them the same housing, pension
and immigration rights as married heterosexual couples.
1999
December - Vermont's top court permits same-sex civil
unions, a first decision of its kind in the United States.
1993
August - Norway becomes the second country to allow gays
and lesbians to have registered partnerships, giving them
rights almost equal to those of married couples.
1994
June - Sweden's parliament approves law allowing same-sex
marriage in ceremonies similar to a civil marriage.
2000
July - Carolyn Conrad and Kathleen Peterson in Vermont
become the first same-sex couple in the United States to be
legally united.
December - The Netherlands approves laws allowing same-sex
couples to marry and adopt children. Dutch law had recognised
registered partnerships since 1998.
2002
July - Germany allows gay couples to register partnerships
with local civil authorities.
2003
June - Belgium allows same-sex marriages.
November - Massachusetts's top court rules that a ban on gay
marriage was unconstitutional in landmark decision that paves
way for the United States' first same-sex marriages.
2004
May - Dozens of gay and lesbian couples in Massachusetts
exchange vows.
July - Two Argentines become the first gay couple in Latin
America to use a new law legalising same-sex civil unions.
July - French court annuls France's first gay marriage,
which took place in June. France granted all couples the right
to form civil unions in 1999.
2005
April - Connecticut lawmakers permit same-sex civil unions
in legislation that takes effect in October that year.
June - Spain's parliament approves a law legalising
gay marriage.
July - Canada allows gay marriage.
September - Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoes a bill that
would have allowed gay couples to marry in California.
December - Grainne Close and her partner Shannon Sickels
become the first in the Britain to marry, two weeks after
Civil Partnership legislation came into effect.
2006
March - Czech parliament overrides a presidential veto to
allow same-sex couples to register their partnerships.
July - US House of Representatives fails to pass a
proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage weeks
after the US Senate did the same.
October - California appeals court upholds the state's ban
on same-sex marriage.
October - New Jersey's Supreme Court recognises right to
same-sex civil unions.
November - South Africa's acting president signs into law the
Civil Union Act 2006, giving same-sex couples the same rights
as heterosexual ones.
2007
May - New Hampshire's governor signs bill that allows
same-sex civil unions from January 1, 2008.
June - Gay marriage in Massachusetts withstands a four-year
effort by social conservatives to ban the unions when the
Democratic-controlled legislature votes to block an amendment
that would have put the question of gay marriage to a state-wide
vote.
2008
May 15 - The California Supreme Court rules the state
cannot bar same-sex marriages, marking a major victory for gay
rights advocates that may have national implications.
June 3 - California's secretary of state says a proposed
state constitutional amendment to limit marriage to unions
between men and women, thereby reversing the state's Supreme
Court decision, will appear on the November 4 ballot. A simple
majority is sufficient to amend the state constitution.