BY AJ TRAGER
Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights reads: "Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution." The declaration was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on Dec. 10, 1948 which was drafted directly following World War II and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled.
Nearly two dozen countries from around the world currently have national laws allowing same-sex marriage, mostly in Europe and the Americas.
According to the Pew Research Center, 20 countries from around the world support marriage equality, eight of them having done so since 2010, with a growing number added every year. In many countries, attitudes towards the LGBT community have been stable, but same-sex marriage has advanced the most in countries and regions where acceptance of homosexuality is highest.
The timeline of international marriage equality starts in 2001 with the Netherlands granting nationwide same-sex marriage; Belgium, 2003; Canada and Spain, 2005; South Africa, 2006; Norway and Sweden, 2009; Argentina, Iceland and Portugal, 2010; Denmark, 2012; Brazil, New Zealand, France and Uruguay, 2013; most of the United Kingdom in 2014; and Finland, Luxembourg and Ireland in 2015.
Countries that offer protections for same-sex couples including many rights but excluding the right to marry include: Chile, Ecuador, Germany, Greenland, Hungary, Northern Ireland and Malta.
According to Freedom To Marry, many other countries offer some spousal rights to same-sex couples, but those rights are far from the full protections and rights provided through marriage. Those countries include: Andorra, Austria, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Liechtenstein, Slovenia and Switzerland.
Israel and Mexico recognize marriages between same-sex couples performed in other countries but do not perform same-sex marriages for nationals.
