Britain on Wednesday became the 15th country worldwide to legalize gay marriage when Queen Elizabeth II gave her royal assent to a bill approved by lawmakers.
Here is a breakdown of countries with similar laws on the books.
THE NETHERLANDS: On April 1, 2001, The Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage, with the same rights as heterosexuals. Includes the right to adopt.
BELGIUM: Homosexual couples in Belgium have almost the same rights as heterosexuals. They won the right to marry in 2003 and in 2006 parliament voted into law a bill allowing homosexual couples to adopt children.
SPAIN: Spain became the third member of the European Union to pass a law allowing same-sex marriages in 2005. Gay couples can adopt children, whether they are married or not.
CANADA: Canada adopted a national law allowing gays to marry and adopt in July 2005, though most provinces had already allowed same-sex unions before then.
SOUTH AFRICA: The country legalized same-sex unions and adoptions by gay couples in November 2006, becoming the first African nation to do so.
NORWAY: A 2009 law allowed homosexuals to marry and adopt children. Civil partnerships have existed in the country for 20 years.
SWEDEN: Sweden’s homosexuals have been allowed to wed in religious or civil ceremonies since May 2009.
PORTUGAL: Portugal legalized gay marriage in 2010, while excluding the right to adoption.
ICELAND: Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir married her long-time partner in June 2010 as a new law legalizing homosexual marriages came into force. Same-sex couples who have lived together for at least five years have had the right to adopt children since 2006.
ARGENTINA: Gays in Argentina became the first on the South American continent to be able to wed and adopt after legislation passed on July 14, 2010.
DENMARK: Denmark, the first country in the world to allow gay couples to enter into civil unions in 1989, voted overwhelmingly in favor of allowing homosexuals to marry in the state Evangelical Lutheran Church in June 2012.
URUGUAY: Uruguay voted on April 10 this year to allow same-sex marriages nationwide, making it only the second Latin American country to do so.
NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand became the first Asia-Pacific country to legalize same-sex marriage on April 17, after a decades-long campaign.
FRANCE: A law authorizing marriages between people of the same sex came into force on May 18, after four months of parliamentary battles and street demonstrations.
BRITAIN: Under a bill signed into law by Queen Elizabeth II on Wednesday gay marriage is legalized in England and Wales. It remains illegal in both Scotland and Northern Ireland, whose devolved administrations will make their own decisions on the issue.
— PARTIAL RULES —
Gay couples can marry in parts of Mexico and in 13 U.S. states, as well as in the capital Washington DC.
In June the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a controversial federal law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
Brazil in May gave a de facto green light to same-sex marriages after its National Council of Justice ruled that government offices could issue marriage licenses to gay couples without having to wait for Congress to pass a law allowing gay unions.
— CIVIL UNIONS —
A number of other countries have adopted laws that recognize civil partnerships and give couples more or less the same rights as heterosexuals.
Countries that have recognized civil unions without yet accepting gay marriage include Germany (2001), Finland (2002), the Czech Republic (2006), Switzerland (2007) and Colombia and Ireland (both 2011).
