People fighting for same-sex marriage rights around the world have seen global support increase in recent years. Australia, Malta, and Germany legalized same-sex marriage in , and Taiwan made history in , becoming the first government in Asia to welcome legislation on marriage equality. Slovenia became the first post-communist country to legalize it on October 4, , after the Constitutional Court of Slovenia overturned a prior ban on same-sex marriages in July, arguing that it violated the country's constitution.
The court gave the Slovenian government six months to pass legislation to rectify it. Source: CBS News. Beginning in , the Belgian parliament offered limited rights to same-sex couples through registered partnerships. In , the parliament legally recognized same-sex marriages. Source: The Guardian. In , some provincial governments extended common law marriages to gay and lesbian couples, providing them with most of the legal benefits of marriage but laws varied across the country.
Source: CBC News. The law guaranteed identical rights to all married couples regardless of sexual orientation. Source: New York Times. Exemptions were also included in the new marriage law. Both religious institutions and civil officers could refuse to conduct same-sex marriage ceremonies.
Source: NBC News. In January , the bill was enacted into law, and gay couples were legally granted the right to marry, adopt children and receive artificial insemination. Source: BBC News. Source: The Telegraph.
Portugal had passed a measure legalizing same-sex marriage in February of , but Portugal's former president, Anibal Cavaco Silva, asked the Constitutional Court to review the measure. In April , the Constitutional Court declared the law to be constitutionally valid. Prior to the same-sex marriage law, a number of local jurisdictions, including the nation's capital, Buenos Aires, had enacted laws allowing gays and lesbians to enter into civil unions.
