Recognition of same-sex unions in the Americas

Many countries in the Americas grant legal recognition to same-sex unions, with almost 85 percent of people in both North America and South America living in jurisdictions providing marriage rights to same-sex couples.

In North America, same-sex marriages are recognized and performed without restrictions in Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico, and the United States.Excluding certain Native American tribes. Same-sex marriage is legal in at least 42 of them.

Same-sex marriages are also performed in the Dutch territories of Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, the Danish autonomous territory of Greenland, and in all French overseas departments and collectivities (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin and Saint Pierre and Miquelon). Furthermore, Sint Maarten recognizes same-sex marriages performed in the Netherlands. The British Territories of Bermuda and the Cayman Islands also perform civil partnerships.

In South America, same-sex marriages are recognized and performed without restrictions in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Uruguay as well as the jurisdictions of French Guiana, the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Free unions that are equivalent to marriage have begun to be recognized in Bolivia.

Maps

Current situation

National level Status Country Legal since Country population(Last count, 2015 est.) Marriage (11 countries) Argentina 2010 Ley 26.618 43,590,400 Brazil 2013 DIÁRIO DA JUSTIÇA CONSELHO NACIONAL DE JUSTIÇA Edição nº 89/2013 205,574,000 Canada 2005 35,819,000 Chile 2022 Ley número 20.830. - Crea el Acuerdo de Unión Civil 18,191,900 Colombia201648,509,200 Costa Rica 20204,851,000 Cuba202211,252,000 Ecuador 2019 16,278,844 Mexico 2022 121,006,000 United States 2015 321,234,000 Uruguay2013 Ley Nº 19.075 MATRIMONIO IGUALITARIO3,480,222 Subtotal—— 829,786,566 (84.62% of the American population)Other form of recognition Bolivia (free unions officially recognised starting in 2020; nationwide since 2023)202310,985,059 Subtotal——10,985,059 (1.12% of the American population) Total - Countries with some form of recognition of same-sex unions—— 840,771,625 (85.74% of the American population) No recognition (19 countries) Homosexuality is legal Antigua and Barbuda — 89,000 Bahamas — 379,000 Barbados — 283,000 Belize — 369,000 Dominica — 71,000 El Salvador — 6,460,000 Guatemala — 16,176,000 Haiti — 10,994,000 Nicaragua — 6,514,000 Panama — 3,764,000 Peru — 31,488,700 Saint Kitts and Nevis—46,000 Saint Lucia — 172,000 Suriname — 534,189 Venezuela — 31,648,930 Homosexuality is illegal but legislation is not enforced Grenada — 104,000 Guyana — 746,900 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines — 110,000 Trinidad and Tobago—1,357,000 Subtotal— 111,306,719(11.35% of the American population)Constitutional ban on marriage (4 countries)* Homosexuality is illegal Dominican Republic 2010 Constitución Política de la República Dominicana, proclamada el 26 de enero 2010, Publicada en la Gaceta Oficial No. 10561, del 26 de enero de 2010. 9,980,000 Honduras 2005 CONSTITUCION POLITICA DE LA REPUBLICA DE HONDURAS DE 1982 8,950,000 Jamaica* 2011Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms (Constitutional Amendment) Act, 2011 2,729,000 Paraguay 1992 6,854,536 Subtotal—— 28,513,536 (2.91% of the American population) Total - Countries with no recognition of same-sex unions—— 139,820,255(14.26% of the American population)

Sub-national level

Status Country Jurisdiction Legal since Marriage(60 jurisdictions) Denmark Greenland 2016 France French Guiana Guadeloupe Martinique Saint Barthélemy Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon 2013 Netherlands Bonaire Sint Eustatius Saba 2012 Aruba Curaçao2024 United Kingdom South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands12 facts about South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands - where you could be the first LGBTI couple to wed . Gay Star News, 26 January 2018 Falkland IslandsFalkland Islands Same-Sex Marriage Update 20142017 United States Puerto Rico U.S. Virgin Islands2015 Ak-Chin Indian Community (2017) Bay Mills Indian Community (2019) Blackfeet Nation (2014)Federal Judge Rules Against Montana's Ban On Same-Sex Marriage Blue Lake Rancheria (2013) Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska (2015) Cherokee Nation (2016)Cherokee Nation attorney general OKs same-sex marriage Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes (2013) Chickasaw Nation (2022) Choctaw Nation (2023) Colorado River Indian Tribes (2019) Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians (2014) Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians (2015)Siletz Tribe becomes latest to join marriage equality movement, Indianz.Com, June 4, 2015 Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (2013) Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon (2015) Coquille Indian Tribe (2009) Eastern Shoshone Tribe (2014) Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (2014) Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribes (2014)Legal hurdles cleared, Nevada sees first same-sex marriage Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation (2014)Federal Judge Strikes Down Arizona's Same-Sex Marriage Ban Grand Portage Band of Chippewa (2013)Minnesota set to legalize same-sex marriage Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians (2022)Resolution # 22-40.3452, Certification of Tribal Council Action. Special Session of May 25, 2022 Hannahville Indian Community (2015) Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin (2017)Same-sex marriage provisions approved by Ho-Chunk Legislature Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel (2013) Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (2014) Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (2014)Supreme Court Rejects Gay Marriage Appeals From 5 States Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe (2013) Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians (2013) Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation (2010)Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Laws Annotated 2010-2011 Pocket Part Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin (2016) Northern Arapaho Tribe (2014) Oglala Sioux Tribe (2019) Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin (2015) Osage Nation (2017)Native American Osage Nation Votes in Favor of Same-Sex Marriage Pascua Yaqui Tribe (2014) Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians (2013) Ponca Tribe of Nebraska (2018) Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe (2012) Prairie Island Indian Community (2017) Puyallup Tribe of Indians (2014) Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (2014) San Carlos Apache Tribe (2014) Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians (2015) Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians (2016) Suquamish Tribe (2011) Tulalip Tribes of Washington (2016) Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota (2020) White Mountain Apache Tribe (2015)Enactment of Ordinance No. 261, Amending the Domestic Relations Code of the White Mountain Apache Tribe Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska (2022) Yavapai-Apache Nation (2014) Varies Other type of partnership(2 jurisdictions) United Kingdom Bermuda Cayman Islands 20182020 Marriage recognized, but not performed(2 jurisdictions) Netherlands Sint Maarten (Dutch Kingdom and EU countries only) 2007 United Kingdom Turks and Caicos Islands (immigration purposes only)2025No recognition(3 jurisdictions) United Kingdom Anguilla British Virgin Islands Montserrat —

2018 Inter-American Court of Human Rights advisory opinion On 9 January 2018, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued an advisory opinion that states party to the American Convention on Human Rights should grant same-sex couples accession to all existing domestic legal systems of family registration, including marriage, along with all rights that derive from marriage. The opinion was issued after the Government of Costa Rica sought clarification of its obligations to LGBT people under the convention. The opinion sets precedent for all 23 member states, 19 of which did not recognize same-sex marriage at the time of the ruling: Barbados, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Grenada, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Suriname. Of these, all but Dominica, Grenada and Jamaica recognize the jurisdiction of the Court.The Inter-American System of Human Rights: A Research Guide The Supreme Courts of Honduras, Panama, Peru and Suriname have rejected the IACHR advisory opinion, while the Supreme Courts of Costa Rica and Ecuador adhered to it.

Future legislation

Civil unions

Opposition proposals or proposals without a parliamentary majority Peru: On 20 November 2024, the Justice and Human Rights Commission of the Peruvian parliament approved a proposal aimed at legalizing same-sex civil unions in the country.

Public opinion

Recognition of same-sex unions in the Americas

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