Same-sex marriage

==History==
{{Main|History of same-sex unions}}
{{For timeline}}
{{Broader|History of homosexuality}}

===Ancient===
{{further|Homosexuality in ancient Rome}}
A reference to marriage between same-sex couples appears in the [[Sifra]], which was written in the 3rd century CE. The [[Book of Leviticus]] prohibited homosexual relations, and the Hebrews were warned not to "follow the acts of the land of Egypt or the acts of the land of Canaan" (Lev. 18:22, 20:13). The Sifra clarifies what these ambiguous "acts" were, and that they included marriage between same-sex couples: "A man would marry a man and a woman a woman, a man would marry a woman and her daughter, and a woman would be married to two men."<ref>Rabbi Joel Roth. [https://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/sites/default/files/assets/public/halakhah/teshuvot/19912000/roth_homosexual.pdf Homosexuality] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170824192248/https://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/sites/default/files/assets/public/halakhah/teshuvot/19912000/roth_homosexual.pdf |date=24 August 2017 }} ''rabbinicalassembly.org'' 1992.</ref>

A few scholars believe that in the early [[Roman Empire]] some male couples were celebrating [[Marriage in ancient Rome|traditional marriage rites]] in the presence of friends. Male–male weddings are reported by sources that mock them; the feelings of the participants are not recorded.<ref>Martial 1.24 and 12.42; Juvenal 2.117–42. Williams, ''Roman Homosexuality'', pp. 28, 280; Karen K. Hersh, ''The Roman Wedding: Ritual and Meaning in Antiquity'' (Cambridge University Press, 2010), p. 36; Caroline Vout, ''Power and Eroticism in Imperial Rome'' (Cambridge University Press, 2007), pp. 151ff.</ref> Various ancient sources state that the emperor [[Nero]] celebrated two public weddings with males, once taking the role of the bride (with a [[freedman]] [[Pythagoras (freedman)|Pythagoras]]), and once the groom (with [[Sporus]]); there may have been a third in which he was the bride.<ref>[[Suetonius]], [[Tacitus]], [[Dio Cassius]], and [[Aurelius Victor]] are the sources cited by Williams, ''Roman Homosexuality'', p. 279.</ref> In the early 3rd century AD, the emperor [[Elagabalus]] is reported to have been the bride in a wedding to his male partner. Other mature men at his court had husbands, or said they had husbands in imitation of the emperor.<ref>Williams, ''Roman Homosexuality'', pp. 278–279, citing Dio Cassius and [[Aelius Lampridius]].</ref> [[Roman law]] did not recognize marriage between males, but one of the grounds for disapproval expressed in Juvenal's satire is that celebrating the rites would lead to expectations for such marriages to be registered officially.<ref name="auto4">Williams, ''Roman Homosexuality'', p. 280.</ref> As the empire was becoming Christianized in the 4th century, legal prohibitions against marriage between males began to appear.<ref name="auto4"/>

===Contemporary===
[[File:NewlyMarriedCoupleAtCourthouse.jpg|thumb|Newly married couple in [[Minnesota]] shortly after the legalization of [[same-sex marriage in the United States]], 2015]]
The first same-sex couple to be [[Timeline of same-sex marriage#1970s|married legally]] in modern times were [[Michael McConnell and Jack Baker]] in 1971, in [[Hennepin County, Minnesota]].<ref>William N. Eskridg Jr. and Christopher R. Riano, "Marriage Equality: From Outlaws to In-Laws", ''Yale University Press'' (2020), Chapter 24</ref> Historians variously trace the beginning of the modern movement in support of same-sex marriage to anywhere from around the 1980s to the 1990s. During the 1980s in the [[United States of America|United States]], the [[HIV/AIDS in the United States|AIDS epidemic]] led to increased attention on the legal aspects of same-sex relationships.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March–April 2013 |title=How Same-Sex Marriage Came to Be |url=http://harvardmagazine.com/2013/03/how-same-sex-marriage-came-to-be |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502173822/https://harvardmagazine.com/2013/03/how-same-sex-marriage-came-to-be |archive-date=2 May 2019 |access-date=28 March 2015 |website=[[Harvard Magazine]]}}</ref> Andrew Sullivan made the first case for same sex marriage in a major American journal in 1989,<ref name=intelligent>{{cite web|url=http://www.moreintelligentlife.com/story/andrew-sullivan-thinking-out-loud|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425202254/http://www.moreintelligentlife.com/story/andrew-sullivan-thinking-out-loud|archive-date=25 April 2009 |title=Andrew Sullivan: Thinking. Out. Loud. |newspaper=Intelligent Life |date=Spring 2009 |access-date=24 October 2013|first=Johann |last=Hari}}</ref> published in ''The New Republic''.<ref name="groom">{{cite news|last=Sullivan|first=Andrew|title=Here Comes the Groom|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2012/11/gay_marriage_votes_and_andrew_sullivan_his_landmark_1989_essay_making_a.html|access-date=24 October 2013|newspaper=Slate|date=9 November 2012}}</ref> 

In 1989, Denmark became the first country to legally recognize a relationship for same-sex couples, establishing [[registered partnership]]s, which gave those in same-sex relationships "most rights of married heterosexuals, but not the right to adopt or obtain joint custody of a child".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rule |first=Sheila |date=2 October 1989 |title=Rights for Gay Couples in Denmark |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/02/world/rights-for-gay-couples-in-denmark.html |url-status=live |access-date=19 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304080523/http://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/02/world/rights-for-gay-couples-in-denmark.html |archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref> In 2001, the [[Same-sex marriage in the Netherlands|continental Netherlands]] became the first country to broaden marriage laws to include same-sex couples.<ref name="bloomberg-2014-12-04" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=26 May 2009 |title=Same-sex marriage around the world |work=CBC News |location=Toronto |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/same-sex-marriage-around-the-world-1.799137 |url-status=live |access-date=6 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101125125134/http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/05/26/f-same-sex-timeline.html |archive-date=25 November 2010}}</ref> Since then, same-sex marriage has been established by law in 34 other countries, including most of the [[Americas]] and [[Western Europe]]. Yet its spread has been uneven — [[Same-sex marriage in South Africa|South Africa]] is the only country in [[LGBT rights in Africa|Africa]] to take the step; [[Same-sex marriage in Taiwan|Taiwan]] the only one in [[LGBT rights in Asia|Asia]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 April 2021 |title=The Dutch went first in 2001; who has same-sex marriage now? |url=https://apnews.com/article/europe-africa-netherlands-job-cohen-western-europe-e08b053af367028737c9c41c492cc568 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210821101311/https://apnews.com/article/europe-africa-netherlands-job-cohen-western-europe-e08b053af367028737c9c41c492cc568 |archive-date=21 August 2021 |access-date=21 August 2021 |website=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Kathmandu Post |url=https://kathmandupost.com/art-culture/2024/02/02/an-initiative-for-marriage-equality-for-the-lgbtqia-community |website=An initiative for marriage equality for the LGBTQIA+ community |access-date=3 February 2024}}</ref>
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