^abNeither performed nor recognized insome tribal nations of the US. Recognized but not performed in several other tribal nations andAmerican Samoa.
^Registered foreign marriages confer all marriage rights in Israel. Domestic common-law marriages confer most rights of marriage. Domestic civil marriage recognized by some cities.
^A "declaration of family relationship" is available in several of Cambodia's communes which may be useful in matters such as housing, but is not legally binding.
^Guardianship agreements confer some limited legal benefits in China, including decisions about medical and personal care.
^Hong Kong provides inheritance, guardianship rights, and residency rights for foreign spouses of legal residents.
Same-sex marriage has been legal inUruguay since August 5, 2013.[1] TheChamber of Representatives passed a bill for legalization on December 12, 2012, with a vote of 81–6.[2] TheSenate approved the bill with minor amendments on April 2, 2013, in a vote of 23–8.[3] The amended bill was subsequently passed by the Chamber of Representatives on April 10 with a vote of 71–21, and was signed into law byPresidentJosé Mujica on May 3. It took effect on August 5.[4][5] Polling indicates that a majority ofUruguayans support the legal recognition of same-sex marriage. Uruguay was the third country inSouth America, afterArgentina andBrazil,[6] and thefourteenth in the world to legalize same-sex marriage.
On January 20, 2008, Uruguay became the firstLatin American country to enact a nationalcivil union law. Civil unions provide same-sex couples with several, but not all, of the rights and benefits ofmarriage.
Acivil union bill was first proposed in Uruguay in 2000 by RepresentativeWashington Abdala, though the bill was never brought up for debate in the chamber floor. On January 20, 2008, Uruguay became the firstLatin American country to enact a national civil union law.[7] The law, proposed by SenatorMargarita Percovich of theBroad Front, was passed in theChamber of Representatives on November 29, 2007, after having been passed in a similar form in theSenate in 2006.[8][9][10] The amended version was passed by the Senate on December 18,[11][12] and signed into law byPresidentTabaré Vázquez on December 27.[13][14] It was published in the official journal on January 10, 2008, and came into effect on January 20.[15] The first union was performed on April 17, 2008.[16][17] Following the approval of the bill, both same-sex and opposite-sex couples are allowed to enter into a civil union (Spanish:unión concubinaria,pronounced[uˈnjoŋkoŋkuβiˈnaɾja]) after having lived together for at least five years, and are entitled to most of the benefits afforded to married couples, includingsocial security entitlements,inheritance rights and joint ownership of goods and property.[18]
A government-backed bill allowing same-sex couples toadopt children was discussed in Parliament in the spring of 2008, receiving the support of President Vázquez and fierce opposition from theCatholic Church. The bill was approved 40–13 by the Chamber of Representatives on August 27, 2009,[19][20] and by the Senate on September 9 with a 17–6 vote. It was signed into law by Vázquez on September 18, 2009, making Uruguay the first country inSouth America to allowsame-sex couples to jointly adopt.[21][22][23][24]
On May 25, 2009, Senator Margarita Percovich announced that if the Broad Front won thenational elections in October 2009 it would introduce asame-sex marriage bill to theGeneral Assembly.[25] In October, the Broad Front won an absolute majority in both chambers of the General Assembly andJosé Mujica, the Broad Front presidential candidate, won the presidential election on November 29, 2009. In July 2010, Broad Front legislators announced plans to submit a bill to legalise same-sex marriage.[26][27][28]Michelle Suárez Bértora, the firsttransgender attorney in Uruguay, assisted in drafting the same-sex marriage legislation as part of her work with the LGBT rights organization Black Sheep (Ovejas Negras).[29] Debate on the legalization of same-sex marriage gained traction in July 2010 followinglegalization in Argentina.[30] In April 2011, Sebastián Sabini, a legislator of theMovement of Popular Participation, one of the parties consisting the Broad Front, presented a bill allowing same-sex couples to marry.[31][32] It was formally submitted to the Chamber of Representatives on September 6, 2011.[33] The proposal was supported by most government lawmakers and some opposition members, including former PresidentJulio María Sanguinetti from theColorado Party. Former PresidentLuis Alberto Lacalle from theNational Party stated his opposition to the legalization of same-sex marriage.[34][35] TheRoman Catholic Church also issued a public statement opposing the proposed law.[36]
In June 2012, Judge María Cristina Crespo of the Family Court of Appeals recognized a same-sex marriageconducted in Spain,[37][38][39] ruling that local laws permitted same-sex marriage and that same-sex couples who had married abroad could have their marriage recognized under Uruguayan law. Judge Cristina Crespo overturned a lower court ruling from 2011 that had denied the recognition.[40] However, the ruling wasappealed.[41] The issue was mooted upon Uruguay's legalization of same-sex marriage in August 2013, and recognition of foreign same-sex marriages was explicitly codified into law in 2020, ensuring that same-sex marriages conducted abroad may be recognized in Uruguay.[42]
In June 2012, Minister of Education and CultureRicardo Ehrlich announced that the same-sex marriage bill would be debated in the Parliament before the end of 2012.[43] On July 4, the Chamber of Representatives' Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee began debating the legislation.[44] The committee preliminarily approved the legislation on November 28,[45][46][47] and amended it and gave final approval on December 5.[48][49] On December 12, the Chamber of Representatives approved the bill by a vote of 81–6 with no abstentions. All present Broad Front and Colorado Party lawmakers voted in favor, as did 25 National Party representatives.[50][51] Although the Broad Front called for the bill to be approved by the Senate by the end of 2012, it agreed to delay a final vote until 2013 due to threats from opposition lawmakers to oppose the bill if a vote was fast-tracked.[52] The Senate's Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee passed the measure with minor amendments on March 19, 2013.[53][54][55] One of these amendments established amarriageable age at 16 regardless ofgender andsexual orientation, while others concerned matters of adoption and filiation, including allowing married lesbian couples to accessassisted reproduction technology. The Senate approved the amended bill 23–8 on April 2.[56][57][58] Catholic groups organized a protest march against same-sex marriage on April 8, with about 200 people participating.[59] The bill returned to the Chamber of Representatives in its amended form, where it was approved in a 71–21 vote on April 10.[60][61] A majority of National Party lawmakers voted against the bill citing opposition to the Senate's modifications on filiation. The measure was signed into law by President José Mujica on May 3,[5][62][63] and took effect on August 5, 2013.[64][65]
El matrimonio civil es la unión permanente, con arreglo a la ley, de dos personas de distinto o igual sexo.
(Civil marriage is the permanent union, in accordance with the law, of two people of different or the same sex.)
The law contained some drafting and regulatory inconsistencies, including on registry and administrative procedures and cross-references to other laws. On July 2, 2013, the Senate voted 15–7 in favor of legislation correcting errors in the original text, harmonising the marriage law with existing legislation and ensuring that it could be legally implemented without challenges. The Chamber of Deputies followed suit 53–3 on July 24. Minister Ehrlich subsequently signed a regulatory decree on July 26 implementing the changes.[67] Uruguay was the third country inSouth America, afterArgentina andBrazil, and thefourteenth in the world to legalize same-sex marriage. The first same-sex marriage took place on August 5. The wedding was officiatedin extremis at a hospital inMontevideo.[68]
Presidential candidateLuis Lacalle Pou stated in an interview withEl País in October 2018 that despite having voted against the same-sex marriage law as a national representative, should he be elected president his government would not overturn the same-sex marriage law. Lacalle Pou was elected president in the2019 general election.[69] In 2024, he attended a same-sex wedding inMaldonado as a guest.[70]
In the first year after the same-sex marriage law came into effect, 134 same-sex couples had married in Montevideo and the surrounding metropolitan area.[71] Approximately 200 same-sex couples had married in the whole country during the same period.[72]
In 2016, estimates from the Faculty of Social Sciences at theUniversity of the Republic showed that about 60.3% of relationships in Uruguay were married opposite-sex couples, 38.4% unmarried opposite-sex couples, 0.6% opposite-sex couples in civil unions, 0.2% married same-sex couples, 0.5% unmarried same-sex couples and 0.1% same-sex couples in civil unions. These numbers remained relatively unchanged in 2017.[73] The estimates also showed that unemployment among same-sex partners stood at 3.4% (compared to 4.7% among heterosexual partners) and that same-sex partners were more likely to have completedtertiary education (41%, compared to 19% among heterosexual partners).[74] 2023 data from theNational Statistics Institute (INE) showed that 4,759 people were married to a person of the same sex. The odd number may due to the INE not counting foreigners in the statistics.[75]
TheCatholic Church opposes same-sex marriage and does not allow its priests to officiate at such marriages. TheEpiscopal Conference of Uruguay campaigned heavily against legalization in 2013 warning of "a weakening of family values". TheBishop of Salto,Pablo Galimberti, called the law "a hard blow to marriage and the family", while theDiocese of Minas issued a statement describing the law as "a very serious injustice".[36] These statements drew criticism from proponents of the legislation, including RepresentativeFernando Amado who said "it would be good for them [the Catholic Church] to call for a march of forgiveness. The Catholic Church has been a machine for violating human rights throughout its existence."[76] In December 2023, theHoly See publishedFiducia supplicans, a declaration allowingCatholic priests tobless couples who are not considered to bemarried according to church teaching, including theblessing of same-sex couples.[77] TheArchbishop of Montevideo,Daniel Sturla, said he would personally not offer blessings to same-sex couples.[78] The first blessing occurred at a church inGarzón in February 2024. The couple, Carlos Perciavalle and Jimmy Castilhos, received the blessing from Father Francisco Gordalina.[79]
A Factum poll conducted in November 2011 found that 52% of the population supported same-sex marriage, 32% were opposed, 10% were neutral and 6% had no opinion.[81] According to a Cifra poll conducted between November 29 and December 6, 2012, 53% ofUruguayans supported same-sex marriage, 32% were opposed and 15% had no opinion. The survey also showed that support for same-sex marriage was highest amongBroad Front voters (62%), and lower among voters from theColorado Party and theNational Party (both 42%).[82] Another Cifra poll, conducted between February 22 and March 4, 2013, found that 54% of respondents supported same-sex marriage, 32% were opposed, 9% were undecided and 4% had no opinion.[83][84]
According to aPew Research Center survey conducted between November 22, 2013, and January 8, 2014, 62% of Uruguayans supported same-sex marriage, while 31% were opposed.[85][86]
According to the 2014AmericasBarometer, 71% of Uruguayans were in favour of same-sex marriage.[87] This level of support was the second highest among the 28American countries polled, behind onlyCanada.[88] 53% of respondents "strongly" supported same-sex marriage, while 17% "strongly" opposed it; with the remaining being "somewhat" in support or in opposition or had no opinion. Additionally, support was highest among young people: 79% and 80% of 18–25-year-olds and 26–35-year-olds supported same-sex marriage, respectively. Among people over the age of 66, support was 51%. The 2017 AmericasBarometer showed that 75% of Uruguayans supported same-sex marriage,[89] while the 2023Latinobarómetro showed that support had increased to 78%, while 20% were opposed and 2% were undecided or had refused to answer.[90]
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