The European Map: Which European Countries Have Legalized Same-Sex (LGBT) Marriage?

As of December 2025, the following European countries have legalized same-sex marriage: The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Portugal, Iceland, Denmark, France, the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland separately), Luxembourg, Ireland, Finland, Malta, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia, Estonia, and Greece. This marks an irreversible shift toward ensuring full equality across the continent.

Pioneers and the Western European Surge (2001–2010)

 

The Netherlands became the first country in Europe and the world to grant full marriage equality to same-sex couples on April 1, 2001. It was soon followed by Belgium in 2003. In 2005, a crucial step was taken by Spain, which legalized marriage despite the powerful influence of the Catholic Church. These actions laid the groundwork for broader recognition. The equality wave later reached Scandinavia, where Sweden and Norway legalized marriage in 2009. By 2010, Portugal and Iceland had also joined the movement. These nations established a solid bloc in Western and Northern Europe recognizing the rights of same-sex couples.

 

Consolidation and the Shift in Major States (2012–2017)

 

The second decade brought further expansion of equality laws. Denmark joined the Scandinavian countries in 2012. A year later, in 2013, France legalized marriage, and in 2014, the United Kingdom followed suit (England, Wales, and Scotland separately). The subsequent years secured recognition in smaller but strategically significant states: Luxembourg (2015) and the island nations of Ireland (2015, following a popular referendum) and Malta (2017). This period of consolidation in Western Europe concluded with Finland (2017) and Germany, the largest member state of the European Union, where Germany legalized same-sex marriage via parliamentary vote in 2017.

 

The Eastern European Breakthrough and the New Phase (2019–Present)

 

The new phase included Central and Southern Europe. Marriage was legalized in Austria in 2019. Following a referendum, Switzerland joined in 2022. That same year, Slovenia became the first former communist nation in Eastern or Central Europe to recognize same-sex marriage through a parliamentary decision.

 

A particularly significant event for the Baltic region occurred in 2024 when Estonia legalized marriage. It became the first Baltic state and the second former Soviet republic (after Slovenia's secession from Yugoslavia) to pass such a law. Finally, in 2024, Greece became the first country with an Orthodox Christian majority to legalize same-sex marriage and adoption.

 

 

Maistinga Siela