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.^{[nb 1]}

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

Summarize

Perspective

National level

More information Status, Country ...

Status	Country	Legal since	Country population (Last count, 2015 est.)
Marriage (11 countries)	Argentina	2010^[1]	43,590,400
	Brazil	2013^[2]	205,574,000
	Canada	2005^[3]	35,819,000
	Chile	2022^[4]^[5]	18,191,900
	Colombia	2016^[6]	48,509,200
	Costa Rica	2020^[7]	4,851,000
	Cuba	2022^[8]	11,252,000
	Ecuador	2019^[9]	16,278,844
	Mexico	2022^[10]	121,006,000
	United States	2015^[11]^[12]	321,234,000
	Uruguay	2013^[13]	3,480,222
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)	2023^[14]	10,985,059
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^[15]	9,980,000
	Honduras	2005^[16]^[17]	8,950,000
	Jamaica*	2011^[18]	2,729,000
	Paraguay	1992^[19]	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

More information Status, Country ...

Status	Country	Jurisdiction	Legal since
Marriage (60 jurisdictions)
	Denmark	Greenland^[20]	2016
	France	French Guiana^[21] Guadeloupe^[21] Martinique^[21] Saint Barthélemy^[21] Saint Martin^[21] Saint Pierre and Miquelon^[21]	2013
	Netherlands	Bonaire^[22] Sint Eustatius^[22] Saba^[22]	2012
	Netherlands	Aruba Curaçao^[23]	2024
	United Kingdom	South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands^[24] Falkland Islands^[25]	2014 2017
	United States^{[note 1]}	Puerto Rico U.S. Virgin Islands	2015
	United States^{[note 1]}	Ak-Chin Indian Community (2017)^[29] Bay Mills Indian Community (2019)^[30] Blackfeet Nation (2014)^[31] Blue Lake Rancheria (2013)^[32] Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska (2015)^[33] Cherokee Nation (2016)^[34] Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes (2013)^[35] Chickasaw Nation (2022)^[36] Choctaw Nation (2023)^[37] Colorado River Indian Tribes (2019)^[38] Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians (2014)^[39] Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians (2015)^[40] Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (2013)^[41] Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon (2015)^[42] Coquille Indian Tribe (2009)^[43] Eastern Shoshone Tribe (2014)^[44] Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (2014)^[45] Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribes (2014)^[46] Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation (2014)^[47] Grand Portage Band of Chippewa (2013)^[48] Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians (2022)^[49] Hannahville Indian Community (2015)^[50] Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin (2017)^[51] Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel (2013)^[52] Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (2014)^[53] Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (2014)^[54] Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe (2013)^[55] Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians (2013)^[56] Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation (2010)^[57] Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin (2016)^[58] Northern Arapaho Tribe (2014)^[44] Oglala Sioux Tribe (2019)^[59]^[60] Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin (2015)^[61] Osage Nation (2017)^[62] Pascua Yaqui Tribe (2014)^[47] Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians (2013)^[63] Ponca Tribe of Nebraska (2018)^[64] Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe (2012)^[65] Prairie Island Indian Community (2017)^[66] Puyallup Tribe of Indians (2014)^[67] Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (2014)^[47] San Carlos Apache Tribe (2014)^[47] Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians (2015)^[68] Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians (2016)^[69] Suquamish Tribe (2011)^[70] Tulalip Tribes of Washington (2016)^[71] Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota (2020)^[72] White Mountain Apache Tribe (2015)^[73] Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska (2022)^[74] Yavapai-Apache Nation (2014)^[47]	Varies
Other type of partnership (2 jurisdictions)	United Kingdom	Bermuda Cayman Islands	2018 2020
Marriage recognized, but not performed (1 jurisdictions)	Netherlands	Sint Maarten (Dutch Kingdom and EU countries only)^[75]^[76]	2007
No recognition (4 jurisdictions)	United Kingdom	Anguilla British Virgin Islands Montserrat Turks and Caicos Islands	—

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.^[77] 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.^[78] The Supreme Courts of Honduras,^[79] Panama,^[80] Peru^[81] and Suriname^[82] 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.^[83]

Public opinion

Indicates the country/territory has legalized same-sex marriage nationwide

Indicates that same-sex marriage is legal in certain parts of the country

Indicates that the country has civil unions or registered partnerships

Indicates that same-sex sexual activity is illegal

More information Country, Pollster ...

Opinion polls for same-sex marriage by country
Country	Pollster	Year	For	Against	Neutral^[a]	Margin of error	Source
Antigua and Barbuda	AmericasBarometer	2017	12%	-	-		^[84]
Argentina	Ipsos	2023	70%	16% [8% support some rights]	14% not sure	±3.5%	^[85]
Aruba		2021	46%				^[86]
Bahamas	AmericasBarometer	2014	11%	-	-		^[87]
Belize	AmericasBarometer	2014	8%	-	-		^[87]
Bolivia	AmericasBarometer	2017	35%	-	-		^[84]
Brazil	Ipsos	2023	51%	29% [15% support some rights]	20% not sure	±3.5% ^[b]	^[85]
Canada	Ipsos	2023	69%	17% [7% support some rights]	15% not sure	±3.5%	^[85]
Chile	Ipsos	2023	65%	24% [18% support some rights]	12%	±3.5%	^[85]
Colombia	Ipsos	2023	49%	33% [21% support some rights]	18%		^[85]
Costa Rica	CIEP	2018	35%	64%	1%		^[88]
Cuba	Gallup	2019	63.1%	36.9%			^[89]
Dominica	AmericasBarometer	2017	10%	-	-		^[84]
Dominican Republic	CDN 37	2018	45%	55%	-		^[90]
Ecuador	AmericasBarometer	2019	22.9%	51.3%	25.8%		^[91]
El Salvador	Universidad Francisco Gavidia	2021		82.5%			^[92]
Grenada	AmericasBarometer	2017	12%	-	-		^[84]
Guatemala	AmericasBarometer	2017	23%	-	-		^[84]
Guyana	AmericasBarometer	2017	21%	-	-		^[87]
Haiti	AmericasBarometer	2017	5%	-	-		^[84]
Honduras	CID Gallup	2018	17%	75%	8%		^[93]
Jamaica	AmericasBarometer	2017	16%	-	-		^[84]
Mexico	Ipsos	2023	58%	28% [17% support some rights]	14% not sure	±4.8% ^[b]	^[85]
Nicaragua	AmericasBarometer	2017	25%	-	-		^[84]
Panama	AmericasBarometer	2017	22%	-	-		^[84]
Paraguay	AmericasBarometer	2017	26%	-	-		^[84]
Peru	Ipsos	2023	41%	40% [24% support some rights]	19%	±3.5% ^[b]	^[85]
Saint Kitts and Nevis	AmericasBarometer	2017	9%	-	-		^[84]
Saint Lucia	AmericasBarometer	2017	11%	-	-		^[84]
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	AmericasBarometer	2017	4%	-	-		^[84]
Suriname	AmericasBarometer	2014	18%	-	-		^[87]
Trinidad and Tobago	AmericasBarometer	2014	16%	-	-		^[87]
United States	Marquette	2022	72%	28%	–		^[94]
	Selzer	2022	74% (83%)	13% (17%)	13% not sure		^[95]^[96]
	Quinnipiac	2022	68% (77%)	22% (23%)	10%		^[97]
	Ipsos	2023	54%	31% [14% support some rights]	15% not sure	±3.5%	^[85]
Uruguay	Equipos Consultores	2019	59%	28%	13%		^[98]
Venezuela	Equilibrium Cende	2023	55% (63%)	32% (37%)	13%		^[99]

More information Country, Pollster ...

Opinion polls for same-sex marriage by dependent territory and sub-national entities
Country	Pollster	Year	For	Against	Neutral^[a]	Source
Aguascalientes	INEGI	2017	-	35.9%	-	^[100]
Baja California	INEGI	2017	-	30.7%	-	^[100]
Baja California Sur	INEGI	2017	-	42.1%	-	^[100]
Bermuda	OUTBermuda	2020	53%	35%	11%	^[101]
Campeche	INEGI	2017	-	56.1%	-	^[100]
Chiapas	INEGI	2017	-	58.7%	-	^[100]
Chihuahua	INEGI	2017	-	36.4%	-	^[100]
Coahuila	INEGI	2017	-	46.8%	-	^[100]
Colima	INEGI	2017	-	39.2%	-	^[100]
Durango	INEGI	2017	-	38.8%	-	^[100]
Guanajuato	INEGI	2017	-	38.7%	-	^[100]
Guerrero	INEGI	2017	-	54%	-	^[100]
Hidalgo	INEGI	2017	-	41.7%	-	^[100]
Jalisco	INEGI	2017	-	34.2%	-	^[100]
Mexico City	INEGI	2017	-	28.6%	-	^[100]
Michoacán	INEGI	2017	-	46%	-	^[100]
Morelos	INEGI	2017	-	38.5%	-	^[100]
Nayarit	INEGI	2017	-	38.8%	-	^[100]
Nuevo León	INEGI	2017	-	44.4%	-	^[100]
Oaxaca	INEGI	2017	-	52.2%	-	^[100]
Puebla	INEGI	2017	-	37.1%	-	^[100]
Puerto Rico	Pew Research Center	2014	33%	55%	12%	^[102]
Querétaro	INEGI	2017	-	32.4%	-	^[100]
Quintana Roo	INEGI	2017	-	37.9%	-	^[100]
San Luis Potosí	INEGI	2017	-	38.6%	-	^[100]
Sinaloa	INEGI	2017	-	37.7%	-	^[100]
Sonora	INEGI	2017	-	31.4%	-	^[100]
State of Mexico	INEGI	2017	-	33.8%	-	^[100]
Tabasco	INEGI	2017	-	56.5%	-	^[100]
Tamaulipas	INEGI	2017	-	44.4%	-	^[100]
Tlaxcala	INEGI	2017	-	43.9%	-	^[100]
Veracruz	INEGI	2017	-	54.3%	-	^[100]
Yucatán	INEGI	2017	-	43%	-	^[100]
Zacatecas	INEGI	2017	-	37.4%	-	^[100]

Notes

[N 1]
Excluding certain Native American tribes. Same-sex marriage is legal in at least 42 of them.

[N 1]
Note: While listed here under “subnational level,” US Tribes are considered Nations both in a legal sense and when it comes to preferred language. The United States Government recognizes US Tribal Nations as “Domestic Dependent Nations” under the law in a government-to government relationship. Tribal nations exercise sovereignty, though Congress has ultimate authority under the Plenary Power Doctrine which is why tribal nations are placed here under an imperfect multi-purpose umbrella term^[26]^[27]^[28]

Also comprises: Don't know; No answer; Other; Refused.
[+ more urban/educated than representative]

References

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