Producer: Priyanka Das Editor: Sujata Singh
It was the first country to legalise same-sex marriage. The same-sex Dutch couples gained marriage and adoption rights in late December 2000; legislation took effect in April 2001.
Belgium became the second country to legalize same-sex marriage in late January 2003.
The same-sex marriage in Canadian provinces took effect in July 2005.
Same-sex unions got legalised in July 2005 under the leadership of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
South Africa became the first country in Africa and the first country in the Southern Hemisphere to legalize the practice in 2006.
Same-sex marriage became legal on May 1, 2009, following the enactment of a marriage law passed by the Swedish Parliament in early April.
Denmark legalised same-sex marriage in June 2012.
French President Francois Hollande gave final approval to a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in May 2013.
The first legal same-sex marriages in England took place in March 2014.
While some American states approved same-sex marriage as early as 2003, the practice did not become legal nationwide until June 2015.