The Supreme Court in India is set to declare the verdict regarding the legalisation of same-sex marriage in the country on Tuesday, October 17. The highest Indian court is set to deliver judgements on the various petitions of the court seeking the recognition and legal validation of same-sex unions.A constitution bench of five judges headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Ravindra Bhat, Hima Kohli, and PS Narishma had on May 11 reserved its verdict on the petitions after a marathon hearing of 10 days.The central government, however, call the notion of same-sex marriage an urban elite idea and opposes the legalization of homosexual couples in term of marriage. It claims that Parliament should determine and discuss the subject further before taking any decision.Here is a list of countries where same-sex marriage existsThe recognition of the marriage rights of same-sex couples has been fought in different countries over the years. Through years and decades of protests by people belonging to the LGBTQ people the rights of this community have been recognised by some countries.There are currently 34 countries where same-sex marriage is legal, according to a report by Human Rights Campaign. However, the law passed by Estonia legalising same-sex marriage will only come into effect from January 1, 2024. Here is a list of countries that recognise same-sex marriage in the country:Netherlands: 2001Belgium: 2003Canada: 2005Spain: 2005South Africa: 2006Norway: 2009Sweden: 2009Iceland: 2010Portugal: 2010Argentina: 2010Denmark: 2012Uruguay: 2013New Zealand: 2013France: 2013Brazil: 2013England and Wales: 2014Scotland: 2014Luxembourg: 2015Ireland: 2015United States: 2015Greenland: 2016Colombia: 2016Finland: 2017Germany: 2017Malta: 2017Australia: 2017Austria: 2019Taiwan: 2019Ecuador: 2019Ireland: 2020Costa Rica: 2020Switzerland: 2022Mexico: 2022Chile: 2022Slovenia: 2022Cuba: 2022Andorra: 2023Estonia: 2024This data has been sourced from the Human Rights Campaigns report titled “Marriage Equality Around the World. The organisation also says that apart from India debates on marriage equality have been going on in the Czech Republic, Japan, Philippines and Thailand.
