FOR the first time in America, three states voted on November 6th to allow gay couples to wed–ending a succession of electoral defeats for the measure in 32 states. A fourth state rejected a proposed ban. In Catholic France the new Socialist government has just approved a bill to permit same-sex marriage. New Zealand is preparing to pass similar legislation next year. Governments in England and Scotland have also pledged to do so soon. And in Spain a gay-marriage law passed seven years ago has finally been given a seal of approval by the Constitutional Court.
Just a dozen years after the Netherlands became the world’s first country to legalise gay nuptials, the global trend toward giving homosexuals full marriage rights seems to have gained unstoppable momentum. Same-sex marriage is now legal nationwide in 11 countries (see map), including Argentina and South Africa, as well as in parts of a further two. In Mexico it is allowed in the capital. In America nine states along with the capital have legalised it, mostly as a result of court challenges.
That said, in 78 countries–mostly in the Muslim world, Africa and other developing states–gay sex is still a crime, punishable by long prison terms and even death. Opposition against gay marriage remains fierce, particularly from churches, conservatives and some politicians.
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