New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to give legalize same-sex marriage in the country, though said that sexual orientation of a person must be made the basis for any individual’s right to enter into any ‘union’.

The bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, S. Ravindra Bhat, Hima Kohli and P.S. Narasimha, pronounced the landmark judgement on series of pleas that sought legal recognition for same-sex & queer marriages.

The contentious issue was a matter of raging debate in the country, with liberals lobbying for equal rights to the LGBT community but Supreme Court opted to not interfere in the Parliamentary domain of legislating laws.

Hence, the same sex marriage remains illegal in India. However, there are some countries who have legalized same-sex marriages, though their numbers remain a handful.

Out of more than 175 nations, only 30 countries across the globe have given legal recognition. Out of these, 10 countries legalized same-sex marriage via court battle while 20 others brought a law to this effect via nation-wide voting.

Most countries allowing same-sex marriages are based in Europe and Americas. There, lesbians and gays enjoy rights to exchange marital vows. Slovenia recently became one of the only socialist nations to green signal the same.

Netherlands leads Europe, Taiwan in Asia

Netherlands in Western Europe became the first country to bring legislation allowing same-sex marriage in 2001. Soon after this, a couple of neighbouring nations followed suit and implemented it in subsequent years. Belgium brought a law in 2003 while Argentina took the lead in Latin America. In all these nations, same sex individuals have legal right to marry same sex person.

Taiwan became the first nation in Asia to bring a law to this effect while in the African continent, South Africa took the lead in legalizing same-sex marriage. In both these nations, the move to allow same-sex marriage came into existence after courts in the respective countries suggested their legislatures to bring a law to this effect. Taiwan allows same-sex marriage for its own citizens and also those foreign individuals whose parent nations have also legalized it and they are willing to marry a same sex Taiwanese.

Nations which allow same sex marriage:

Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Spain, South Africa. Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Portugal, Argentina, Denmark, Uruguay, New Zealand, France, Brazil, England and Wales, Scotland, Luxembourg, Ireland, United States, Greenland, Colombia, Finland, Germany, Malta, Australia, Austria, Taiwan, Ecuador, Ireland, Costa Rica, Switzerland, Mexico, Chile, Slovenia, Cuba, Andorra, Estonia