same-sex marriages

The first US federal court case to determine whether states are allowed to ban same-sex marriages has opened in San Francisco, California.

For the past 10 days, the question of whether same-sex marriages will, at last, be legally recognised in New York has been hotly debated.

His posting railed against the passing of legislation that legalized same-sex marriages in his state.

Proposition 8, a ballot-box initiative passed in November 2008, ended California's short stint as a state that allowed same-sex marriages.

The couple became the public face of the debate in the state, the first to legalize same-sex marriages.

In the people we have interviewed with so far, in same-sex marriages it's more a union of two people and less about the family.

But supporters say they are building a base for a constitutional amendment to bar same-sex marriages.

One day after Mr Biden, Arne Duncan, Mr Obama's education secretary, said that he too thought same-sex marriages should be legal.

Same-sex marriages became legal in New York earlier this month, prompting hundreds of gay and lesbian couples to wed.

Leno's bill requires California to recognize marriages performed in other states where same-sex marriages are legal.

Homosexuality is not illegal in the world's most populous Muslim country, though same-sex marriages are not allowed.

Raymond hopes it will not be long before the Federal Government also recognizes same sex marriages.

The measure was approved just months after California's Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriages.

Meanwhile, some Orthodox Jewish legislators say they may introduce a bill to ban same-sex marriages.

California's ban on same-sex marriages is unconstitutional, a San Francisco appeals court has ruled.

And this month the opponents of same-sex marriages gained several new seats in the synod.

The marriages are valid only in Spain and in other countries that accept same-sex marriages.

Shanghai held the first Gay Pride week and in Beijing, campaigners called for same-sex marriages.

February 2009 Beijing's "happy couples" launch campaign for same-sex marriages.

The government does not legally recognise same-sex marriages.

Canada recently became the third country in the world, after Belgium and the Netherlands, to legalize same sex marriages.

For them, the decision to annul same-sex marriages will be personal, even painful.