The French partnership law, which was passed in 1999 and is known as the "civil solidarity pact" or "pacte civile," is open to same-sex and opposite-sex couples and grants marriage-like rights in the areas of inheritance, housing, and social welfare. A civil solidarity pact can be terminated unilaterally by a partner, and no obligations follow on dissolution. The law does not confer inheritance rights, nor does it allow for adoption. The law is therefore more akin to a limited domestic partnership law than it is to the European registered partnership acts or to the civil union law. Still, it has proven popular with many French couples.

Dutch, Belgian, and Spanish Marriage

On April 1, 2001, the Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage, with the "Act on the Opening up of Marriage." The Act simply yet boldly proclaims, "A marriage can be contracted by two persons of different sex or of the same sex."

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Couples in a registered partnership can convert their partnership into a marriage. But those who prefer not to can remain in their registered partnership, and couples can continue to enter registered partnerships rather than marriage if they so choose. According to the legislative findings, "the interest in registered partnerships in the Netherlands is relatively high . . . ." Interestingly, the government acknowledged that the popularity of registered partnerships "make[s] it plausible that there is a need for a marriage-like institution devoid of the symbolism attached to marriage."

Belgium became the second country in the world to recognize same-sex marriage, with a law that took effect in May 2003. However, unlike in the Netherlands, same-sex married couples in Belgium are still not allowed to adopt.

In June 2005, Spain became the third country to legalize same-sex marriage. The Spanish law allows same-sex couples to adopt. Upon the law's passage, Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said, "We are not legislating . . . for remote unknown people. We are expanding opportunities for the happiness of our neighbors, our work colleagues, our friends, our relatives." Noting the developments in the Netherlands and Belgium, Prime Minister Zapatero proclaimed, "We were not the first, but I am sure we will not be the last. After us will come many other countries, driven . . . by two unstoppable forces: freedom and equality."

Canada

After a protracted struggle, Canada recently became the fourth country to allow same-sex marriage. The drive for marriage in Canada achieved a significant victory with the Canadian Supreme Court's 1999 decision in M. v. H. The Court ruled 8-1 that the exclusion of same-sex partners from the definition of spouse in the Ontario Family Law Act for purposes of spousal support violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The court stopped short of declaring that same-sex couples have the right to marry, but the sentiment of the opinion seemed to suggest that such a step was soon to follow.

Activists quickly filed same-sex marriage lawsuits in Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia. Appeals courts in all three of these provinces declared that prohibiting same-sex couples from marrying violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Ontario Appeal Court ordered the government to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples immediately.

In June 2003, Prime Minister Chretien's cabinet announced that the government would not appeal the ruling of the court. They agreed on a measure that would open marriage to same-sex couples throughout the country. A vote on the measure in the House of Commons was expected in the fall of 2003 but was postponed because of a change of prime ministers. The Canadian Parliament finally approved this measure in July 2005. The law does not require either party of the marriage to be a Canadian citizen.

After the favorable opinion in Ontario in 2003, thousands of lesbian and gay couples, including many same-sex couples from the United States, received their marriage licenses in Ontario, Quebec, and other provinces that subsequently legalized same-sex marriage through court action. Since parliament's action in 2005, same-sex marriage is legal throughout the country.

However, the Conservative minority government that took power in 2006 pledged to reopen the question of same-sex marriage, despite the fact that constitutional experts predicted legal chaos if the same-sex marriage bill were repealed and despite the fact that polls have consistently shown that a healthy majority of Canadians are in favor of same-sex marriage.

In December 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper fulfilled his campaign promise to reopen the question of same-sex marriage by introducing a bill that would have authorized the government to repeal the same-sex marriage law while respecting the same-sex marriages that had already been performed and instituting civil unions. Widely perceived as a sop to the evangelical Christian supporters of the Coservative Alliance party, the bill was soundly defeated. Afterwards, the Prime Minister declared the question settled and promised not to revisit the issue.