Countries in europe where gay marriage is legal

It goes against the religious beliefs of many of its supporters. On Saturday an estimated 10, demonstrators marched through Belfast demanding LGBT couples be treated "equally" under the law. They don't agree on same-sex marriage. As of January , 22 European countries legally recognise and perform same-sex marriages: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway.

This means they all have to agree before anything gets done. However, LGBT organisations are planning legal action to challenge the ban on same-sex marriage in the courts. There are three main challenges:. The community is still split between those who support links with Britain and those who don't.

NI politics that won't make your head hurt. For the most part, countries are either for or against gay marriage. But that very much depends on your definition of western Europe, although it is the last region of the UK not to have changed its laws yet. Those opposed to gay weddings deny Northern Ireland is "backward" and say most countries in the world have similar rules.

Civil partnerships are legal in Northern Ireland but many gay couples say they still feel like "second class citizens". Last year, Greece became the first Orthodox Christian country. Northern Ireland is still a very Christian country, and many people say same-sex marriage is against Bible teachings.

One prominent exception is Italy, which has historical ties to the Roman Catholic Church. More on this story. Campaigners claim Northern Ireland is the only country "in western Europe" where same-sex couples can't get married. Parties within the Northern Ireland Assembly are forced to work together.

This is the main issue that informs how they vote. PM vow over DUP stance on gay rights. Liechtenstein became the latest European country to follow suit after its same-sex marriage bill went into effect earlier this month. The others parties, including Sinn Fein, can also do this on issues it feels strongly about.

Watch: Newsbeat investigates why Northern Ireland is the last place in the British Isles to allow same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriage is now legal across the vast majority of Western Europe. However, a couple of countries have not completely legalized gay marriage all throughout the nation, with same-sex couples only being able to get married in certain areas of said countries.

Newsbeat's Declan Harvey, who is from the Republic of Ireland where same-sex marriage was legalised last month, has been to see if the LGBT community in Belfast should be getting its hopes up. Because of the way the Northern Ireland Assembly was set up, the DUP also has the ability to block any legislation it doesn't like.

Nearly 43% of the European population lives in jurisdictions where same-sex marriage is legal.