Gay marriage around the world

Candy Holmes, right, cries with joy beside her partner Darlene Garner outside the superior court after applying for a marriage licence in Washington DC Photograph: Michael Reynolds/EPA Photograph: Michael Reynolds/guardian.co.uk Carlos, right, and Emilio are showered with rice as they leave the Tres Cantos city hall in Madrid after getting married in 2005 in the first gay wedding in Spain Photograph: Javier Lizon/EFE Photograph: Javier Lizon/guardian.co.uk Newlyweds Sharon Papo, left, and Amber Weiss, right, stand with Patti and David Weiss outside San Francisco city hall after exchanging wedding vows on the first full day of legal same-sex marriages in California in 2008 Photograph: Erin Siegal/Reuters Photograph: Erin Siegal/guardian.co.uk Patrick Decker, left, and his Dutch partner Stephan Hengst during a wedding ceremony on a boat at the Gay Pride canal parade in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in 2009 Photograph: Bas Czerwinski/AP Photograph: Bas Czerwinski/guardian.co.uk Hillary Goodridge, right, and her new spouse Julie Goodridge leave the Unitarian Universalist Church in Boston after being married in 2004 Photograph: Winslow Townson/AP Photograph: Winslow Townson/guardian.co.uk Eric Ethington, left, exchanges marriage vows with Doug Okun as they hold their twin daughters at San Francisco's city hall in 2004 Photograph: Paul Chinn/San Francisco Chronicle/AP Photograph: Paul Chinn/San Francisco Chronicle/guardian.co.uk Lesbian newlyweds Gudrun Pannier, left, and Angelika Baldow are showered with confetti outside a registry office in Berlin in 2001. They were among the first homosexual partnerships to be officially recognised under a German law conferring marriage-like status Photograph: Wolfgang Kumm/DPA Photograph: Wolfgang Kumm/guardian.co.uk Derryn Grey and Kim Wilson, Pam Molsick and Helen Gibson with their twin daughters and Lois Bukowski and Kathryn Baer, all from Oakland, California, celebrate with other same-sex couples for Valentine's Day at San Francisco city hall in 2004 Photograph: Arleen Ng/EPA Photograph: Arleen Ng/guardian.co.uk Lesbians Da Na, right, and Bu Xiu (not their real names) pose at Qianmen street in Beijing in 2009 to campaign for same-sex marriages and the acceptance of homosexuality in China Photograph: Jason Lee/Reuters Photograph: Jason Lee/guardian.co.uk Roger Lockyer, left, and Percy Stephens pose for photographers after their civil partnership ceremony at Westminster town hall in London in 2005 Photograph: Paul Hackett/Reuters Photograph: Paul Hackett/guardian.co.uk Shannon Sickles, left, and Grainne Close arrive at Belfast city hall in 2005 as the first set of civil partnership ceremonies for gay couples in the UK take place in Northern Ireland Photograph: Paul Faith/PA Photograph: Paul Faith/guardian.co.uk Stamford mayor Dan Malloy, right, walks away as Tom and Ralph Colucci-Massotti kiss after being granted a civil union at Stamford town hall, Connecticut, in 2005. Connecticut was the second state to sanction same-sex marriages Photograph: Stephen Chernin/Getty Images Photograph: Stephen Chernin/guardian.co.uk