
From the late twentieth century, ten states have introduced civil marriage between homosexuals, which unites people of the same sex:
* The Netherlands (since 2001),
* Belgium (since 2003),
* Spain (since 2005),
* Canada (since 2005),
* South Africa (since 2006),
* Norway (since 2009),
* Sweden (since 2009)
* Portugal (since 2010)
* Iceland (since 2010)
* Argentina (since 2010)
Other states have established civil unions which are a kind of compromise between marriage and cohabitation in fact, open to both heterosexual sex couples. This is the case of France, who introduced the Civil Solidarity Pact (PACS)