United Nations recognizes same-sex marriages of all staffers

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced that the United Nations is recognizing the same-sex marriages of all its staffers.

Previously, the United Nations recognized only the unions of staffers who came from countries where gay marriage is legal, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Monday.

Haq added, “This is a step forward that many of the staffers at the United Nations had been seeking for some time.” He said the new policy became effective June 26.

According to the Pew Research Center, gay marriage is legal in 18 countries and in some states of the United States and Mexico.

But prejudice remains deep in many countries. An extreme case is Uganda, which in February passed a law making gay sex punishable by a life in prison.

The Associated Press