Stories

Love wins! The fight for marriage equality has seen incredible progress worldwide, with a recent surge in legalizations. Across the world, 38 out of 195 countries have legalized equal marriage: Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Uruguay.In 2024, two new countries legalized same-sex marriage (Liechtenstein and Thailand), and more made progress towards legislation which would decriminalize same-sex unions. These advancements in 2024, on top of the string of legalizations in the last decade chart a hopeful future for same-sex marriage and equal rights for LGBTQ+ people around the world!The fight for marriage equality isn't over, but the momentum is undeniable. IPPF stands with those working to make love win everywhere.

It’s a scene like many others around the world: a loving family pour over childhood photos, giggling and reminiscing about the memories. This particular scene takes place amongst the swaying palm trees and soft breeze rolling over the island of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, and the child they are cooing over – then named Nathanial – is now a beautiful transgender woman, Natalia.   Born in New Zealand to Cook Islanders parents, 36-year-old Natalia (Talia) Lajpold, says she has always known she was female. Talia grew up in Australia and began her transitioning process at the age of 15. In the last year of her schooling, Talia decided to wear the girl’s uniform to school but was met with disapproval from the school authorities.   “A lot of people think [being transgender] is a choice but if I had a choice, I would choose for things to be normal, the way I was born. Because it’s really hard. High school was hard,” Talia recalls.