A scant 20 some-odd years since the last time someone was ushered to a prison cell for homosexual behavior, Spain follows the heels of the Netherlands and Belgium to be the third country in Europe to  sanction gay marriages, and now Carlos Baturin and Emilio Menéndez — who met during Franco’s reign when homosexual behavior was an invitation to jail — are Spain’s first gay married couple.

For those who are baffled by the hellish maze of technicalities that characterizes gay marriage and partnership rules around the globe, the BBC provides an easily digestible summary of various nations’ policies.

Mimi Hanaoka