Same-sex marriage in Greenland Same-sex marriage in Greenland Same-sex marriage became legal in Greenland, an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, on 1 April 2016. The territory had previously recognised registered partnerships, from 1 July 1996 until 1 April 2016. Denmark's registered partnership law had been in operation since 1 October 1989. A bill to expand its application to Greenland was approved by the Greenlandic Parliament on 14 May 1993 (15 votes to 0 with 12 abstentions) and by the Danish Parliament on 28 March 1996 (104 votes to 1) and was given royal assent on 26 April 1996. It took effect on
Greenland set out in ships to explore an icy land known to lie to the northwest. After finding a habitable area and settling there, he named it "" (translated as "Greenland"), supposedly in the hope that the pleasant name would attract settlers. The "Saga of Erik the Red" states: "In the summer, Erik left to settle in the country he had found, which he called Greenland, as he said people would be attracted there if it had a favorable name." The name of the country in the indigenous Greenlandic language is ("land of the Kalaallit"). The Kalaallit are the indigenous Greenlandic