Lawmakers in Uruguay Wednesday voted to allow adoptions by gays and lesbians in a first for Latin America. Since the late 1990s, homosexual men and women have gained the right to adopt children in a string of European and North American states and territories, as well as in some parts of Australia and several other places. Highlights: EUROPE: 1999: DENMARK allows gay people linked by a civil union to adopt the child of their partner; the right for a gay couple to adopt a child together is granted in March 2009. 2001: THE NETHERLANDS became the first European country to authorize adoption by gay couples of children who are not related to either of them. The rules are the same as those applied to heterosexual couples. Also in 2001, GERMANY authorizes one member of a gay couple to adopt the other's biological child, on condition that the pair are joined in a civil union. 2002: Gay adoptions by couples are legalized in SWEDEN on condition that the adopters are linked in an authorized civil union. 2005: A law covering ENGLAND and WALES allows gay couples to adopt a child together since 2005. In the same year SPAIN authorizes such adoptions. 2006: ICELAND makes it possible for homosexual couples who have had a stable relationship for at least five years to adopt children. In the same year, a law authorizing homosexuals to adopt is also passed in BELGIUM. 2008: NORWAY legalizes both civil unions between same-sex partners and allows them to adopt children. NORTH AMERICA: In 1986, two women in CALIFORNIA become the first same-sex couple to legally adopt a child. Since then the number of US states allowing some form of adoption rights to homosexuals has risen to at least 14. The list includes New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. The situation in many states remains ambiguous, with gay adoptions neither explicitly allowed nor explicitly banned. Most provinces of CANADA also allow same-sex adoption. ELSEWHERE: -- In AUSTRALIA, adoption by homosexuals has been allowed in the state of Western Australia since 2002. It is also allowed in the Capital Territory (Canberra). -- The Supreme Court in SOUTH AFRICA, alone among all countries in Africa, legalized adoption by homosexual couples in 2002. -- In 2008 the attorney-general in ISRAEL made it easier for single-sex couples to adopt children. -- In 2009, URUGUAY becomes the first Latin American country to allow gay couples to adopt children. 