[2] Sweden was the second Scandinavian country, the fifth in Europe and the seventh in the world to open marriage to same-sex couples nationwide.

Existing registered partnerships remain in force and can be converted to marriages if the partners so desire, either through a written application or through a formal ceremony.

New registered partnerships are no longer able to be entered into and marriage is now the only legally recognized form of union for couples regardless of sex.

[7] Specifically, the protections apply when two persons begin to reside together in a joint home and live together as a couple in a presumptively permanent, sexual and cohabiting relationship.

The legal status provides only limited rights primarily to economic protection for joint ownership of the common home and household goods, though other benefits and obligations now also extend to sambo relationships.

Registered partnerships, only available to same-sex couples, gave the full range of protections, responsibilities and benefits as marriage, including adoption and arrangements for the breakdown of the relationship.

Same-sex registered partners were granted the right to adopt jointly in 2003, and in vitro fertilisation for lesbian couples was allowed in 2005.

The report, issued in March 2007, supported enacting a gender-neutral marriage law and abolishing the registered partnership law (registered partnerships would be automatically converted into marriages), while granting an "opt-out" to religious institutions, which would allow them to refuse to marry same-sex couples.

[16][17] The majority of Swedes approved of same-sex marriage, but there was some strong opposition from religious organisations and other self-described "family-oriented" groups.

On 12 May 2008, media sources reported that a married same-sex couple from Canada were challenging the Swedish Government in court because it refused to recognise their relationship as a marriage.

Göran Hägglund, the leader of the Christian Democrats, said on Sveriges Radio, "my position is that I have been tasked by the party to argue that marriage is for men and women.

"[20] On 14 January 2008, two leading politicians from the Christian Democrats took a position against the party and started to support same-sex marriage.

After negotiations on a compromise broke down and facing a parliamentary ultimatum in late October 2008,[23] the cabinet prepared to present its bill to a free vote.

[32][33] The first same-sex couple to marry in Sweden were Alf Karlsson and Johan Lundqvist at Stockholm City Hall on 1 May 2009.

The study, conducted in both Sweden and Denmark, found a 46% fall in suicides of people in same-sex unions between the periods 1989–2002 and 2003–2016, compared to 28% among heterosexual couples.

[39][40] In July 2013, Statistics Sweden (SCB) released estimates on the number of people who had married a partner of the same sex since marriage legalisation in 2009.

Prime Minister Stefan Löfven said in June 2017 that he did not believe a priest working for the Church of Sweden should be allowed to refuse to marry same-sex couples.

The first religious same-sex wedding in Sweden was performed in a Liberal Catholic church in Stora Essingen, Stockholm in July 2009 between Maj-Briht and Helle Bergström-Walan.

[53] Additionally, the Nordic Asa-Community and the Community of Forn Sed Sweden both solemnize and support same-sex marriages.

[56] In 2014, French-Algerian Imam Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed officiated at the religious marriage of two Iranian women in Stockholm, which proved controversial in Muslim circles.

[58] A YouGov poll conducted between 27 December 2012 and 6 January 2013 found that 79% of Swedes supported same-sex marriage, 14% were opposed and 7% had no opinion.

[61] A Pew Research Center poll, conducted between April and August 2017 and published in May 2018, showed that 88% of Swedes supported same-sex marriage, 7% were opposed and 5% did not know or had refused to answer.

[65] A Pew Research Center poll conducted between February and May 2023 also showed that 92% of Swedes supported same-sex marriage, 6% were opposed and 2% did not know or had refused to answer.