It's still illegal to be gay in 72 countries

Estonia has legally recognised the marriage of a gay couple for the first time.

On appeal, a court in the country’s capital Tallinn recognised the marriage of a same-sex couple, in a hopeful sign that full marriage equality may not be too far off.

A court in the district of Harju refused to enter the marriage between the men, who wed in Sweden, into the civil register.

But on appeal, the court ruled in favour of entering the men’s marriage into the register.

Judges said in December that there was “nothing in the way” of allowing the men to register themselves as married.

As authorities did not appeal, the ruling is final.

The couple were then on Tuesday able to finally register themselves as married,

LGBT activists and legal experts have said they hope that the ruling will set a precedent paving the way for same-sex marriage to become legal in the Baltic State.

The Estonian Parliament back in 2014 narrowly passed legislation to legalise gay civil partnerships.

The bill, which recognised civil partnerships of both straight and gay couples, passed with 40 votes to 38. 23 members were absent for the vote.

The legislation took effect in 2016, and made Estonia the first former Soviet republic to allow civil partnerships for same-sex couples.