British island territory swaps marriage for domestic partnerships for LGBT couples in move criticised as attack on equal rights

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Bermuda has become the first jurisdiction to legalise and then repeal same-sex marriage, in what critics have called an unprecedented rollback of civil rights by the British territory. The overseas British territory had legalised same-sex marriage last May, after the country’s Supreme Court made a decision, but the ruling party in the country’s parliament has overturned it in a ruling on Wednesday. Walton Brown, Bermuda’s minister of home affairs, said the legislation signed by Governor John Rankin would balance opposition to same-sex marriage on the socially conservative island while complying with European court rulings that ensure recognition and protection for same-sex couples in the territory. Bermuda’s Senate and House of Assembly passed the new legislation by wide margins in December and a majority of voters opposed same-sex marriage in a referendum. British island territory swaps marriage for domestic partnerships for LGBT couples in move criticised as attack on equal rightsBermuda has become the first jurisdiction to legalise and then repeal same-sex marriage, in what critics have called an unprecedented rollback of civil rights by the British territory.Walton Brown, Bermuda's minister of home affairs, said the legislation signed by Governor John Rankin would balance opposition to same-sex marriage on the socially conservative island while complying with European court rulings that ensure recognition and protection for same-sex couples in the territory.Bermuda's Senate and House of Assembly passed the legislation by wide margins in December and"The act is intended to strike a fair balance between two currently irreconcilable groups in Bermuda, by restating that marriage must be between a male and a female while at the same time recognising and protecting the rights of same-sex couples," said Brown, whose ruling Progressive Labour party proposed the repeal.LGBT civil rights groups said domestic partnerships amounted to a second-class status and it was unprecedented for a jurisdiction to take away the legal right to marriage after it had been granted. In a joint statement, Cunard and P&O Cruises said: “We do not underestimate the disappointment this will cause those guests who have planned their weddings.”

Read: Bermuda bans same-sex marriage – just months after legalising it

Read: Here are the Paradise Paper highlights – and why they matter Ty Cobb, director of the Human Rights Campaign Global, said: "Governor Rankin and the Bermuda parliament have shamefully made Bermuda the first national territory in the world to repeal marriage equality." “This is not equality, and the British government has obviously just said, ‘This is not our fight.’”

About half a dozen same-sex marriages that took place in Bermuda between the supreme court ruling in May 2017 and the repeal will continue to be recognised under the new law.
Bermuda repeals same-sex marriage, becoming the world's first jurisdiction to legalise, then repeal same-sex marriage. However, about half a dozen same-sex marriages that took place in Bermuda between the Supreme Court ruling in May 2017 and the repeal will continue to be recognised.