UK stalling on Bermuda same-sex marriage u-turn

| 22/01/2018 | 51 Comments

(CNS): The Governor of Bermuda, John Rankin, has still not signed a bill from the territory’s Senate that overturned the islands’ previous and short-lived same-sex marriage legislation, replacing it with domestic partnerships. The UK’s overseas territories minister, Lord Ahmad, told the Foreign Affairs Select Committee last week that the change of heart by Bermuda’s premier was of “deep concern to us” as the British government remains committed to same-sex marriage as a human right.

According to reports in the Bermuda press, it is not clear that Governor Rankin is going to sign the new legislation, which was passed in the Senate on 13 December.

Answering questions last week in the UK before the committee, Lord Ahmad said, that he had raised the issue directly with Bermuda’s premier when they met just after the Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council meeting and that “they know of our deep concern in this respect”.

He said Britain was “clear where we stand on the issue of same-sex marriage, it is the human right of any individual to have that right. That point has been made in no uncertain terms to the premier and he is aware of the British government’s position on that.”

But the peer who has responsibility for all the territories has not said whether or not the governor will assent or not.

“Our governor is the representative of the UK, and he will reflect the views of Her Majesty’s Government,” he said. Though he pointed to Bermuda’s constitution and the legal position surrounding that, he noted that the governor takes his instructions from London. “I’ve got deep concerns about what happened there,” he added.

Last month, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office told Bernews, “The UK Government is a proud supporter of LGBT rights and continues to support same-sex marriage. While the UK Government is disappointed with the implications of this bill, this is a matter for the Bermuda Government acting within the terms of the Bermuda Constitution and in accordance with international law.”

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Here is a lesson for other territories including the Cayman Islands to learn from. As far as it may concern, I do not really think gay people in Bermuda or the Cayman Islands care what label is attached to the legal document – Be it ‘Marriage’ or ‘Partnership’. The bottom line is this – allow persons of the same sex to join together in union and have the same equal rights as heterosexual couples do!!!!! and done with it. I personally know gay people who would care less if they were allowed to marry in a religious setting or have the word Marriage on their legal document. All they wish for is to be able to have their union legalized and thus recognized by the country. CAYMAN do not fall short of giving our gay citizens the opportunity to unite with their partners if they so desire.

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    • Diogenes says:

      That is all that is required,
      the same legal rights, and protections from discrimination (which currently are not provided by the constitution or any legal documents I can find, aka it is perfectly legal for you to be fired for being gay, or for your perceived homosexuality things of that nature)

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    • Anonymous says:

      The gay community very much cares what “label” is applies since anything other than marriage is state approved discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Marriage is a a secular matter than has been hijacked by the religious extremists to further prejudice.

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      • Anonymous says:

        What if I told the gay community I have something that stipulates superior protection and rights over the straight community – and the latter would be well advised to get on board as well?

        It is called a civil partnership.

        Marriage law is an outdated, archaic, collection of bad and conflicting legislation that is best left behind. (There is a reason why divorce / family lawyers make the big bucks.)

        Interestingly, many gays are still against this option. In many instances it then begs the question; what is the beef really about?

        – Who

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        • Anonymous says:

          That only addresses discrimination if you intend to abolish marriage for everyone and replace it by civil partnership.

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        • Diogenes says:

          Well I can understand some apprehension Who, “Separate but equal” is rarely ever equal
          Wonder where I’ve heard that term before, I can’t put my finger on it…

          You of all people ought to understand how that sounds

          Diogenes

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  2. Anonymous says:

    Who cares

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    • Anonymous says:

      All the people who take every opportunity to tell other adults how they ought to live,
      there was an entire rally dedicated to it if memory serves
      bringing back any memories?

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    • Anonymous says:

      I do! And all decent people should too.

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      • Anonymous says:

        So much attention being paid to LGBT rights. Never mind that there are other matters of great concern to address here and obviously else where in the world.

        SMH.

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  3. Anonymous says:

    England & Wales only passed legislation allowing same sex marriage less than five years ago. Scotland the next year. Northern Ireland still does not allow it. I’m a supporter of same sex marriage and full equality for all people, but this rhetoric is really rich coming from the UK!

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    • Anonymous says:

      I think the main issue is the reversal of legislation, it’s much harder to take something away than not allow it in the first place. Bermuda allowed same sex marriage, a few people got married, and now they want to repeal the law. So what happens to those that married?. To be fair they have a plan to allow same sex partnerships with the same legal rights, just not called marriage, which I guess carries a religious overtone and presumably upsetting the church folk. The rhetoric isn’t whether you should or shouldn’t allow SSM, but whether you should be allowed to repeal it.

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  4. Tinker Bell says:

    Its like the 50s all over again except this time it isn’t the color of your skin that prohibts you from marrying who you love.

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    • Anonymous says:

      There is no comparison! It was never a sin to be black but it is a sin to be in a sane sex marriage

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      • Anonymous says:

        Didn’t realize we were writing laws to align with what is and is not a sin

        Shellfish
        Pulling out (yep that is in the bible)
        Tattoos
        Blending fabrics
        Divorce specifically remarriage after divorce
        Wearing “gold, pearls and costly garments”
        Eating pork
        Rounded Haircuts (and shaving in specific ways)
        Men with genital injuries entering churches
        Consulting Psychics (say bye bye to your horoscope)
        Gossiping
        Women speaking in churches
        Yet all of these things are legal

        Shall I continue?

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      • Just Sayin' says:

        Personally, I have always preferred insane sex.

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  5. Anonymous says:

    Who gives a flying eff about your “deep concerns” mate?

    The people have spoken – that is the essence of DEMOCRACY.

    Most territories are not xenophobic like mainland Brits (as demonstrated by our population growth by way of immigration) and do not endorse the spirit or philosophy of Brexit but, once again, DEMOCRACY is the name of the game.

    Some cultures are racist xenophobes and others aren’t fans of the concept of gay marriage.
    Sounds like quite a deal for the mainlanders actually.

    Sign it and be quiet…or commence a diplomatic shit-storm within the entire “empire” … which, by the way, the very existence thereof in 2018 is the source of your problem.

    Either reform or kiss your archaic global experiment bye-bye.

    (500 years was a good run. Your queen is the world’s greatest landowner, your country rose to economic prominence on the coattails of barbarism and inhumanity, and you even have now some lovely blood crown-jewels to showoff to the dinner guests.)

    You done good, now be smart.
    (Smh)

    – Whodatis

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    • Anonymous says:

      Who likes the tyranny of a regional majority when it suits his prejudices. The UK is perfectly entitled to take such steps as are needed to protect its interests in its territory. If bigots want to see their precious economies decimated, they can always ask for independence any time they want.

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      • Anonymous says:

        You mean like the mainland bigots who voted for Brexit?

        And speaking of a decimated economy – might I remind you of the recently reported 20 year “stagnant” economic forecast for the UK?

        You may very well be onto something there George.

        – Who

        *As for independence – some of us welcome it. But you already know that, considering you are my biggest fan.

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    • Marl Karx says:

      When are the majority ever in the wrong?

      While we are dwelling on the past, where do I pick up the crown of Mali, Mansa Musa left some gold for me

    • Anonymous says:

      Ah Who, she is your Queen too, and to say anything treasonous is still punishable by hanging. I shall have a word with her.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Tell her she can hang from these berries.
        I have no queen, mate. I don’t recognise royalty – it is not 1518.

        Many on here scoff at Christianity – some of us scoff at fairytale-pretend-games.

        – Who

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        • Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky says:

          Christianity was and still is the basis of a monarch’s (or government’s) right to rule,

          Romans 13:1-2
          “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.”

          While I know you claim to not be religious or whatever, It’s always been an interesting portion for me, it is exactly what I would put in a religious text if I was aspiring to be a leader, ( anyone who denies one of the main purposes of Christianity is to instill submissiveness and obedience into the masses is surely lying to themselves, back in the day they denied slaves were humans but still allowed them bibles and Christianity, to keep them submissive, serfs were treated in the same basic way)
          Also you can say what you want about the Sovereign and her ancestors, but without the Kings and Queens of England, and eventually the UK the world would not be where it is today
          While the world isn’t perfect it could be a lot worse in my opinion
          We can pick apart the monarchy for whatever reason but in reality she is just a figurehead (a very popular figurehead) for the government, they rule and she just smiles, your animosity toward the rulers of the past is well known, but in all her time on the throne EII has done nothing particularly loathsome or deserving of your hatred, (other than existing I guess you would say)
          Monarch’s haven’t really held power in the UK since the 1700s, but I’m sure that wont stop you from blaming all of imperialism on them, it’s fine I hate that I wasn’t born royalty as well

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          • Anonymous says:

            Even royal families themselves don’t believe in the scriptural b.s. you have referenced, otherwise they would not have been invading and slaughtering each other for centuries as we have seen.

            It is all about stepping completely outside the box and taking a long, hard and pragmatic look at the ridiculous, fraudulent house of cards that has been erected around us.

            I sincerely hold the royal family in the same regard as I do ISIS, as an example. For in reality, they are essentially ISIS on steroids.

            (Kindly do not denigrate this discussion to the tired tactic of assessing the sitting queen as an individual. She is not the issue at hand – it is the baseless claim to special lineage.)

            Who honors ISIS in these modern times? No one. We regard them as murderous madmen carrying out their caliphate-inspired brutality in the name of “God”.

            Remind us of the world’s greatest land-owner on earth? Who claims Godly rights to their title? Who currently proudly parades a crown of natural resources derived from far away lands sourced from the most heinous era of human suffering?

            Same thing. ‘Eff em all.

            – Who

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    • Anonymous says:

      “Most territories are not xenophobic like mainland Brits”

      Ha. The irony is beyond comic.

      * Awesome.

    • Anonymous says:

      You forgot that some cultures are racist,xenophobic, homophobes who use religion to justify discrimination, like some persons in Cayman

      Also how can you claim to use democracy as justification when no democratic vote was held?

      The government REFUSED to hold a referendum on the issue, out of fear of being seen as supporters for gay marriage, and because they know that there will be consequences for their continued discrimination on the world stage,

      Cayman will have to take a position on the issue publicly eventually, short remarks declaring the christian heritage of the island and the MLAs will not suffice
      as more and more nations continue to correct their laws.

      I for one will not be raising my children with hatred in their hearts christian or not,
      as someone descended from African slaves they will understand the danger of legal discrimination even if the majority approves
      We are meant to be better than our past yet here we are hundreds of years later singing the same song to a different tune

      • Anonymous says:

        Do you address the Brexit referendum with the same vigour, oh descendant of African slaves?

        Or do you recoil to your rightful shell at times like those?

        – Who

  6. Anonymous says:

    If this happened here people would demand we declare independence

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    • Anonymous says:

      Which people? Many thousands of Caymanians fully support same sex marriage.

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      • Anonymous says:

        That explains why none of the MLAs will support it publicly and why people like Anthony Eden call for a referendum so that they can get a mandate to discriminate against persons

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        • Anonymous says:

          The 50% of the population with IQs of 100 or less are much more stupid than the most intelligent 10% can ever conceive.

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          • Anonymous says:

            I think you need to Google World IQs, then look at the Caribbean region – I think you would be safer saying “below average for the region”.

    • Anonymous says:

      No they wouldn’t. Would hurt the pockets to much.

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  7. Anonymous says:

    The people of Bermuda have made such a big brouhaha with the whole gay marriage issue, that some news outlets on the island have entire sections dedicated to reporting “Same-Sex News”

    No joke,
    If they did that here people would probably boycott the news

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  8. Diogenes says:

    *Hums Rule Britannia! with vigor*

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