Tag: Billie Bryan
Activists aim for broad hate crime law
(CNS): Noel Cayasso-Smith, president of the Cayman LGBTQ Foundation, says that efforts by local activists campaigning for hate crime legislation in Cayman have begun to bear fruit. The governor recently held a meeting with representatives from the Foundation, Colours Caribbean and the Red Cross, and an independent expert.
Same-sex couples must be heard in JR, says NPO
(CNS): The lives of more than 40, mostly same-sex couples and their children will be “severely disrupted” if a judicial review of the governor’s use of his constitutional power to push through the Civil Partnership Law was to succeed and as a result they need to be heard, a lawyer argued Tuesday.
Pride is not that black and white
Billie “Bee” Bryan writes: “Baby steps.” Those are the words so many have tried to placate me with whenever I’m enquired about my response to “Cayman Gay Pride”. As if to suggest that any action taken to uplift LGBTQIA+ people in the Cayman Islands is without scrutiny and that the event was “at least” a […]
Governor tells LGBTs civil partnerships are safe
(CNS): As Colours Caribbean celebrated its first anniversary this weekend advocating for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, members welcomed the support of Governor Martyn Roper in a key note speech at the event. Roper told the community that as well as backing their efforts to fight for justice and equality, he believed the […]
Chief justice appoints QC to look into JR secrecy
(CNS): Chief Justice Anthony Smellie has appointed a Queen’s Counsel to look into why documents relating to a judicial review challenging the governor’s use of his constitutional power to implement the Civil Partnership Law were withheld from the public. According to a letter seen by CNS from the Attorney General’s Chambers, CJ Smellie has appointed […]
Activists call out ‘sheer gall’ of politicians
(CNS): A local activist group campaigning for the rights of Cayman’s LGBT community is urging elected leaders to listen to all the demands of the people that the group says are being ignored. Colours Cayman is not just concerned about how its own community has been treated by politicians, but also that, after a year […]
RCIPS disputes response to hate speech
(CNS): The RCIPS has taken issue with a report on CNS because the service appears to be uncomfortable with the headline and quotes by the police commissioner Derek Byrne implying he did not think a collection of unpleasant and unnerving comments about the LGBT+ amounted to hate speech. Although the article quoted the commissioner directly […]
LGBT ‘hate’ speech not criminal, says CoP
(CNS): Hate speech about hanging gay people ‘in a loving way’, exposing the sexuality of those attending a fundraiser for a new LGBT awareness group and comments about deporting LGBT people, which are proliferating on social media, do not yet rise to the level of a crime, Police Commissioner Derek Byrne has said. However, the […]
LGBT group worried by MLAs’ view of law
(CNS): The local LGBT advocacy group, Colours Cayman, has welcomed the governor’s decision to intervene in order to uphold the rule of law regarding the rights of that community and enact the Domestic Partnership Law. However, the activists have raised concerns that some local legislators have said that they are not willing to comply with […]
The defeat of the Domestic Partnership Bill
Billie “Bee” Bryan writes: Colours Cayman would like to express our deep concern and disappointment in the outcome of the debate over the Domestic Partnership Bill in the Legislative Assembly this week. This isn’t just a sad day for our LGBTQIA+ community; it’s also a terribly sad day for our wonderful Islands and our persons. The failure […]
LGBT activists back Domestic Partnership Bill
(CNS): Colours Cayman, the local advocacy group for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, has backed government’s Domestic Partnership Bill, even though it falls short of marriage equality. Describing it as a “step in the right direction”, Billie (Bee) Bryan said Cayman still needed a legal framework that is functionally equivalent to marriage as […]
