Tag: civil unions
Equality and respect for all
Johann Moxam writes: It’s interesting that the government has failed to hold any public meetings or surveys to assess the views of their constituents on the Domestic Partnership Bill. Nevertheless, it is clear that the same standards or steps that apply to a heterosexual union should apply to a same-sex union. But after reading the […]
Domestic Partnership Bill drafted
(CNS): Over seven months after the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal directed government to “expeditiously” implement some form of same-sex civil partnership legislation, a bill has finally been drafted for public consultation. The court made the order after overturning the chief justice’s ruling from March 2019 legalising same-sex marriage. In response, government has now come […]
Colours demand marriage equality by year end
(CNS): The local activist group advocating for the rights of lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender people has called on the governor to put same-sex marriage equality in place before the end of the year. In the wake of the ruling by the Court of Appeal that the Cayman Islands must “expeditiously” legalise civil unions for […]
Miller gives his backing to civil unions
(CNS): Ezzard Miller has given his support to the introduction of civil unions, offering the same legal rights as married couples to same-sex couples as well as opposite-sex couples in common-law relationships. Speaking for himself and not the official opposition group, he said he still does not support marriage equality but said “in my personal […]
CIG wasted public cash on LGBT case, says HRC
(CNS): The Human Rights Commission has accused government of an “inexcusable waste of public funds” that are “purely for political reasons” in its fight against Chantelle Day and Vickie Bodden, a same-sex couple who were refused a marriage licence last summer. In a paper submitted to the UK House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee’s inquiry into […]
Jowell all but concedes on civil unions
(CNS): The constitutional expert representing the Cayman government in its defence of a legal claim by two women wishing to marry all but conceded that there was little he could do to argue against the need for introducing civil partnerships in the Cayman Islands, which would allow same-sex couples to have some form of legal […]
‘Right or wrong’, marriage inequity deliberate
(CNS): Sir Jeffrey Jowell QC, whom government has instructed to defend a legal case challenging the Cayman Islands’ ban on same-sex marriage and the lack of equity for gay couples, told the court Friday that “rightly or wrongly”, the intention of the Constitution is to ensure that marriage remains a union between opposite-sex couples only. […]
Gay couple ‘waited long enough’ to marry
(CNS): Chantelle Day and Vickie Bodden have “waited long enough” for the Cayman Islands Government to address the lack of any provision for same-sex couples to marry or enter into a civil partnership, Edward Fitzgerald QC told the court, as he made submissions on their behalf Thursday in the landmark case. He said his clients […]
Gay marriage trial set for early next year
(CNS): Chief Justice Anthony Smellie has ordered the civil action brought by two women who were refused the opportunity to marry by the registrar to be heard in February 2019. Cayman’s top judge, who will be hearing the case, also confirmed Friday in a short case management hearing that, during the three-day trial next year, the […]
Governor hopes to oversee civil union law
(CNS): The new governor has made it clear that the UK will not be pushing the Cayman Islands government to change the definition of marriage but he is hoping to see the government adopt legislation that will pave the way for same-sex civil partnerships and provide equal legal rights for gay couples. Speaking to the […]
EU accepts local LGBT activists’ legal petition
(CNS): The legal institutions of the European Union will be giving consideration to claims of discrimination by the local lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender community after a petition delivered to the European Parliament by Colours Cayman was accepted. This is a small but important first step for the activists, who have been trying to attract the […]
