Court upholds ban on gay weddings in Cayman Islands

San Juan, 14 Mar The Privy Council court dismissed an appeal by two women seeking to determine whether the Bill of Rights of the Cayman Islands Constitution gives them the right to access the institution of marriage, despite sharing the same sex. On Monday, the Privy Council, which serves as a court of last resort for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, the former British Commonwealth of Nations, ratified a decision that can serve as an example for other overseas territories dependent on London. The decision was a blow to Chantelle Day and Vickie Bodden Bush, two women who sought to have the high court determine that the local constitution would protect same-sex marriages. The decision announced this Monday ends a long struggle in court over the validity of gay marriage. In 2018, authorities rejected the marriage application of the two women, arguing that the Cayman Islands Marriage Act defines marriage as the link between a man and a woman. THE TWO WOMEN TRIED TO CHALLENGE THE LAW Despite this, Day and Bush tried to challenge the Marriage Act on the grounds that it was incompatible with the Bill of Rights of the Cayman Islands Constitution. The Grand Court of the Cayman Islands found that there were violations of the rights of the two women. The Prosecutor's Office successfully appealed this new decision, which therefore reached the Privy Council Court, which today ended the hopes of the two women of marrying in Cayman Islands. In dismissing the appeal, the Privy Council noted that in the context of the Bill of Rights, section 14, which deals specifically with marriage, states that this right is limited to opposite-sex couples. DECISION DOES NOT PREVENT NEW LEGISLATION The Privy Council clarified on Monday that the interpretation given to the Bill of Rights in its ruling does not prevent the Cayman Islands Legislative Assembly from introducing legislation in the future to recognize same-sex marriage. The Privy Council also ruled on the same matter on Bermuda, for whose territory the judges ruled that legislation prohibiting same-sex marriage was not unconstitutional. The case stems from a lawsuit filed with the Bermuda Attorney General by Rod Ferguson, a single citizen of that Atlantic territory who was not allowed to marry his same-sex partner. Same-sex marriage in Bermuda was first legalized on May 5, 2017, when the Supreme Court ruled that such couples had a legal right to marry in the Atlantic territory. LAW ON DOMESTIC UNIONS PASSED IN 2018 However, in June 2018, the local government passed the Domestic Unions Act, which came into force, a rule that recognized and protected same-sex relations but ended homosexual weddings. Former President of the Supreme Court of Bermuda Ian Kawaley then ruled that restrictions on entering into same-sex marriages were contrary to the Constitution. The Court of Appeals defended Kawaley's decision and allowed weddings, but the One Bermuda Alliance in Government appealed on the grounds that according to a non-binding referendum the majority of voters voted against those marriages. The decision of Alliance One Bermuda prompted the attorney general to take the case to the Privy Council, which finally ruled today.