Bermuda outlaws gay marriage - less than one year after it became legal
Friday, 09 February 2018
This from the New York Times
Bermuda Outlaws Gay Marriage, Less Than a Year After It Became Legal
Bermuda has forbidden same-sex marriage, only nine months after legalizing it, in what advocates for gay and lesbian rights called a disappointing setback.
Same-sex marriage became legal in Bermuda, a British overseas territory, in May as a result of a ruling by the island’s Supreme Court.
But the unions are unpopular with some voters.
In 2016, Bermudians voted against same-sex marriage in a referendum, and after the court ruling in May, the territory’s legislature drafted a bill banning same-sex marriage but giving all couples legal recognition as domestic partners. Parliament adopted the Domestic Partnership Act in December, and on Wednesday the territory’s governor, John Rankin, signed it into law.
The British prime minister, Theresa May, said Britain was “seriously disappointed,” but the Foreign Office said on Thursday it would be inappropriate to block the measure.
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The difficulties in Bermuda arose as a result of this Supreme Court action brought by two gay blokes who sought an order that overturned the Registrar's advice that they couldn't marry because they were of the same sex.
https://www.gov.bm/sites/default/files/Godwin-Deroche.pdf
The court's findings includes this insight into what marriage is all about.
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The institution of marriage has a long heritage which is deep seated in communities throughout Judeo-Christian countries of the world. This has been conveniently adumbrated by Kennedy J for the majority in the United States Supreme Court decision of Obergefell Et Al v Hodges 576 U.S. __(2015):
“From their beginning to their most recent page, the annals of human history reveal the transcendent importance of marriage. The lifelong union of a man and a woman always has promised nobility and dignity to all persons, without regard to their station in life. Marriage is sacred to those who live by their religions and offers unique fulfillment to those who find meaning in the secular realm. Its dynamic allows two people to find a life that could not be found alone, for a marriage becomes greater than just the two persons. Rising from the most basic human needs, marriage is essential to our most profound hopes and aspirations.
The centrality of marriage to the human condition makes it unsurprising that the institution has existed for millennia and across civilizations. Since the dawn of history, marriage has transformed strangers into relatives, binding families and societies together. Confucius taught that marriage lies at the foundation of government. 2 Li Chi: Book of Rites 266 (C. Chai & W. Cha eds., J. Legge transl.1967). This wisdom was echoed centuries later and half a world away by Cicero, who wrote, “The first bond of society is marriage; next, children; and then the family.” See De Officiis 57 (W. Miller transl. 1913). There are untold references to the beauty of marriage in religious and philosophical texts spanning time, cultures, and faiths, as well as in art and literature in all their forms. It is fair and necessary to say these references were based on the understanding that marriage is a union between two persons of the opposite sex.”