BERMUDA, December 13, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – After instituting same-sex “marriage” less than a year ago, Bermuda is quickly moving toward overturning the new law. If the tiny island nation succeeds, it will be the first country in the world to return to marriage defined solely between a man and a woman.
Same-sex “marriage” became law in Bermuda earlier this year via judicial fiat.
Members of the Bermuda House of Assembly voted late last week by a 24-10 margin to approve the “Domestic Partnership Act,” which would offer domestic partnerships rather than marriage to same-sex couples.
The bill would give “the LGBTQ community the benefits it has been asking for” while maintaining the “the traditional definition of marriage,” according to MP Lawrence Scott in a report filed by Bermuda’s Royal Gazette. “As it stands now, they can have the name marriage but without the benefits. But after this Bill passes, they have the benefits and just not the name marriage. The benefits are what they really want.”
MP Wayne Furbert said, “I support it because at the end of the day it removes the right to same-sex ‘marriage’ and it tells the court that this Parliament will stand for what is right.”
“It’s going to give individuals the rights they need and it’s going to keep marriage between a man and a woman, which was my goal,” said Sylvan Richards, shadow minister of planning.
In 2016, more than 60 percent of Bermuda voters rejected both marriage and same-sex civil unions in a non-binding referendum. Judge Charles-Etta Simmons, a member of the nation’s Supreme Court, then ruled in favor of same-sex “marriage,” making it the law of the land.
The Domestic Partnerships Act would overrule the judge’s May decision that gave “marriage” to same-sex couples but did not provide the same full range of legal rights that opposite-sex couples have.
The bill still faces hurdles. The measure must now be taken up by the Bermuda Senate. According to a report at Salon.com, “Usually the Senate rubber stamps Assembly bills, but not always. In July of last year, the Senate rejected an Assembly-passed bill which formally defined marriage as only between a man and a woman.”
If that legislative body passes it, the Domestic Partnership Act will be delivered to Gov. John Rankin for his signature. Previously, Rankin affirmed his support for civil unions.
“While same-sex ‘marriage’ enjoys wide support within the United States, it is comparatively rare worldwide,” the Salon report continued. “According to the Pew Research Center, just 26 countries have legalized the practice. Overwhelmingly, the nations which have marriage equality are concentrated in Europe as well as in the Americas. No Asian countries have enacted it, and South Africa is the only nation on its continent to have done so.”