Bermuda passes bill to outlaw Same-Sex Marriage
The Amendments, aimed at solidifying marriage as between a man and a woman, were passed in the House of Assembly, despite vocal opposition.
In the wake of the vote, the ruling One Bermuda Alliance backbencher Hon Mark Pettingill said he is ashamed of his party. “How it will affect my position [in the One Bermuda Alliance] over the summer, I don’t know,” according to the local media.
One man, one women
The amendments, tabled by Hon Wayne L. Furbert and further amended by Attorney General Hon Trevor Moniz, state that nothing in the Human Rights Act would override the provisions of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1974, which provides that marriages are void unless they are between a man and a woman.
A total of 20 MPs voted in favour of the amended Bill with 10, including Mr Moniz, voting against it.
Hon Michael H. Dunkley, the Premier, abstained from voting, telling the House that he had asked Mr Furbert to set back the Bill for a week so he could discuss the matter with the Human Rights Commission.
Marc A. B. Bean and Zane DeSilva were not present, while Deputy Speaker Suzann Roberts Holshouser was unable to vote because she was serving as Speaker at the time.
For & Against
The vote came after almost two hours of debate in which parliamentarians spoke out strongly on both sides of the issue.
Mr Pettingill, the Progressive Labour Party’s Walton Brown Jr and independent MP Hon Shawn Crockwell, voiced vociferous opposition to the legislation, which they argued was a retrograde step for human rights on the island.
Opening his speech by reading the opening paragraph of the Human Rights Act, Mr Pettingill said that everyone on the island deserved the same rights, regardless of sexual orientation.
“It’s a human rights issue because of what our Human Rights Act says,” he said. “That every human being is entitled to the same service as any human being,” according to the Bermuda Royal Gazettee.
Locally, Dr The Hon D. Orlando Smith’s ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) Administration has sent mixed signals as to its position on the issue.
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26 Responses to “Bermuda passes bill to outlaw Same-Sex Marriage”
Yes, ad long as that "service" is from the opposite sex........lol
legalize the weed and leave the b***y man thing where it is