Bermuda Eliminates Same-Sex Marriage Just 6 Months After Legalizing It

Same-sex marriage as Bermudans have come to know it will be abolished in the same year it was instated. Just six months after marriage equality passed in a Supreme Court ruling in the country, a new bill introduced will replace marriages between same-sex individuals with domestic partnerships.

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Marriages performed and entered into since the original law was passed will be unaffected, and people in the new domestic partnerships will have the same benefits as married couples. Progressive Labour Party (PLP) member Lawrence Scott said the new bill retains "the traditional definition of marriage," according to Pink News, while giving "the LGBTQ community the benefits it ahs been asking for."

Others see the bill as a form of discrimination, with Bermuda's LGBTQ community being given rights only to have them taken away. "I don't' like to accept that it is OK for us to treat our sisters and brothers differently, whether fair or unfair, to treat them differently under similar circumstances," said Shadow Homes Affairs Minister Patricia Gordon-Pamplin. The new bill was approved with a vote of 24-10 in the Bermuda House. Read the full Pink News story, here.