Bermuda governor approves bill reversing same-sex marriage rights

Same-sex couples who wed in recent months will not have their marital status annulled.
Still, the new act has been criticised by international human rights groups who have lobbied Rankin and British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to deviate from standard practice in self-governing UK territories and withhold assent.

They say the new legislation contradicts Bermuda’s constitution, which guarantees freedom from discrimination.

The Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality in May 2017 was celebrated by the small gay community, but it also outraged many on the socially conservative island, including church leaders, and thousands protested outside parliament.

In a debate in the UK’s House of Commons last month, openly gay Labour lawmaker Chris Bryant called the bill a “deeply unpleasant and very cynical piece of legislation.” “I feel enormously disappointed,” said 64-year-old married gay Bermudian Joe Gibbons.

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