The Cayman Islands have officially legalised same-sex marriage, after a landmark ruling that saw a lesbian couple take on the nation’s definition of marriage.
The couple at the heart of the victory, Chantelle Day, and her fiancée, Vickie Bodden Bush, were initially denied the right to wed, in April 2018 and took the matter to the courts, where Grand Court Chief Justice Anthony Smellie ruled the definition of marriage as only being between a man and a woman was unconstitutional and violated their rights.
Smellie ordered the immediate modification of the Marriage Law in the Cayman Islands resulting in the term marriage being amended too “the union between two people as one another’s spouses.”
“This court is bound not to allow the violation of the petitioners’ rights to continue without redress,” explained the Chief Justice.
“The petitioners and their daughter are entitled to the indignities to which they have been subjected being put to an immediate end by the court.”
Speaking to The UK Telegraph after the ruling, Day explained that their dream had come true.
“We’ve just got the ruling that changes the definition of marriage. It’s a massive relief and just incredible, I just can’t express it enough.”
The couple said they now plan to marry “on the beach somewhere in Cayman,” to the delight of their 6-year-old daughter.
The Cayman Islands is an autonomous British Overseas Territory in the western Caribbean Sea. It is internally self-governing but the UK is responsible for its defence and foreign relations.
In response to the ruling, the United Kingdom’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirmed its approval stated that “the UK believes that the strongest, safest and most prosperous societies are those in which all citizens can play a full, equal and active part,” said a spokesperson.
