All they had to do was change some
Of the laws to include gay marriage rather than replace it.

My marriage cert basically gaurenteed all the protections I needed.

Now we have two sections of gay/lesbian couples: married and in domestic partnerships. We now have division in our own community.

How does that sit well with you?

Every single time.

Why is it so hard for you to be truthful?

” I think that when I have somebody email me and say ‘I’m canceling my trip and I’m going to Jamaica,’ then clearly we have a better message to deliver.”

Yeah…um maybe he and his govt should have thought more seriously about that message before they caved to those good (homophobic) christians and put tourism in jeopardy.

The court ruling wasn’t flawed and the judge did not say “Okay you can marry”. The judge played out the clear reason in the laws why they pulled the way they did and then played out what laws would apply to homosexual couples as it does to the heterosexual couples and in certain areas the judge stated that the government would need to amend the laws to allow for the legal equality to happen. This didn’t happen cause the OBA was weak and didn’t really care about this and the PLP just chose to flat out ignore the court.

No I want all the rights and privileges that comes with marriage under the law that a hetro couple get, do i have those rights? On paper sort of, but if i get a domestic partnership here and then move to the USA or Britain both of whom have domestic partnership on the book i would lose rights because depending on what the state of the domestic partnership laws are. I potential can lose all rights if I moved to a country that has marriage equality but no domestic partnerships as they possibly would not recognize legally the domestic partnership.

Also with domestic partnerships because it is not marriage it can leave me exposed to companies going “well your not married so we’re not doing spousal coverage for you but instead we’ve created this partners insurance” which might be less coverage for my partner but cost us just as much if not more. Hospital visits might be effected as well cause a “righteous christian” nurse might say “No you can come in you might be his partner but visitations are for family and my faith doesn’t recognize you partnership so as far as i’m concerned you’re roommate”

This is all about rights and making sure that we get the same rights as every one else, and had the PLP done this before the court ruling then they would be getting a lot of praise from people, i would even have agrees that they were doing something right BUT they didn’t, we did have the court ruling and they did ignore the courts and take the equality from us so they now deserve ever bit of criticism they get on this topic.

I beg to differ. Follow the link below

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/gay-marriage-eu-same-sex-marriage-european-court-of-justice-ecj-definition-evolved-advocate-general-a8153096.html

Just sayin’……….

Ridiculous

and who says you can’t legislate stupid?

If there was a country that would not let a certain race have the same rights as another… What if the government says to you, you cant be like us because of your race…but we still like you and want you to give us your money! If you were part of that race, would you want to go there?

ARE YOU JOKING… What a disgrace this government has made of this country. Honestly EMBARRASSED to be Bermudian. EMBARRASSED!

The court ruling was flawed because it only said “Okay, you can marry” but with none of the benefits enjoyed by heterosexual couples, so the Government steps in and actually GIVES gay couples all of these benefits and you call them a “second rate watered down version?” Huh?? You have all the same rights a heterosexual couple does! What do you care what label the Government chooses to give it? You are basically saying “No, I only want the right to marry! I don’t care about all the other legal benefits like pensions, survivorship benefits, hospital visitation rights and health insurance!” The fact that people refuse to acknowledge how much better off gay couples are now is testament to the fact that this is not about gay rights, it’s only about taking pot-shots at the Government by those who oppose it.

In the world of business it is known as reputation risk, which companies do all they can to avoid. In Bermuda apparently we do all we can to crash into it head on.

Carry on.

Great spin there, Jamahl. This backs up something I’ve been saying for years: Bermuda is a third world country masquerading as a first world one.

its like being told, oh your drinking the same water and the water fountains are the same but you have to drink from that while the rest of us drink from this one.

Seriously, PLP leaderships’ mentality is truly warped, like the USA’s Republican party.

What a ridiculous comment. You are basically saying that other tourist destinations that do NOT recognize SSM or have any form of legal recognition for gay couples are better than Bermuda. Bermuda is far ahead of the curve in offering legal benefits and recognition to gay couples, it just bothers folks like you because the PLP lead the way and did it while the OBA stuck their heads in the sand.

And FYI, NO rights have been stripped, rights have been GIVEN to gay couples where the courts failed to do so.

Now suddenly you get backlash from right thinking people, not the bible thumping idiots who voted you into power on your campaign promise to reverse same sex marriage, you want to change your tune?

Two faced does not even begin to describe this government.

That sentiment has been expressed in the past. Notice the abundance of Jewish tourists? They don’t come to Bermuda.

Now how about comparing us with those countries we like to be compared with such as Canada, the UK, the US, Switzerland and the like.

Please stop patting yourself on the back for offering a crumb of bread to the starving kid after you knock the sandwich out of his hand.

We think you are second class citizen, and we have enshrined in law the ability to discriminate as we see fit, but can you still please come and spend your money here?

I’m not sure I have the language to convey the utter contempt I have for this poor excuse for a human and waste of oxygen.