A bill that repeals marriage rights for
gay and lesbian couples in Bermuda has received the assent of its
governor.
According to The Bermuda News,
Governor John Rankin announced the news in a statement.
“After careful consideration in line
with my responsibilities under the Constitution, I have today given
assent to the Domestic Partnership Act 2017,” Rankin wrote.
Under the bill, Bermuda will recognize
the unions of gay couples with domestic partnerships. Heterosexual
couples can either marry or enter a domestic partnership.
The move comes just months after gay
couples in the British overseas territory gained marriage equality.
In May, a judge ruled in favor of gay couples seeking to marry.
As lawmakers debated the bill, the
Bermuda Tourism Authority warned that it would negatively impact
tourism.
According to the Human Rights Campaign
(HRC), the nation's largest LGBT rights advocate, Bermuda becomes the
first territory in the world to take away marriage equality.
California in 2008 wiped away the right with passage of Proposition
8, which a federal court struck down in 2010. (The right wasn't
restored until 2013, after proponents concluded their appeals.)