(CMR) Chief Justice Anthony Smellie delivered a landmark decision today in the same sex marriages fight in the Cayman Islands in favor of the petitioners Chantelle Day and Vicky Bodden-Bush.
His lengthy 38 page summary judgement was read out in full and took the Chief Justice over an hour to read to a packed courthouse. At one point additional seats had to be added to accommodate an overly of persons wanted to hear the judgment in person.
Not only did he find that the current situation against same sex civil partnerships is not attainable he went even further. He found that the Marriage Law is unconstitutional in it's current form and will now fall on the legislators to make the necessary changes.
In his findings he found that discrimination based on sexual orientation was unconstitutional and that equal protection under the constitution would include homosexuals wanting. He spoke at length and inherent dignity and the right to have that both respected and protected.
He explained that in exceptional circumstances a state can justify treating people differently. However, discrimination based sexual orientation because of one's belief's and traditions of a country is not one of those exceptional circumstances.
The argument put forward by the government's lawyers that they were seeking to protect a Christian tradition was found to not be a justifiable circumstance and he further explained that “tradition” has been used in the past to justify unconscionable actions such as slavery and apartheid.
Cayman Marl Road will feature this discussion on our bi-weekly podcast The Cold Hard Truth – Tuesday at 7:00 pm.
The Summary judgment can be read in full below. The petitioners were awarded costs so government will have to reimburse them for legal fees.
Same Sex Marriage – Justice Smellie – Summary Judgment
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