Same-sex marriage in Bermuda

Same-sex marriage is currently not recognised nor performed in Bermuda, a British Overseas Territory, but it was legal between 2017 and 2022. However, marriages performed during that period remain valid.[citation needed]

Same-sex marriage first became legal on 5 May 2017, when the Supreme Court of Bermuda declared that same-sex couples had a legal right to marry in the territory after a couple filed suit against the government. However, a bill to ban same-sex marriage and establish domestic partnerships was passed by the Parliament in December 2017 and went into effect on 1 June 2018 though same-sex marriages performed before that day remained legally recognised.

In response to the renewed ban on same-sex marriage, two legal challenges were filed opposing the domestic partnership law. On 6 June 2018, the Supreme Court struck down the parts of the domestic partnership law that banned same-sex marriages but stayed the ruling while the government appealed to the Court of Appeal. The appeals court upheld the right of same-sex couples to marry when it handed down its ruling on 23 November 2018. The government challenged the Court of Appeal's ruling to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which reversed the appeals court's finding on 14 March 2022, and banned same-sex marriage in Bermuda once again.[1][2][3]

  1. ^ Emma Farge (24 November 2018). "Bermuda top court reverses government's gay marriage ban". Reuters.
  2. ^ "Bermuda appeals to London high court to enforce gay marriage ban". Reuters. 14 December 2018.
  3. ^ Fiona McWhirter (15 March 2022). "Banning same-sex marriage not unconstitutional – Privy Council". The Royal Gazette.