Cayman Islands Chief Justice legalises same sex marriage
KINGSTON, Jamaica — News have emerged out of the Cayman Islands that the country’s Chief Justice in a landmark ruling has made same sex marriage legal.
According to a report from the Cayman COMPASS, Chief Justice Anthony Smellie this morning ruled that the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman was unconstitutional and violated multiple rights.
Smellie ordered that the local law be changed to reflect that same-sex couples are allowed equal access to marriage as heterosexual couples.
His ruling followed a petition by Caymanian Chantelle Day and her partner Vickie Bodden Bush.
Day and Bodden Bush is said to have brought a joint judicial review and constitutional challenge after the government refused the couple’s application to marry in April last year.
Around 80 people were present in the courtroom for the ruling, with many applauding after the chief justice issued his ruling.
