Bermuda has become the first country in the world to legalise and then repeal the same-sex marriage. The Supreme Court ruling on May 2017 made same-sex marriages legal in the British Overseas Territory despite the oppositions. But a new law has now been put into force that establishes domestic partnerships and banning same-sex marriages. Bermuda’s governor on February 7, 2018, approved a bill revising the right of gay couples to marry.

According to media reports, the Minister of Home Affairs Walton Brown said the legislation signed by Governor John Rankin seeks to balance the opposition to same-sex marriage. He was quoted saying, “The act is intended to strike a fair balance between two currently irreconcilable groups in Bermuda, by restating that marriage must be between a male and a female while at the same time recognising and protecting the rights of same-sex couples.”

The decision has upset not just the gay couples but all the citizens. A 64-year-old married gay Bermudian Joe Gibbons shared his distress to a leading journal The Guardian. He expressed, “I feel enormously disappointed. This is not equality, and the British Government has obviously just said, ‘This is not our fight’.” The revision has clearly saddened the people all over British Oversees Territory. The same-sex marriages which took place in Bermuda between the Supreme Court ruling in May 2017 till the repeal, will continue to be recognized under the new law.

Gay couples will now have the option only of a registered domestic partnership. Human Rights groups bashed the decision calling the jurisdiction to be unprecedented. They further hold that the domestic partnerships amount to a second-class status and it is complete discrimination to take away the legal right to marry after it has been granted. The move sparked international headlines.

While the May 2017 decision on marriage equality was celebrated by the gay community, the new law undermines the effort to secure Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) rights. Countries like Ireland, Greenland, Germany, Brazil and few others have legalized same-sex marriages in the recent years after a lot of struggle by the community. But Bermuda with its new law adds more to their tussle.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 08, 2018 02:02 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).