Same-sex marriage in Gibraltar
Same-sex marriage will soon be legal in Gibraltar. A bill for legalisation was approved by the parliament on 26 October 2016 and awaits royal assent. The territory has allowed civil partnerships since 28 March 2014.
Civil partnership
In January 2014, the Civil Partnership Bill 2014 was published for community consultation and headed for the introduction to the Gibraltar Parliament.[1] On 21 March, the bill was approved by the parliament with no noticeable opposition.[2] The bill was given Royal Assent on 25 March. The law and related rules and regulations took effect on 28 March.[3][4][5][6] The law also allows adoption of children by couples in a civil partnership, as mandated by a recent Court ruling in 2013.
Same-sex marriage
The GSLP–Liberal Alliance, who were re-elected in 2015, included the following commitment their election manifesto: "We will now publish a Command Paper in order to take the views of the public on how to best deal with the request by some for civil marriage to be extended to same sex couples. We are totally committed both to ensuring that religious denominations are not forced to change their practices, beliefs or sacraments in any way and to the principle that the State must not discriminate between individuals based on the grounds of sexual orientation. The results of the responses to the Command Paper will be published by June [2016]."[7] The Equal Rights Group said it did not go far enough and asked for more commitment to introduce same-sex marriage.[8]
On 22 December 2015, the Command Paper on introducing same-sex marriage was published and will be under consultation process until 15 January 2016.[9][10][11] On 4 January 2016, it was announced that the consultation period has been extended until 29 January 2016.[12][13][14] On 5 January 2016, a spokesman for the Government has stated that a referendum on the issue has not yet been ruled out until all the comments submitted by the public have been considered.[15]
On 18 January 2016, in his New Year message, GSD leader Daniel Feetham has declared his support for same-sex marriage and, despite allowing members of his party a free vote on matters of conscience, has stated that his parliamentary colleagues have all declared their support on the issue as well. He then stated that it was up to the Government to decide on how to proceed with the issue when the time comes.[16][17]
On 20 January 2016, it was announced by Chief Minister Fabian Picardo (GSLP) that there would be no referendum on same-sex marriage[18][19] after a parliamentary debate on the issue was initiated by the Opposition. In that same debate, the Chief Minister has stated that he expects the feedback from the consultation process to actually improve the bill on same-sex marriage.[20]
On 21 March 2016, the Government has announced that it has received 3,490 responses in regards to the public consultation and that, due to the controversial nature of this subject, it would establish an 'Inter-Ministerial Committee' (composed of four members of the Government: Gilbert Licudi, Samantha Sacramento, Neil Costa, and Albert Isola) to listen to the views of the various groups and many of the individuals who expressed a view on this subject, and report its findings back to Cabinet by the June of this year.[21][22][23] In response to the Government's announcement, the chairman of the Equality Rights Group (ERG), Felix Alvarez is questioning the commitment of the governing GSLP-Liberal Alliance to legislate on this matter and urges both the LGBT community at large, and their friends and supporters to remain calm and reserve their responses until the Government comes up with a definitive answer on how to handle this situation. In this same response, based on their own statistics and past advocacy efforts, Alvarez claims that over 63% of those consultation responses are in favor of Equal Marriage and that this situation shouldn't be made more complicated than it should be.[24]
On 15 August 2016, a Government bill on the legalisation of same-sex marriage was published.[25][26][27] On 26 October 2016, the Civil Marriage Amendment Bill 2016 was passed in the Gibraltar Parliament with unanimous support from all 15 members present during the vote. An amendment to remove a controversial part of the Bill, which allows deputy registrars to opt out of conducting same sex marriage was defeated 11 to 4 with only some of the Opposition Members voting in favor.[28][29][30] The bill requires that, in circumstances where a deputy registrar does not agree to officiate a same-sex marriage an alternative registrar must be assigned to conduct the marriage.[31] The Bill now awaits Royal Assent.
See also
References
- ↑ Command Paper on a draft bill to make provision for civil partnerships
- ↑ Gibraltar approves civil partnerships bill
- ↑ CIVIL PARTNERSHIP ACT 2014
- ↑ CIVIL PARTNERSHIP (FEES) REGULATIONS 2014
- ↑ CIVIL PARTNERSHIP RULES 2014
- ↑ CIVIL PARTNERSHIP
- ↑ GSLP/Liberals Manifesto 2015, pages 95-96
- ↑ ERG asks for more commitment on Equal Marriage, GBC, 16 November 2015
- ↑ Command Paper on a draft Act to make amendments to the Marriage Act to make provision for same sex marriage and enable civil partners to convert their partnership into marriage
- ↑ Command Paper published on same sex marriage
- ↑ We welcome Same Sex Marriage announcement – but we’re not quite there yet!, Equality Rights Group
- ↑ Consultation period extended for same-sex marriage Bill (GBC)
- ↑ Jan 04 - Extension Of Same Sex Marriage Consultation Period (YGTV)
- ↑ Extension to Consultation Period for Command Paper on Marriage Act
- ↑ Referendum on the question of gay marriage has apparently not been ruled out (GBC)
- ↑ Opposition would support same-sex marriage legislation, says Feetham (GBC)
- ↑ Jan 18 - New Year’s Message By The Leader Of The Opposition (YGTV)
- ↑ BREAKING NEWS: there will be NO Referendum to decide same-sex marriage! (ERG)
- ↑ Jan 20 - ERG Welcomes Parliamentary Announcement (YGTV)
- ↑ New members debut in Parliament (GBC)
- ↑ Over 3,400 responses to ‘Equal Marriage’ Command Paper (Gibraltar Chronicle)
- ↑ Nearly 3,500 submissions on equal marriage command paper (GBC)
- ↑ Equal Marriage: Responses to Command Paper
- ↑ Mar 21 - ERG Says Government's Behaviour Regarding Equal Marriage Consultation Is "Fidgety And Indecisive" (YGTV)
- ↑ Bill to allow civil marriage between same-sex couples
- ↑ Gibraltar puts same-sex marriage bill before Parliament
- ↑ Civil Marriage Amendment Act 2016
- ↑ Equal marriage bill passed by Parliament
- ↑ Gibraltar approves same-sex marriage
- ↑ Gibraltar votes unanimously to legalise same-sex marriage
- ↑ Parliament passes same-sex marriage law
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