Is turks and caicos gay friendly

Homophobia in the Turks and Caicos Islands is mostly religious-based. [3] Following the passage of Proposition 8 in California, several religious preachers called on same-sex marriage to be constitutionally banned in island law. I've heard that Turks & Caicos is not very gay friendly. My gf and I will possibly be honeymooning at Ocean Club West and are a bit concerned about possible negative reactions to our being there.

The Turks and Caicos don’t advertise as gay-friendly per se’, but you will find that the majority of the locals are very accepting of just about anybody coming through to visit the island. Turks and Caicos is generally considered safe for LGBTQ+ travelers — especially with their non-discriminatory laws in place and their overall friendly, welcoming attitude. Turks and Caicos is a British Overseas Territory, and its legal stance on LGBTQ+ rights reflects its connection to the United Kingdom.

Same-sex relationships are legal, and discrimination based on sexual orientation is prohibited under the territory’s constitution. Stanbrook Prudhoe is a law firm specialising in complex and cross-border cases in the Caribbean region. The case is now up on appeal after findings of breaches of rights protected under the TCI constitution.

The couple married in Florida in , but Tim has been denied an exemption from the need to obtain a work permit, although that exemption is available to the spouse of a Turks and Caicos Islander. The Marriage Ordinance treats same-sex marriages as void. The refusal of the spousal exemption was by the Director of Immigration. Tim and Richard brought proceedings against him alleging breaches of the protected rights of equality before the Law, the right to family and private life and freedom from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

The trial took place in November and the decision was delivered in March The TCI Supreme Court upheld two of our three claims, finding violations of the constitutional rights to private and family life and to protection against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. However, the court did not uphold the claim of equality before the law.

That is the subject of an appeal that will be heard on 23 and 24 October. The government has also appealed. Although it relied on no evidence during the trial, it now disputes any findings of constitutional breach.

Before the claims were first started, Tim and Richard offered to abandon their legal action if the government enacted civil partnership legislation giving same-sex couples the same rights and benefits as opposite-sex couples. Unfortunately, this offer was ignored. Our appeal document itself repeats that offer. When we first made that offer, we even provided the government with a copy of the Cayman Islands legislation recognising civil partnerships as a precedent they could work from.

But, again, no response. The combined appeal on the right to marry in the Ferguson case in Bermuda and the Bodden Bush case in the Cayman Islands is particularly noteworthy. In Bermuda, same-sex couples had the right to marry for a period before the law was changed. Marriages already performed remained valid, but no new marriages could be celebrated — a situation that led to a case being taken to the European Court of Human Rights on the grounds that those left out were in practical effect facing discrimination.

The Privy Council ruled that marriage was a unique legal institution and those jurisdictions could decide the scope of marriage without violating their constitutions. However, we distinguished our case in TCI by focusing on recognition of equivalent legal rights rather than the establishment of a right to marry. The government argued we were trying to introduce the right to marry via the back door, because of the attempt to invoke the spousal exemption from immigration restrictions.

This is pretty odd, in light of the fact that it failed to present any actual evidence at trial. A major challenge is stigma, which is keenly felt in a place as small as TCI. While there are both locals and expatriates in same-sex relationships, such partnerships are not flaunted or embraced as a popular lifestyle choice. Rather, they tend to remain private, perhaps implicitly acknowledged by the community but not openly discussed.

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The electorate consists solely of Turks and Caicos Islanders and has strong opinions on issues such as same-sex marriage, which politicians must navigate with caution. Constitutional protections theoretically guard against discrimination, but practical enforcement is uncertain. While legal recourse exists in principle, instances of intimidation and hostility, such as aggressive media commentary or social media harassment, deter people from pursuing anti-discrimination cases.

Although not gay myself, I was pleased to attend their meeting to have a chance to explain relevant parts of the legal challenge. I have been a friend of Richard for many years, and more recently Tim as well. The only outside group involved was Colours Caribbean, whose involvement in the Cayman case I had been aware of for some time.