(BVI News) The British Virgin Islands may hold its very first referendum which will be used to determine whether same-sex marriage should be legal in the territory.
Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley made that announcement in a public broadcast Monday afternoon, December 19.
The referendum is being proposed because of an ongoing case involving a same-sex Virgin Islands couple who got married abroad then mounted a challenge in the High Court to have their union legally recognised in the BVI.
“If they were to be successful, Section 13(1c) of the Matrimonial Proceedings and Property Act, which provides that marriage is void unless the parties are respectively male and female, would be declared unconstitutional and therefore be null and void. As a result, same-sex marriage would become legal in the Virgin Islands,” Premier Wheatley stated.
