Netherlands: Dutch Parliament Encourages Gay Marriage Legalization in Caribbean

The Dutch Parliament’s Second Chamber approved a motion Tuesday requesting the Dutch Government to “encourage” the legalisation of same-sex marriage in countries Curaçao, St. Maarten and Aruba. Parliament also asked the government to indicate when Dutch marriage legislation, which also allows persons of the same sex to tie the knot, would become applicable to the BES islands Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba. Parliament wants this legislation to go into effect “as soon as possible.” Applying Dutch legislation would be part of the legislation trajectory to facilitate the integration of the BES islands into the Netherlands as “public entities.” Dutch law defines marriage as a bond between two persons, regardless of their gender, whereas Antillean law defines marriage as a bond between a man and a woman. Equal rights and prevention of discrimination were the main considerations behind the motion submitted by Members of Parliament (MPs) Ineke van Gent of the green left party GroenLinks, John Leerdam of the Labour Party PvdA and Johan Remkes of the liberal democratic VVD party. Full Story from Daily Herald: http://www.thedailyherald.com/news/daily/m180/gaym180.html

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