By Callum Burroughs From Insider

• The tiny Caribbean island of The Cayman Islands has legalized same sex marriage after a judge ruled previous arrangements to be unconstitutional, per The Independent.
• Activists have suggested the ruling could have wide ranging consequences because the country is under the British legal system, meaning other British overseas territories could have similar challenges.
• The decision was made after a legal challenge from couple Chantelle Day and Vickie Bodden.

The tiny Caribbean island of The Cayman Islands has legalized same sex marriage after a judge ruled previous arrangements to be unconstitutional which could spark similar challenges elsewhere.

The decision marks a decisive break for the country which operates under a relationship with the British legal system and could have major implications for other Caribbean islands in similar positions, according to The Independent.

Friday’s decision now means that 15 of the 20 countries which have a legal relationship with Britain now permit same sex or gay marriage.

Couple Chantelle Day, a lawyer, and Vickie Bodden lodged a legal complaint after they applied to get married on the islands last year. The subsequent legal challenge was announced as successful Friday. After the decision, Day said “We’re feeling pretty good, pretty relieved, that we got the judgment,” to The Independent

One of the couple’s lawyers, British barrister James Cooper, alsotold The Independent that the ruling could have “widespread implications, not just for LGBT+ rights in other overseas territories, especially in the Caribbean, but also in Britain.”

Four other British overseas in the Caribbean do not permit same sex marriage including British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos Islands and Anguilla.

For more on this story go to: https://www.thisisinsider.com/cayman-islands-tiny-island-legalises-gay-marriage-major-implications-2019-3

See alsi inews Cayman story published March 29 2019 “Marriage equality for the Cayman Islands/Same-sex marriage legalised in Cayman Islands” at: http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/marriage-equality-for-the-cayman-islands-same-sex-marriage-legalised-in-cayman-islands/