I want to make it very clear at the start of this Editorial I am against same sex marriages because of my Christian beliefs and the Bible teachings.

I am NOT against the LGBTQ community at all. I have many friends who are openly gay. I have one, who doesn’t think I am his friend and has told me so and publicly pointed out that I have a blot in my eye for taking this view on same sex marriage. That is his opinion and I respect it.

I also respect the law of the land that, despite my view on same sex marriages, they are legally allowed.

The ridiculous and abhorrent treatment by the Immigration Board (and others) on the previous case, which the Board lost, regarding Dr. Leonardo Raznovich, gave the Cayman Islands unwanted and very bad publicity worldwide.

With Dr. Raznovich a lawyer, a very good lawyer, the Board should have known better. Quietly stamped his passport allowing him to remain here with his partner and that would have been the end of it. No. The Board decided to shoot themselves in the foot!

Especially with the LGBTQ rights being a red hot potato.

It still is.

Now we have another bomb exploding. Please read our story today “Discrimination by Caymanians against Caymanians”. It was sent to us by Dr. Leonardo Raznovich.

“I never thought that I would be writing these words.” he says. “I have learned with great concern that the Immigration Authority has rejected the application of a married same-sex couple, a Caymanian national married to a non-Caymanian, to grant the right to reside in the Cayman Islands to the non-Caymanian spouse on grounds that our immigration case, decided by the Immigration Appeals Tribunal on July 2016, does not extend to benefit Cayman nationals.”

And: “The most abominable of discrimination: discrimination by Caymanians against Caymanians; the clearest demonstration of all that LGBT rights are not an ex-pat issue, but a matter of homophobia and discrimination, pure and simple.”

Dr. Raznovich also makes clear he is currently in Australia attending the International Bar Association annual conference. “I will be discussing this matter at the Conference, and you should feel free to disclose that fact in any press coverage,” he told me. I have.

In the PR Dr. Raznovich states, “It is abhorrent that the Immigration Authority has decided to discriminate against its own people by denying Caymanians a right that they are, in law, entitled to exercise too – how on earth can a Caymanian ever justify that a foreigner should have greater rights than a fellow Caymanian?”

In the PR Dr. Raznovich quotes the law eloquently and if he is correct (and I would put my money on him even though I am not a betting man) the Board has in fact done exactly what he says, namely:
DISCRIMINATION BY CAYMANIANS AGAINST CAYMANIANS!!

He finishes his PR with:

“I do appreciate that my words above are strong. I mean no disrespect to anyone, but I feel strongly that the lives of all Caymanians should matter. Their lives certainly matter to me, a non-Caymanian and I feel compelled to help this Caymanian couple, and any others in their circumstances, as they lack support and respect from their government and from their own people, many of whom prefer to segregate them and drive them away from their homeland and their families. The government should stop seeking to contort the law and read it in a manner that is incorrect but perceived to be consistent with the norms of the predominant Christian faith and way of thinking. Faith is incredibly important to many and must be respected too, but the Cayman Islands is not a theocracy, hence faith must not trump the actual laws of these Islands in existence today, irrespective of the majority position. Most importantly of all, I would like to remind everyone, and in particular those working for the Immigration Authority who decided to reject this application, that recognising the rights of this Caymanian (and other LGBT Caymanians) does not dictate the taking away of the rights of any non-LGBT Caymanian, nor does it dictate any change in faith. All people can, and must, be treated equally under the law and must be able to enjoy protection from discrimination on any of the grounds prohibited by the Constitution: sexual orientation, like it or not, is legally one of those grounds.”

Dr. Raznovich, you are speaking about the Cayman Islands Immigration Board. Do they have a reputation of being FAIR? Far from it. And if you use their exact language to them that they use against you, they demand you appear before them to give you a dressing down.

Both my wife and I know. It happened to us!

Now they’ve shot themselves in their other foot. What part of their body will they shoot next….?