LGBT rights in the United States Virgin Islands
| LGBT rights in the U.S. Virgin Islands | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Same-sex sexual activity legal? | Legal since 1985 |
| Discrimination protections | None |
| Family rights | |
| Recognition of relationships |
Same-sex marriage since 2015 |
| Adoption | Since 2015 |
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the U.S. Virgin Islands face legal challenges and discrimination not faced by other people. Same-sex sexual activity is no longer criminalized, and neither is same-sex marriage. The Virgin Islands lacks a hate crimes statute and provides LGBT residents no protection against discrimination. Following the Supreme Court's ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges on June 26, 2015, which found the denial of marriage rights to same-sex couples unconstitutional, same-sex marriage became legal in the islands.
Contents
Laws regarding same-sex sexual activity
Same-sex sexual activity has been legal in the U.S. Virgin Islands since 1985.[1]
Recognition of same-sex relationships
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The statutes of the Virgin Islands state that "Marriage is hereby declared to be a civil contract which may be entered into between a male and a female in accordance with the law."[2] However, on June 30, 2015, Governor Kenneth Mapp announced that the territorial government would comply with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, recognizing marriage as a fundamental right that cannot be denied to same-sex couples.[3]
History
In May 2014, Senator Judi Buckley introduced draft legislation in the legislature to establish same-sex marriage. Called the Civil Marriage Equality Act, it would replace the Code's "between a male and a female" with "between two persons". It included language that would allow anyone authorized to perform a wedding ceremony to decline to do so for any reason. She anticipated that it would take several months for its language to be reviewed.[4] She expected that she and Governor John de Jongh, who she said would sign the legislation, would leave office in January 2015 before the legislation came to a vote.[5] Supporters of the legislation include Liberty Place, an LGBT advocacy organization based on St. Croix.[4]
In response, a group of church leaders organized One Voice Virgin Islands to oppose the legislation and plan a petition drive that aimed to collect 50,000 signatures.[4] The group authored a letter to V.I. officials that some of its members found objectionable because it included the suggestion that some government officials were homosexual.[4][5] The group's president, New Vision Ministries Pastor James Petty of St. Thomas, said: "We do not wish to be America's same-sex paradise".[4] Pastor Lennox Zamore said that he rejected the argument that legalizing same-sex marriage would benefit the local economy: "We don't want to balance our books by bringing the sex industry – whether it is same sex or not – to the Virgin Islands",[6]
Summary table
| Same-sex sexual activity legal |  (Since 1985) |
| Equal age of consent | |
| Anti-discrimination laws in employment |  |
| Anti-discrimination laws in the provision of goods and services | |
| Anti-discrimination laws in all other areas (incl. indirect discrimination, hate speech) | |
| Same-sex marriages | (Since 2015) |
| Recognition of same-sex couples | (Since 2015) |
| Step-child adoption by same-sex couples |  |
| Joint adoption by same-sex couples | |
| Gays and lesbians allowed to serve openly in the military | (Since 2011) |
| Right to change legal gender | |
| Access to IVF for lesbians | |
| Commercial surrogacy for gay male couples | |
| MSMs allowed to donate blood | |
See also
References
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