Marriage Equality Comes to Bermuda

Bermuda has legalized same-sex marriage after a gay couple who sued for their right to marry won a case in the nation's Supreme Court.

Winston Godwin and Greg DeRoche argued that the Human Rights Act in Bermuda protected their right to get married after their marriage license was rejected. "On the facts, the applicants were discriminated against on the basis of their sexual orientation when the Registrar refused to process their notice of intended marriage," Judge Charles-Etta Simmons ruled Friday, according to the Jamaica Observer. She also said that all same-sex couples in the Caribbean nation were entitled to marry.

Godwin and DeRoche were excited to celebrate their win and said they would soon re-apply for another marriage license.

"This ruling, although it was in our favor ... there is still so much more to do in Bermuda," Godwin told The Royal Gazette, a Bermuda newspaper. "The ruling today is more than me and pieces of paper; it's more than any of that, it is what it means for Bermuda moving forward."

"Now we can begin to fix some of these issues," he continued. "People are going to have their opinions about this, and that is OK. I am not here to change people's opinions or how they think. I just want them to respect me and my relationship and my marriage that will happen here. This is a big step in the right direction, and I cannot thank my legal team and my supporters enough."

Bermuda Minister of National Security Jeff Baron celebrated the win, saying, "Today's ruling affirms that equality is for all -- regardless of who you love, what you look like or who you pray to."

Preserve Marriage, an anti-LGBT group, said the court "ruled against many in the community of Bermuda."