The territory’s first referendum which will be to decide on the matter of legalising same sex marriage in the Virgin Islands will be forthcoming to the public very soon.
This is according to Premier Dr. the Honourable Natalio Wheatley who did not reveal an exact date, but said the referendum will take place prior to the final ruling that will be made in the court case involving locals Kinisha Forbes and Kirsten Lettsome which is scheduled to take place in June.
Premier Wheatley had previously stated that should the court rule in favour of the couple “section 13 (1 c) of the matrimonial proceedings and property act, which provides that marriage is void unless the parties are respectively male and female, would be declared unconstitutional and therefore be null and void”.
Due to such a decision being critical to the future development of the territory, Premier Wheatley said a referendum is needed to allow for the people’s views to be made clear in an official way.
During a recent pre-election forum, Dr. Wheatley explained that the referendum will allow for the true opinions of locals to be made known to the United Kingdom and the respective courts.
Also during the aforementioned forum, Premier Wheatley stated his views on cultural imperialism, stating that he is totally against such practices as it can negatively impact the BVI culture.