Premier Hon. Dr. Natalio Wheatley recently provided an update on plans to trigger the Territory’s first referendum to decide on the issue of Same-Sex Marriage in the Virgin Islands.
Wheatley at the time was responding to a question posed by Deputy Speaker Hon. Stacy Mather during a sitting of the House of Assembly.
He explained that the next step is for the resolution to be debated in the House of Assembly, adding that the timing of the referendum is also heavily reliant on 2 other factors; the amendment of the Referendum Act to reflect the process of electronic tabulation and the progress of the ongoing court matter which prompted this line of action.
According to the Premier, the holding of the referendum is expected to bear a similar cost to the public purse as the holding of a General Election, an estimated $250,000 – $300,000.
It has been noted that the Premier’s response to Mather’s question reflected the same content of a previous response he made to the press on the matter in July 2023, following the resolution being Gazetted.
The news of the referendum first surfaced in December 2022 when Premier Wheatley addressed the public regarding the ongoing legal decision before the High Court.
The case involved a same-sex couple, both Virgin Islanders, who were married abroad and subsequently sought legal recognition of their union within the BVI. Should the court decide in favour of the couple, the decision could invalidate Section 13(1)(c) of the Matrimonial Proceedings and Property Act, which currently stipulates that marriage is valid only between a male and female.
Premier Wheatley emphasized that such a ruling had the potential to disrupt the “social and religious fabric of society.” In response to the legal challenge, the Government of the Virgin Islands expressed its intent to vigorously defend existing laws and uphold the authority of the democratically elected legislature in making decisions on matters of this nature. Wheatley firmly stated his belief that issues of social and religious significance should not be decided in the courts.
At the time of the announcement, the Premier called upon the people of the Virgin Islands to voice their opinions on the matter of marriage and stressed that legislators should be obligated to heed the wishes of the populace.