A draft amendment to the Civil Code for the recognition of so-called registered partnerships (concubine arrangements) now being handled in Aruba’s Parliament has caused quite some commotion. The law proposal is meant to afford gay couples who still can’t get legally married on the island the same basic rights as wedded heterosexuals.
It’s a controversial matter at best, as much of the predominantly
Roman Catholic population does not agree. The Diocese of Willemstad recently reinforced that view by stating that for the church weddings are between men and women.
However, Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten are all part of the Dutch Kingdom. That means that legal lesbian, gay, bi- and transsexual (LGBT) marriages conducted in the Netherlands must be respected and honoured by the other three countries as well.
As the islands in question, based on their autonomy, continue to not allow same-sex marriages themselves, this situation could create a discrepancy between already-wedded gay couples who come from Holland with their status as such secured and residents who don’t have that possibility locally. Many of the latter have in fact been prompted to go tie the knot in Bonaire, St. Eustatius or Saba which, as the Caribbean Netherlands, fall under European Dutch legislation in this regard.
Whether one is for or against same-sex marriages, civil rights should in principle be equal for all. For example, one man in Aruba said his male partner whom he married 15 years ago in the Netherlands had died recently, but he couldn’t get a widower’s pension because the marriage was not recognised.
Surely, that can’t be the intention, so the law proposal seems like a reasonable compromise to deal with a thorny issue and prevent inhabitants from being treated as second-class citizens. It is something St. Maarten too would do well to consider eventually.
