On 13 November 2019, Billie Bryan, founder and president of Colours Cayman, and Dr Leonardo Raznovich, English Barrister—to whom our organisation has instructed in the past and who has assisted us, pro bono, in numerous matters before the EU and UK Government in London—met with the Governor of the Cayman Islands to discuss the Court of Appeal's recent ruling on same-sex marriage. Following is a summary of our discussion.:
Colours Cayman told the Governor that as a matter of good governance, it must not be overlooked that the Crown has extended same-sex marriage to the 4 constituting countries of the United Kingdom, the three Crown dependencies and nine out of the 14 overseas territories.
Moreover, Colours Cayman also highlighted that the UK Parliament has recently extended same-sex marriage to Northern Ireland, and that the Foreign Affairs Select Committee of the House of Commons has previously advised the FCO in February to extend same-sex marriage to the five overseas territories of the Caribbean where there is no legal framework.
The Governor gave assurance that he is confident the Cayman Islands Government will legislate by the beginning of next year to which Colours Cayman reiterated that next year is too late given the points made previously.
Finally, regardless of any alliances our organisation has made during its formation, Colours Cayman would also like to state that as a collective, our members, volunteers and associates will continue to apply pressure both politically, legally and socially until marriage equality is achieved for all residents of the Cayman Islands.