Dominican Republic ‘won’t recognise’ same-sex wedding at British embassy

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The Dominican Republic will not recognise the marriage of a same-sex couple, after the pair were allowed to wed at the British embassy.

As a result of the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Act in England and Wales, couples where at least one partner is British are able to marry in a limited number of embassies around the world.

The British embassy in the Domincian Republic tweeted earlier this week that its first couple – who were not named – had married.

It said: “First #SameSexWedding in @ukindomrep and in the #Caribbean between British and Dominican national @UKinCaribbean”

However, Miguel Medina of the Dominican Foreign Ministry confirmed the country would not recognise the pair’s marriage, saying in a brief statement: “Our legislation does not recognize this type of marriage.”

The unnamed couple’s wedding photo is below:

Dominican2

Same-sex marriages are able to take place at British Consulates in Australia, Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Cambodia, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Japan, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nicaragua, Peru, Philippines, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, and Vietnam.

This list of countries is limited because British missions are only able to provide a same sex marriage service in countries where it is not possible for British nationals to have such a marriage under local law, and where the local authorities have given permission for the missions to conduct consular marriages of same-sex couples.

Religious groups have reacted with anger to the union, with the chair of the Dominican Council of Evangelical Churches claiming the ceremony “brings a curse to the nation”.

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