Same Sex Wedding Legal In Belize?

On July 4, 2014 I was truly honored to produce the wedding of Brielle and Colleen and to cap off an amazing week of associated events. The brides were gorgeous as they stood on the boulders by my personal-favorite-in-all-the-world waterfall. The Officiant was in her robe, the Mayan Shaman in typical wear. It was a beautiful ceremony.

But was this same sex wedding legal in Belize? More importantly, were we doing something illegal?

As is the case in the US, gender laws and policy are hotly contested in the Belize and Caribbean legal systems. I sought council from a prominent Belizean attorney who is involved with such matters. In speaking with Council, I was able to confirm that just because the wedding wasn’t “legal” doesn’t in any way mean it was “illegal”. The answer was very clear, what muddies it up were the usage of the words “legal” and “illegal”.

The word “Legal”, in this case, has two meanings: let’s call them Criminal Legality and Procedural Legality.

So, was the wedding criminally legal? Yes, absolutely. In Belize it is perfectly legal for 2 people to stand in front of each other and declare their love for one another. There is absolutely no criminal activity occurring, and absolutely no law against it.

Was the wedding ‘procedurally’ legal? Nope. After the ceremony, no paperwork was filed with any Belizean government agency, and therefore the wedding will not be “legalized”. Just like it’s still not “legal” in Alabama and Ohio and a whole bunch of other States.

But was what we were doing illegal? The answer is very clear: Unequivocally and simply, No. While the wedding will not become legalized until their second ceremony back in their home state of Hawaii, that doesn’t make the one in Belize “illegal” so much as “non-legalized”.

In the coming weeks and months, I’ll blog about the wedding of Brielle and Colleen. Some can argue the definition of the word “wedding”, but I’m not one of them. My definition of a wedding is my definition of a wedding, and what I witnessed and orchestrated were a week’s worth of events celebrating the union of two elements to make one soul. And I will not argue about love.