Curaçao Member of Parliament (MP) Rennox Calmes wants to explicitly limit civil marriage to “between man and woman” in the Dutch Caribbean country’s Constitution. However, a legal opinion from University of Curaçao confirmed that such a bill must first be submitted for advice to the Kingdom Council of Ministers RMR, as required by Article 44 of the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Only after this advice can it be considered by Parliament.
The TPK leader’s proposal is a response to a recent decision by the High Court in The Hague upholding the ruling of the Joint Court of Justice in Willemstad. The latter declared that banning same-sex marriage and thereby excluding same-sex couples from marriage violates the principle of equality enshrined in Curaçao's Constitution.
This effectively legalised same-sex marriage on the island. Calmes now seeks to amend the Constitution to explicitly ban it. He is certainly not the only one who disagrees with the courts, as this is still a very controversial issue locally from a cultural and religious perspective.
Various organisations including “Asosashon di Pastor Kristian” (APK) strongly oppose gay marriage, although the Protestant Church has distanced itself from their statements and the Roman Catholic Church took a more conciliatory tone. In any case a two-thirds majority is required in the Parliament of Curaçao to amend its Constitution and it does not appear this broad political support is currently forthcoming.
Besides, while some nations in the European Union (EU) still have similar constitutional restrictions that effectively prohibit gay marriage, it has long been accepted in the Netherlands. The RMR is thus extremely unlikely to give its blessings to any change that would be viewed as discriminatory in nature.
Whether the Dutch Ministry of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations BZK should really be organising a LGBTQI+ Allies Conference in Curaçao (see Thursday newspaper) is a different matter. But regarding the right to get married, the writing seems pretty much on the wall.
