International human rights groups and supporters of same-sex marriage condemned the reversal.
“This decision strips loving same-sex couples of the right to marry and jeopardizes Bermuda’s international reputation and economy,” said Ty Cobb, director of the Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group in the United States.
A local advocacy group, the Rainbow Alliance of Bermuda, said the Domestic Partnership Act provided a “watered down” version of rights. “Ultimately, no separate-but-equal measure allows for equality or justice,” the group said in a statement.
Winston and Greg Godwin-DeRoche, a couple who brought the lawsuit that ended up before Bermuda’s Supreme Court last year, voiced their disappointment in an Instagram post. “It’s a sad day for Bermuda, it’s a sad day for human rights,” they said. (Although the couple prevailed in court in Bermuda, they ultimately married in Canada, though they still live in Bermuda.)
Eight same-sex marriages that took place in Bermuda between May and now will remain recognized under the new law.
Reached by phone, Winston Godwin-DeRoche said that the legislation was an improvement on the situation before last May, but that it was a setback.
“The problem is, when you are giving a community these rights, you are allowing them to get married — and then less than a year later, you are taking them away,” he said.
His husband, Greg Godwin-DeRoche, said: “It’s frustrating in so many ways. Human rights are not compromisable.”
A few months ago, as Parliament considered the legislation, the Bermuda Tourism Authority urged lawmakers to uphold same-sex marriage. On Thursday, some on social media were calling for a travelers to avoid the island in protest. Some used the hashtag #BoycottBermuda.
Had plans to visit @Bermuda this summer, will cancel that now and #BoycottBermuda Human Rights are everyone’s rights. Disgusting that you repealed marriage rights for the LGBT after passing it people have found love. – @BdaGovernment @WeAreBermuda
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Marc Lieberman (@Maccabee18)
Feb. 8, 2018
I was thinking about Bermuda – NEVER AGAIN I do not spend money where I am not wanted. Defeat religious extremism #BoycottBermuda
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Caliban M (@caliban_m)
Feb. 8, 2018
Faith Bridges, a lesbian Bermudian who owns an inn, said the decision affected her personally and professionally.
“Of course as a hotel owner and as a member of the L.G.B.T. community, I am disappointed by the outcome of this decision,” Ms. Bridges said. “I had hoped our local government would not have allowed the majority to decide on a human rights issue.”
But she urged gay-rights supporters not to boycott Bermuda, saying it would be counterproductive.
“I will love who I choose to love and I will marry who I choose to marry,” said Ms. Bridges, who is in a long-distance relationship with a woman in Kansas. “If I can’t do it in my country I will do it in another.”
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