Religious leaders in the Dominican
Republic have condemned the recent wedding of a gay couple held at
the British Embassy in the Dominican Republic.
The embassy announced the marriage on
its official Twitter account, posting a photo of two men dressed in
dark suits as one slipped a wedding ring on the other's hand. The
men's faces were not visible in the photo and their names were not
released.
On its website, the British Embassy in
Santo Domingo explains that gay British citizens have been allowed to
marry in the embassy since June 3, three months after a gay marriage
bill approved last year took effect in Britain and Wales.
In
a statement, the Dominican Republic said that it will not
recognize the marriage.
Miguel Medina, the spokesman for the
Foreign Ministry, said Thursday that “our legislation does not
recognize this type of marriage.”
Fidel Lorenzo, president of the board
of evangelical churches, warned that such weddings “bring a curse
to the nation.”
Luis Rosario, coordinator of youth
ministry of the Dominican Catholic Church, also criticized the
ceremony, telling reporters that this “marriage, quotation marks,
is shameless.”