Introduction
In this compare and contrast paper we are focussing on Curacao and Bonaire. We chose these islands because we are currently living in Curacao for 6 months and because we both have been to Bonaire. We have chosen the following idea: ‘However same sex marriage is legalized in both Curacao and Bonaire it isn’t really accepted.’
Curacao
Curacao is an island in the Caribbean Sea and is situated in front of the Venezuelan coast. In 2010 the island became an independent country within the Dutch Kingdom. Dutch has been the only official language for a long period of time but since a few years Papiamentu and English are also rated as official languages. The native language is Papiamentu. Papiamentu is a mixture of Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, French, English and German. Curacao has about 158.000 inhabitants and 80% of the population is Catholic. Curacao has an arid climate, which helps tourism, as visitors to the island can expect warm, sunny weather.
Bonaire
Bonaire is one of the ABC-islands in the Caribbean Sea. Bonaire’s capital is Kralendijk. The island has an area of 294 km2. Bonaire was part of the Dutch Antilles until the country’s dissolution in 2010, when the island became a special municipality within the country of the Netherlands.
All of the ABC islands have an arid climate, which helps tourism, as visitors to the island can expect warm, sunny weather. Bonaire is a popular destination for scuba diving, and easy access from shore to its fringing reefs.
The culture of Bonaire can be seen in the faces of its people. The different features and hues tell the story of dozens of ethnic and racial influences. Indian, African, Asian and European inhabitants have all contributed to who Bonaire is today. Faith and religion play an important role in Bonairian society. Every Sunday the churches are filled with believing people. The Catholic Church introduced by the Spaniards enjoys the most support, 77% of the Bonairian population is Roman Catholic.
Problem statement and objective statement
The problem statement we found is as following: ‘However same sex marriage is legalized in both Curacao and Bonaire it isn’t really accepted. Younger children should be more educated about same sex marriage and homosexuality.’
The objective statement: ‘However same sex marriage is legalized in both Curacao and Bonaire it isn’t accepted by the inhabitants of the islands.’
Situations in both countries
To be able to emphasize the differences and similarities between both countries we will first look at the situation in Curacao and Bonaire separately.
Curacao
The 1st of April 2001 same sex marriages was legalised in the Dutch Kingdom, since the Netherlands also at that time included Aruba, Curacao and St. Maarten same sex marriage had been legal in Curacao since that date.
Curacao was the first Caribbean island to open a gay centre in 2010. The centre organises activities in Casa Rosada in Otrobando hoping to break the taboo on same sex relationships.
Even though this is a good start, in a report written by Suzanne Gomez, Chair of FOKO (Fundashon Orygyo Korsou), in 2009 it is stated that the legitimate rights of thousands of gays and lesbians in Curacao are targeted by the political campaigns of the Curacao Referendum about whether to ban gay marriage for once and for all. Discriminatory and homophobic comments were said and a lot of people were offended.
Furthermore, same sex marriages aren’t performed in Curacao, due to the high rate of religious people the issue of same-sex marriage is highly opposed but the island is forced to recognize any sort of marriage registered anywhere in the Dutch Kingdom. And since marriage in The Netherlands is open to same sex marriages, Curacao has to accept these marriages as well. However, Curacao does offer symbolic wedding ceremonies and vow renewals for same sex couples.
This doesn’t mean that people who are in a same sex marriage are treated equally to people who are in another kind of marriage.
Bonaire
Bonaire was one of the first islands in the Caribbean to legalize same-sex marriage. In 2010 Bonaire became a special township within the Dutch Kingdom. Due to this, they had to legalize gay marriage. Since 2011 the island’s law started recognizing registered partnerships and same-sex unions performed elsewhere. Since October 10th, 2012 same-sex marriages were not only recognized but it became legal to tie the knot on the island itself as a gay couple..
However, ‘authorized’ gay marriage ceremonies do not take place on the island. Anti-gay discrimination is virtually unheard of, at least in general. Like anywhere, homophobic individuals can be found in all countries in the Caribbean, some worse than others, some better. Same sex marriage is still a big taboo on the Island of Bonaire and the Island isn’t that welcoming to same sex couples since the Island is very religious and people are born and raised with the idea that being gay is wrong from the religious point of view. Bonaire appears to be tolerate to being gay, but they do not talk about it at all.
About one year ago a religious organization declared in public that all gay people should be banished from the Island. Especially tourists reacted shocked on these homophobic comments.
Close-up information about LGBT life in Bonaire is not common since it is mostly an individual or couple experience, not a group or organized thing. Like a million other non-gay-non-homophobic settings, gatherings or parties are simply a network of friends and acquaintances who have connected casually by word of mouth with like-minded others. That is, like-minded others who do not mind if a few others know about their interests in same-sexers but are not ready to organize or advocate for equality rights.
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Compare and Contrast
After looking at the situation in both countries apart, we will now emphasize the similarities and differences between the idea.
Similarities
– Even though it is legal to perform a gay marriage on both islands, same sex marriages are not performed.
– Both islands are appearing to accept and tolerate same sex marriage but in reality there is still a big taboo on being gay and same sex marriage.
– Both Islands have organisations trying to break the taboo on gay marriage.
Differences
– Curacao legalised same sex marriage ten years earlier than Bonaire.
– Curacao has been forced to accept gay marriage in 2001 since they were still a part of the Dutch Kingdom. When Bonaire became a special township within the Dutch Kingdom they had two years to prepare legalising gay marriage.
– In Bonaire political organisations do not comment or express their opinion about same sex marriage, while in Curacao there have been several occasions where political groups did express homophobic comments.
Conclusion
Even though same sex marriage is legalized on both Islands there is still a big discussion about the acceptation on this topic. There is still a big taboo on the topic of same sex marriages even though there are a few organisations trying to break this. Both Curacao and Bonaire are appearing to accept gay marriage, probably for touristic purposes, but in reality it is seen that it isn’t as accepted as it appears.
The acceptance of same sex marriage is forced upon both Islands because of the legalisation in the Dutch Kingdom and their strings to the Kingdom of The Netherlands. Since Curacao had to legalize gay marriages about ten years earlier there is a slight difference in acceptance, this can be seen in the act of performing symbolic wedding ceremonies and the renewal of vows.
In the introduction we said that we found that the acceptance of same sex marriage is a problem because younger children weren’t educated enough about the LGBT community. After researching the topic it is shown that this isn’t the real problem. It is that because both Islands are attached to the Dutch Kingdom they are forced to accept something that they do not fully agree with because of religious ideas. These ideas have deep roots in both the Islands and the cultures and even though it has to be legalised these ideas won’t change from one to another moment.
For us, Dutch students, gay marriage is something that is accepted and normal. But after researching these two Islands, both tied to the Dutch Kingdom, we see that even though it is legalised and these Islands are considered as ‘Dutch’ it isn’t accepted that easy.