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Civil unions or registered partnerships but not marriage |
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TheCook Islands does not recognisesame-sex marriage,civil unions or any other form of recognition for same-sex couples. Even though same-sex marriage has been legal inNew Zealand since August 2013, theParliament of the Cook Islands has legislative competence to make changes to the law on marriage.
Homosexuality was decriminalised in the Cook Islands with the passage of theCrimes (Sexual Offences) Amendment Act by theParliament of the Cook Islands in 2023. Although the law had never been enforced, it proscribed up to seven years' imprisonment for consensual, private sexual relations between men. As a self-governing associated state ofNew Zealand, the Parliament has legislative competence to make changes to the law onmarriage. As a result, theMarriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Act 2013, which legalisedsame-sex marriage in New Zealand, does not apply to the Cook Islands. Societal attitudes toward same-sex unions and LGBT rights more broadly differ significantly from New Zealand. While discussing the decriminalisation bill in 2023, MPTeariki Heather referenced New Zealand's legalisation of same-sex marriage to justify his opposition to the legislation; "Do we want to become like them? Do we want to receive the consequences?"[1]
On 28 April 2013, shortly following passage of same-sex marriage legislation in theNew Zealand House of Representatives,Prime MinisterHenry Puna expressed his personal opposition to the legalisation ofsame-sex marriage. Puna argued that the "Cook Islands' 'Christian values' and 'tradition' prevent[ed] it from adopting marriage equality".[2][3] In November 2015, two Cook Island women who had married in New Zealand were barred by local traditional leaders from renewing their vows inArorangi andNgatangiia. The chariman of thearonga mana (traditional leaders council) in Puaikura, Arorangi said the council had voted unanimously to block the ceremony from taking place: "As far as we're concerned in our village, we condone these kind of things, this behaviour. It's not the people, it's the stuff they're doing, we condone it."[4]
TheMarriage Act (Act 6 of 1973;Cook Islands Māori:Te Ture nō te ‘Akaipoipo‘anga;Pukapukan:Tule o Akaaonga) outlaws same-sex marriage.[5] An explicit prohibition on marriages between persons of the same sex was enacted by theMarriage Amendment Act 2000,[6] and later theMarriage Amendment Act 2007. The 2007 law clarified that "no person shall be permitted to marry another person who is of the same gender as him or herself."[7] The Constitution of the Cook Islands does not address marriage or expressly forbid same-sex marriages.[8]Civil unions, which would offer some of the rights and benefits of marriage, are likewise not recognised in the Cook Islands. As a result, same-sex couples do not have access to the legal rights, benefits and obligations of marriage, including protection fromdomestic violence,adoption rights,tax benefits and inheritance rights, among others.
While there are no records of same-sex marriages being performed in local cultures in the way they are commonly defined inWestern legal systems, local communities recognize identities and relationships that may be placed on the LGBT spectrum. Like most ofPolynesia, the Cook Islands has traditionally recognised athird gender structure known inCook Islands Māori asakavaʻine (pronounced[akavaˈʔine];Pukapukan:wakawawine).[9] The term refers to individuals who identify as female but are biologically male.Akavaʻine engage in women's work, such as cooking, cleaning and sewing, tend to socialise with women and tend to wear female clothing, but have little desire to have sex with otherakavaʻine. They typically have sex with heterosexual men, who do not consider themselves, nor are they considered by others, to be "homosexual". Nowadays, there exists a relative tolerance and acceptance ofakavaʻine in terms of their public behaviour, but a near complete avoidance ofakavaʻine sexuality as a topic of discussion.[10] In neighbouringSamoa, such individuals are known asfaʻafafine and are considered an integral part of society. Historically, if they wished to marry and have children, they would marry women, thus creating the possibility for marriages between two female-presenting individuals to be performed in Samoan culture.[11]
The largestChristian denomination in the Cook Islands is theCook Islands Christian Church, which accounts for about 43% of the population according to the 2021 census. The Christian Church is firmly opposed to same-sex marriage. Reverend Tinirau Soatini said in 2015: "I believe in scriptures and scriptures and the word of God, that god created man and female, male and female to reproduce, to create human beings, to create another being. So the scriptures says that a man and woman leaves their father and mother and becomes one body."[4] TheCatholic Church also opposes same-sex marriage and does not allow its priests to officiate at such marriages. In December 2023, theHoly See publishedFiducia supplicans, a declaration allowingCatholic priests tobless couples who are not considered to bemarried according to church teaching, including theblessing of same-sex couples.[12] TheEpiscopal Conference of the Pacific did not issue a public statement on the declaration.
In 2014, the synod of theAnglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia passed a resolution creating a pathway towards theblessing of same-sex relationships.[13] In the meantime, "clergy should be permitted 'to recognise in public worship' a same-gender civil union or state marriage of members of their faith community."[14] Some dioceses in New Zealand offer a "relationship blessing", notably the dioceses ofAuckland,[15]Dunedin,[16] andWaiapu.[17] In May 2018, the Anglican Church voted to allow its ministers to bless same-sexcivil marriages and unions. Ministers may offer their blessing to civil marriages but are not permitted to perform same-sex wedding ceremonies in the church.[18] The move does not apply to theDiocese of Polynesia. In a separate motion, the synod said that it was "deeply mindful of the deep interweaving of cultural and religious values at the core of our Pacific societies that place a profound respect, and reverence for the belief in God and the belief in the traditional understanding of marriage."[19]
