Following the September 30, Wednesday, meeting of the Cook Islands Parliament, the decision to decriminalize sex between consenting same sex people was deferred for three months.
Currently, it is illegal for men to have sex with men in the Cook Islands, and this is punishable by a sentence of up to seven years’ imprisonment. Same-sex marriage is outlawed, and civil unions are not recognized.
In 2019, a new draft of the Crimes Bill was considered. Had it passed, it would have decriminalized same-sexual activity.
The bill had a hard time following opposition from fundamentalist “Christians”.
The nation was actually tolerant of same-sex relationships before the arrival of foreign “Christian” missionaries.
The existing law is premised on United Kingdom’s antiquated “anti-buggery law”, imposed in countries it colonized with the prohibition of same sex relationships. UK, however, already decriminalized homosexuality in 1967, even if a handful of Commonwealth countries continue to discriminate against LGBTQIA people.
