Dominican gov't won't recognize gay marriage at UK embassy

Dominican gov't won't recognize gay marriage at UK embassy
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Summary Foreign Ministry says, "our legislation does not recognize this type of marriage".

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic: (AP) - The Dominican Republic says it will not recognize a same-sex marriage performed for the first time in the conservative Caribbean country.

In a Thursday statement, Foreign Ministry spokesman Miguel Medina said "our legislation does not recognize this type of marriage."

The statement comes two days after the British embassy tweeted that a Dominican man and his British partner had exchanged vows in its Santo Domingo offices.

The U.K. announced in June that same-sex couples could marry at British consulates in 25 countries. The Dominican Republic is the only Caribbean nation on that list. Embassy officials say more same-sex ceremonies will be performed in the future.

The chairman of the Dominican Council of Evangelical Churches said the embassy ceremony "brings a curse to the nation."

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