The chief justice of the Cayman Islands Grand Court on March 29 ruled same-sex couples can legally marry in the British territory.

Chief Justice Anthony Smellie issued his ruling in the case of Chantelle Day and Vicky Bodden, a lesbian couple who tried to apply for a marriage license in 2018. 

Local media reports indicate Day and Bodden have been together for seven years and are raising their adopted daughter. Day and Bodden were among those who were in the courtroom when Smellie issued his ruling.

“Love wins,” Day told the Cayman News Service.

The Cayman Islands are located in the western Caribbean Sea between Jamaica and Cuba.

The British territory’s government in 1998 refused to allow a gay cruise ship with 900 passengers to dock. Religious officials in the Cayman Islands in 2010 pressured authorities to prohibit an Atlantic Events vessel from visiting the territory. 

Bermuda’s top court last November ruled a law that rescinded marriage rights for same-sex couples in the British island territory is unconstitutional.