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10 Jul, 2015

American Samoans question gay marriage validity

Judgement0 Comments

Same-sex couples are not yet allowed to marry in American Samoa. Legal observers and gay rights advocates says the Supreme Court decision should go into effect immediately. On the other hand, social conservative Christians dominate in American Samoa, and the government’s motto is “Samoa, Let God Be First.” Even though Samoans have a tradition of embracing faafafine — males who are raised as females and take on feminine traits, many faafafine do not support gay marriage out of respect for their culture and beliefs. So far no one has applied for a same-sex marriage license. The territory’s Attorney General:

We’re still reviewing the decision to determine its applicability to American Samoa, and I have no specific comments at this time.