Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman (source)

365Gay.com reports that a gay couple from Massachusetts was detained by police after kissing on the dance floor of a popular club on Grand Cayman. Aaron Chandler, 23, and his boyfriend were holidaying with the boyfriend’s sister and brother–in–law on the Caribbean island.

While dancing, the young gay couple kissed and were approached by another patron of the bar. The patron asked them to stop kissing. The couple ignored the patron, and kept dancing and having fun. After a second kiss, an off-duty police officer intervened. 

“He told me he did not want me to show public displays of affection,” Chandler said. “He said it was against the law for two people of the same sex.”

As the group prepared to leave, another kiss was planted on his boyfriend, at which point the officer placed Chandler and his boyfriend under arrest. The two were placed in a holding room before being released without any charges laid.

Following complaints in several British territories in the Caribbean the UK Parliament passed a law in 2000 requiring the islands to abide by British law that decriminalized homosexuality.But a police spokesperson told the Compass that two Cayman laws - the Penal Code and the Towns and Communities Law - could have been used to lay changes on the grounds that same-sex kissing in public caused distress or a disturbance to another member of the public.