"[4] However, on June 30, 2015, Governor Kenneth Mapp announced that the islands would comply with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, recognizing marriage as a fundamental right that cannot be denied to same-sex couples.
[6] In response, a group of church leaders organized One Voice Virgin Islands to oppose the legislation and plan a petition drive that aimed to collect 50,000 signatures.
[8] Senator Buckley expressed "disappointment" in the churches, stating that they invoke the Bible only when same-sex marriage is the topic, but not for murder, rape or abuse.
[9] In September 2022, a bill was introduced to explicitly include "sexual orientation and gender identity" to the US Virgin Islands Code (regarding discrimination protections).
There has also been a debate when introduced as to it is actually needed - because under federal law that discrimination based on sex, automatically includes sexual orientation during a 2020 SCOTUS ruling.
Then in December 2022, the Governor formally signed a bill into law (effective immediately) that passed recently to explicitly include both sexual orientation and gender identity - to legally protect individuals against discrimination on the US Virgin Islands.
[11] The US Virgin Islands law addresses discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations on account of sexual orientation or gender identity.
The Virgin Islands Civil Rights Act prohibits such discrimination based on "race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, or disability".
[15] Virgin Islands law requires each school district to "make suitable provisions for instruction in bullying prevention and gang resistance training".
"[16] In March 2017, Attorney General Claude Walker interpreted the term "sex" as used in the Civil Rights Act to cover transgender students.
The National Center for Transgender Equality reports that "multiple representatives of the Superior Court of USVI stated that they are unaware of a single instance of a petition being received for changing a gender marker.