Santa Domingo:
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 UK 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."