the issue to the Chief Justice of the Saint Helena Supreme Court for a decision. A preliminary hearing took place in the court on 23 February 2017. The parties in the case were given until July 2017 to submit their arguments. At the Legislative Council meeting on 22 September 2017, members agreed to notify the Council as to their opinions on the subject at a later meeting. This would allow another same-sex marriage ordinance to be debated before the end of the year, and avoid a full Supreme Court hearing on the issue, which was expected in January 2018. On 6 October 2017, the Legislative Council decided to conduct a series of public consultations on the bill throughout the month. On 4 December, the Social & Community Development Committee, which conducted the consultations, recommended the Executive Council to approve the draft ordinance with one minor technical amendment, which the Executive Council did the following day. On 19 December, after a failed attempt to remove the same-sex marriage portion of the legislation, the ordinance was approved by the Legislative Council by a 9–2 vote. It was subsequently signed by the Governor of Saint Helena, becoming the Marriage Ordinance 2017, and took effect upon publication on 20 December 2017. The first same-sex marriage in Saint Helena took place on 31 December 2018. Discrimination protections The St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Constitution Order 2009 bans discrimination based on sexual orientation. Article 21 reads: [T]he expression "discriminatory" means affording different treatment to different persons on any ground such as sex, sexual orientation, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, age, disability, birth or other status. The Equality and Human Rights Commission is charged with monitoring human rights laws in Saint Helena, promoting "understanding of the importance of equality" and working towards the elimination of unlawful discrimination. The Commission may also conduct inquiries and investigations on persons suspected of having committed an unlawful act. This includes whether a person has unlawfully discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation or "gender reassignment". Under the Commission for Equality and Human Rights Ordinance 2015, sexual orientation is defined as "a person's sexual orientation towards— (a) persons of the same sex; (b) persons of the opposite sex; or (c) persons of either sex". Gender reassignment is defined as "an intended, current or past process (or part