An American tourist was held by police in the Cayman Islands for kissing his boyfriend, after complaints about the couple were reportedly made by fellow customers at the Royal Palms resort. The couple deny that they behaved any differently from other straight guests. "I do display affection when I'm with my boyfriend, publicly," Aaron Chandler, 23, told local newspaper, The CayCompass. "It's never anything most people would consider obscene; usually it's in the form of holding hands or a quick kiss." Chandler was told by the off-duty police officer to not kiss his partner in public. The couple decided to ignore the instruction and when later in the evening they kissed again Chandler was physically taken away from the nightclub where they were drinking with friends and detained at the local station. Homosexual acts between consenting adults were decriminalised in Cayman by a UK Order in Council in December 2000. The Cayman Islands Department of Tourism later apologised to Chandler in a letter: "What happened to you was an isolated incident, and is not representative of Cayman. We know that thousands of gay and lesbian visitors travel to the Cayman Islands every year and enjoy their vacation," it said.