The Rainbow Alliance this week renewed its call for equal protection for gays and lesbians under the Bahamas Constitution, amidst mounting controversy surrounding what is being advertised as the ‘first ever gay cruise with family values,’ set to come to The Bahamas this summer.
Alliance representative Erin Greene told the Bahama Journal that her organisation has already begun efforts aimed at enshrining provisions, which specify equality for gays, in the supreme law of The Bahamas.
“The Alliance is preparing presentations for the Constitutional Review Commission and we are hoping to have a public town meeting at which to make these presentations in collaboration with several other organisations,” Ms. Greene said.
“We want to address the need for provisions in the Constitution for gay rights among the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual,” she said.
A long-time advocate for the rights of gays and lesbians in The Bahamas, Ms. Greene took Bahamas Christian Council President Sam Green to task for recent remarks attributed to him in a local daily.
Given Bishop Green’s position as a member of the Constitutional Review Commission, Ms. Greene questioned whether his stance on the gay rights issue could prejudice the constitutional review exercise.
“We are disappointed and offended by Bishop Greene’s comments that he believes that homosexuals are contrary to decency, good order and the word of God,” Ms. Greene said.
“We are also disappointed that he continues to promote that gay people should remain in the closet and should hide their lives and be dishonest with themselves, their families and their communities,” she added.
Bishop Greene, meanwhile, has not yet issued any public statement on the cruise, which is scheduled for later this year.
According to press reports, the weeklong cruise – which is being heavily promoted by comedienne and former talk show host Rosie O’Donnell – will “feature family values, sun, fun and gay fertility lectures”.
Speaking with the Bahama Journal last week, Bishop Greene said he was awaiting information from several religious leaders before publicly addressing the issue.
Ms. Greene, however, said the Council would do well to address some of the more pressing issues facing the country.
According to the Rainbow Alliance representative, the rising rate of social ills, like sexual assault and other offences, are all in need of immediate attention.
“If the Bahamas Christian Council is concerned about decency, good order and the word of God in this country then there are other issues that they can and should be focusing on, particularly incest, domestic violence, statutory rape and the sub-standard level of education that Bahamians are receiving in the public school system,” Ms. Greene said.
“These are issues that the Bahamas Christian Council can and should be focused on. Censoring Bahamians and their access to information and dictating to them how they should live in their communities and their country is not the place of the Bahamas Christian Council or any of its members,” she added.
Bishop Greene, meanwhile, said the Christian Council should be prepared to make a formal statement by the end of this week.
Darrin Culmer, The Bahama Journal
