Women’s Wednesdays: Women’s Rights and LGBT+ Rights

The Referendum of 2016 proposed four constitutional Bills. Bill #4 sought to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, which could have paved the way for improved legal rights for the LGBT+ community. The bill incited highly publicized displays of homophobia. There were voters who considered themselves in favor of women’s rights, but against Bill 4.

These events raise important questions:
-What are the intersections between women’s rights and LGBT+ rights?
-What are the institutional and cultural barriers to achieving equal rights for LGBT+ Bahamians?
-What can we learn from regional LGBT+ movements in the Caribbean?
-What does it mean to be an effective ally to the LGBT+ community?

* * * * * * *

Women’s Wednesdays was founded by Equality Bahamas as a response to community members’ requests for a space to access resources, experts, and practitioners, share knowledge, and engage in conversation with one another. Officially started in May 2017, Women’s Wednesdays highlights Bahamian women and our experiences in The Bahamas, specific to our identities including gender, race, sexuality, age, and ability. Held once per month at minimum, the events draw women together to have conversations that bring our individual lives into focus while connecting to family, community, and national narratives.

#WW242 intentionally centers and prioritizes women and girls, and is open to the public through in-person events, livestreams, and social media activity. With the support of the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, we create a safe space for knowledge-building, idea-sharing, critical dialogue, and movement-building.

Inspired by Equality Bahamas’ Women’s Wednesdays, there is now a similar initiative in Guyana, and other countries in the Caribbean are expected to follow.