Alicia Wallace talks with Erin Greene on Bill #4 (The Bahamas Weekly)

Jun. 3, 2016 – The Bahamas Weekly

Alicia Wallace, founder and co-director of Equality Bahamas and Hollaback! Bahamas featured in The Bahamas Weekly on June 3, 2016.

From The Bahamas Weekly:

Bill #4: To add “sex” to the prohibited grounds for discrimination in Article 26 of the constitution which currently lists race, place of origin, political opinions, color and creed; has an exclusionary clause which allows for discrimination in legislation on, among others, taxation, adoption, marriage, divorce, and burial.

In the exercise dubbed the “gender equality referendum”, bill four has been the cause for much concern in The Bahamas, particularly among (pseudo-) religious, homophobic people, and unabashed misogynists. The most fear-inducing claim in the country has been that bill four – adding “sex” to the prohibited grounds for discrimination – would lead to same-sex marriage. This is easily refuted by reference to Article 26(4)(c) which permits discrimination where marriage is concerned, allowing the exclusion of same-sex couples from the definition of marriage to continue.
Saving the conversation on homophobia, intolerance, and marriage inequality for another time, it is important to consider the position of the LGBT community as represented by longtime advocate Erin Greene. Short memories, poor reporting, and fear mongering have unfairly edited the events of the past two years resulting in an inaccurate narrative regarding Green’s position. Contrary to reckless claims, she is neither trying to trick the general public into voting yes (by saying she will vote no), nor denying the relevance of bill four to the LGBT community. It is also worth noting that she is not flip-flopping on the issue, and the change in her position only came after a change to the bill itself.

A brief history
When the referendum was announced in 2014, Erin Greene fully supported the four proposed constitutional amendment bills as they were then written. When concern about the impact of bill four on marriage was raised by Member of Parliament for Long Island Loretta Butler-Turner in August 2014, it became an oft used red herring. Politicians, religious leaders, and the general public grew increasingly concerned about the word “sex” and its meaning.

Greene said, “Entrenching the principle of non-discrimination on the basis of sex is good for LGBT people, but this does not rely on the judiciary interpreting sex to mean sexual orientation. We rely on the fact that LGBT discrimination is sex-based discrimination.”

While it does not mean the state sanctions or will sanction same-sex marriage, Greene agrees that adding sex to the prohibited grounds for discrimination in Article 26 would protect LGBT people from discrimination in the law, not including the Martrimonial Causes Act.

On the heels of the red flags anxiously waved around the word “sex”, religious leaders effectively stalled the process, using their power to force the government into lengthy consultation. Fears mounted with the public unsure of what the bills would look like when presented again. It was during this time that Greene stated her position on potential provisos that became part of public discourse. She said that she would not support the bill if coupled with a ban on same-sex marriage, defined sex as male or female, or used the term “at birth”. When the bills were finally made public again, it was with sex defined as male or female. At this point, she withdrew her support for bill #4.

Read the rest of the article at the link above.