Bajans have it out on gender identity in revised Constitution Loop Barbados

Black Immigrant Daily News

It appears that Barbadians are divided on the inclusion of the rights of all genders and sexual orientations in the revised Constitution of Barbados.

On Sunday, several heated audience members at the Constitution Reform Commission (CRC) town hall at the Deighton Griffith Secondary School contended and emphasised that Barbados is a Christian society, and is on the path towards moral decline should there be the implementation of gender neutrality, in the revised Constitution. Meanwhile, others called for the inclusion of LGBTQ+ rights – Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer.

we are not only thinking of ourselves now, we are thinking about our children

One member of the audience who was standing up for the LGBTQ+ community was advocate Isadora Barrow who called for amendments to Chapter 3 of the Protection of the Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of an individual. The educator also appealed to the CRC for the removal of the buggery and indecency laws.

“Whether or not others in society want to recognise, acknowledge or accept minority experiences in this society, they exist and the law should offer protection. In the last meeting there were sentiments that what worked in the past will work today, but at some point in the past, the rights that were being considered were whether or not some were to be seen as fully human or whether some had the right even to participate politically. If we remain bound to these ideas and understandings of the past, we will never fully live in the present and the future will become harder to see,” Barrow asserted.

It appears to me every time you disagree with a particular group of people you are considered a bigot

She insisted that the Constitution should reflect a commitment “to protecting the rights of minorities and the vulnerable”, thereby rejecting the notion of exclusion due to gender or sexuality.

“When we write this [new] Constitution [as a new parliamentary Republic] we are not only thinking of ourselves now, we are thinking about our children and their children. Will they want to live on an island that continues to restrict some from fully participating in society? I don’t believe so,” she maintained.

She was supported by Michael Alexander of the LGBTQ+ group – Equals Barbados. Alexander voiced that discrimination remained a concerning issue and extended into law enforcement, who they reach out to for help and protection.

“According to some people there is no discrimination against the LGBT+ community in Barbados but might I remind everyone that just because you do not discriminate, see discrimination occurring or hear about it does not mean that it does not happen.

“We often hear the argument that there is no proof. It is easy to say there is no proof when the systems in place do not call for certain things to be recorded but the same systems fail to act on the incidents that are actually recorded,” Alexander stated.

He shared that according to the Shared Incident data-base developed by the organisation in 2017, 70 per cent of cases reported experienced verbal abuse, 43 per cent physical violence and 13 per cent have been forced to leave home. Additionally, persons have been denied access to services, been fired from their jobs or denied educational opportunities due to their gender identity or sexual orientation.

On the other side of the coin, Reverend Ferdinand Nicholls argued that the LBGTQ+ community is forcing their ideological beliefs on others.

“It appears to me every time you disagree with a particular group of people you are considered a bigot. You and I ought to be able to have a discussion and a disagreement without you thinking I hate you. I don’t hate you. I will tell you what I hate – I hate you trying to discriminate against me because people seem to think discrimination only flows one direction, but it does not.

“What you are saying is because of what I believe, I am compelled to push that aside to accept you and that is simply not going to happen. If a Constitution were ever going to make provision for that type of violation of religious freedom, you would have a riot in this country.

“Let’s face a reality, you can’t talk about discrimination and just have it one way. You have to appreciate the fact there are other people who think differently and we agree to disagree,” said the Pentecostal minister.

Sociologist and executive director of Freedom-Faith-Family Barbados, Veronica Evelyn who was also in attendance urged legislators to “follow the science” and “act out of an abundance of caution” as she called for the non-inclusion of sexual orientation in the revised Constitution.

“With respect to the term sexual orientation, I would like to suggest that a similar approach be adopted and that we both follow the science and act on an abundance of caution when considering whether to import this term from the Charter into the revised Constitution. Its implications will reverberate for years to come,” said the sociologist.

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