The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Staff Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

EXPANSION of the grounds of discrimination should be limited to “sex”, according to the report filed by the Constitutional Commission yesterday.

Pointing to the “deep” division over whether this term’s inclusion would open the door for rights based on sexual preference, the commission also recommended further amendments to ensure that any law prohibiting same-sex marriage would not be deemed unconstitutional.

The report stated: “The effect of this would be to preclude any constitutional challenges to such a law based on alleged discrimination on the grounds of ‘sex’, and makes the position clear that same-sex marriages are not permitted under our constitution and current laws. The commission would be remiss were it not to record in this regard the large number of recommendations it received, particularly from the religious community, to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman in the constitution.

“It should be noted, however, that the commission was not unanimous in making the foregoing recommendation, as it was felt by several commissioners that existing provisions in the constitution already give constitutional protection to laws prohibiting same-sex unions.”

The report stated that additional discrimination factors, such as disability, sexual orientation, or language, are adequately protected through ordinary legislation.

It said: “While the commission wholeheartedly agrees that all vulnerable persons and groups in society should be protected and not discriminated against, this does not necessarily mean that this has to be accomplished by expanding the constitutional grounds of discrimination.

“It is of the view that the necessary, limited protection can be provided by ordinary legislation.

“For example, the 1991 Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act recognises that adult, consenting homosexual relations in private are lawful, and thus gives explicit legalisation of homosexual relations, thereby giving adult persons the legal right to freely choose and practice their sexual orientation.

“In fact, the Bahamas was the first country in the Commonwealth Caribbean to legalise same-sex relationships.”