The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

The recent admission that the upcoming referendum is grounded on Amendment four, should make the public take a closer look at what is being proposed by the constitutional commission.

All of the other amendments come under the control of the government as it is able to grant the privilege of citizenship to whom it pleases; and we have seen this in the number of persons who should have gotten citizenship by now.     

The fact that some Members of Parliaments have not read up on what is being proposed or that the members of the Opposition were not given time to study the legislation should make us wary of what the actual intent is. I am of the opinion that this exercise has nothing to do with this present generation, this is for a future time when the powers that be have succeeded in creating a homogenous attitude toward the issues of sex and gender. The interpretation of the issues will be left up to the Privy Council or the Court of Appeal.

It is very important that we leave no room for misinterpretation as to what the words, sex and gender mean. This can be likened to the biblical translation practices where new translations are more about “what it means to you”, and not “what it means”.

The present language of Amendment four bears all the marks of an “open for interpretation” scenario and if this is the amendment on which all of the others hinge it is important that this amendment says what it means and means what it says.

We will have to admit that there is an ongoing “social evolution” regarding the meaning of these two words and it is the responsibility of citizens to be vigilant, intellectually, and not allow an “intellectual tolerance” to be applied in this generation that will result in an ambiguous legal circumstance for generations to come.

A generation, where we may still be dealing with “learned men” who have not yet arrived at a consensus as to what actual words  or phrases mean.

EDWARD HUTCHESON

Nassau,

August 13, 2014.