By RASHAD ROLLE
Tribune Staff Reporter
rrolle@tribunemedia.net
AFTER years of delay, the Christie administration is aiming to have a parliamentary vote on its Constitutional Amendment Bills on gender equality on March 2, with the referendum slated to take place this summer, The Tribune was told.
A precise date for the referendum has not been given, but Constitutional Commission Chairman Sean McWeeney said the window for having the referendum take place has been narrowed between May and the end of July.
The government began debate on the bills in 2014, but after significant push back from some members of Parliament the legislation was left languishing in the committee stage of the House of Assembly.
There was considerable concern from some that bill four in particular, which seeks to end discrimination based on sex, could pave the way for gay marriage.
Although the government repeatedly said this concern is unwarranted, it has amended the fourth bill to define the word “sex” as “meaning male and female,” Mr McWeeney said yesterday.
And while Mr McWeeney previously said the referendum would take place this spring, yesterday he said a summer referendum would ensure that college students abroad could return to the country and participate in the highly anticipated event.
“The window has narrowed,” Mr McWeeney said following a meeting with Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson and others to discuss the matter.
“It’s certain to be held sometime during the summer, anytime from May to end of July looks to be most probable time window. The debate is expected to conclude in the House of Assembly a week from this Wednesday, the 2nd of March. The bills have been debated already so this will be the third reading.
“The referendum will happen in the summer not the spring in order to ensure maximum voter participation. Overseas voting will take place as well. But the event will happen when students are home because we are counting on having them participate.”
The constitutional referendum has become one of the most visible symbols of the Christie administration’s inability to stick to its self-imposed deadlines, prompting some to suspect that the government is concerned the referendum will not be successful.
The referendum was initially expected in June 2013 to coincide with the 40th anniversary of independence and was later put off until November 2013.
Mr Christie, however, announced that the constitutional bills would be brought to Parliament before the end of 2013 and passed by February 2014, adding that the referendum would be held by June 2014.
The vote was later delayed to November 2014 and the relevant bills were tabled in the House of Assembly.
After significant push back over the wording of some of the bills, the government again delayed the vote.
In December 2014, Prime Minister Perry Christie said he hoped the referendum would take place in June 2015.
After that failed to happen, Mr McWeeney held out hope that the referendum would happen by the fall of 2015.
Comments
TruePeople 8 years, 2 months ago
More Smoke!!!! More Mirrors!!!
Emac 8 years, 2 months ago
And which ass gern to vote on anything brought forward by this incompetent government again???? At the end of the day, they are gonna do whatever they feel and not give a damn about the people wishes anyhow. The next time I go to a poll it would be to vote the PLP out!!!
John 8 years, 2 months ago
There is still too much smoke and suspicion around these bills for persons to understand their intention purpose. Many Bahamian women will not vote in favor because their Christian principles teaches them that man is head of the household and consequentially the women. And there is no suppression in this country. A large number of men will not be voting period because they don't want to be held responsible for changing laws that will open up doors to other controversies and those who vote , except gays, will vote against it. The country is just not ready for this legislation. Maybe in another 5 - 10 years. Of course there are external forces pushing for the passage of these bills. Will they use the opening of Cuba to force passage? The US already has 110 daily flights planned to that island country. But will they get the Cuban government to pass these same laws?
SP 8 years, 2 months ago
......... Bahamians want referendum on Article 7 not this gender equality sissy bill .............
PLP continue ignoring the will of the electorate in pursuit of their own selfish gains while the country at large goes down the toilet.
Bahamians are concerned with the country being overrun by Haitians that are destroying our country using flaws in the constitution to gain citizenship.
Gender equality has its merits, however it is not a pressing issue negatively affecting present and future generations of Bahamians!
Jonahbay 8 years, 2 months ago
Bahamas, my God, the slaves were emancipated in 1834, women got the vote in 1962. 54 years later and women are not equal within our constitution. Much of the violence against women is perpetuated because women are not valued. Because of the decay in social fabric and the disintegration of the nuclear family, women are the head of the majority of households, will these women vote to stay unequal? I wish the educated populace would procreate faster. We are drowning in ignorance. The world is changing around us. Why are we behind the 8 ball with everything? Bahamas are we ready to throw another million dollars down the drain? I think that was the price tag of the referendum on gaming that was emphatically denied. No one trusts this PLP government. Have they given us even one reason to?
sheeprunner12 8 years, 2 months ago
I suggest yall read that Tribune commentary by COB Prof Ian Bennett on ............#support the puff
themessenger 8 years, 2 months ago
Right on point, I cannot believe that Bahamian women would do themselves such a disservice a second time despite the misogynistic fervor that seems to motivate our men, particularly black men. This is not about gay rights or marriages, its about wives and daughters having the same rights as men do under the Constitution. An ignorant and uniformed electorate has and continues to be the major cause of the moral and social decay of this country.
TruePeople 8 years, 2 months ago
that's why the PLP in power
ThisIsOurs 8 years, 1 month ago
Laws are great and they should be in place. But I don't think a law will change any attitudes. You can't mandate how people actually treat you. Yes legally they can be forced to pay you, but they will never tell you the real reason why you didn't get the promotion over your neighbour Bob or Marcus. I spent some time in Canada, the most politically correct place on earth, but I was still subject to racism. You can't legislate people's hearts.
sheeprunner12 8 years, 2 months ago
......... those who forget history are bound to repeat it ............... that is why Perry scared to call referendum, convention and election ........... to quote Hubert Ingraham "whoever wins the referendum, will win the next election (2002)" ................ Perry in "bluff mode" now
Well_mudda_take_sic 8 years, 2 months ago
The vast majority of Bahamians want the sanctity of a 'marriage' between a man and a woman preserved in our country and not torn down for political expediency as has been the case in the U.S. Most countries in our world today and most of our world's total population remain firmly of the view that the institution of marriage must by definition be the matrimonial joining of a man and woman to the exclusion of all other forms of union or companionship between men and women. The very origin of the word "matrimony" is rooted in the word "mother". Equal rights for men and women can be had without destroying the sanctity of marriage by simply changing the proposed constitutional amendments as currently drafted to define marriage as the legal union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all other forms of union between men and women. Doing so would in no way negate or nullify the "equal rights" deserved and being sought by women in our country today. Sadly though, we have a relatively small (but loud) number of individuals in our society who would prefer to see the equal rights of men and women derailed if they cannot also force on the rest of us a much wider definition of 'marriage' which runs contrary to the essence and sanctity of that important institution as enjoyed from time eternal by 'married' couples consisting of a man and a woman. No one group of individuals in a clear minority in our society should have the right to interfere with the contract of 'marriage' as it has been known and legally defined since the time of Adam and Eve. Allowing this would be no different than allowing someone to interfere with the well protected McDonald's or Coca Cola brands and the legal contracts these companies have entered into around the world with others. Sean McWeeney needs to sharpen his pen and do the right thing by the wishes of the majority of his fellow Bahamians and the free-world, i.e. clearly and unequivocally define the term 'marriage' in the proposed changes to our constitution as currently drafted to avoid the possibility of same sex 'marriages'. Gays and lesbians can have same-sex 'unions', same-sex 'companions', same-sex 'whatever', but not same-sex 'marriages', the definition and sanctity of which the vast majority of Bahamians and free-world want preserved as is. Bahamians are not Americans Mr McWeeney and we need not do everything that Americans do. Get use to it!
Zakary 8 years, 2 months ago
Bahamians are not Americans Mr McWeeney and we need not do everything that Americans do. Get use to it!
Finally someone said it, the dismal failure of this referendum could be boiled down to this one crucial point. Bahamians are not Americans. The way they went about this referendum was all wrong and they know it. The PLP’s track record doesn’t help either.
Education campaigns are quite the double edged sword. Any inking as to how people should vote, or what they should do doesn't really turn out well in my opinion. Any implications that the general populace is too uneducated or uninformed to make a decision isn’t always a nice way to start either.
I always find it amusing when words like misogyny are thrown around here, as if this is America where it is a necessity to frame things as some pointless war between the genders. Women make up the majority of the electorate.
But knowing this government, should the referendum ultimately turn on its head, as with the gaming referendum, there may be a way of implementing it anyhow through some other legal means. Many international implications are depending on this referendum.
sheeprunner12 8 years, 2 months ago
Sooooooooo, when we have our Ministry of Tourism marriage promotions ......... do we turn away the same-sex couples?????????? ............. just asking ????????????? ...... That is a big Canadian, European and American social sector now ............ Obie, watsayu???????
TruePeople 8 years, 2 months ago
Bey y'all acting like gayness ein already goin on round here with nuff dude bungying each other. Whether or not women enjoy the same legal rights as men as they should, gayness always gone be there. Gayness done been around! Y'all could vote no cus y'all afraid of sissy, but the sissy dem is STILL ROUND HERE!!! that's the part that kills me! the sissy dem is already here jhed! Voting against equal rights will not change that.
Infact, i rememeber the Christian Council talking fool bout carnival was gone make us all incestuous (i don't know the reasoning behind that), mean while was one big GAY FEST in Grand Bahama and the CC ein say NOTHING bout that. Bey y'all needs to wake up!
As for the tourist (our bread and butter) imagine how much gay man is be bungying up eachother in Atlantis every night! Bey, y'all is walk round in willful ignorance at ya own expense, and the gays dem still doing what they do regardless
sheeprunner12 8 years, 2 months ago
The LAW forbids same sex marriages ........... not consensual same sex relationships
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