The Tribune

JUNE 7, 2026 will mark 10 years since the referendum on issues of gender inequality in citizenship and sex-based discrimination in the constitution. There were four questions on the ballot related to four proposed constitutional amendment bills. The people (who showed up to vote) said no to the changes, or to the government administration, or to the process, or to women, or to a combination of the four.

We are left, then, with constitutional inequality.

We are left with government administration after government administration that do not know and/or do not care to chart a new path toward making the necessary changes to move us toward equality.

Bill 1

Article 8 of the constitution states, “A persons born outside The Bahamas after 9th July 1973 shall become a citizen of The Bahamas at the date of his birth if at that date his father is a citizen of The Bahamas otherwise than by virtue of this Article or Article 3(2) of this Constitution.”

While it is not explicit in the above, Article 8 allows for Bahamian men married to the women who give birth to their children to confer citizenship on their children regardless of the citizenship of the mother and regardless of the child’s place of birth. As there is no mention of Bahamian women married to the fathers of their children in this or any other article specific to people born outside of The Bahamas, this means that they are not, under constitutional law, allowed to confer citizenship on their children born outside of The Bahamas.

Bill 2

Article 10 of the constitution states, “Any woman who, after 9th July 1973, marries a person who is or becomes a citizen of The Bahamas shall be entitled, provided she is still so married, upon making application in such manner as may be prescribed and upon taking the oath of allegiance of such declaration as may be prescribed, to be registered as a citizen of The Bahamas: Provided that the right to be registered as a citizen of The Bahamas under this Article shall be subject to such exceptions or qualifications as may be prescribed in the interests of national security of public policy.”

While it is not explicit in the above, men who marry Bahamian women do not have the same entitlement to apply for Bahamian citizenship as is afforded to the women who marry Bahamian men.

Bill 3

Article 14(1) of the constitution states, “Any reference in this Chapter to the father of a person shall, in relation to any person born out of wedlock other than a person legitimated before 10th July 1973, be construed as a reference to the mother of that person.”

While it is not explicit in the above, Article 14 prevents Bahamian men who are not married to the mothers of their children from conferring Bahamian citizenship on their children.

Bill 4

Article 26(3) of the constitution states, “In this Article, the expression "discriminatory" means affording different treatment to different person attributable wholly or mainly to their respective descriptions by race, place of origin political opinions colour or creed whereby person of one such description are subjected to disabilities or restrictions to which person of another such description are not made subject or are accorded privileges or advantages which are not accorded to persons of another such description.”

Article 26 prevents discriminatory law and 26(3) defines discrimination, listing the ground under which it is prohibited. It does not include sex.

It is important to note that this must have been an intentional and misogynistic exclusion since the same list appears in Article 15, except Article 15 does include sex.

Article 15 begins, “Whereas every person in The Bahamas is entitled to the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual, that is to say, has the right, whatever his race, place of origin, political opinions, colour, creed or sex, but subject to respect for the rights and freedoms of others and for the public interest[…]”

What happened?

On Tuesday, June 7, less than 50% of the electorate participated in the referendum. On every bill, more than 60% of voters were against the proposed constitutional amendments. It was deemed a failure by many, though not for the correct reasons.

Voters have the right to their opinions and to cast their ballots as they see fit, and we can make our own assessments regarding the “right” thing to do. The failure, however, was in the process from the first announcement that the referendum would be held, devoid of any national education on the constitution, the Constitutional Commission, the report from the Commission, the prioritisation of issues, or the impact of the issues identified. The failure was in the politicisation of the issue, the tit-for-tat between the two major political parties, particularly regarding the 2002 referendum, and the lack of a clear, explicit, and united stance by the political parties on the issues presented in the four bills.

The referendum was first expected to take place in June 2013. It was postponed to November 2013, then pushed to June 2014. It was finally held on June 7, 2016.

In November 2015, Former Governor General Sir Arthur Folks lamented that the referendum had not yet been held and said the public should demand the referendum be held sooner than later.

“I think it’s a great pity that we haven’t done it, and I hope that all those concerned – the government, the commission and the Bahamian public – should demand that we do this.” He added, “This is essential, this is necessary, if we’re really going to be a democratic country with the same equality for everybody. So, its absolutely essential, and I hope the sooner the better.”

Foulkes said that voting against gender equality would place Bahamians among “backward peoples of the world who still believe that accidents of birth like colour and sex should forever assign some people to inferiority status.”

This is where we currently sit.

Following the results of the 2016 referendum, then Prime Minister Perry Christie said, “This whole thing may have been hopelessly flawed because of a compelling urgency on the part of some to pay us back (for) what they perceived to be a payback to the PLP and therefore the supremacy of the issues of equality were lost in a payback.” Recall that the Leader of the Opposition Hubert Minnis gave a “vote your conscience” message to the public, failing to fully commit to the purpose of the referendum.

That’s one part of the story.

There was also the late launch of the Yes Campaign and the sloppiness in execution.

There was the overly technical presentations that both confused people and increased suspicion.

There was the refusal to give real answers to people who had questions about the potential outcomes of the proposed amendments, however elementary or conspiracy theory-like they sounded.

There was the ill-advised combination of questions on the ballot.

There was the yielding to religious misleaders and anti-rights actors by the government.

There was the lack of engagement with young people.

There are many reasons for the 2016 referendum results, and misogyny, xenophobia, low civic education, and lack of trust in the government underpin them all.

When it’s over…

Then Chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party Bradley Roberts said, “The PLP remains committed to the principle of equality for all Bahamians under the law. We do so because it is consistent with our core values and the foundational principles upon which the PLP was built and thrived.”

In July 2012, then Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Fred Mitchell said, “The government is committed to removing the constitutional anomaly which exists with regard to women and the ability to pass on their citizenship to their children.” He said the constitutional amendment would make it “clear that gender cannot be a reason to discriminate against an individual.”

Following the vote against the proposed amendments, the Progressive Liberal Party has failed to demonstrate its commitment to removing the anomaly and addressing the issue of gender-based discrimination in the constitution.

In the last term, the Attorney General claimed the government would address the citizenship issues through the Bahamas Nationality Act following the ruling of the Privy Council. That has not happened, and there is no indication that it will happen in this term.

The issue of sex-based discrimination, unfortunately, has never even been mentioned.

What now?

This cannot be the end. The government has a responsibility to make gender equality a reality. It has a responsibility to end statelessness. It has a responsibility to make living in The Bahamas a real option for Bahamian, regardless of who they marry or where their children are born. It has a responsibility to protect, promote, uphold, and expand human rights. It has recognized, on numerous occasions, that it has these responsibilities through the ratification of various regional and international human rights mechanisms, including CEDAW.

The government needs to:

*Acknowledge, to the public, its responsibility to ensure all people have full access to all human rights.

*Develop a comprehensive, updated civic education curriculum and make it mandatory in all schools.

*Allocate sufficient resources to the appropriate government entities and nongovernmental organizations to design and execute long-term public education campaigns on human rights, gender equality, and citizenship.

*Develop a timeline and action plan for referenda to address the citizenship issues and to add “sex” to the prohibited grounds of discrimination.

Recommendations

The Snag: A Mother, A Forest, and Wild Grief by Tessa McWatts. This book is the nonfiction winner and the overall winner of the 2026 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature. The publisher said, “As her mother’s dementia advances and she can no longer live independently, Tessa McWatt confronts personal and political losses, and finds herself wandering in a forest asking, how do we grieve? And what can we learn from nature and those whose communities are rooted in nature about not only how to grieve but also how to live?” Feminist Book Club, hosted by Equality Bahamas and Poinciana Paper Press, is reading The Snag this month. Join the discussion at Poinciana Paper Press, 12 Parkgate Road, on Wednesday, June 17 at 6pm. Register to join Feminist Book Club at tiny.cc/fbc2026.

Radical Acts of Publishing. An exhibition of alternative books made during a six-week publishing incubator led by Sonia Farmer at Poinciana Paper Press, supported by the Caribbean Culture Fund, is an event in the Transforming Spaces 2026 lineup. The twenty participants hailed from a wide range of backgrounds including education, art, media, civil service, and activism. See the show at Poinciana Paper Press at 12 Parkgate Road on Saturday, June 6 from 11am to 6pm, free of charge.