5/31/2006 11:00:00 AM Gay law never stood a chance
Where they stand on the amendment
Premier Alex Scott: Unreachable
Health Minister Patrice Minors: Against
Finance Minister Paula Cox: Against
Telecommunications Minister Michael Scott: Refused to say
Environment Minister Neletha Butterfield: Against
Community Affairs Minister Dale Butler: For
Minister Without Portfolio Walter Lister: Refused to say
Ashfield DeVent: Says he’s unsure
Glenn Blakeney: Against
Nelson Bascome: Against
Ottiwell Simmons: Against
Dean Foggo: Told the Bermuda Sun last week he was in favour of the bill
Dennis Lister: Against
Renee Webb: For
George Scott: Off the island
Derrick Burgess: Against
Dame Jennifer Smith: Unreachable
Tourism Minister Dr. Ewart Brown, Home Affairs Minister Randy Horton and Education Minister Terry Lister did not return e-mails. Drugs Minister Wayne Perinchief did not return a telephone call.
Wayne Furbert: Against
John Barritt: For
Michael Dunkley: Against
Jahmal Simmons: Against
Cole Simons: Against
Suzanne Roberts-Holshouser: Against
Max Burgess: Against
Trevor Moniz: Against
Louise Jackson: Absent
Grant Gibbons: For
Neville Darrell: Against
Patricia Gordon-Pamplin: Didn’t return calls.
David Dodwell: For
Jon Brunson: Off the island.
Research: Meredith Ebbin & Nigel Regan
Meredith Ebbin & Nigel Regan
Grassroots members of the PLP effectively killed off the ‘gay rights bill’ before it got anywhere near Parliament, the Bermuda Sun has learned.
The PLP’s Central Committee refused to even entertain a proposal — initiated by Dale Butler — that would have banned discrimination against gays.
Yesterday MP Renee Webb, who took up the cause, expressed concern about the rising influence of conservative Christians on public policy. Her bill, which would have given gays protection under the Human Rights Act, was roundly defeated in Parliament on Friday.
The Bermuda Sun has been told that Community Affairs Minister Mr. Butler, who has responsibility for the Human Rights Act, gave a presentation to the Central Committee several months ago to give gays anti-discrimination protection.
Central Committee member LaVerne Furbert then brought forth a motion that the matter should not even be discussed; her motion was approved unanimously — and that virtually killed any chance of it passing muster with the PLP’s parliamentary caucus or with Cabinet.
MPs and Senators refused to discuss it at their weekly caucus, which meant Mr. Butler’s promise to add gays to the list of groups who receive protection under the Human Rights Act was dead in the water.
Renee Webb said she decided to introduce her Private Member’s Bill after Mr. Butler’s proposed amendment failed to win support from the PLP.
She said the Central Committee’s unwillingness to even discuss a proposal showed that the PLP is “far from progressive.”
She expressed concern at the unwillingness of the PLP leadership to even discuss issues that may be deemed unpopular.
One parliamentary source, who did not want to be named, said it demonstrated the party rank and file did not want to encourage debate.
Ms. Furbert said yesterday: “The amendment was brought to the Central Committee by Minister Dale Butler several months ago. ?It was decided at Central Committee not to discuss it at that time for various reasons as it had already been discussed at the Cabinet level. Most of the Central Committee Members and Parliamentarians are Christian people and hence their opposition to the amendment. They do not see it as a Human Rights issue.”
The Bermuda Sun has been told of the increasing influence of born-again Christians on the Cabinet.
Cabinet, caucus and Central Committee meetings all open with a prayer, followed by a chant “PLP all the way, all the way PLP.” Virtually no-one has questioned the appropriateness of prayers in a Government forum.
Ms Webb said she believed the failure of her bill showed “the rise of the influence of the church which is trying not to be separate from the state.”
She said we only need to look at countries in the Middle East to see what happens when the church is given too much sway in government policy — religious intolerance.
She said the strong showing from church ministers who sat in the public gallery had an effect on MPs. She said Church of God Bishop Vernon Lambe, Bishop Goodwin Smith, Rev. Malcolm Eve, presiding elder of the AME Church, along with Church of God minister Rev. Ronnie Smith and AME minister Rev. Milton Burgess were in Parliament, among other clergy.
Meanwhile, PLP MPs Glenn Blakeney and Dennis Lister, who were opposed to the bill, said its failure showed that Bermuda is a conservative country that was concerned about its moral fibre.
Mr. Butler said it showed Bermuda’s leaders were not willing “to remove discrimination.”
Finance Minister Paula Cox, who was opposed to the bill, said: “I think that all players were diminished somewhat in the actual proceedings.
“To credibly discuss this issue, I would have approached the process completely differently. We all know the hype and emotionalism that surrounds the issue of sexual orientation. Some clear, objective and factual discussion and consultation needed to occur prior even to any debate. If not, you contribute to a situation where in the absence of information there is a vacuum and in which fear and misinformation can flourish.”
It was all a game
Opposition MP Trevor Moniz said: “The PLP had made a decision they were going to knock it down. Renee did not have any support from her own side — the whole thing was a game. My stand is this: I am one of those people that could possibly be persuaded. I was persuaded with [the late Dr. John] Stubbs. He had people who were committed to his cause. I moved an amendment to his Bill [it decriminalized homosexuality in ‘90s], which is what allowed his amendment to pass.
“Some people, like Nelson Bascome and Neville Darrell, say Renee’s amendment is already implicitly included in the Act. I don’t know if that’s correct or not. My view was Renee’s motion was a non-starter. It was dead on arrival.
“She [was unable] to make something like this fly. One of the things we have to look at from the PLP’s point of view is that the public gallery was full of church ministers — Goodwin Smith, Vernon Lambe. There were at least six black ministers glaring at Renee. That’s not a group you want to piss off so close to an election.”
Michael Dunkley said: “I was very disappointed that Renee Webb didn’t take the opportunity to speak to our group about it — there were a lot of issues we would have liked to discuss. You could see how the debate went that she hadn’t really done her homework.
“One of the reasons the church lobby was so successful is because they were very open and up front on what they thought. The people who supported the amendment didn’t say anything. Renee Webb was led up the garden path by some of her colleagues.
“We thought one of the first people to stand up would be someone from the Cabinet — maybe the Minister responsible for the Human Rights Commission [Dale Butler]. He didn’t carry out his performance as a Minister as expected.”
Opposition Leader Wayne Furbert said: “ I voted against it. I believe the current Human Rights Act covers sexual orientation. The UBP didn’t have a strategy. We listened to Renee and people had the right to speak or not. People had a right to vote the way they voted. The majority of people I’ve spoken to are glad the amendment was defeated, especially in Hamilton Parish — it’s the Bible belt of Bermuda.”
MP Jamahl Simmons said: “I voted no. At the end of the day I have to respect the wishes of my constituents.”
Reader Comments
Posted: Friday, June 02, 2006
Comment by:
Chen Foley
Junior,
Your comments are accurate, eloquent and succinct.
Chen Foley
Posted: Thursday, June 01, 2006
Comment by:
Rev. Amanda Kelley
Is it a human rights prerogative to enforce someone's personal lifestyle upon others? Is it a religious (Christian) or moral issue if one does not agree with homosexuality? Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, Bermuda has always dealt with the alternative lifestyle individuals with a "keep your distance approach" until they meet someone in their own families whom they have empathy towards. The issue is not the individuals but how they choose to live. If God has no favorites whom are we to condemn others. I meet many individuals in my line of work as a Chaplain who believe that God does not care for them because of their lifestyle. If God loves the individual who constantly steals from the church in the area of tithes, time and commitment, why would God not love God's children who struggle or believe they are suppose to be with someone of the same sex. God knows what these individuals are going through and God also understands how those of us who believe what they are doing is immoral feel. How do we educate ourselves to treat everyone with respect should be the approach. It was more than alternative lifestyles that caused Sodom and Gomorrah to be destroyed, maybe we should review Genesis 18 & 19, however it should not be looked at lightly. If anything I wonder if we even consider what spiritual foundation Bermuda is built upon. As we consider all the hurricanes and other natural turbulences that have passed through and by only GOD kept this island intact. Have we not strayed far enough by following the Americans and taking prayer out of the school? Is God pleased with us as we are our brothers and sisters keepers? Thank God we are still allowed to make choices.
Posted: Thursday, June 01, 2006
Comment by:
J Hayward
I agree with thepoint made in the first comment. Our MPs that are opposed to this bill missed the point. This proposed amendment was to protect gays from discrimination. That's all. It wasn't to permit same-sex marriage or anything . Gays just want to sit at the front of the bus. They want to be treated as humans. That's all. Bermuda is a small community, and we already know that we even have gays in Parliament, but what would happen if those gay politicians made their sexual orientation public?
Posted: Thursday, June 01, 2006
Comment by:
Doug
Junior, your comments are bang on. I've heard so many church leaders, political leaders, and average Bermudians cry "evil" when referring to gays. Haven't we learned from history that true evil is the hypocrisy that gives rise to exclusion?
Posted: Thursday, June 01, 2006
Comment by:
spykid
Well said.
Posted: Thursday, June 01, 2006
Comment by:
Pat Brown
I take exception to the comment that 'Christian people' automatically oppose gay rights. This is simply not true. A lot of Christians who actually read their Bibles know there's nothing in there to condemn homosexuality - I'm talking the Christian Bible, which is the New Testament, not the Old Testament which is rife with laws no one on this island observes anymore, if they ever did.
For that matter a lot of gays are Christian and don't for a minute believe their God condemns them.
Posted: Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Comment by:
junior
Black people in Bermuda are beginning to sound like the rednecks who spat on and stoned Dr. King....
Whites have historically run roughshod over the human rights of the island's disenfranchised Black majority (the Tucker's Town land grab and the refusal of the descendants of slaveholders to make financial restitution to the descendants of the enslaved spring to mind) and have employed the same bigoted rhetoric to justify denying first emancipation and later, universal adult suffrage. Fortunately, Black people and a few courageous whites (like Elder Barbara Ball) challenged the rule of the white landed gentry and ushered in an expanded version of democracy.
...alas, how quickly we Black folk forget that, not too many moons ago, we were lobbying our government for the same rights and freedoms that many of us are now seeking to deny the island's gay and lesbian community.
The issue is NOT whether we feel that same sex relationships are right in the eyes of God - indeed, in a secular democracy, such a consideration has no place. The question is whether all of the members of our island community - and gays and lesbians most certainly are card-carrying, taxpaying members of our community and have been since the Sea Venture brought the first settlers here - should enjoy the same rights and protections under the law.
In order to be worthy of the protection under the human rights legislation, one need only be HUMAN. Not human and 'straight'; not human and white; not human and able-bodied. Simply being born homo sapien is enough to be entitled to such protection.
In closing, let's recall that the rocky road presently being traversed by our gay brothers and sisters was once the only road that we knew, and that the same irrational hatred being spewed in their direction also fell on us......
Remember: Justice must be for ALL, or not at all.
