Local non-political advocacy group Citizens for Justice (CFJ) says they do not support the Yes campaign and the bills are flawed.
The advocacy group also added that they believe persons with opposing views should be funded by the government.
“Persons with opposing views to the referendum should be granted funding by the government in the same way they are using public funds to finance the YES Bahamas campaign,” Chairman of the CFJ Bishop Walter Hanchell said.
“Our attorney has written to the prime minister on our behalf in this regard and we believe that all organizations that have launched a campaigns against the bills including, Citizens for Justice, Save Our Bahamas and Think Bahamas Campaign, should have access to taxpayer dollars.”
Bishop Hanchell added that Chairman of the Constitutional Commission Sean McQueeny and Senator Carl Bethel have recommended funding should be granted to such groups.
In recent, weeks many prominent citizens have expressed this disdain for the bills put forth for the upcoming gender equality referendum.
Many people have said that they believe the bills, especially bill four will lead to same sex marriages.
The group added that they do respect other views, however they believe the referendum is a cover up.
“Bill four is the real reason for the referendum and is a plot to satisfy special interest groups
, the United Nations and the LGBT community in The Bahamas. It is our view that Bill four, if approved, will open the floodgates in our judicial system for same sex marriages, same unions and special rights to the LGBT community, which are not extended to other groupings,” Bishop Hanchell said.
United Democratic Party leader Greg Moss has for a long time held the view that the word orientation would resolve the class of same sex interpretation as he stated in Parliament yesterday.
Mr. Moss said that to use the word sex means male or female and does not advance the issue if we do not define what male or female actually means.
Mr. Moss argued that what is perceived as the meaning of certain words today is not necessarily the case going forward.
However Member of Parliament for Marathon Jerome Fitzgerald, countered Moss’ argument saying that there is a distinction worldwide between discrimination based on sex and discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Bill one stated that a married Bahamian woman will have the same rights as a married Bahamian man to pass her the citizenship on to child; next bill two proposes that the foreign spouse of a Bahamian woman will have the same rights as the spouse of a Bahamians man to become a Bahamians citizen; then bill three proposes that an unmarried Bahamian man will have the same rights as an unmarried Bahamian woman to pass his citizenship on to his child; lastly bill four proposes that discrimination be removed from the constitution on the basis of sex.
