BY DESTINY JOHNSON

A Pride Week forum which was held at the University of The Bahamas (U.B) on Thursday that
coincided with The Bahamas’ 4th annual Pride Week did not sit well with Bahamas Christian
Council (BCC) and its members.
BCC President Bishop Delton Fernander, religious leaders along with dozens of supporters
descended on U.B’s campus on Sunday afternoon and voiced concerns regarding the event, but
U.B in a statement said that it would stand behind its School of Social Sciences’ decision to hold
a pride forum under the theme ‘Black Bahamian subject formation: from non-subject to subject
part 2.’
A flyer of the event circulated social media last Friday with U.B’s logo and after the Christian
Council voiced their concerns in a statement, it seemingly led to a new flyer created which
circulated on Saturday without the University’s logo attached suggesting that U.B had removed
its affiliation.
Bishop Delton Fernander told reporters at the protest at the entrance of the University’s campus
that the updated flyer was expected but it was not enough.
“We accept that in universities conversations will take place, but we don’t expect the university
to be used as a propaganda tool for special interests [but] that the interests of the people of God,
who stand up for righteousness is what our taxpayer dollars be used for to push forward in our
country.
“We are the people sending our children to these classrooms and that the flyer makes it clear,
through the use of the university’s email base, [because] that’s how we were made notified of this
event, that they were using their own system to send out this event to the students and let them
know that this was taking place.
“This is not in proper collaboration with our national values. This is what we stood up the
independence service and tried to say; that as a country, we’re moving in a direction away from
our preamble.”
Bishop Fernander asserted that the university should stand with God and the event should be
cancelled all together.
Chairman and Assistant Professor in the School of Business and Union of Tertiary Educators
President Daniel Thompson however, said these discussions have been taking place for years.
“ But this is not the seminary of The Bahamas, this is the University of The Bahamas. This is not
the Baptist Community College. Neither is it the Anglican Seminary. This is the University of
the Bahamas”, Mr Thompson said.

“And so, we do not judge people based on their religion. We do not judge them based on their
sexuality.
“We do not judge them based on their gender or ageism. But again, people are free to express
outside the gates. They’re free to express their opinion.
“And I welcome the expression but my members who are involved in an academic discourse on
sexuality have a right to speak freely and their academic freedom must be protected.
“This is a democracy, not a theocracy. Based on my academic freedom, when I am outside the
gate on Sabbath, when I attend my church, I speak in my religious capacity. But when students
enter these walls, when scholars enter these walls, when the humans enter these gates, they enter
with the freedom of expression as an academic institution,” Prof. Thompson said.
However, Bishop Fernander contends that the Christian Council does not believe that the
university, funded by Bahamian tax dollars, “should be the platform to advance a lifestyle and
agenda that are in contradiction to our nation’s constitution and the values, standards and morals
of our country and its people.
“The University of The Bahamas was intended by its own charter and bylaws to be a safe space
for higher learning and not a playground for an immoral homosexual agenda and LGBTQ
activists.
“The bottom line is this event cannot be allowed to take place on university grounds so long as
it’s funded by Bahamian taxpayers’ dollars, because it is in violation of the values and virtues of
said taxpayers as outlined in the preamble of our nation’s constitution.
“The facts appear to be that this is an outside special interest group with an immoral agenda that
has been allowed access to the grounds, hearts and minds of our nation’s university and students
who attend.”
U.B’s Board of Directors in a statement said: The University of The Bahamas was established by
University of The Bahamas Act 2016, which establishes a board of trustees “…which shall … be
free from undue influence from political, religious, or other external bodies and shall protect the
institution from such influence.’
“The School of Social Sciences will host a forum entitled “Black Bahamian Subject Formation:
From Non-Subject to Subject Part II”. 
“It is hoped that students and citizens will continue to engage with UB, the national tertiary
institution, as it carries out its fiat, among other things, to encourage our students (and all
Bahamians) to “…exercise critical thinking”.
“Forums such as this are the places where, as a part of UB’s national development mandate, our
national spirit will be enriched and developed, as people with differing views engage in civil
discourse and our students and citizens develop a better understanding of different viewpoints.”