The Tribune

By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

SOCIAL activist Rodney Moncur is calling for all Bahamians to vote no in the upcoming gender equality referendum in order to “save women” from themselves and to “stop foreign men from having the same rights as Bahamian men”.

A week after the launch of his ‘Save Da Woman Dem’ campaign, Mr Moncur told The Tribune that the four proposed constitutional amendments rejected in the 2002 referendum should be rejected by Bahamians once again.

“We need to save our women from foreign men and from the four bills of this referendum. My group is completely in opposition,” Mr Moncur, who recently lost his bid to become chairman of the Free National Movement, said.

“We are not listening to any arguments from these vote yes people. We are not going to reason with them. We are opposed to the woman having the right to pass citizenship (and) we do not want foreign men to have equal rights as a Bahamian man.

“We are opposed to the man passing his citizenship on to his children if he is not married. The man should be married having children. The fourth one is the most sinful one of them all. To insert the word (sex) is immoral and indecent. I do not trust the government. This entire exercise is confusion and underhanded work. I believe this is Obeah, this is witchcraft.”

Mr Moncur also said he believes if the government was sincere about democracy it would fund those campaigning against the referendum. However he said ‘Save Da Woman Dem’ is raising money independently.

The group is having its second anti-referendum rally on Thursday night at 7pm at #22 ‘Woman Dem House’ headquarters on Jerome Avenue.

The constitutional referendum will be held on June 7.

Bill one would give Bahamian women who are married to foreign men the right to pass on their Bahamian citizenship to any child of that union no matter where that child is born.

The Constitution currently says that only Bahamian male citizens by birth have that right.

Bill two would allow a Bahamian woman married to a foreign man the right to secure for her husband the same access to Bahamian citizenship as a Bahamian male has in relation to his foreign wife.

Bill three would grant any unmarried Bahamian man the right to pass on his Bahamian citizenship to any child he fathers with a foreign woman with proof of paternity.

The final bill would make it unconstitutional to discriminate on the grounds of sex, meaning being male or female.