The "no Sayers" need to **read** the Constitution carefully. They also need to **read** the cases, what the judges actually said, and how they ruled.

Yup, you will need to **read, read, read**......and comprehend what is there. It is not easy so expect it to take 5 to 10 minutes per page. You will need to set aside hours.

Stop making all your silly comments and become truly educated on the subject.

Have you **read** what Fred Smith said in the paper couple of weeks ago anout same sex marriage?

Maybe Mr. McWeeney has a valid point. But for you to know you will need to **read**.

**Also , if you have not **read** **the Constitution from front to back, don't write or say anything, because you clearly don't know what you are talking about.****

Oh, please shut up "Economist"! You're beginning to sound too much like a paid purveyor of misinformation....much like Rubie Nottage et al. Bahamians are much smarter than you think, and most will therefore be voting a resounding "NO!" to all four of the bills.

Read Article 10. Think on who is a Bahamian person. A Bahamian person can be a man or a woman.

Answer this, can a Bahamian woman who marries a foreign woman get her spouse Bahamian citizenship?

Read the comments in the paper made by Fred Smith about same sex marriage.

Your "no" well may in fact be "yes" to same sex unions, not to mention citizenships you don't want.

I think your argument would also apply to 99% of the M.P's. I seriously doubt many them have read and understand it and are just blindly following the agenda of the few. So I can't trust their word either.

Economist- this is the kind of idiocy that is dooming this country. Presented with facts- pride and emotionalism get in the way of reality. You are asking this man - and all of us - to do the two things we need to do, but are not, and sadly -maybe cannot do- read and understand. It just demonstrates the profound and debilitating limitations of those who call themselves or claim to be leaders. A tragedy really. Prideful and and limited critical thinking.

And then there are those who want to vote no to Bill 4, but in their own lives they surely are not voting no to the lifestyle people have attached to Bill 4. I say no more.

Ha! Can you say hypocrite???

I do not care what Rev Patterson has to say, he has one vote and so do I. I will vote No , Not because I care who marries who. If two men or two women want to marry. Who can stop them?

Birdie, read Article 10.
What if a foreign woman marries a Bahamian woman outside The Bahamas and then they come back.
Can that foreign woman get citizenship?
She married a Bahamian person.

Who really cares? We go from the sublime to the ridiculous.
The bottom line should be 'what's good for the gander is good for the goose'!

Agreed

Most Pentacostals will vote NO as soon as they hear the words homosexual or illegitimate ...... that's "fire and brimstone" words for them ........ but on this one he is right

I assume then that they will vote "yes" to Bill 1 as that will avoid Bahamian women having to make sure that any child that they have outside The Bahamas to a foreign man is illegitimate.

As the Constitution currently stands, that is what it advocates. It rewards the mother, and her children, for them being illegitimate.

Indeed, it punishes her, and her children, for having the children in wedlock.

Classic Bahamian passive-aggressive response ........... using the identity and social status of the mother to designate a child's status is as old as slavery ................ many Bahamian married men are legally "foster fathers" as well because our law states that a child born in wedlock has a mother and a father as established by the Marriage Act

What's funny Economist is that if they vote NO against 1- might that mean that a Bahamian woman who marries a foreign woman abroad
and chooses to have kids with said woman, can claim citizenship for those kids anywa since her marriage is not valid under Bahamian law? Lol. Let them enshrine that right - seems fitting for bigotry to work against its short sighted attempts to limit the rights others who don't think, look and act exactly as they "claim" they do - no different than any other religious zealot and we know what Jesus thought of them.

Good point!

@Greentea. I have been wanting to answer your reply to one of my comments in another column, where you implied that Bahamian men are using the excuse of voting NO to these bills ,because they are really against women achieving equal rights etc. Let me just say for the record that in principal I support ALL of the bills.

If the Bahamas was a mature country that enforced laws and punished corrupt officials, my votes would be YES to all four bills. However, I will be voting NO and not because of the popular arguments floating around, such as gay marriages, foreigners coming to take over the country and all that other BS. Realistically, this country is rotten to the core. Once we clean up corruption in government and the civil service, then I would gladly change my vote to YES. The sad thing is that the immigration department is a mess, this country is in a mess. I don't care what this government says, the PLP has proven over and over again that they will not do as they promise in regards to amending certain policies if these bills pass. For instance, let us look at the message the government is bringing to the people about amending policies to make it difficult for marriages of convenience to occur. What a laugh! Everyone knows that we thrive on corruption. There are tons of people out there who are waiting to take advantage of the system once the first three bills are passed,. I don't give a shite about what provisions the government say that they will put in place. There are many laws out there already that they don't respect. Why would enforcing the policies that exist with these bills be any different????

So you see, I truly believe that the Bahamas needs to move to the next level and that WOMEN should have the same rights as MEN. But not now. Not at the present state this country is in!!! HELLLLL NO!!! Let's clean up our act, then the people might appreciate the importance of voting YES to these four bills!!!

*principle

John 10:7 - Jesus said, "I AM THE GATE."

They give a time frame of 14 years to achieve these goals:
.
"59. We recognise that there are different approaches, visions, models and tools available to each country, in accordance with its national circumstances and priorities, to achieve sustainable development; and we reaffirm that planet Earth and its ecosystems are our common home and that ‘Mother Earth’ is a common expression in a number of countries and regions.
Sustainable Development Goals
Goal 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Goal 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
Goal 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
Goal 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Goal 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
Goal 7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
Goal 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
Goal 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
Goal 10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
Goal 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
Goal 12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Goal 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts*
Goal 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
Goal 15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
Goal 16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
Goal 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development"

@emac my problem is this. Why wait for the utopia moment when corruption is no more, and politicians are honest, moral and visionary and the public service is a well running machine, allergic to corruption- to bring equal rights to women and men? You see that day ain't coming too soon. My grandpa taught me to NEVER ever WAIT to do what's right. So as the old people used to say- I don't care if school keep or scholars attend, I will be voting a straight YES on Tuesday. I agree with the sorry state of things but that shouldn't prevent us from doing whats right given the opportunity. Otherwise we are no better than those tearing the country down.

Agreed

"utopia moment"??? See what I mean? We are so complacent or used to the way things are done in this country, that most of us believe that the whole idea of the Bahamas becoming a place of law and order is Utopic. Sorry, but you cannot have the same rights as first world nations without having the same strict policies that they have in place to ensure that these rights are enforced or adhered to. I think we are looking at this from two different angles. Perhaps when you do a research on all of the arranged marriages and other crooked deals that take place at the immigration department, then maybe you can appreciate what I am saying. The consequences of passing these bills without proper policies in place can be irreversible. Voting NO on these bills is reversible.

let every voter vote their conscious repelled the negative and positive influence that has surface above the earth. not to say am a yes or no vote but what would become of a so called christian nation when men and women truly has equal rights wouldnt that open a gate that we dont want to open wouldnt that decrease marriages and people living a righteous life, when a man can do what a women can do and when a woman can do what a man can do what need do they then have for each others, would that be fulfilling The Father order to let man be dominate over the earth and let the woman be the backbone and strength of a man. when a man can do what a woman can do and when a woman can do what a man can do we are going to see a much greater path that we wish not to see. and equal rights bill 1-3 are basically in my view all about passing citizenship but bill 4 is an interesting bill and it brings fear in the hearts of many people. Hopefully we remain Blessed and covered by God almighty.

@birdie- "I do not care what Rev Patterson has to say, he has one vote and so do I. I will vote No" So birdie are you now a schizo or do you just like to throw views out there to be deceitful??? Before you said the following. "I am voting Yes to #4 the other three no. It is my choice and my vote."

@emac you see that's the thing. Evil always triumphs while we good people sit on the sidelines. Or fail to do even do the good while waiting for the perfect. You have to start somewhere and i just happen to think that starting with a recognition of the equal humanity of all is a good start.

I respect your view.