EDITOR, The Tribune

IF I COULD, I would ask Dr Hubert Minnis to help me understand the following: if I express what I believe unapologetically; if I make it unflinchingly clear where I stand on an issue, how does that amount to “shoving the issue down someone’s throat”?

His moral ambivalence is truly unbecoming. On an issue like gender equality I expect nothing less than moral certainty from my leaders.

People in this country don’t even want to take responsibility for their own beliefs, much less reveal where they stand on an issue. Now, because someone puts a persuasive argument forward or because they make their message ubiquitous or because their message annoys or offends you, they are forcing you to believe. No way. People choose to believe whatever they want to believe and whoever they want to follow.

No matter how effective or ineffective the propaganda tactics of the vote yes and no campaigns may be, this notion that ideas are being forced on people is utter bullshit. I’ll be the first one to admit that Yes Bahamas is doing a half ass job, but not because it is somehow “shoving gender equality down people’s throats”. And nevertheless, I support them 100 per cent purely because we share the same objective and vision for our nation. In fact, I wish I could ram a belief in gender equality down some people’s throats, but advocacy doesn’t work like that.

Advocacy works by building consensus around ideas, in the hopes of using the power of the majority to influence change. And building a consensus requires you to galvanise people who already believe like you do and to persuade others to support your beliefs so that societal norms are created based on those shared convictions. This is exactly what the No Vote campaign is doing with great success. So are they shoving their message down people’s throats? No. They are simply being persuasive, as it is easier to play to people’s prejudices than to the better angles of their nature. And in our hyper-religious society, with widespread distrust of Government, the No Vote campaign can lay claim to a God-ordained advantage.

Regardless, however, people need to get over themselves and take responsibility for their own damn beliefs and susceptibility to be influenced by others. There was a disgusting viral video circulating on Whatsapp this week of a woman actually advocating for the 6,000 plus people on the “gay cruise” to drown at sea. This call for death to the gays came in the form of a prayer circle. And I must be ambivalent about that kind of sickening intolerance. Those of us who are serious about nation building and have no interest in pussyfooting around the issue of gender equality, social justice and human rights must press on, standing firmly in our convictions in the face of all emissaries of the status quo, should they be found in the clergy or the ranks of Queen’s Counsels.

Dr Minnis, please make yourself more useful by doing the same and having the courage to lead. And I likewise call on civil society to do the same. We have far too many socialites in this country masquerading as activists; social clubs pretending to be advocacy organisations, especially when it comes to women’s rights. Bahamians, stop joking around and stand up for what you believe. Whatever that may be, have the courage to say it loud and say it proud.

NOELLE NICOLLS

Entrepreneur, Journalist, Activist

Nassau

May 27, 2016