It is important for political leaders to be consistent when advancing legislation related to fundamental rights and discrimination. For members of the public to come along with the cause, they need to believe that their leaders believe in what they are saying, what they are doing.
A contradiction exists between the policy positions of the government on the issues of constitutional reform regarding citizenship, and gaming liberalization. On the one hand, we are being urged to support the end of gender-based discrimination when it comes to the passage of citizenship. But on the other, Bahamians will still not be able to enter casinos and participate in an activity visitors to their country can enjoy.
This inconsistency is glaring and should not exist in a 21st century Bahamas. Visitors should not have rights we do not. The government's decision to create a two-tiered gaming sector - web shops for Bahamians and casinos for foreigners - undermines the message it is pushing in the effort to fix archaic parts of our constitution.
There should be gender equality
I'm a big supporter of the gender equality reforms being proposed by the Perry Christie-led government - which are also supported by the opposition. I see no credible argument against the changes to our supreme law. Many who oppose these steps forward are stuck in a bygone era when misogyny and bigotry were mainstream.
The laws are simple. Two bills seek to extend equal rights to women in the passage of citizenship to their children and spouses. Another extends to single men the ability to pass citizenship on to their children, just as women now can. The fourth bill seeks to end discrimination based on sex.
"The changes to the constitution foreshadowed by these bills will not only help remediate the problem of structural gender inequality and discrimination in our country but will also assist in bringing greater inclusiveness and cohesion to family structures while at the same time ensuring that The Bahamas lives up to its international obligations in these matters," said Prime Minister Perry Christie at the presentation of the bills in the House of Assembly on July 23.
Leader of the Opposition Dr. Hubert Minnis also noted the importance of the equality push.
"Though there is much which divides us in this place, let us speak with one voice when the issue is equality before the law," he said in the House on that same occasion.
"Let us, Mr. Speaker, speak as one in this place. If we can do so, we will signal to every Bahamian and the watching world our unified commitment to the advancement of human dignity in our beloved Bahamas."
Minnis went against this view a few weeks later, before supporting it again. We shouldn't hold the flip-flop against him too much, however. He did the same thing in the run-up to the gambling referendum. He was for legalization, then urging abstinence, before being against it. Vacillation and flip-flopping may just be his style.
Right-thinking Bahamians know that it is time for us to move beyond laws that give advantages based on sex. The problem is that there are many in our community who are stuck in the mindset of the past. Consequently, there is a need for a proper educational campaign on the importance of equality and ending gender-based discrimination.
We must remember where we came from as a people. The Bahamas is a majority black country. Institutionalized racism was the order of the day in the pre-majority rule era. It was then postulated that blacks were of a lower dignity than whites and they should therefore not be entitled to all the privileges of human dignity and citizenship.
That thinking was wrong then. It is wrong now to advocate that Bahamians should have fewer rights than their counterparts just because of gender.
The message stalls on gambling
Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe, who is responsible for gaming, presented the Gaming Bill in the House on Wednesday.
The law would allow Bahamians to gamble in web shops and foreigners in hotel casinos.
The government was criticized for creating the discriminatory system.
"For me or any member of the government or opposition to come into this place and perpetuate discrimination against its own people who put them in this place, in my view, is a non-starter. It's unacceptable and it does not, in my view, demonstrate a commitment to modernization," said the PLP MP for Fort Charlotte Dr. Andre Rollins, last week in an interview.
"Nobody who has been given the remit to come in this place to represent the Bahamian people should be perpetuating discrimination against its own."
I suspect two reasons dominate why this two-tiered system was created. Some Bahamians do not believe that "regular" Bahamians know how to "behave" in the presence of our foreign guests. They think Bahamians would pose a security threat to guests if allowed in casinos.
The other reason pertains to financial interests. The web shop owners want a captive audience. They do not want to have to share their customers with the foreign casino owners. By creating this divide, Bahamians become their exclusive market.
For whatever reason, it is wrong to perpetuate discrimination as national gaming policy. This wrong then turns to hypocrisy when those who are selling equal rights also defend barring Bahamians from casinos.
Coherent policy
In the last few months, Christie's government has moved some of the most significant legislation since independence. The VAT Bill marks a restructuring of our tax system. The constitutional reform bills, if successful, would right a wrong entrenched in our supreme law. The Gaming Bill legalizes a form of gambling for Bahamians, who are now barred totally from the sector.
As we move through these and other momentous shifts in governance and our laws we must hold to coherent guiding principles. If it is wrong to discriminate based on gender, then it is also wrong to bar Bahamians from entertaining themselves in casinos while others can do so.
The state should not herd us to the gaming bosses. And all the wannabe-moralists who rail about the evils of gambling should accept that adults have a right to spend the money they work hard for on the recreational activities of their choice.
It's a shame that we are not ending discrimination totally via these two initiatives. It will probably take another generation of politicians to make the necessary change to allow Bahamians to have the full rights that travelers enjoy on our shores.

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