Few things apparently frighten the Christian community in The Bahamas as profoundly as gay marriage or anything akin to even a whiff of it.

It is an odd fixation on something that does not arise, as gay marriage is not legal in The Bahamas.

And there has never been a bill or a policy put forward by any major political party suggesting it be made legal in The Bahamas.

Additionally, no one who currently sits in our House of Assembly has ever officially uttered anything that would indicate their support for legalizing gay marriage.

But for many Christian leaders in The Bahamas, the idea looms like a specter that must be rooted out of the zeitgeist at the expense of things that have nothing to do with the issue.

And many also throw the boogeyman of gay marriage to redirect critical discussions.

Many Christian leaders shamefully opposed the 2016 gender equality referendum because of the false notion that question four on the referendum, which would have constitutionally barred discrimination on the basis of sex, would ultimately lead to gay marriage.

It tapped into homophobia and xenophobia to taint a very serious push for gender parity on citizenship matters.

And it worked - the referendum failed.

Bahamas Christian Council President Delton Fernander appears to now be using the same playbook.

The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2022 would change section three of the current law by removing the words "who is not a spouse" from the definition of rape. That would remove the current exemption married people have as it relates to the rape of a spouse.

Fernander recently told Guardian Radio's "Morning Blend" with Dwight Strachan that this will eventually lead to the recognition of civil unions.

"If we remove marriage out of the portion [of the act], we begin to move marriage. Civil union will come in. Civil unions come in, it removes the term marriage," he said.

"Look at the Caribbean, look what took place in Barbados. We have a group of Christian Council leaders for the Caribbean. This has made its way up; don't be naive. We've started here and we've ended with civil unions.

"So, marriage has been replaced with civil unions (elsewhere) and we want to say that we're not going to be the one to open up the door, even if you're gonna say that's not the door that's being opened."

There seemed to be a clear inference that by "civil unions" he meant "same-sex" unions.

Same-sex unions are, in fact, not recognized in Barbados, though in 2020, the current administration said it was prepared to do so in some form.

Even if they were, what does that have to do with marital rape?

Fernander's argument is based in neither logic nor law.

Article 26 of the constitution clearly allows for legal discrimination with regard to marriage.

Holding people who rape their spouses accountable will in no way change that.

Even if same-sex unions were recognized in The Bahamas, the constitution also protects religious freedom, meaning no pastor is obligated to marry any same-sex couple or recognize those unions.

Perhaps Fernander believes where appealing to misogyny has failed to stir up enough public backlash to deter the current administration from criminalizing marital rape, homophobia will.

Mainly women are impacted by rape.

Many in the Christian community are mainly concerned that wives will withhold sex from their husbands with the legal protection if they force themselves on their spouse having fallen away.

Their views are outdated and the government must act in the interest of equal protection under law for all its citizens.

Claiming same-sex unions have anything to do with allowing legal recourse for people who are raped by their spouse is one of the laziest attempts at mental gymnastics we have seen in some time.

Further, many Caribbean countries have outlawed marital rape, yet only Cuba has allowed same-sex marriage - and through a popular national referendum at that.

Fernander said when he was elected to head the Bahamas Christian Council in 2017, "It is my hope that while we're at the council that we be a social justice ecumenical council, a council that will speak up for those that are marginalized, those that don't have the ability to speak to the powers that be, those who don't get a chance to put their issues on the forefront."

He should refocus on that mission.

There is no nascent push for same-sex unions in this country that we can discern.

But we can clearly see the notion being weaponized.

The post Weaponizing gay marriage appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

The post Weaponizing gay marriage appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

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