George Town, Cayman Islands -- Following the Cayman Island government’s presentation of its third draft constitution, grassroots organization Equality Cayman has started a petition to fight against Section 16 of the new constitution which they feel will allow discrimination against homosexuals in the Cayman Islands to continue.

The original Section 16 of the constitution stated that “the Government shall not treat any person in a discriminatory manner”, however according to newly proposed Section 16 “the government shall not treat any person in a discriminatory manner in respect of the rights under this part of the Constitution”. 

While certain rights are stipulated by the Bill of Rights such as the right to life and freedom of religion, the new section does not make provision for discrimination in terms of healthcare, housing, employment, public services, access to public spaces and receipt of government financial assistance. 

According to an Equity Cayman release, the new draft constitution will prevent certain persons from having constitutional protection from discrimination.

“Under the new draft, no-one in the territory will have constitutional protection from discrimination by the government in areas like employment, healthcare, housing, access to public spaces, and receipt of government assistance among others. 

“As a result, for example, government healthcare could be denied to religious minorities, a blind person accompanied by a seeing-eye dog could be denied access to public spaces or government buildings, and there will be no obligation for the government to ensure equal treatment of women, the elderly and other vulnerable groups.”   

In speaking to SKNVibes.com Caroline Ferreira, an executive member of Equality Cayman indicated that the controversy over gays and lesbians attaining equal rights was at the heart of the battle over the proposed new Bill of Rights in the Constitution.

She said, “Many of Cayman’s fundamentalist Christians define ‘Christian values’ as being the life-blood of the country’s heritage and culture and vehemently object to giving gays equal rights. To ensure that the rights of the islands’ gay community remain limited, the Cayman Islands Government has removed the free-standing right to non-discrimination (section 16) from the proposed Constitution’s Bill of Rights.”

She continued, “While the original non-discrimination right stated that the Government could not discriminate against anyone at any time in all areas of daily life, during negotiations on the Constitution the leadership of the local churches objected to the inclusion of gays and lesbians in this wide-ranging protection. 

“As a result, the non-discrimination right was diluted so that it will not apply to any matters outside those specifically listed in the Bill of Rights.  Those matters include, but are not limited to healthcare, housing, employment, provision of social services, and access to public spaces.”

Ferreira stressed the need to create awareness on the implications of the new draft constitution and she also opined that the Cayman government should allow voters the right to choose between the original Section 16 and the proposed new section in the upcoming May 20 referendum.