The evening of Thursday, September 16th, saw another in a series of townhall meetings being currently held across the island to discuss the intricacies of a draft constitution of Anguilla, and to give members of the public an opportunity to voice their views concerning portions of the document which is being reformed to eventually govern civil society.
Thursday evening’s meeting, held at the St. Augustine’s Anglican Church, in East End, had as a sticking point the subject of same-sex marriage. The predominant concern centred on a provision which the UK Government has allowed to be adapted by Anguilla in order to facilitate the ease and convenience of same-sex marriage in conformity with international norms.
The matter discussed arose when an online viewer wrote the moderator, the Honourable Kenneth Hodge, and asked the following question: “Is it already decided that the wording of the constitution in regards to marriage will not say between the opposite sex?” The moderator acknowledged that this was a very sticky point between the UK and the Anguilla government, and noted that the Anguilla administration has had long discussions on it — describing it as a thorny issue.
Minister Hodge continued: “We in Anguilla put forward marriage as an institution between a man and a woman. But in keeping with international norms, it is now put forward that marriage can be between members of the same sex. This is something that we have to grapple with during this constitutional reform exercise, and we would like to hear the public’s views on it. At the end of the day, the discussions we will engage in will represent the views of the people of Anguilla.”
A well known community personality, and an advocate of the moral/biblical stance on marriage, is Ms. Marie Horsford. She took the floor and read the Section of the draft constitution relating to marriage. Thereafter, she pointed out that the UK wants Anguilla to remove the traditional definition of marriage (the concept of man and woman) out of the original law, and to pass a law bringing Anguilla in line with the norms of international human rights.
Retired Attorney-at–Law, Mr. Don Mitchell, one of the prime drafters of the constitution, was invited to comment:
“Well, everyone should know my personal views on this matter already,” he said. “I have written articles about this before. We would all remember the instance when the last attorney general (Mr. John McKendrick) created some controversy in Anguilla when he brought his husband here. Then, I stated my objection to the discriminatory and prejudicial [response] on radio, and I wrote an article about it.”
Mr. Mitchell continued: “I am in favour of not discriminating against gay people. If two Anguillian ladies are gay and they want to get married to each other, then I believe they should have a right to do that. I do not believe that we should discriminate against them. I do not believe that neither the church nor the state – as strong as they are – has any right to interfere in what people do in their bedrooms, once they are adults and they are not hurting anybody. They should have the right to show their love in whatever way they consider to be right.”
“However,” said Mr. Mitchell, “what about the law?” He noted that the law is the international human rights treaties that are binding on Anguilla. “There is a universal declaration of human rights. And if Anguilla passes a law that contravenes the universal declaration of human rights, and if [by it] an Anguillian is damaged, the damaged Anguillian can take the Government of Anguilla and its constitution to the American Court of Human Rights. And, again, if a person be damaged by any law [on marriage] passed in Anguilla he or she can take Anguilla to the European Human Rights Court and get damages against the Government of Anguilla.”
“So what the British has been saying to us,” he went on, “is that they are ultimately responsible in international forums for Anguilla. The British Government does not want Anguilla to do anything that is going to make a mockery of them. It would make everyone in the world laugh at them because they would be allowing Anguilla to do something that offends against all principles of fairness and non-discrimination. So they are asking Anguilla to say [in the constitution] that marriage is a right that can be enjoyed by any two persons without reference to gender or sex — that is non-discrimination.”
The Anguillian spoke to Ms. Horsford following Thursday evening’s meeting to get a more extensive view from her on the on the matter. She drew her opinion, based upon the draft constitution itself:
“I refer to the Draft Constitution of Anguilla, revised by the UK following discussions in Anguilla from November 19-21, 2019. In this draft under Protection of right to marry section 16 there are three proposals, which read :-
“(1) Notwithstanding anything in section 17, every man and woman of marriageable age(as determined by or under any law) has the right to marry a person of the opposite sex and to found a family.] (a)
“(2) Every man and woman of marriageable age (as determined by or under any law) has a right to marry and to found a family in accordance with laws enacted by the Legislature.] (b)
“(3) Notwithstanding anything in section 17, every man and woman of marriageable age (as determined by or under any law) has a right to marry and to found a family in accordance with laws enacted by the Legislature.] (c)
“It is important to note that Proposal 1 refers to Anguilla’s stance on the issue; Proposal 2 refers to the UK’s position, while Proposal 3 refers to a UK compromise, following discussions. In my view, Anguilla has always been described as a Christian society, and it is therefore my opinion that the Anguilla proposal (a) upholds our belief and traditional values of marriage.
“Use of the UK proposals that do not clearly state ‘the right to marry a person of the opposite sex and to found a family’ but which states ‘has a right to marry and to found a family in accordance with laws enacted by the Legislature’ that law can be changed by the Legislature at any time with very little or no consultation with the people.”
Ms. Horsford noted: “Included in the Draft Constitution Section 65, is the provision for a Referendum to be held on matters of national importance… Also Section 66 speaks to People-initiated Referendums.”
“Therefore, in my opinion, a referendum can be held to get the views of Anguillians on the matter of Same Sex Marriage after the Constitution is approved,” she said. “I do not know if currently there is a law for a referendum to be held on this matter, but if such a referendum is held, if it would have the potential to challenge the UK stance on same-sex marriage.”
