THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY RESPONDS TO HENFIELD
Erin Greene
29th November: The Tribune reported that the leader of the LGBPTQ Community in The Bahamas Erin Greene took Senator Ranard Henfield to task over his comments earlier this week, posting a screenshot of the comment to her own page.
“Action (should be) intended to repair the damage caused by this hate speech,” Ms Greene told The Tribune yesterday.
“An action could be the adoption of an anti-hate speech campaign, led by Senator Henfield and his parliamentary colleagues, including the speaker of the House of Assembly.
“This would be an appropriate response to this unfortunate incident, as the Commonwealth of the Bahamas takes its seat at the UN Human Rights Council. It is also an opportunity for the senator and the state to reassure all members of the LGBTI community that the state understands its obligation to protect all vulnerable and minority communities in the country.”
Ms Greene added she was “deeply troubled” by the phenomenon of pitting one vulnerable group against another, which she called a divisive mechanism.
“Nothing justifies the use of sexist and homophobic slurs,” she said, “not even defence against sexist speech.”