Poll: 90% opposed to gay marriage
By TRAVIS CARTWRIGHT-CARROLL
Guardian Staff Reporter
travis@nasguard.com
There is no public support for same-sex marriage in The Bahamas, according to the data from a scientific opinion poll conducted earlier this year.
The results, compiled long before debate began over whether one of the four proposed constitutional amendments will open the door for same-sex marriage, show that only a small percentage of people support gay marriage in The Bahamas.
The controversial bill would make it unconstitutional to discriminate against someone based on sex.
The poll was conducted in January by Public Domain, a local market research and opinion polling company.
The results show that 86.5 percent of respondents strongly oppose same-sex marriage; four percent somewhat oppose it; 3.7 percent somewhat support it; 3.1 percent strongly support it and 2.8 percent did not answer.
Researchers polled 575 people, a respectable sample size for the country’s population, according to Public Domain President M’wale Rahming.
“Normally, what we do when we poll is we poll conversations that are being had in barber shops and beauty salons and in restaurants on Saturday mornings, in an effort to figure out where people are on this,” Rahming said yesterday.
“Nobody is interested in this. This is not a conversation that is being had. It is not a national conversation and nothing is being discussed about this.
“This is not an issue in The Bahamas.
“It is a non-starter. There is no movement for this. There is no significant group that is pulling for this. There is no substance behind it, meaning they haven’t captured a segment of the market.”
He added that “no segment of our society is asking for this”.
“Not even gay people in The Bahamas are clamoring for this,” Rahming said.
“So this is not something that we are talking about as a nation, other than on the talk shows and in politics and on the news.”
Victor Rollins, of Vic’s Communications, who recently organized a gay pride event in Freeport, Grand Bahama, recently said that members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community are not pushing a gay marriage agenda.
“Frankly, for all the married gay persons who are married and living here, they went and got married and came back and are enjoying their life,” he said.
“Those who want to get married will get married and live happily ever after. It’s no real issue.”
Rahming said he was surprised that people were equating the issue of gender equality to same-sex marriage, stating “there is no link there”.
Although the poll is from January, Rahming said it represents a non-reactionary position.
“I would venture to say, if we were to poll today, the number would be higher simply because we have all this media talk about it,” he said.
September 09, 2014
