Dear Sir,

I had attended a public forum that was held in the Dr E.F. Gordon Memorial Hall at the Bermuda Industrial Union on November 8, 2017, that was conducted by the Minister of Home Affairs Walton Brown. The subject matter discussed was the legislation concerning gay marriages and rights.

Sir, I believe I have mentioned this to you before: it does not bother me in any way if two “consenting” adults wish to involve themselves intimately in the privacy of their own homes, but I find it very difficult to buy into the idea that same-sex marriage should be placed on the same level as that of a marriage between a man and a woman.

I’m basing it on the natural fact that only a man and a woman have the ability to produce the next generation. I simply can’t go against common sense and logic, which was created by nature.

I also well know that this issue dealing with gay rights is not going to go away as some may hope, but I do agree that some sort of condition should be worked out to accommodate their needs. What that should be at this moment, I’m not so sure. This situation no doubt will need to be worked on to satisfy all concerned.

I have to blame the One Bermuda Alliance, Sir, because this is one of the issues that it created, which helped to leave the country in this atrocious mess we now find ourselves.

You know, Sir, Michael Dunkley and his OBA party had a referendum on the gay rights issue and he, being the leader of the country at the time, did not respect the will of the people. Then he let the people of Bermuda down badly by not taking the bull by the horns, deciding to hide behind the courts to have them do his dirty work. What a shame.

It would appear that the Progressive Labour Party has taken the bull by the horns and is dealing with an issue that should have been dealt with through the last referendum. Whether it comes out satisfactorily to all will be another matter.

What I was hoping would have been made clear to us all at the forum was, now that the PLP is the Government and looking ahead, will the PLP draw a line in the sand as to who has the right to formulate legislation. Would it be Parliament or the courts?

It is one thing for the courts to be able to interpret the law if errors are found, but another matter when drafting and passing legislation as far as I’m concerned, which should be done only in Parliament.

I don’t recall the people of Bermuda electing any judge to represent them in Parliament, so it should not be their concern to create legislation in their chambers if they had not been elected to do so; at least I don’t think so.

In my mind, that act that was created by the courts should be considered null and void, and dealt with in Parliament, as is the case now. At the same time, Sir, I do not wish to water down the power of the courts and their right to be effective, nor allow Parliament to duck its responsibilities as elected legislators and run and hide like some weakling behind a judge’s back, as Dunkley and the OBA did.

E. McNEILL STOVELL, Pembroke