By Nadine Wilson Harris
National campus director for Campus Crusade for Christ, Carrol Richards, predicts that any attempt by the University of the West Indies to implement its proposed Gender Policy will cause mayhem, given the anti-biblical basis of the far-reaching document that is being considered for enforcement.
The proposed policy is aimed at promoting gender diversity and the inclusivity of the LGBTQI agenda at the university’s five campuses. Principals, deans, directors, heads of departments, institutes, sites, and units, among others, will be required to operationalise the policy in tandem with a Gender Mainstreaming Committee.
There are, however, mounting concerns about the implications of the policy for Christian lecturers, students, and leaders of faith-based organisations like Richards.
“This is Jamaica. They are opening the door for riots; they are opening the door for a lot of protests; they are opening the door for a lot of mayhem in the society,” she said.
“God made man in his image. Man wants to recreate man in their image; there is no way that the Christian community will go along with that. It is anti-biblical,” she told the Freedom Come Rain newspaper.
Several stakeholders across all faculties of the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, including members of staff, campus faith-based groups, and students with support from alumni, have since written a letter to Professor Diana Fox, the University Director for the Institute for Gender and Development Studies, at the Mona campus to register their concerns.
The groups said there are implications for fundamental freedoms of conscience and expression and called for inclusive consultations. They pointed to inconsistencies in the legal and policy framework of the document and, among other things, requested that a protective clause be added, which would make it clear that those from religious persuasions who disagree with the definitions of gender would not have sanctions against them that would hinder them from being promoted.
“We need clarification about what exactly would be considered a ‘breach’ of this policy. For example, would certain conservative and/or religious expressions qualify as a breach? We also need clarification as to how ‘misconduct’ would be redressed,” the group wrote.
The policy was first drafted in 2017 by a gender policy steering committee and was revised and updated in 2022. It is expected to be adopted by students, faculty members, and even those contracted by the institution.
Carrol Richards
“The UWI Gender Policy is a framework to guide the creation of a supportive environment for all persons, inclusive of gender identities and sexual orientations, in all aspects of university life,” the university stated in a section of the document.
“All staff, students, and other stakeholders within the University, and all associated with the University, have a responsibility to adhere to the Gender Policy and to apply its tenets in their day-to-day activities and all dealings with or on behalf of the institution,” the policy stated.
The university claims that the policy is aligned with its roots and re-emergence as an activist university with an anti-imperial agenda and is its way of engaging in advocacy and producing transformative policy for social change; however, there are some who feel the regional institution is simply facilitating the requests of donors who support the LGBTQI ideology.
“Rumour has it that funding is coming to these universities if they would introduce this gender agenda, and if that is the basis upon which our universities are now bowing to get funding, we are in a very bad way and it is an unethical way to get funding,” said Edwards.
“What is happening is that the powers that be, who are trying to get Jamaica to fold, will come through any door that they can possibly find to get their agenda into the country,” she said.
Edwards shares a concern that is being increasingly expressed by Jamaicans that the country is adopting the immoral agenda of funding partners like Canada and the United States of America. Gay advocates living in these countries have been seeking to get Jamaica to repeal its buggery law and accept the LGBTQI lifestyle, but Edwards called on leaders to exercise moral fortitude.
“We are doing a lot of things today to get money. The high positions are only worthy of respect when they are ethical. When they [leaders] lose their ethics, they lose their respect. It doesn’t matter who the person is; you need to maintain certain moral, ethical standards if you are going to be in charge of a people,” she said.
The university said its gender policy will ensure that the institution is operating within best practices for tertiary institutions and make it compliant with international, regional and national protocols including those established to promote gender justice, which CARICOM countries have ratified.