A Special Joint Sitting of the Senate and the House of Assembly on the Occasion of the Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Women’s Suffrage Movement was held on Monday, November 26, 2012. Pictured from left are the Hon. Sharon Wilson, President of the Senate; and the Hon. Dr. Kendal Major, Speaker of the House of Assembly. Out front is Chief Clerk of Parliament, Maurice Tynes.
(BIS Photo/Patrick Hanna)
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NASSAU, The Bahamas - The
Parliament of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas passed a Resolu
tion to amend the Constitution of The Bahamas through
due process to remove all forms of discrimination against women.
The resolution was passed during an historic Special
Joint Sitting of the Senate and the House of Assembly on the occasion
of the Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Women’s
Suffrage Movement on Monday, November 26, 2012.
Parliament, also on behalf of the people of The Bahamas
recognised, honoured and saluted Mary Ingraham, Eugenie Lockhart, Georgina
K Symonette, Mabel Walker and Dame Doris Johnson, the God fearing women
who in their quest for justice and equity for all Bahamians established
and led the Women’s Suffrage Movement with the support of other women.
November 26, 2012 marked the 50th Anniversary
of women exercising for the first time their right to vote in The Bahamas.
What started in the 50s culminated in 1960; women won the right to vote
in 1962.
Speaker of the House of Assembly the Hon. Dr. Kendal
Major in his opening remarks noted that it was seven years ago when
Senators and Members of Parliament thought it fitting to assemble in
a Joint Session of Parliament.
“We are here today to honour and bring focus
to an epoch in our history that has changed the psychological, political,
economic and social landscape of our country,” Dr Major said.
He also welcomed President of the Senate the Hon. Sharon Wilson other
Senators, and special invited guests into the chambers.
“This Joint Sitting of Parliament represents what
can truly be achieved when a singular national purpose transcends individual
interests. The Women’s Suffrage Movement clearly demonstrated for
us how ordinary women could do extraordinary things,” he said.
Dr. Major said although women are deserving of such
recognition, one man in particular lent his support to the movement
namely, Rufus Ingraham. He was the husband of Mary Ingraham and Member
of Parliament for Crooked Island and Acklins who argued that if women
were able to vote he would have won a second term in the House of Assembly.
The Special Joint Sitting also featured the speech
by the late Dame Dr. Doris Johnson in her quest for equality and the
9,500 women who boldly signed their names signifying the critical necessity
of participation and citizenry in the governance of the country.
“So women of The Bahamas, what you have now
incubated, protected and delivered must now be nurtured and matured
to adulthood,” the Speaker said.
President of the Senate the Hon. Sharon Wilson said
that a review of the history of the Suffrage Movement in The Bahamas
speaks volumes to the tenacity and the courage of Doris Johnson, Mary
Ingraham, Mabel Walker, Georgina Symonette, Eugenia Lockhart and the
many others who led and participated in the movement.
Today’s generation of young women in The Bahamas
find themselves, perhaps midway, on a trail that has been blazed. And
this is a good thing, It is good because it allows for looking back
to the struggles of the past which today’s success is gained, and
it allows for looking towards a future and envisioning the trail that
is yet to be blazed,” she said.
According to Mrs. Wilson, the resolution will help
to advance the cause of democracy in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas,
and serve again to imbue the spirits not only of those whom it will
affect but all who believe in the democratic process.
The Rt. Hon. Perry Christie, Prime Minister; the
Ho.n Dr. Hubert Minnis, Leader of the Opposition and other members of
Parliament addressed the special sitting, acknowledging the role the
Suffrage Movement played in the advancement of women over the years.
