Excellent news. Bermuda's government will address homophobia and anti-gay discrimination with a new human rights bill that will include sexual orientation, reports the Bermuda Sun.
Governor George Fergusson [called] the current Act “outdated” for a 21st century democracy. ... The Governor [said]: "Justice is about fairness and equality of access for all. Bermuda does not have that standard and it is to our collective discredit as a democratic country in the 21st century."
"Bermuda Human Rights Act 1981 no longer meets the standard for human rights in a 21st century democracy. Government proposes therefore to replace the outdated Act in this Parliamentary Session with a new broadly based Bill that will address protection for a range of characteristics including age and sexual orientation."
The government announced in 2011 that it intended to include sexual orientation in a new human rights bill.
A Bermudan judge criticized the government in 2008 for not passing gay rights legislation. Judge Carlisle Greaves made the remarks while sentencing 25-year-old Rashad Cooper to seven years in prison for slashing the face of a gay man with a machete. "Behaviour such as his shall not be tolerated in this civilised, enlightened and fair-minded society," said the judge.
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The jury took only three hours to find Rashad Cooper guilty of the November 2007 attack on 25-year-old Shawn Nusum and heard he "had a history of violent crime and homophobia before he launched the attack on Nusum and ... taunted Nusum on previous occasions over his sexuality, calling him a 'faggot' and similar names."
