May 21, 2013

Dear Sir,

I appreciate that Rev Nicholas Tweed, pastor of the St Paul AME Church, has preached that the criteria for being protected under the Human Rights Act should be based on if you are human.

He declared to his congregation last weekend that “it is unchristian to deny people their rights as human beings”.

The Royal Gazette reports that one member of St Paul said Sunday represented a “watershed day in this historic pulpit”. The AME church has historically opposed moves to prohibit discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. Rev Tweed’s sermon in support of the right for gay people to be included in the Human Rights Act does not surprise me as his dad was Kingsley Tweed one of the leaders of the 1959 Theatre Boycott which ended legitimised segregation in 1959.

I am thankful that the OBA has introduced the amendment to the current Human Rights Act to protect people against discrimination based on their sexual orientation. I am disappointed though that they did not include protection in the workplace against discrimination based on age.

There are a lot of people out of work that are over 55 and a lot of people being let go from jobs that are over 55 so at this point in this long depression (since 2009) those folks could certainly use that protection.

CHERYL POOLEY