PM: A man is a man...

He was adding his views to the controversy arising last year in the Draft National Gender Policy which called for rights of all persons irrespective of “sexual preference or orientation.” The Draft is under review.

Manning yesterday addressed a conference to mark the PNM’s 50th anniversary entitled “A nationalist party in the age of globalisation” held at the Centre of Excellence by the National Association for the Empowerment of African People (NAEAP), COSTAATT, and Wellesley College, USA. Manning’s remarks came in

response to a question from an audience-member on the National Gender Policy, which had reached an impasse over the controversy about whether gays are classed as a different gender.

Manning began by saying the problem in the Gender Policy was not over the lot of women, but the definition of gender.

He quipped, “Some tell you that women are doing so much better than men that they have difficulty getting proper husbands.”

The audience laughed and he added, “And therefore the few among us who are deemed

‘proper’ have their hands full!” The real problem in the Draft Gender Policy, he said, was its flexible interpretation of gender.

“My religious beliefs do not allow for a flexible definition of gender,” he said. “A man is a man; a woman is a woman. And whenever the twain meet it is in special circumstances.” The audience roared with laughter.

He assured that the consultations for a National Gender Policy would continue, with the

results to be taken to Cabinet.