Praise Academy of Dance mulls over legal action against NCF

Barbadian dance and theatre group, Praise Academy of Dance Barbados, is considering whether to take legal action against the National Cultural Foundation (NCF) after they were disqualified from the National Independence Festival of Creative Arts for a performing arts entry, which was judged to have "exceeded the bounds of good taste". 

The performing arts school produced a theatre piece titled Speak Life, which is about a 15-year-old girl who was struggling with her gender identity and then finds God. The piece upholds only two genders.

The production was disqualified by NIFCA judges for violating Section 9 of NIFCA regulations, which says: "If during the process of competition an entrant or any of his/her supporting team makes any gesture or utterance that exceeds the bounds of good taste (whether on or off stage), the entrant may be disqualified from the competition." 

Praise Academy filed a complaint against NIFCA. On November 17, Senator Gregory Nicholls, the Arbiter of the NCF, backed the decision made by the NIFCA judging panel and dismissed the group's complaint against the NIFCA. 

The Academy maintains that they are being cancelled "for the expression of traditional Christian beliefs in Barbados and brings into question whether the LGBTQ agenda is being brought in by the back door?"

In a statement on Tuesday, November 21, Praise Academy of Dance contends that the decision was "unconstitutional" and "illegal". 

The Academy is now considering if to take legal action as it believes the move by Senator Nicholls to make a ruling without referring to the Supreme Court was unconstitutional. 

Attorney Davida Maynard-Holligan, who is representing Praise Academy of Dance Barbados, said the group had been “excluded in the name of inclusivity”, and that the ruling from Senator Nicholls sent “a chilling message to Christians on the island, especially young students, who do not believe in and refuse to conform to confusing and harmful gender identity ideology and extreme teaching.”

“The message is that you can no longer disagree with or criticize LGBTQ ideology without being cancelled, marginalised and excluded.”

“The ruling issued publicly amounts to an LGBTQ takeover of our legal rights and freedoms in Barbados and cannot go unchallenged.”

“The disqualification by NCF/NIFCA of this piece on the grounds of discrimination therefore amounts to a ban of the expression of the Christian faith. The show was performed on a government-owned, tax-funded stage and marks one of the first known instances of the Christian faith being oppressed in Barbados in public," said the attorney-at-law. 

“The decision to disqualify and the ruling issued discriminates against Christian beliefs on these issues and if left unchallenged, has serious ramifications for freedom of religion and expression in Barbados and across the Caribbean.”

“This matter should have been left to the Supreme Court to rule on, but instead the public and the media have been misled by a statement that the arbiter 'has not found any basis to overturn the decision of the judges'.

“It is a shameful day for the National Cultural Foundation, and the Praise Academy faces no alternative but to consider its legal options,” she added.