Government Senator Gregory Nicholls has parted ways with the state-owned National Cultural Foundation (NCF) as its arbiter amidst calls for an investigation into his handling of a cultural dispute on which he ruled last November.
Nicholls, a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, has now accepted a finding of bias in the matter and has rescinded his ruling which had upheld the disqualification of Praise Academy of Dance Barbados from a theatrical performance in the National Festival of Creative Arts (NIFCA) that challenged gender identity in its piece.
Last October, the Christian dance group was disqualified by NIFCA judges for allegedly breaching the rules by exceeding “the bounds of good taste” and making defamatory claims.
In light of Nicholls’ decision to quash his earlier ruling and concede bias, the group, which for the last 20 years has been producing dances and theatrical productions specifically dealing with various relevant social issues, is calling for a probe into the former arbiter’s actions.
“I am no longer the arbiter of NCF having rescinded my decision [in] the matter due to an error made in my correspondence,” Senator Nicholls, an attorney-at-law, told Barbados TODAY on Tuesday.
“I made an error in my communication with the legal counsel for Praise Academy where I misstated the capacity in which I was responding to their letter. This was long after the arbitration decision was made and I sought to clear that up in subsequent correspondence.
“[Praise Dance Academy] has not accepted that it was a misstatement in my letter to them and as such, I had no choice but to rescind the award and pave the way for the current Arbiter or some other person chosen by NCF to make the determination in the matter.”
The performing arts school cited the letter sent to it by Senator Nicholls: “I accept . . . that a fair-minded informed observer would conclude that there was a real possibility of bias in the present matter. I have therefore decided to rescind my arbitral decision of November 17th, 2023, in the interest of fairness to all parties concerned.”
But while Senator Nicholls has revoked his decision, the group has complained that the ruling of the NIFCA judges remains unchanged.
After reaching out to the Christan Legal Centre in the UK for support, Praise Academy is currently consulting with its legal team to determine its next course of action and is calling for an investigation into Senator Nicholls’s actions.
Attorney Davida Maynard-Holligan, who is representing Praise Academy of Dance Barbados, said: “While we are encouraged that Senator Nicholls has withdrawn his ruling, the original ruling against the group remains in place and justice is being delayed.”
“If we had not challenged and exposed,” Maynard-Holligan contended, “what had happened to the group, there is no way that Senator Nicholls would have withdrawn his ruling. What he did therefore remains a highly concerning precedent which must never happen again on this island.
“The ruling sent a chilling message to Christians in Barbados, especially young students, who do not believe in and refuse to conform to confusing and harmful gender identity ideology and extreme teaching.”
emmanuejoseph@barbadostoday.bb
