In submissions that the group has made to the Ministry of Education, the activists note a number of legal and policy problems with the proposed rules. They note that discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity “is endemic in the Cayman Islands”.

Colours pointed to the previous governor’s concerns over the the lack of recognition of LGBTI rights here. In her departing message Helen Kilpatrick made it clear that the UK government wants Cayman to prohibit discrimination against this group.

“This is an opportunity to start complying with our own Constitution,” the advocacy group said in a release about its submissions. “The need for such an inclusion is not theoretical but sufficiently evidenced by the actions of some of our own politicians who frequently call for sexual hatred and violence against Caymanians on grounds of the their SOGI.”

The group listed some of the comments by former deputy speaker and veteran MLA Anthony Eden in the Legislative Assembly during debates about the marriage law, where among many other things he has describing homosexuality as “deviant behaviour”, and LGBTIs as “wicked and immoral”.

O’Connor Connolly, whose ministry is shaping the current education department’s policy and new regulations on the issue, was also singled out for the comments she has made in the past. They noted her call for people opposed to gay marriage to crash and disrupt a planned same-sex marriage ceremony after the chief justice’s decision to legalise gay marriage, which is currently in the hands of the appeal court.

“These …examples …show how our leaders encourage the behaviour that these regulations aim to stop,” the advocates said. They argued that bullying is often the consequence of community leaders or parents encouraging the intimidation and humiliation of others. Only by admitting that bullying on grounds of SOGI is an entrenched problem in local schools will they “achieve a more inclusive and eventually more tolerant society in the Cayman Islands”, Colours said.

The proposed regulations state that all schools’ anti-bullying policy must include provisions that prohibit both written and verbal bullying, unwanted physical contact and negatively commenting about a person’s looks, clothes, body, sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, age, mental or physical disability, property, birth or other status.

With sexual orientation and gender identity left off the list, Colours said those groups will not be protected, as “other status” is a flawed term that lacks certainty.

“All Caymanians should feel welcome and safe at school so that they reach their full potential,” the activists said. “This includes LGBTI Caymanians. By excluding SOGI from the list of prohibited conducts, which includes inter alia property, these regulations are insulting LGBTI Caymanians and are an affront to a minimum sense of decency of the Cayman Islands society at large. Neither the LGBTI Caymanians nor the society at large deserve such a disfavour.”

Colours noted that the widespread attitude in society that condones discrimination against the LGBTI community is reflected in the bullying by young people on those grounds, so students could be punished for copying what their parents and community leaders have encouraged. So long as that continues, the behaviour of young people will not change

Colours said that if there ever was any actual change, “there must be a space in the school where the victimiser’s attention can be drawn to the detrimental effect of their conduct and, in particular, to discuss openly the rationale …for such behaviour”.

The group suggested that the regulations should also be amended to include an alternative to discipline to deal with bullying before imposing a punishment that could have long term consequences for the student without solving the issue of bullying.