Celebration Key: A $600 M “Inclusive” Investment

RevealThem.org

🔍 Summary

Carnival Cruise Line promotes itself as inclusive, progressive, and LGBTQ+-friendly. It celebrates Pride Month and flies rainbow flags. But in July 2025, it launched Celebration Key—a $600 million private cruise destination on Grand Bahama Island, located in a country where:

• LGBTQ+ people lack legal protection
• Migrants are detained and deported without hearings
• Fox Hill Prison is condemned for inhumane conditions
• Police use expired warrants, with little access to legal counsel
• Religious leaders openly oppose queer visitors and Pride tourism

Until Carnival acts to protect human dignity, it must be boycotted.

❗ 1. Celebration Key: A $600M “Inclusive” Investment with Exclusive Consequences

• Celebration Key officially opened on July 19, 2025, welcoming 5,000+ cruise passengers on day one.
• The development is projected to bring in 2 million visitors annually, reaching 4 million by 2028.
• Carnival also announced a $100 million pier expansion to accommodate four Excel-class ships.
• Christine Duffy, Carnival’s president, praised the project as “transformative for Grand Bahama.”

But transformative for whom?

“The guests will see paradise. But for many here, it’s just a well-guarded stage.”
— LGBTQ+ activist, Alexus D’Marco, Nassau

🌈 2. LGBTQ+ Rights in the Bahamas: Legal, but Only on Paper

• While same-sex activity was decriminalized in 1991, there are no anti-discrimination protections,
  no legal recognition of relationships, and no gender identity protections.
• Age of consent remains unequal: 18 for same-sex, 16 for opposite-sex relationships.
• Public hostility is rampant: 85.5% of Bahamians oppose same-sex marriage (2015 survey).
• Activists like Erin Greene have warned that LGBTQ+ residents face “social exclusion, police distrust, and career discrimination.”

⚖️ 3. Justice & Policing: Arbitrary Arrests, No Defense, No Reform

• Freedom House (2024) reports widespread abuse of outdated warrants,
  no public defenders except in capital cases, and delayed or denied access to justice.
• LGBTQ+ individuals face harassment and violence, with little faith in police response.
• Discrimination in employment, housing, and healthcare remains legal and common.

🚨 4. Migration & Immigration Abuse: Detention, Bribes, and Expulsions

• 988+ migrants were arrested in 2022 for overstaying or unlawful entry.
• Most were detained without legal counsel. 640 were convicted and deported—often in fast-track proceedings.
• A 2023 joint UN submission by CEJIL, GDP, and OBMICA detailed months-long detentions without hearings at Carmichael Road Detention Centre.
• Migrants reported being solicited for bribes (B$2,000–3,000) to avoid deportation.
• The UNHCR has repeatedly criticized these practices as violations of international law.

🏝 5. Celebration Key: A Veneer of Inclusion on a Foundation of Repression

Despite its promises of “inclusive cruising,” Carnival now profits from:

• A state with zero protections for LGBTQ+ people
• A prison system described by the U.S. State Department as cruel and degrading
• A judiciary unfit to protect migrants or minorities
• A religious lobby that continues to mobilize against LGBTQ+ tourists

“We’re not asking Carnival to fix a country. But don’t reward a regime that punishes who we are.”
— Former employee of Carnival (anonymous, 2024)

📋 Carnival’s Claim vs. the Bahamian Reality

📞 Formal Request to Carnival Cruise Line

On June 10, 2025, Broken Paradise formally requested a statement from Carnival’s PR Office (Attn: Christine Duffy). The request included:

• A summary of human rights concerns in the Bahamas
• Specific questions about Celebration Key’s compliance with UN guidelines
• A request for Carnival’s plan to address inclusion beyond marketing

As of July 26, 2025, no response has been received.

🧭 What We Demand

Until Carnival Cruise Line:

1. Publicly acknowledges the LGBTQ+ and migrant rights situation in the Bahamas
2. Implements human rights clauses in port partnerships
3. Suspends operations at Celebration Key until:
   • Anti-discrimination laws are passed
   • Fox Hill and detention centers are reformed
   • LGBTQ+ and migrant dignity is legally protected

…it remains complicit.

📣 Take Action: Don’t Just Sign — Demand Change

🖊 Sign the international boycott now:
🔗 https://chng.it/HyLbsv4NyY

📢 Share the message using:
#DontSailWithSilence | #BoycottCarnival | #BrokenParadise

Final Word

“No rights? No business. No dignity? No docking.”

Until Carnival changes course, let’s steer our money—and our movement—elsewhere.