President of The Bahamas Christian Council, Sam Greene told The Guardian Tuesday that the council is expected to respond with more than a comment, but with a “reaction.”
“We have a committee that is now getting all the information on the cruise. My people will call me back this morning and it looks like we would be ready by the end of this week to go to the press,” he said, adding that when the Council takes its position at the end of the week, it will notify all “relevant parties” of the church’s position.
Bishop Greene, who came under fire by gays last July after threatening to become the first “live Guy Fawkes” if government passed legislation legalizing same sex marriage, promised that everything contrary to “decency, good order and the word of God,” will get a reaction from the church.
“The devil and every demon in hell can expect the church to react because God has done too much for us,” he said.
The five-day cruise, advertised as one with “family values, sun, fun and gay fertility lectures,” is being highly promoted by TV star, Broadway producer and former magazine editor Rosie O’Donnell,” The Miami Herald reported.
”We welcome all families, however you define them, to join us on this cruise,” O’Donnell said in a statement launching the cruise, originating in New York.
The Herald further reported that Rosie and her life partner, Kelli O’Donnell, would take their four children on the week-long voyage to Florida and The Bahamas. They’re hoping to lure 2,200 gay and lesbian parents and their relatives.
The same-sex seafarers will set sail on a brand-new Norwegian Cruise Lines ship with 10 restaurants, entertainment and a fully equipped camp for children and teenagers.
According to The Herald, there will be motivational talks by retired National Football League defensive tackle Esera Tuaolo, who came out of the closet last year, plus discussion groups on gay adoption, insemination and surrogacy. Prices range from $999 per person up to a whopping $15,000 for a crow’s-nest, villa-style cabin.
Norwegian Cruise Lines official Mitch Schlesinger called the gay family cruise ”historic.”
Executive Director of the Nassau Tourism and Development Board and Executive Vice President of the Bahamas Hotel Association, Frank Comito, told The Guardian Tuesday that his organizations have not directly addressed the fiery issue [gay cruise], but the Board is expected to meet on Thursday and the Hotel Association will meet next week. He added that if the issue comes up, members could give any comments they would want the Board to publicly express.
“In the meantime, we welcome well-behaved visitors and we won’t take it beyond that at this point,” he said.
“On a personal note, I judge people by who they are and not their groupings. I find that we would advance a lot better if we all treated each other indiscriminately.”
Controversy over gay cruise ships escalated in April 1998, after some 800 lesbian passengers on board the Premier Cruise liner “Seabreeze” docked in Nassau that Easter Monday and were met by 300 protesters who prevented the lesbian vacationers from touring the city.
Protesters, led by Save The Bahamas Campaign President, Mario Moxey, made it abundantly clear they were not welcomed. Hours after the demonstration began, hundreds of protesters claimed to have been “provoked” by two women who hugged and kissed after the crowd started yelling “go home, no gays, we don’t want no gay ship.” The couple was reportedly chased back to the ship. Some of gays, however, traveled to the private Blue Lagoon Island to enjoy a day of sun and fun.
Former Prime Minister, Hubert Ingraham who was forced to release a statement on the matter, stated that he did not believe the future of The Bahamas would be placed in danger because chartered cruises by gay persons are permitted to call at Bahamian ports.
“Homosexuality is not a contagious disease and it is not a crime in The Bahamas. Government has not been authorized to judge man for sin; God is the judge; so let us leave it to God, the righteous judge of sin. Certainly, it cannot be right that we reject persons, sight unseen, only because of their sexual orientation,” he said.
He said further : “We cannot and ought not try to dictate or legislate morality. In any event, all past efforts to do so have failed miserably,” he said at the time.
By Tamara McKenzie, The Nassau Guardian
