Following its religious conclave held two weeks ago to address various topical issues, President of The Bahamas Christian Council, Bishop Samuel Green, told The Guardian Tuesday that religious leaders are now compiling four separate “position papers” or recommendations to be submitted to the overnment on various issues, one of which being alternative lifestyles or same sex marriages.
“We have dealt with four major topics of major concern. These topics include: Globalization, crime and violence, gambling and alternative lifestyles. We have appointed a committee and we will be sending out an overview on all of the issues tomorrow (Wednesday). After that, there will be a paper done individually on each major topic, and these papers would be done in detail,” said Bishop Greene in a telephone interview with The Guardian.
“I am putting you on notice that every subject [discussed] would be dealt with separately and in its entirety.”
Bishop Greene said the position papers are expected to be released separately within a matter of weeks, but he was unsure when the paper on alternative lifestyles would be released. He added, however, that all recommendations are “detailed” and would be issued to the government, the general public and especially the press.
“We feel that the press is important and you would be getting all information,” he said.
Meanwhile, many waited for weeks for the conclave, shortly after Bishop Green told the Guardian in February that a “national ministers’ summit” scheduled for March, would allow ministers, the public and various organisations to input on a proposed gay cruise that gained controversial momentum since its announcement in January.
“It [gay cruise issue] will be brought to the nation so that we can get the widest possible feedback,” Mr Green told The Guardian at the time.
On the other hand, the “summit, dubbed a “national ministers’ conclave,” was held two weeks ago. Attending a session was Prime Minister Perry Christie, but the controversial gay marriage issue which is heating up the airwaves on radio talk shows, was never addressed. And despite various questions posed to the prime minister by religious leaders following his speech, the question of same sex marriages never surfaced.
Bishop Greene came under fire by gays last July after threatening to become the first “live Guy Fawkes” if the government passed legislation authorising same sex marriages. His outspoken stance on gays was voiced again this year, after an announcement of the first ever cruise for gay and lesbian families to The Bahamas this July was made via the international press. The five day cruise is being promoted by popular TV personality, Rosie O’ Donnell. At the time of the announcement in January, Bishop Greene responded, “The devil and every demon in hell can expect the church to react, because God had done too much for us.”
Meanwhile, months after being announced last December, the international press is continuing to promote the gay cruise, calling it a cruise with “family values, sun, fun and gay fertility lectures”. The cruise is expected to depart from New York.
A recent report on the cruise in the Miami Herald, stated that Rosie and her life partner, Kelli O’Donnell, would take their four children on the chartered Norwegian Cruise Lines boat for a week-long voyage to Florida and The Bahamas. They’re hoping to lure 2,200 gay and lesbian parents and their relatives.
The Herald continued that there also will be motivational talks by retired NFL defensive tackle Esera Tuaolo, who came out of the closet last year, plus group discussions 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. The Herald also reported that Norwegian Cruise Lines official Mitch Schlesinger called the gay family cruise ”historic.”
The proposed gay cruise to The Bahamas would not be the first to venture in Bahamian waters. Controversy over gay cruise ships visiting The Bahamas initially escalated in April 1998, after some 800 lesbian passengers on board the Premier Cruise liner “Seabreeze” docked at the Prince George Dock that Easter Monday to enjoy a Caribbean cruise. At the time, some 300 protesters blocked the group of lesbian vacationers from touring the city.
Protesters, led by the then Save The Bahamas Campaign President, Mario Moxey, awaited their arrival with the intent of making it abundantly clear that 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 the gays, however, traveled to the private Blue Lagoon Island to enjoy a day of sun and fun.
Former Prime Minister, Hubert Ingraham was forced to release a statement on the matter on March 8, 1998. At the time, Mr Ingraham stated that he did not believe that the future of The Bahamas would be placed in danger because chartered cruises by gay people are permitted to continue to call at Bahamian ports. The future of The Bahamas, he said, is not threatened by foreign people of homosexual orientation.
Tamara McKenzie, The Nassau Guardian
