Local pastors are scoffing at news that HBO has already begun publicizing an intended documentary that chronicles comedienne Rosie OﾴDonnellﾴs July gay family values cruise that had Nassau as one of its ports of call.
The religious leaders are incensed about the possibility that the Bahamas could be portrayed as a haven for gay and lesbian visitors.
ﾓI am appalled [by that] entirely,ﾒ said Dr. David L. Adams, pastor of the New Testament Baptist Church. ﾓIn terms of HBO, we recognize that their main goal is money.
ﾓBut we also see a means here by which our so-called gay group is trying to spread their tentacles throughout the world and trying to make us a gay haven and that is basically what it boils down to.ﾒ
Others here also echoed Dr. Allenﾴs impassioned sentiments.
Matters of sexuality have traditionally lead to head-butting between liberals and conservative Christian believers.
The issues of homosexuality and gay cruises to the Bahamas have proven to be hot-button topics, with feisty protestors confronting some of the visitors on the chartered Norwegian Dawn last month when they strolled down Bay Street.
The cruise ship had about 500 gay and lesbian families on board along with other relatives and friends, sailing from New York to Key West and the Bahamas. R Family Vacations, an enterprise partly owned by Rosieﾴs partner, Kellie Carpenter OﾴDonnell, ﾠorganized the voyage on which HBO documentary producers also travelled.
ﾓI feel that it is an abomination to our country,ﾒ Pastor Ricardo Lees was quick to point out about the proposed documentary. ﾓI believe that it will destroy the moral fibre of our countryﾅno one has the right to promote immorality and I believe that the [gay] lifestyle is not an alternative lifestyle, itﾴs a perverted lifestyle.ﾒ
But gays and lesbians; those who live here and those abroad, have branded those kinds of comments as homophobic. The local gay advocacy group, The Rainbow Alliance, has said the issue is not about perversion, but human rights.
Members of that alliance were not too far away from the throngs of demonstrators who staged a protest in downtown Rawson Square against the same sex couples on board the Norwegian Dawn. They staged their own protest, toting welcoming placards.
In her own personal message about the cruise, the American comedienne explained that gays and homosexuals need to ﾓstand up and be counted.ﾒ
ﾓSo I think gay families are about to get very vocal and I hope this cruise is representative of the fact that weﾴre here, weﾴre not going anywhere and weﾴre just like you,ﾒ she said.
According to HBO, the documentary is scheduled to air sometime in 2005. The piece is expected to explore family values and celebrate differences.
That is exactly what another religious leader here is afraid of.
ﾓThat documentary will have a twist toward supporting and promoting the gay agenda. I know that for a fact, so I donﾴt think it will be a fair documentary, so we will see what will happen when it comes on,ﾒ Rev. Walter Hanchell said.
HBO producers, when they were here in July, also interviewed Rev. Hanchell and others who are part of the ﾓSave the Bahamasﾒ group that organized last monthﾴs protest.
Rev. Hanchell maintained that the demonstration was effective.
ﾓIt gave the Christian community and those who oppose the gay lifestyle a voice. We have been heard and regardless of whether anybody attacks us or whether the government or other entities believe that we were wrong, that is their opinion. We did what we had to doﾅand we stand by that,ﾒ he said.
Rosie OﾴDonnell previously worked with HBO on the family special Rosie OﾴDonnellﾴs Kids Are Puny and an HBO Comedy Hour stand-up special.
According to R Family Vacations 40 percent of the 1,600 people who were on the last cruise have rebooked for the second cruise which is scheduled for July 2005.
Tameka Lundy, The Bahama Journal
