Following the banning of the gay-themed Brokeback Mountain movie, the Bahamas is now also set to be shown as a nation with strong homophobic tendencies in an upcoming cable television documentary.
HBO is scheduled to premiere the documentary “All Aboard”, which shows US comedienne Rosie O’Donnell’s gay family cruise to the Bahamas in July, 2004.
The programme highlights the protest of more than 200 Bahamians, who were furious that the Norwegian Dawn, carrying 1,600 gay passengers, had been allowed to stop in Nassau.
A few weeks ago, the US audience were shown a darker side of the Bahamas in the Fox News show Hannity and Colmes, which showed the poor living conditions inside the Carmichael Road Detention Centre.
Now, on April 6, audiences will be able to see hundreds of Bahamians protesting on Rawson Square against homosexuality.
In the preview of the “All Aboard” documentary, which is now being aired on the HBO cable channels, Bahamians are shown holding up signs which proclaim “If you’re gay – stay away.”
In one sequence a child of one of the gay couples onboard asks her parents: “Why do they hate us so much?”
During the 2004 protest, Bahamians also held up placards reading “Even animals have more sense than homosexuals.”
The “All Aboard” documentary chronicles O’Donnell and her partner Kelli’s first-ever cruise for 500 gay and lesbian families.
O’Dannell’s R Family Vacations, the first gay travel company targeted squarely at gays and lesbians with children, chartered the Norwegian Dawn in July, 2004, for a cruise from New York to the Bahamas.
Speaking with the New York Daily News earlier this week, the comedienne said she found the event to be overwhelmingly-positive. However, she said, they were not prepared for the protesters who greeted them upon landing in Nassau.
“It was sort of shocking to me,” O’Donnell said, adding other Nassau residents were supportive and apologised for the protest.
The protest was organised by the Save the Bahamas Initiative, who expressed their anger over the gay cruise being allowed to make port in the Bahamas.
However, there were no repeats of the violent scenes in 1998, when lesbian couples were chased off Bay Street.
Members of the gay rights advocate group, the Rainbow Alliance of the Bahamas, were also downtown to welcome the ship and its passengers.
By KARIN HERIG Tribune Staff Reporter
