GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands οΎ– The Cayman Islands government said Friday that it would not prevent the arrival of a cruise ship chartered by a gay tour group despite protests from a Christian ministers organization and others in former British colonies. Kurt Tibbetts, the top elected official in the Cayman Islands, said a nondiscrimination policy adopted in 2001 bars it from blocking the gay tour group as the territory did to another ship in 1998.
“We are confident that we can expect from all visitors the highest standards of decorum and conduct, just as we respect their right of choice and privacy,” Tibbetts said. The Royal Caribbean Naviga-tor of the Seas, chartered by Atlantis Events of West Hollywood, California, was due to arrive Tuesday on the second stop of what it called “The Largest Gay Cruise in History II.”
Atlantis Events praised the government for upholding its nondiscrimination policy.
In 2004, Rosie O’Donnell’s homosexual cruise with “family values” made two port calls in The Bahamas causing major controversy with many Bahamians including The Bahamas Christian Council.
Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe came under heavy fire for saying, “We live in a democracy, everyone is entitled to their own opinion and expression thereof.”
Source: The Nassau Guardian
