Gay hysteria in The Bahamas
The Nassau Guardian Editorial:
There has been an attempt at a gay pride weekend in Grand Bahama. Members of that community wanted to get together to have a good time and express pride in who they are.
This, of course, set off hysteria in The Bahamas. Many Bahamians think homosexuality is the greatest threat to the continued existence of humanity. A gay pride event, they argue, will help further spread the “plague” of homosexuality, taking our young people over to “the dark side”.
Dr. Myles Munroe, president of Bahamas Faith Ministries International, was leading the “band of the terrified” over the weekend. He said he has watched with horror over the years as people have “hijacked” and “raped” the meaning of the civil rights movement in an effort to fight for the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.
“I have, with all my logic, sought to understand, but still cannot equate the philosophy, ideology or purpose for the civil rights movement with the agenda of the homosexual LGBT community,” he said in a lengthy statement.
“I think the attempt to equate the historical civil rights movement with the demands for the right to dignify, glorify and accept as normal the practice of a lifestyle that could render the human race, for which they sacrificed, extinct is illogical, dishonest, and is the abuse of the blood and imprisonment of many.
“It’s a hijacking of the gains paid for by the blood of honorable men and women for an unnatural, human-destroying behavior.”
Munroe’s statement, titled “Homosexuality – Phobia or Principle”, was in response to the gay pride event.
While Munroe expressed his fears through words, others were belligerent. The event, which started on Friday and was supposed to continue through today, was cut short as members of the LGBT community abandoned it “out of fear” of repercussions from irate members of the public.
Victor Rollins, one of the event organizers, told The Nassau Guardian he received death threats on his Facebook page after posting pictures of event attendees holding gay pride flags along with Bahamian flags on a beach.
These attitudes are unfortunate. The Bahamas is not a Christian state – as too many like to exclaim. It is a secular democracy. In this democracy, we believe people have common dignity. Blacks, whites, women, Jews, Rastafarians, Haitians – they are all part of our multicultural community. In this inclusive society we prosper because we are able to use the talents of all of our people. The homosexual can work next to the Protestant. The woman can sit next to the Hindu. The atheist can go to school with the Haitian.
Societies that reject inclusion always devolve into a state of violence. That’s because they do not accept the common dignity of their brothers and sisters who are different. Those who believe they are absolutely right in their beliefs exclude “the others” from the benefits of full citizenship, the benefits of full humanity. Then, the move comes to push them out of the society altogether.
Homosexuals should not be feared. They are our cousins, our nephews, our teachers, our friends. They have been part of every human society that has ever existed. We must move away from the backward thinking that defines homosexuals as fiends.
People of African ancestry were once considered lesser than those of European ancestry in Western society. Some were even brought to zoos in 19th century Europe to be peered at as beasts. That was wrong then. Hating homosexuals just for being who they are is wrong now.
The belief in inclusion has bettered the human project. It has taught us that it is possible to live and thrive in communities with people who are not like us. Gay hysteria is based in fear and hate. Let us move more toward lifting up the common humanity of our brothers and sisters, rather than seeking to cause pain, exclusion and victimization.
September 02, 2014
thenassauguardian
