A Contentious Issue...Guardian Editorial

http://www.thenassauguardian.com/editorial/319849701345306.php

Organizers of the "Save the Family" rally held in Grand Bahama on Sunday should brace themselves for a strong backlash not only from gay rights groups, but also liberally minded individuals in this country who support the view that what two people do in the confines of their bedroom is nobody's business but their own.

Organized by Rex Major and Associates and concerned Christian leaders in Grand Bahama, the rally was part of a national effort to have enshrined in the constitution a law stipulating that marriage is a union between a man and a woman, as recommended by the Bahamas Constitutional Review Commission.

There are few issues today that are more contentious than the well publicized advances that have been made in recent years towards legitimizing homosexuality. What makes this issue even more thorny in The Bahamas is the fact that Bahamians generally — including some who are not deeply religious — like to refer to The Bahamas as a Christian nation in voicing their opposition to anything that appears to be "unchristian," and homosexuality is high on that list in the minds of the vast majority of Bahamians.

But the conclusion that homosexuality is unchristian and immoral has been strongly challenged by even some church leaders, as was demonstrated by the US Episcopal Church's consecration of V. Gene Robinson, an openly gay priest, as bishop of New Hampshire back in 2004. That action set off a

controversial firestorm that created a deep split within Anglican churches around the world. It is still an issue that has not yet been settled, and in all likelihood, it probably never will and may eventually lead to segments of the American Episcopal Church breaking away from the international governing body.

The Episcopal Church, of course, is not alone among religious organizations faced with having to find a way to deal with the aggressive manner in which gays who previously hid their homosexual proclivity have come out of the closet and are demanding to be recognized and accepted by society as normal human beings and not demonized as freaks and misfits because of their sexual orientation.

Indeed, all religious denominations in this country — and around the world, for that matter — have their share of individuals whose sexual preference is someone of the same gender, and some of them even present a good argument on religious grounds suggesting that there is nothing unchristian about homosexuality. Obviously, whether the practice of homosexuality is an abomination in the eyes of God or a natural predisposition by some persons who are made in His image, as the Bible says all persons are, is not a question for which there is an easy answer.

What is certain, however, is that any attempt to roll back the clock on the advances that have been made that have encouraged homosexuals to not be ashamed of their lifestyle will be met with a strong challenge. Using the biblical example of Sodom will not convince them that they should change

their way of life; neither will enshrining in the Constitution a law that marriage is between a man and a woman.

Nonetheless, because this recommendation was put forth by the Bahamas Constitutional Review Commission, the petition being circulated by Rex Major and Associates in their efforts to "Save the Family" provides an appropriate vehicle for Bahamians to voice their opinion on this controversial issue.

is this document or petition available online?

The real threat to the family is not the homosexual. There are a number of threats - crime is one and the biggest of all, the promiscuous behavior of husband and wife, ie. outside children! You could almost say that unbridled, unchecked, unsantioned, heterosexuality is the threat.

The real threat to the family is not the homosexual. There are a number of threats - crime is one and the biggest of all, the promiscuous behavior of husband and wife, ie. outside children! You could almost say that unbridled, unchecked, unsantioned, heterosexuality is the threat.

the biggest threat to the family is the perpetuation of the idea that the 'nuclear family' model is the only valid model...ordained by god...
when the truth is the families represented in the bible were all extended families....
and our local context shows us that families suffer when they shift from the extended to the nuclear family model...
economic poverty and social poverty being the result....

A CONTENTIOUS ISSUE INDEED...A GUARDIAN COLUMN
http://www.thenassauguardian.com/editorial/320235473504111.php

Helen Klonaris

Dear Beloved Community

While Rex Major and Associates' national campaign to "Save the Family" may be "an appropriate vehicle for Bahamians to voice their opinion" on the "contentious" issue of homosexuality, The Constitutional Reform Commission is not an appropriate vehicle for Rex Major to peddle his openly homophobic agenda, at the expense of what should be a national democratic process.

Sitting on the same Commission are Archbishop Drexel Gomez and Bishop Samuel Green, both of whom have expressed openly homophobic positions and agendas: Bishop Green having been quoted in recent years as having vowed to 'break apart' the Rainbow Alliance, a Bahamian GLBT rights organization, and Archbishop Gomez some years back having vowed to fire any priest who expressed a gay orientation, a proclamation, some might say, that won him Jones Communications' "Man of the Year Award".

The Constitutional Reform Commission is not the voice of the people, rather it is a liaison, positioned to hear the voices of the people and report back to the government regarding what it has heard. Instead, individual voices on the Commission seem to be using their positions to highlight and push forward their own opinions and persuasions, so that any resemblance to democratic process must be questioned, even by those among us who happen to agree with Rex Major et al.

The ongoing presence of Rex Major on the Constitutional Reform Commission represents a serious conflict of interests: the desire for democratic process on the one hand, and the systematic attack on the integrity and humanity of gays and lesbians in The Bahamas on the other.

No doubt Rex Major is entitled to his beliefs and his convictions, but his open discrimination of an existing and integral portion of the population must disqualify him from his position on the Commission. Furthermore, it is problematic not to have any persons of lesbian or gay or transgender orientation sitting on the same Commission, which of course only reflects the perception in these times that heterosexuals are morally superior and more dignified recipients of citizen status than human beings of gay and lesbian and transgender orientations.

The Commission's recommendation that marriage be constitutionally reinforced as a contract between a man and a woman conveniently erases the voices of gay and lesbian and transgender Bahamians who did attend public meetings and did voice their concerns. Which raises another issue: How are minority voices reflected in a system that affirms majority rule? If the majority are people who walk on two feet, and power is in the hands of the majority, how does the reality created by the two-legged reflect the realities of the one-legged? Simply, it does not. And for this reason minorities are forced into positions of aggressively speaking (and sometimes yelling their heads off) on their own behalf, much to the dismay of those who feel entitled to the label of human being, and have never, or at least not recently, had reason to question it.

And what does "Save the Family" mean anyway? What is this campaign saying to children growing up in this Bahamaland who already know themselves to be different, to be called to express their humanity in a way that is not common or usual or normative, and yet, that does others no harm? It tells them there is only one definition of man, one definition of woman, one narrow definition of 'family' and if you want to belong to it, abide by our rules. If not, prepare to live as an exile in your own home.

A better campaign might be one entitled "Free the Family". Free the family from stagnation of 'father rule', from the narrow definitions in which father knows best to a model in which every voice is heard and valued; free the family from values that make some of us insiders and some outsiders to a model that embraces the differences amongst us as necessary to our growth; free the family from poverty and work instead for physical and economic conditions that enable and empower women and men to take care of their children as well as themselves; free the family from political and religious ideologues who are intent on imposing their will and their perceptions of God's will on anyone who trusts them and instead entrust families with the power to imagine and devise new models of family rooted in radical love for one another no matter what.

Of course, if you believe homosexuality is a sin, then everything I have said is beyond the scope of reason, moot. And if you believe homosexuality is a sin, you have not taken the time to know anyone of gay or lesbian or bisexual orientation, you have not taken the time to have ongoing heart-to-hearts with your friend, your sister, your child, your nephew, your niece, your brother, your uncle, your neighbor...

The editor of this paper is to be commended for a fair-minded editorial in yesterday's paper, and he is of course right to say that "any attempt to roll back the clock on the advances" made by homosexuals and their allies "will be met with a strong challenge." Because the rock that blocked the tomb has been rolled away, and life refuses to be held down or taken for dead. Those who are invisible are becoming visible. Those who you thought had no voice are whispering, talking back and singing loud and clear. The children you think you are saving, will, by and by, take their rightful place in the world and show us another way.

Write me back at helenklonaris@gmail.com

A CONTENTIOUS ISSUE INDEED...A GUARDIAN COLUMN
http://www.thenassauguardian.com/editorial/320235473504111.php
Helen Klonaris
Dear Beloved Community
While Rex Major and Associates' national campaign to "Save the Family" may be "an appropriate vehicle for Bahamians to voice their opinion" on the "contentious" issue of homosexuality, The Constitutional Reform Commission is not an appropriate vehicle for Rex Major to peddle his openly homophobic agenda, at the expense of what should be a national democratic process.
Sitting on the same Commission are Archbishop Drexel Gomez and Bishop Samuel Green, both of whom have expressed openly homophobic positions and agendas: Bishop Green having been quoted in recent years as having vowed to 'break apart' the Rainbow Alliance, a Bahamian GLBT rights organization, and Archbishop Gomez some years back having vowed to fire any priest who expressed a gay orientation, a proclamation, some might say, that won him Jones Communications' "Man of the Year Award".
The Constitutional Reform Commission is not the voice of the people, rather it is a liaison, positioned to hear the voices of the people and report back to the government regarding what it has heard. Instead, individual voices on the Commission seem to be using their positions to highlight and push forward their own opinions and persuasions, so that any resemblance to democratic process must be questioned, even by those among us who happen to agree with Rex Major et al.
The ongoing presence of Rex Major on the Constitutional Reform Commission represents a serious conflict of interests: the desire for democratic process on the one hand, and the systematic attack on the integrity and humanity of gays and lesbians in The Bahamas on the other.
No doubt Rex Major is entitled to his beliefs and his convictions, but his open discrimination of an existing and integral portion of the population must disqualify him from his position on the Commission. Furthermore, it is problematic not to have any persons of lesbian or gay or transgender orientation sitting on the same Commission, which of course only reflects the perception in these times that heterosexuals are morally superior and more dignified recipients of citizen status than human beings of gay and lesbian and transgender orientations.
The Commission's recommendation that marriage be constitutionally reinforced as a contract between a man and a woman conveniently erases the voices of gay and lesbian and transgender Bahamians who did attend public meetings and did voice their concerns. Which raises another issue: How are minority voices reflected in a system that affirms majority rule? If the majority are people who walk on two feet, and power is in the hands of the majority, how does the reality created by the two-legged reflect the realities of the one-legged? Simply, it does not. And for this reason minorities are forced into positions of aggressively speaking (and sometimes yelling their heads off) on their own behalf, much to the dismay of those who feel entitled to the label of human being, and have never, or at least not recently, had reason to question it.
And what does "Save the Family" mean anyway? What is this campaign saying to children growing up in this Bahamaland who already know themselves to be different, to be called to express their humanity in a way that is not common or usual or normative, and yet, that does others no harm? It tells them there is only one definition of man, one definition of woman, one narrow definition of 'family' and if you want to belong to it, abide by our rules. If not, prepare to live as an exile in your own home.
A better campaign might be one entitled "Free the Family". Free the family from stagnation of 'father rule', from the narrow definitions in which father knows best to a model in which every voice is heard and valued; free the family from values that make some of us insiders and some outsiders to a model that embraces the differences amongst us as necessary to our growth; free the family from poverty and work instead for physical and economic conditions that enable and empower women and men to take care of their children as well as themselves; free the family from political and religious ideologues who are intent on imposing their will and their perceptions of God's will on anyone who trusts them and instead entrust families with the power to imagine and devise new models of family rooted in radical love for one another no matter what.
Of course, if you believe homosexuality is a sin, then everything I have said is beyond the scope of reason, moot. And if you believe homosexuality is a sin, you have not taken the time to know anyone of gay or lesbian or bisexual orientation, you have not taken the time to have ongoing heart-to-hearts with your friend, your sister, your child, your nephew, your niece, your brother, your uncle, your neighbor...
The editor of this paper is to be commended for a fair-minded editorial in yesterday's paper, and he is of course right to say that "any attempt to roll back the clock on the advances" made by homosexuals and their allies "will be met with a strong challenge." Because the rock that blocked the tomb has been rolled away, and life refuses to be held down or taken for dead. Those who are invisible are becoming visible. Those who you thought had no voice are whispering, talking back and singing loud and clear. The children you think you are saving, will, by and by, take their rightful place in the world and show us another way.
Write me back at helenklonaris@gmail.com

I DON'T GET YOU AT ALL...ME THINK YOU PREACH UTOPIAN AND ANARCHY ALL AT ONCE! "YOU-TOPIA" FER YOU AND ANARCHY FER EVERYONE WHO "DON'T" LIKE GAYS!

YOU WOULD DESTROY THE WAYS OF OTHERS TO ESTABLISH YOUR OWN...YET YOU SHOUT FREEDOM FOR ALL FROM THE ROOFS...SO TO SPEAK!:cutie: :confused: :uh: :uh:

NAH BEFORE YOU DERIDE ME FER MY OWN THINKING...JUST THINK!

YOU ARE ASKING THE "REST" OF HUMANKIND TO DISCARD THEIR OLD LANDMARKS...NOT FER SOME NEW ONES...BUT OLD ONE...OLD AS MANKIND! BUT ONES YOU HOLD TO...OR SHOULD I SAY PRACTICE! THIS MAKES YOU NO DIFFERENT THAN THE ONES YOU SAY FORCE THEIR WAY UPON "YOUR" GROUP...HOMOSEXUALS TO BE EXACT!

LASTLY, MAY I ASK WHAT CONSTITUTIONAL "RIGHT" IS NOT AFFORDED YOU THAT IS AFFORDED "STRAIGHT" BAHAMIANS? NAH DON'T SAY TO WED!

THIS, THE GAY COMMUNITY'S "ONLY" REQUEST I THINK, HAS NEVER DISTINQUISHED GAYS FROM STRAIGHTS IN THE "EYES" OF ANY LAW AROUND THE WORLD!

FOR EXAMPLE, WHERE SAME SEXED MARRAGES ARE ALLOWED...THAT IS NOT EXCLUSIVE TO GAYS...STRAIGHT PERSONS CAN LEGALLY MARRY IF THEY HAVE A MIND TO! visavi...WHERE SAME SEXED GAY MARRIAGES ARE PROHIBITED....STRAIGHTS ARE ALSO PROHIBITED! IF SO THEN WHERE IS THE INEQUALITY TOWARD GAYS?

EURGO, IF YOU CHALLENGE THE OLD "LANDMARKS" OF A NATION...THEY WILL RETALIATE...AND YOU WILL LOSE! HENCE, MAYBE YOU WOULD DO HEED IN ADDRESSING THE "PSYCHE" OF THE NATION WITH LITTLE MORE DEFFERENCE AND LESS HOSTILITY...COS REALLY, MAYBE YOUR HOSTILITY BREATHS HOSTILITY IN THEM! FOR THIS IS THEIR WORLD TOO...YA KNOW!:tup:

saw an excellent documentary the other day (a friend of mine directed it, and sent it in the mail): www.forthebibletellsmeso.org ...

I DON'T GET YOU AT ALL...ME THINK YOU PREACH UTOPIAN AND ANARCHY ALL AT ONCE! "YOU-TOPIA" FER YOU AND ANARCHY FER EVERYONE WHO "DON'T" LIKE GAYS!
YOU WOULD DESTROY THE WAYS OF OTHERS TO ESTABLISH YOUR OWN...YET YOU SHOUT FREEDOM FOR ALL FROM THE ROOFS...SO TO SPEAK!:cutie: :confused: :uh: :uh:
NAH BEFORE YOU DERIDE ME FER MY OWN THINKING...JUST THINK!
YOU ARE ASKING THE "REST" OF HUMANKIND TO DISCARD THEIR OLD LANDMARKS...NOT FER SOME NEW ONES...BUT OLD ONE...OLD AS MANKIND! BUT ONES YOU HOLD TO...OR SHOULD I SAY PRACTICE! THIS MAKES YOU NO DIFFERENT THAN THE ONES YOU SAY FORCE THEIR WAY UPON "YOUR" GROUP...HOMOSEXUALS TO BE EXACT!
LASTLY, MAY I ASK WHAT CONSTITUTIONAL "RIGHT" IS NOT AFFORDED YOU THAT IS AFFORDED "STRAIGHT" BAHAMIANS? NAH DON'T SAY TO WED!
THIS, THE GAY COMMUNITY'S "ONLY" REQUEST I THINK, HAS NEVER DISTINQUISHED GAYS FROM STRAIGHTS IN THE "EYES" OF ANY LAW AROUND THE WORLD!
FOR EXAMPLE, WHERE SAME SEXED MARRAGES ARE ALLOWED...THAT IS NOT EXCLUSIVE TO GAYS...STRAIGHT PERSONS CAN LEGALLY MARRY IF THEY HAVE A MIND TO! visavi...WHERE SAME SEXED GAY MARRIAGES ARE PROHIBITED....STRAIGHTS ARE ALSO PROHIBITED! IF SO THEN WHERE IS THE INEQUALITY TOWARD GAYS?
EURGO, IF YOU CHALLENGE THE OLD "LANDMARKS" OF A NATION...THEY WILL RETALIATE...AND YOU WILL LOSE! HENCE, MAYBE YOU WOULD DO HEED IN ADDRESSING THE "PSYCHE" OF THE NATION WITH LITTLE MORE DEFFERENCE AND LESS HOSTILITY...COS REALLY, MAYBE YOUR HOSTILITY BREATHS HOSTILITY IN THEM! FOR THIS IS THEIR WORLD TOO...YA KNOW!:tup:

bahamians don't have a constitutional obligation to christianity or to be christians...or to live under christian dictate....

the biggest threat to the family is the perpetuation of the idea that the 'nuclear family' model is the only valid model...ordained by god...
when the truth is the families represented in the bible were all extended families....
and our local context shows us that families suffer when they shift from the extended to the nuclear family model...
economic poverty and social poverty being the result....

My dear, extended family means the grandparents, etc living with you as well. It doesnt mean homes headed by same sex couples. Come on nah. You starting to sound like a not-so-slick politician!

My dear, extended family means the grandparents, etc living with you as well. It doesnt mean homes headed by same sex couples. Come on nah. You starting to sound like a not-so-slick politician!

you are the one that doesn't understand what is being said...
instead of the church focusing on gays as the cause for the destruction of the family maybe they should look at the transition from extended to nuclear...
is that clearer...

remember the classic example of ruth and naomi...biblical story...example of how families come in all shapes and sizes...

OH! A Family is people and a family is love,
That's a Family
They come in all different sizes and different kinds
But mine's just right for me...oh mine's just right for me!!!

Don't y'all watch Barney???

you are the one that doesn't understand what is being said...
instead of the church focusing on gays as the cause for the destruction of the family maybe they should look at the transition from extended to nuclear...
is that clearer...
remember the classic example of ruth and naomi...biblical story...example of how families come in all shapes and sizes...

I understand that point. I also agree that there are a myriad of longstanding threats to the family that the church needs to seriously deal with instead of merely paying lip service to.

I DON'T GET YOU AT ALL...ME THINK YOU PREACH UTOPIAN AND ANARCHY ALL AT ONCE! "YOU-TOPIA" FER YOU AND ANARCHY FER EVERYONE WHO "DON'T" LIKE GAYS!
YOU WOULD DESTROY THE WAYS OF OTHERS TO ESTABLISH YOUR OWN...YET YOU SHOUT FREEDOM FOR ALL FROM THE ROOFS...SO TO SPEAK!:cutie: :confused: :uh: :uh:
NAH BEFORE YOU DERIDE ME FER MY OWN THINKING...JUST THINK!
YOU ARE ASKING THE "REST" OF HUMANKIND TO DISCARD THEIR OLD LANDMARKS...NOT FER SOME NEW ONES...BUT OLD ONE...OLD AS MANKIND! BUT ONES YOU HOLD TO...OR SHOULD I SAY PRACTICE! THIS MAKES YOU NO DIFFERENT THAN THE ONES YOU SAY FORCE THEIR WAY UPON "YOUR" GROUP...HOMOSEXUALS TO BE EXACT!
LASTLY, MAY I ASK WHAT CONSTITUTIONAL "RIGHT" IS NOT AFFORDED YOU THAT IS AFFORDED "STRAIGHT" BAHAMIANS? NAH DON'T SAY TO WED!
THIS, THE GAY COMMUNITY'S "ONLY" REQUEST I THINK, HAS NEVER DISTINQUISHED GAYS FROM STRAIGHTS IN THE "EYES" OF ANY LAW AROUND THE WORLD!
FOR EXAMPLE, WHERE SAME SEXED MARRAGES ARE ALLOWED...THAT IS NOT EXCLUSIVE TO GAYS...STRAIGHT PERSONS CAN LEGALLY MARRY IF THEY HAVE A MIND TO! visavi...WHERE SAME SEXED GAY MARRIAGES ARE PROHIBITED....STRAIGHTS ARE ALSO PROHIBITED! IF SO THEN WHERE IS THE INEQUALITY TOWARD GAYS?
EURGO, IF YOU CHALLENGE THE OLD "LANDMARKS" OF A NATION...THEY WILL RETALIATE...AND YOU WILL LOSE! HENCE, MAYBE YOU WOULD DO HEED IN ADDRESSING THE "PSYCHE" OF THE NATION WITH LITTLE MORE DEFFERENCE AND LESS HOSTILITY...COS REALLY, MAYBE YOUR HOSTILITY BREATHS HOSTILITY IN THEM! FOR THIS IS THEIR WORLD TOO...YA KNOW!:tup:

Well said.......