‘Church promoting anti-gay violence’

As of Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Alexus D’Marco

By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Deputy Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Christian Council has used “trickery” and encouraged violence against the country’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community, instead of rejecting continued injustices toward the minority group as the organisation is mandated to do.

This assertion came from Alexus D’Marco, chair of the Bahamas Organisation of LGBTI Affairs, and an organiser of a pride parade slated for next year. BCC president Delton Fernander on Monday told reporters the organisation would not support the event, adding there were plans to host an opposing rally to make its position known.

He told the media that in the aftermath of devastating Hurricane Dorian, now is not the time to “play games with our faith”.

Further, he said, the church would be asking Bahamians to choose a side and likened the plans for the pride parade to a “Sodom and Gomorrah” moment.

The comments drew criticism from Ms D’Marco who said yesterday it opened the community to added violence and tensions at a time when it already faces these injustices.

She said the organisation’s requests to meet with the BCC had also been ignored.

“I think what it is the church and people need to recognise is that the church is a non-governmental organisation and they have a mandate to follow, which they follow the Judeo-Christian Bible and he’s exercising I guess his right as an NGO to speak on how he feels about LGBTI community or the event,” Ms D’Marco told The Tribune yesterday.

“The reality is the event is about the injustices the Bahamas LGBTI community faces as citizens living in their own country and if you are an NGO that believes that injustices to any person is wrong then you should be aligning yourself with the cause of LGBTI people of the Bahamas.”

She continued: “He’s using trickery. He’s using the Bible as an excuse for spiritual violence against a grouping of people.

“They don’t stand on the fence and say ‘Are you a fornicator stand on this side?’ They cherry pick and they use these things against the community, which is violence, which can incite extra violence for a community that’s already receiving violence.

“The interpretation of pride, they are basing it on what they see on TV or what they research on the internet. They have never actually seen a Bahamas LGBTI pride that will fit our context and our climate. Once they see that then they can make their assumptions.

“Don’t assume what you think pride is to us because that’s not what it is to us. Pride is about exposing, sensitising, educating about injustices that we see as a community, which is a grassroot activity.”

Ms D’Marco said requests were made for a meeting with the BCC to sensitise the organisation ahead of the announcement of the pride event, but nothing ever materialised.

“We have sent numerous communications, emails in regards to having this dialogue prior to Pride, so when Pride was announced they would have already been sensitised to what Pride was about or what the community faces. Not even about Pride but what our community faces on the whole.

“We sent e-mails repeatedly about having this dialogue.”

Pride Bahamas 2020’s theme is “The Rebirth of Pride Bahamas Centering LGBTIQA People in The Bahamas’ Future”.

In a statement posted on Facebook, organisers said the event signaled the beginning of a new start in the country.

“At the heart of this are discussions around what the Bahamas should look to as it seeks to respect, tolerate and include LGBTI Bahamians,” the statement read.

“At no point in the conversation should the domination of the church or religious groups materialise. We aim to bring religious LGBTI persons and allies together to celebrate their faith.

“As much as the Bahamas Christian Council may misrepresent the LGBTI community and the movement, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. While they are praising undisturbed, we will be celebrating Pride undisturbed. While they misinform the public about what we want, we share with the public the truth about what we want.

“We are coexisting and both the LGBTI movement and the church agree that this coexistence should be a non-violent one.

“Freedom of speech is alive and well and so is freedom of religion. Inequality and discrimination continues to be an issue for LGBTI and other marginalised communities and we hope that with the continued cooperation and partnership with our government, we can see this change for the betterment of all.”

proudloudandfnm 5 years, 2 months ago

I really despise religion....

joeblow 5 years, 2 months ago

Each person must choose their source of morality (views of right and wrong). Those who believe in the bible (or other religions writings) as a basis for morality believe the wisdom in it comes from God (or their god) and the rules are beneficial encouraging a duty to God, family and their fellowman. Those who create a morality based on their feelings, opinions and other ideas or philosophies can constantly shift that morality to suit their purposes. This promotes instability in societies and the human psyche. One need only look at the Bahamas 40 years ago or more when we had a predominantly biblical morality and the Bahamas now with more liberal views. Where this country is now IS NOT progress, by any standard. But, to each his own!

I just wish Bahamians could take pride in being hard working, honest and faithful in their relationships. That would go a long way to turning things around!

proudloudandfnm 5 years, 2 months ago

If you're saying the only way to a moral life is thru religion I call bull.....

joeblow 5 years, 2 months ago

@ proudloudfnm Did you even bother to read and UNDERSTAND the first sentence???

proudloudandfnm 5 years, 2 months ago

I read the entire thing and you're wrong. 100% wrong. Anyone who comes to morality out of understanding and choice (rather than fear of a mythical hell) will not change their minds. But as is evident today with trumpies and so called Christians their morality is whatever anyone they believe to be worthy tells them. Religious belief is not an anchor, it's a sail, it'll take you wherever the manipulators want.

joeblow 5 years, 2 months ago

... the beauty of this thing is that we are all just a few short breaths away from learning the ultimate truth for our selves. Death awaits us all. Until then....

Chucky 5 years, 2 months ago

Exodus 21:20-21

20 “Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, 21 but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property.

Joeblow, drop by later, I gots some chains u can wear and some yard work you can do. No pay, and you will be my property from now on, but don’t worry, it’s gods will.
And, therefore moral !

joeblow 5 years, 2 months ago

... context is everything @Chucky and it requires having an overarching understanding of cultural context before cherry picking verses!

Chucky 5 years, 2 months ago

Cultural understanding is very clear. That was the Christian culture for centuries. Thankfully Christian views are consistently being proven wrong and while the evolution of their dogma is slow, it continues. Morals are clearly better establish via thought , discussion using reason and evidence. The world will be a better place once the dogmas are eradicated. However that doesn’t mean that all new “ideas” will be good. But surely better than what we have put up with from the “good books”.

joeblow 5 years, 2 months ago

... hence highly moral cities like San Francisco!

Sickened 5 years, 2 months ago

Chicago and their 1,000 churches comes to mind. Religion sure ain't helping them be calm - just like it ain't helping us.

The_Oracle 5 years, 2 months ago

No Different than Government pumping up xenophobia against Haitians. We are too fast to buy into poorly formed Political "policies" hoping to overcome Bad long standing Government Policies. The Government professes to be the solution to all that ails us, when in fact they are the root of all our problems. The pre-requisite for those who would govern should be preclusion from Running for election!

bahamianson 5 years, 2 months ago

What is wrong with the church opposing anything? The church has a right to oppose just as much as Demarco has a right to voice an opinion, period. Next, Demarco will want people opposed to the opinion jailed for HATE opinion, just ridiculous! Demarco , say what you have to say to support your group, that is your right to freedom of speech. The church also has a right to say what it has to say, period.

Well_mudda_take_sic 5 years, 2 months ago

Churches / religions that choose to inject themselves into local politics by outrightly supporting one group of politicans over another, or one political party or political movement over another should have all of their tax exemptions withdrawn / removed, i.e they should be required to pay business license fees, real property tax, etc., etc. without exception.

Dawes 5 years, 2 months ago

The people who run the church are hypocrites. The bible says many things that you should and should not do. To these people gays are the only one to take note of. They don't care about all the sweethearting in the country, about all the illegitimate children being born, even though these are all items you are told not to do in the bible, and these are the things that have led to many of our social ills.. All they are currently doing is losing more and more people from their churches. Sure the older generation still turn up all the time, but the younger ones are turning up less and less, and its mainly because of these types of hypocritcal stances.

joeblow 5 years, 2 months ago

... valid points, but hypocrisy is not found exclusively in the church, but is a HUMAN condition that has to do with character. In fact name one place in this country or anywhere in the world where hypocrisy is NOT found!

Dawes 5 years, 2 months ago

Yes hypocrisy is found everywhere. But most hypocrites do not demand we do stuff because the bible says so, whilst ignoring those items in the bible which tell us not to do stuff we do. If the church wants us to all live according to the bible then they should demand its according to the whole bible and not cherry pick (unless i missed the part in Sunday school where it says you are allowed to cherry pick)

Takis6011 3 years, 5 months ago

Wrong.Churches in Carribean are full of young people and Bahamas are one of the most religious nations in the world.The fastest growing religion in Sub-Saharan Africa, Carribean (Haiti, Dominican Republic, Jamaica etc), Central America (Guatemala,Honduras,Guyana, Souriname etc) and Bahamas is PENTECOSTALISM.Look the religion map of Africa here: https://pt.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficheir…

jujutreeclub 5 years, 2 months ago

Name: Demarco. Gender: Male. Usage: Demarco, of african origin, is a popular first name. It is more often used as a boy (male) name. People having the name Demarco are in general originating from South Africa, United Kingdom, United States of America. Variants: For another variant of the name Demarco across the world, see Marco.

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