Somebody Tell Me this

Since when is gay rights special rights? Doesn't it still come under civil rights? This charter of rights issue has been stalled for years, and now that it has once again been brought up for completion we have some more issues coming in. The people from the Lawyers Christian Fellowship (Jamaica) have made the issue of basic human rights into a issue of gays wanting special rights and marriage rights.

The LGBT community in Jamaica is calling for our rights to be acknowledged. There has not been one call for gay marriage, but this is what they've jumped on. Just look at this article 'Unholy union' - Charter could sanction gay marriage in Jamaica - Christian lawyers. This same articulated fear from 2006 is still present today and is played upon by these people. You self-righteous, fearful people all we are calling for is our civil rights, our basic human rights. 


"The religious groups are also concerned about the inclusion of a privacy clause in Section 13, Subsection 3 of the Charter of Rights, with the words 'respect for private and family life, privacy of the home'." (full article here) The privacy clause is another big fear, why? What is so wrong with LGBT people wanting respect for privacy and privacy of home? Since when is it the government's, and Lawyers' Christian Fellowship and homophobic people and so many other persons' business to be peeping through the windows and under door bottoms and through key holes to see what TWO CONSENTING ADULTS do in THEIR bedroom? 


Shirley Richards president of Lawyers' Christian Fellowship  noted (in the above article) that "The rights pertaining to freedom of conscience, which is currently granted under Section 21 of the current Constitution, have not been fully repeated in the charter". She also added that the revised charter does not explicitly include the right to provide religious instruction, to students; as an example. 


Isn't Jamaica a democratic society made up "OUT OF MANY ONE PEOPLE"? There are many persons in Jamaica who are not Christians, we have Muslims, Hindus, atheists and so forth. Why should this group demand an explicit inclusion for them to be able to give such instruction which may be against the beliefs of these people, while at the same time they want to deny LGBT citizens their rights? It doesn't add up people. 


Now the fear that these persons expressed are legitimate but their main fears that they won't be able to preach out against homosexuality is in my opinion not well founded. The right to freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of beliefs and conscience is not, I believe an absolute right. Absolute would mean there would be no restriction on any of these rights. Can you imagine persons having the right to incite violence without knowing that they will be held accountable? That is where I believe those rights should stop; there is a line between belief and incite. You can believe that someone will go to hell for being gay you can preach that if they don't repent they will go to hell. But preaching, and encouraging that they be burnt, killed, and/or tortured is wrong and there is no way around that.


These persons seem more inclined to strike fear into the hearts of Jamaicans than they are in speaking the truth, speaking compassion, tolerance, communication. Where is the Christianity that you ought to display? Come on you're people of God, but this kind of behavior isn't Christ like. Just remember this, there are LGBT Christians all over the world, praying for you. We are a part of God's family.  It is too bad that using scare tactics is the method that you have to resort to. 

Tek Care

Alexis