The church and civil society organisation in St. Vincent and the Grenadines are welcome to join the government as it responds to a challenge to the nation’s anti-same-sex laws.
Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves told a press conference on Tuesday that he knows that attorney general Jaundy Martin will encourage other parties to join the suits, if they wish.
Among these parties, the prime minister suggested the Christian Council, the Evangelical Association, and other individuals and groups, including the Thusian Institute for Religious Liberty.
Gonsalves said he does not know if these groups would want to join or if the attorney general’s chamber has reached out to any of these groups.
He, however, said that if any entity wants to join the suit the attorney general will represent to the court that he does not oppose it but, in fact, welcomes it.
“But I have already seen since the filing of this that several churches have emphasised that this is a matter that if they were dormant they must realise that an acute spiritual warfare is ahead.
“But I didn’t know about political warfare but you have now introduced that. But I would think that this has nothing to do with me in politics. The point is this, the court will make a decision one way or another,” Gonsalves said in response to a question about potential fallout if the court overturns the nation’s buggery and gross indecency laws.
The prime minister said he has spoken to religious leaders who have told him privately that they would accommodate themselves to decriminalisation of same-sex activities in private but for it to have no public dimension.
“That is to say, the idea of men walking down the street holding hands and kissing, they would consider that a bridge too far to them. What you want to do in your bedroom is your bacchanal, is your business and there are some who say they want to begin what they consider this spiritual war because they think this is a slide to the step of having gay marriages and to have them on the same footing like heterosexual marriages,” he said.
Javin Johnson, 22, who, in 2017, successfully claimed asylum in the United Kingdom, and Sean Macleish, 53, is a Vincentian resident in Chicago, Illinois, filed court proceedings to challenge SVG’s “buggery” and “gross indecency” laws, which criminalise homosexuality.
A procedural hearing in the matter was scheduled for Wednesday.
Wow! How is this matter even up for debate???????????
What is this that the Prime minister can’t even make a profound decision? How are we expecting to raise children when the right to have children is in the decision of a court hearing?
What is the logic behind all this?
We are living on an island that is just a handful of people who is already struggling to live life as it is.
Is Mr prime minister doing another Barrack Obama just before he leave office?
Us he hoping to mess up the country even further so as to give another political party to clean up the mess left behind?
Have we look at the implications that it will create for our future generations?
So if it is called the gross indecency law, why is it even up for discussion?
So as to the decriminalisation of this law, are we saying that child marriage, and rape would become legal also? I am pretty sure that the same Bible that we based our faith, principles, country and structure on is completely against this sadistic notion and mention that if you guilty of one sin you guilty of all!!!!!!!
Why are we trying to implement another country norms and beliefs in our little island?
Why can’t we just stand out and stop wasting taxpayers money to even take this to court?
So are we saying if this is sanctiond that our country who was once known as land if the blessed will become so saddomized that the government will tax the people more so as to protect their rights and protect them from the act if discrimination?
Isn’t our island already messed up enough?
WHAT is the PM doing ???????? do you read and have understanding ???????
Well my dear you couldn’t said it better..the church is asleep through all this they will tell you it’s the last days ok fine don’t pray then but when disaster strikes they want you to pray that God will spear the land …oh yeah am wasting my prayers..
It is so hypocritical of our Prime Minister, as it is with all Socialist and Marxist, to invoke “God” when it so suits their political purpose, but to defer to the judges, for expediency when standing up for what is right, places them between a rock and a hard place with certain sections of the community.
To quote Karl Marx: “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people”. These Socialist/Marxist find it most difficult to accept the doctrines of Religion and worst, the Christian Religion, thus they only give lip service to orthodox Christian religion. Hence our Prime Minister’s problem when facing the nation on this vexed matter.
The pseudo Christians that our Prime Minister quotes, and the unlearned church leaders we now have here in SVG, would have no difficulty in assenting to profound changes in our Christian centred moral laws, as they like him, love to be liked and would gladly go along with the crowd for due acceptance.
Some would tell us that they too accept the Bible as the given word of God, yet would choose their own flawed interpretation, rather than the accepted norm, that Scripture should interpret scripture for guidance, while others tell us that the old doctrines no longer stands in our modern world. This gives them a get out when it comes to the abrogation of once moral behaviours that are being abandoned to the detriment of our whole society.
Our Prime minister should keep in mind these three attributes or the living God; that GOD is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient and for sure, cannot be fooled but worst, at his age, like Robert Mugabe, he shall soon be called out to give account.
How do you equate two grown adults engaging in a relationship with any kind of rape? What is wrong with asserting that adults should not be arrested and put in jail, denied jobs or attacked based on loving each other? Let’s not even confuse the issues in our attempt to hate and discriminate.
why not just amend the criminal classification of the law and make it civil penalties instead …
just a though to make this challenge more winnable by the state .
These people have already won their case in Trinidad and I believe Barbados so the case laws are clearly on their side . The reality is the world perspective and activist groups on this matter has change dramatically .
The sad truth is , we are only responsible for the moral principles in our family and homes
I dont even want to get into the history of some of these churches and involvement in buggery by their heads , since the introduction of Church and State in ancient Romans times.
SPIRITUAL WARFARE INDEED . all we can do is pray to the true and only Almighty God .
Adam and Steve sitting in the tree
K-i-s-s-i-n-g! (spell it out)
First comes love.
Then comes marriage.
Then comes little Johnny in the baby carriage,
Sucking his thumb,
Wetting his pants,
Waving his rainbow flag.
The gays are coming the gays are coming…the gays are coming to take over vincyland.
It is clear that the government and church lack understanding in regards to this very sensitive and emoral issue. having conversations with churches in private will not impact a positive outcome.wat will is having a public discussion on a referendum that know Court can over torn.only true another referendum.So you guys stop playing games .
this news forum is clearly bias and a dictatorship with which comments they want to post . lol
he trying suppress my views by not publishing many of my comments . smh
unlike the creator of this forum I do not support a political party . based on the comments he choose to post , clearly he is bias and partial .