Dear Editor,
The concern over the spread of AIDS is a valid one. After all, which Jamaican wants an AIDS epidemic? But is it the only issue? Is it even the most important issue in this debate about repealing the buggery law?
J-FLAG calls for "the fair and equal treatment of gays and lesbians under the law..." So let's see where this "fair and equal treatment" got the Americans.
Let's ask Aaron and Melissa Klein of Sweet Cakes Bakery in Oregon: For refusing to bake a wedding cake for a lesbian wedding last summer, because it goes against their Christian beliefs, they were sued, received hate mail and death threats, and ultimately had to close their store. According to the lesbian couple, the bakery had "violated Oregon laws that prohibit discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people in employment and public accommodations". So, folks, that's what it feels like under this "fair and equal treatment" law that J-FLAG is demanding. Your private business could end up being shut down and you labelled a bigot because you do not support the homosexual lifestyle.
Let's also ask Jason and David Benham, whose HGTV'S renovation show Flip It Forward was cancelled this year even before it premiered, simply because their father is a pastor and they do not support the gay lifestyle. Who cared that their show was about helping people to make improvements to their homes? The only thing that mattered was that they opposed the homosexual lifestyle.
"Fair and equal" only seems to apply to one side.
So if we repeal the buggery law, as J-FLAG demands. What's next? The situation that currently exists all across America and Canada, and notably in Nottinghamshire, England, where the biggest sector fostering and adopting children is homosexuals and lesbians. The BBC reports that one in nine children were placed in a same-sex household in Nottinghamshire last year. According to the county council, they were "busting the old myths about who could adopt".
So, while the AIDS argument is a convenient banner under which to hide, let's not stick our heads in the sand and ignore what is happening around the world in countries that have repealed their law. Let us look beyond the AIDS issue.
Concerned
noche@flowja.com
Looking beyond the AIDS issue
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The concern over the spread of AIDS is a valid one. After all, which Jamaican wants an AIDS epidemic? But is it the only issue? Is it even the most important issue in this debate about repealing the buggery law?
J-FLAG calls for "the fair and equal treatment of gays and lesbians under the law..." So let's see where this "fair and equal treatment" got the Americans.
Let's ask Aaron and Melissa Klein of Sweet Cakes Bakery in Oregon: For refusing to bake a wedding cake for a lesbian wedding last summer, because it goes against their Christian beliefs, they were sued, received hate mail and death threats, and ultimately had to close their store. According to the lesbian couple, the bakery had "violated Oregon laws that prohibit discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people in employment and public accommodations". So, folks, that's what it feels like under this "fair and equal treatment" law that J-FLAG is demanding. Your private business could end up being shut down and you labelled a bigot because you do not support the homosexual lifestyle.
Let's also ask Jason and David Benham, whose HGTV'S renovation show Flip It Forward was cancelled this year even before it premiered, simply because their father is a pastor and they do not support the gay lifestyle. Who cared that their show was about helping people to make improvements to their homes? The only thing that mattered was that they opposed the homosexual lifestyle.
"Fair and equal" only seems to apply to one side.
So if we repeal the buggery law, as J-FLAG demands. What's next? The situation that currently exists all across America and Canada, and notably in Nottinghamshire, England, where the biggest sector fostering and adopting children is homosexuals and lesbians. The BBC reports that one in nine children were placed in a same-sex household in Nottinghamshire last year. According to the county council, they were "busting the old myths about who could adopt".
So, while the AIDS argument is a convenient banner under which to hide, let's not stick our heads in the sand and ignore what is happening around the world in countries that have repealed their law. Let us look beyond the AIDS issue.
Concerned
noche@flowja.com
Looking beyond the AIDS issue
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