Clash over ‘rainbow’ colours

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2009
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Representatives of the church and the Lesbian Gay Transsexual Queer Intersex and Asexual (LGBTQIA) community clashed over the issue of certain decorations that had adorned St John’s over the weekend.
Flags and streamers depicting the colours red, orange, yellow, green, purple and indigo appeared throughout the city on Saturday in preparation for the nation’s 60th anniversary of carnival. However, they were removed on Sunday after residents expressed their disapproval of the colour scheme, which they said represented the LGBTQIA community.
Yesterday, Pastor David Murphy, Senator Aziza Lake and media personality Tasheka Lavann weighed in on the topic of homophobia in Antigua & Barbuda.
“The situation, globally — and certainly it’s headed in Antigua’s way — is that there is definitely a concerted effort to normalise homosexuality. There is no question about that and I think that the political groups, whatever party, I think they are a part of global conspiracy to push this on the people and I think it’s a horrendous act, that we will pay for it dearly in the future,” Pastor Murphy said.
He added that the decorations were not mere colours, but a conspiracy of global proportions to push the homosexual agenda especially in western Third World countries. The pastor highlighted that there would be great and horrible repercussions if Antigua & Barbuda were to submit to these outside forces.
He took pains to point out that just because the church speaks out about an issue does not mean that the church is discriminating against anyone.
However, Senator Lake was of the view that there were too many things of consequence that are going on in the country and need the attention of the public for people to be worried about the colour of decorations.
She pointed to the imminent closure of Sandals Grande Antigua Resort and the abuse of women and children within the society as pertinent issues that deserve backlash and outrage from the general public, instead of trivial decoration colours.
Senator Lake added that despite the LGBTQIA community choosing “rainbow colours” as their symbol, those colours do not belong to them and therefore not everything colourful should be associated with that community.
Pastor Murphy rebutted the senator’s claims, which he referred to as a typical political response. He reinforced his belief that the decorations were not a mistake but a deliberate play to introduce and desensitise the public into believing that the homosexual lifestyle is acceptable.
Meantime, Lavann placed the reaction of the people squarely on homophobia. She said that the decorations had nothing to do with gay pride but were simply a mixture of colours.
When confronted with her Facebook post in which she referred to the decorations as being symbols of gay pride, Lavann got defensive and argued that she will not take the blame for the reaction of others because people had that reaction before she said anything.
The media personality gave a tearful cry for individuals in Antigua & Barbuda to open their minds and to turn from their homophobic practices. She said that people should try to be more inclusive and loving towards each other despite sexual orientations.
(More in today’s Daily Observer)

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