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Banning Elton John from Tobago?
Does ‘religion’ advocate discrimination?

01 April 2007 • 341 words

What does the call from fundamentalist Christians to ban Elton John reveal about them? The argument that the gay singer’s presence in Tobago will cause persons to turn to a homosexual lifestyle can be dismissed out of hand, except to note that psychologists (in a clever experiment where they attached devices to measure erections on men watching gay porn) have demonstrated that homophobic men are often repressing same-sex attraction while liberal heterosexual men show no such inclination. For a full explanation, see:

www.oogachaga.com/downloads/homophobia_and_homosexual_arousal.pdf

The pastors’ call also reveals true intolerance that hides in the hearts of these individuals who claim to stand for love and forgiveness. To argue, as they do, that they hate homosexuality and not homosexuals is a distinction without a difference. It is like saying you don’t hate Africans, just kinky hair – indeed, moreso, since a person’s identity is more defined by their sexuality than by their follicles. We also note that no other, supposedly more tolerant Christian organisations, have condemned the pastors’ call.

Moreover, bigotry against homosexuals seems to have tacit support from persons who occupy high office. Citizens would not have forgotten the irony of a UNC administration passing an Equal Opportunities Bill which specifically excluded homosexuals from protection against discrimination. More recently, Prime Minister Patrick Manning shelved the entire Draft Gender Policy because he did not appreciate a single paragraph which suggested that Trinidad and Tobago’s anti-homosexual laws be revised. He even went so far as to claim that homosexuals don’t exist (just homosexuality).

What this reveals is that all the talk from politicians and other leaders about tolerance is just fetid air. These attempts to keep homosexuals repressed will neither make them vanish nor change the fact that they are citizens of Trinidad and Tobago. The people who wish to deny full human rights to homosexuals are cut from the same cloth as those who 172 years ago argued, with talk about “God’s law” and the need to preserve social order, that slaves should not be freed.

T&T Humanist Association

See Catholics criticise Government's Draft Gender Policy?

See Draft National Gender Policy and Action Plan