POOR TASTE

On Wednesday, June 11, we published a photograph on our front page of startling dimension. The photograph showed two men about to kiss. It was taken minutes after the two men had been legally married in a civil ceremony in Toronto, Canada. This event occurred mere hours after the Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision to redefine marriage in order to allow same-sex unions. The Court’s definition of marriage is no longer a union between a man and a woman but as a union between two people, male or female. This is a development of great significance that has clearly been seen by religious leaders in the country who have roundly condemned same-sex marriages declaring them to be against the teachings of their church and the moral code by which they live. A people in the street survey conducted by this newspaper also revealed the same response; ordinary citizens see this as a serious moral issue and, like the church leaders, do not support it.

By publishing this photograph on our front page we have been at the receiving end of criticism from some individuals using terms such as “disgusting,” “poor taste,” and various other uncomplimentary comments which, of course, they are entitled to do. We made no judgement on the issue. However, our role is not to bury our heads in the sand and keep out of news issues which we may or may not like, but to report to our readers what is taking place in this world of which we are a part. As far as we are aware, this is the first time that same sex marriages have been legalised in a Commonwealth country and one as close to us as Canada with whom we have many ties. We do not bury our heads in the sand because we are certain our society is aware there is a large community of homosexuals in this country. Our concern is with the legal aspect of this development, and whether it offends us or not should not be our main concern. Among those who referred to the photograph as being in very poor taste was Prime Minister Patrick Manning. What is the definition of poor taste? Poor taste is something that offends. Well we should be offended by a great many things in this country, not only the legalisation of same sex marriages. We should be offended if our Prime Minister holds meetings with alleged criminals and with the leader of an organisation that attempted a bloody overthrow of our legally elected government in 1990.

We should be offended by a Minister of government having his political campaign manager giving out CEPEP contracts. We should be offended by men who do not know the meaning of fidelity in marriage and see nothing wrong in having endless deputies and in fact boastinig about it. We should be offended by the reckless driving on our roads about which our police do nothing and which causes so many fatalities and injuries to our people. We should be deeply offended at the poor treatment that sick people receive in this country whether at the hands of doctors or at health institutions. We should be offended by the inability of the government to deal with the crime situation that has us all living behind bars in our homes, afraid to leave our houses after dark, afraid to let our children play in parks. We should be offended by the scandalous behaviour of our elected representatives in the parliament and their display of total disrespect for colleagues and authority. We should also be offended by the lack of leadership that they offer their members and the country at large. We should be  offended by the abuse of children whether it is a baby cuffed to death or the rape of a young child or the kidnapping of a minor. We should be offended by the prevalence of domestic violence in the country and the battering of our women by the men who are supposed to care for them. We should be offended by the site of the homeless, the destitute, the drug addicts on the pavements of our country. There are indeed a lot of things in TT that easily come under the heading of poor taste. Our question to Mr. Manning is, what is he doing about it? Instead of describing a photograph such as the one we published in poor taste, Mr Manning should be concerned about the effect of a change in law that redefines marriage and which in the long run could have some effect on the stability of our society.