Gays are people too

THE EDITOR: It would seem that the issue of gay rights, as it pertains to the Equal Opportunity Act which should protect all citizens from discrimination, has arisen. I read with much amazement the arguments put forward by a prominent lawyer who inclines to say that we have acknowledged the Supremacy of God which itself does not promote or indeed protect gays and lesbians from being subject to harm. He furthermore went on to say that gay marriages would never be a part of Trinidad culture. Firstly, I do not have a problem with acknowledging the Supremacy of God, however gays are not asking for divine intervention when it comes to protection.

It is everyone’s enshrined right. This is not a spiritual request, but one for some form of social redress. What gays are asking for is what we all deserve under the Constitution, the right to freedom of expression and protection under the law. Who is to say gays do not deserve that? When hardened criminals are put before the judges some of them their atrocious crimes so glaring that it is obvious to the simplest mind that they are guilty, they are escorted by police officers. This has a two-fold effect: to keep them in custody and to protect them from the rage of the public. They have rights to bodily preservation, why shouldn’t gays?

No one has a right to force anyone else to live a life that they see as pleasing to them. It is an infringement on the basic consciousness of the individual. I can never ask my African peers to stop eating beef because it offends me. They have that right, in the same breath they cannot cast stones against me because I refuse to offer libation to Eshu. They may think with reservation of me but in the end they have to respect who I am and what I believe, which is as important as what they adhere to, no greater, no lesser than I.

Then the feckless comments made by the lawyer that should we allow gays to be protected under the law, our revenues would be depleted and we would indeed be punished for going against “God’s Law.” What rubbish and fanaticism run in the minds of these lawyers! If that was so then Norway and Denmark and Sweden would have been burnt to the ground. Yet we find that these countries are First World countries, very prosperous and stable. To add insult to injury he supports the good lady judge so much as to say that she is mature and astute enough not to compromise the integrity of the judiciary but abdicating the chair should any matter concerning the rights of gays be put before her.

How are we to know that she does not harbour any other prejudices that she would willingly promote through her services? As noble as it may be it is quite myopic to think that she is immune to partiality when it comes to other issues such as domestic violence, absent fathers etc. She is vociferous enough to state her position on gay rights what else is she so passionate about? I think it is an easy target to speak out against gays, but under hushed breaths what is your position Alice?

Gays and lesbians are not asking for marriage, straight people have done a wonderful job in proving that marriage is a waste of time. It is ironic that one set of people fight to be legally joined while the other set waves the divorce papers like a Carnival banner. What they are asking for is protection under the law to be free to be themselves. This is as much their country as yours, or are gays children of a lesser God? As I always say, some of us will not feel it until it happens to us. Judge not, lest ye be judged. Let the people live in peace. After all, is not that what it is all about? Let us be our brother’s keeper not bashers!

RYAN MARTINEZ
Charles Street
Gasparillo