The Crisis of being “Straight’
BY SHARON GORDON
NEW YORK:
THERE IS a crisis afoot, brewing in the pews of churches, boardrooms and bedrooms. There is a
crisis and it has to do with the rights of gays. Many in the United States and around the world see President Obama’s support of same sex marriage as a historic gesture. It was under his presidency that the military did away with a long standing policy of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ where military men and women were encouraged to ‘keep a lid’ on their sexuality. “What we are seeing now is an erosion of Christian values,” says Pastor Monroe, who is based in the Bronx, N.Y. and has a large Jamaican congregation. Like Father Richard Ho Lung, founder of the Missionaries for the Poor, Pastor Monroe, sees this as a ‘moral-ethical problem facing the world.’ In a recent letter to the editor, Father Ho Lung pointed out that ‘The rulers of the world today are obsessed by money, power, popularity and pleasure. They will do anything to be in positions of power that fill their desire for attention. They will contravene the law of God by feeding the world with what the fleshly world wants: the pride of life, sex, and the adulation of the world. Popularity and acclamation are their deepest desires in life.’
“We see what the gays are doing,” says Michelle Ebony, “They are very steadfast with their agenda.” Ms Ebony says the ‘gay agenda’ is part of a systematic move to destroy the planet. “We cannot speak against them,” she says, “if you believe that what they are engaged in is immoral and dare to say so, you will be condemned.” Michelle Ebony says she is not advocating for violence against ‘gays’ however she feels it is her right to
teach her children what she considers to be ‘right and wrong. “How will the world continue”? she asked,
‘HOMOSEXUALS CAN’T PROCREATE’
As the conversations brew there are signs of a culture war on the horizon. Some would say it has already begun. For example, there are several Jamaican artists who are having to ‘eat their words’ issuing apologies to the gay community in order to get work overseas, the most recent casualty being Beenie Man who is booked for the Rototom Festival in August in Spain. According to promoter Filippo Giunta, CEO of Rototom Sunsplash, Beenie Man was encouraged to put out an apology to the ‘gay community’ in an effort to appease them. “We have received and we are happy to publish a video message of Beenie Man in which he wishes to clear out any doubt about his position concerning homophobic lyrics appearing in some of his old songs. We would like to think that his words can put an end to all the controversies that the subject has generated.”
Once the video was posted on the festival’s website at www.rototomsunsplash.com, it went viral resulting in a mix of emotions and responses from some of Beenie’s fans and even a few colleagues who have spoken out against his ‘flip flopping’ on the issue. “This is our culture,” says one artist who didn’t want to be identified, why are they forcing us to accept their deviant behavior?” Shaking his head, he adds, “We are not advocating violence against anyone, but we should be allowed to live our life in the righteous way that we believe.” “Beenie Man did what he did for his career,” said another industry insider, “He knows he needs the money so he better apologize. Gays run the entertainment business. He better know that.” Such is the conversation taking place across Jamaica and America.
Reprinted with permission from the Jamaica Weekly Gleaner
