Keep the buggery laws
St Vincent church groups against amending existing legislation
KINGSTOWN, St Vincent (CMC) — The St Vincent and the Grenadines Christian community says it rejects any attempt “to change or modify the godly values upon which the laws of our nation was founded” as it opposed any move to encourage same-sex marriages and changes to the existing buggery laws here.
In a joint statement, the Association of Evangelical Churches, the Catholic Church, the Methodist Church, the St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) Mission of Seventh-day Adventist, and the Spiritual Baptist Archdiocese, say they are in support of the laws that adequately reflect the fundamental values – since any modification would “cause further and significant harm to our individual and collective well-being”.
The position comes as a legal challenge has been filed against the constitutionality of the buggery and gross indecency laws, which criminalise same-sex intimacy, even in private places, among consenting adults.
Us-based St Vincent and the Grenadines nationals Sean Macleish, 53, and 22-year-old Javin Johnson, 22, who successfully claimed asylum in the United Kingdom in 2017, have brought the legal challenges against the existing laws.
The two men, who are gay, are arguing that the laws, dating back to British colonial rule, are discriminatory, inhumane and against the basic tenets of the Constitution of SVG that protect the rights and freedoms of every citizen, and that they were removed from the UK some time ago.
The next hearing in the matter is slated for November 13.
But the groups, which said the Christian community is about 85 per cent of the population here, said they have collaborated “to express concern and offer clarification with respect to the need to preserve godly values and wholesome family life in St Vincent and the Grenadines”.
The statement said that, “guided by God’s revelation through His Son Jesus Christ and His Word, the Holy Bible, we are confident that God, Father and creator of all life, was deliberate in His design of and will for all human beings.
“God, in His wisdom, created us as social beings and made family the principal agency of our society,” the statement said.
It said humans, therefore, “require neighbourliness and adherence to Godly values in order to maximise and fulfil its potential, and as such achieve virtues such as peace, order, harmony and righteous living – the absence of which perpetuates discord, violence, crime, war and chaos. We are aware that much of ‘modern values and principles’ are based on individualism, selfishness, a diminished regard for the other, and a growing disregard for God as our creator and guide”.
The statement said that in light of “modern challenges to the values which once pervaded our global society and were held by the vast majority of Vincentians, and specifically in light of the challenge to our buggery and gross indecency laws” in St Vincent and the Grenadines, the Christian community affirms that the Bible, the inspired Word of God, is the authentic guide for holy and righteous living, for societal well-being and the well-being of humanity.
The groups added that all human beings are created in God’s image and likeness and are to be treated with respect and love which encourages living righteously.
Another affirmation was that God made human beings male and female from creation.
“He intended for them to live their lives as biological male and biological female, which is determined from conception,” the statement said, adding that the foundation of the family is marriage between a biological male and a biological female.
“The Bible clearly outlines that all sexual activity outside the confines of marriage between a biological male and a biological female are forbidden. Human beings share various experiences of brokenness, abuse and dysfunction on account of the problem of sin.
“Human brokenness, abuse and dysfunction when met by the transforming grace of God can bring healing and wholeness. The individual right of choice and preference is not autonomous of the collective well-being of society and godly values,” the statement said.
Earlier this week, National Mobilisation Minister Frederick Stephenson, who also has ministerial responsibility for gender affairs, declined to comment on the lawsuit brought by the men.
“I wouldn’t comment at this time. I worked at the Magistrate’s Court for 14 years. I consider the matter to be sub judice and I don’t think, as a minister, I would want to comment here, there or anywhere on that matter.”