Chuck criticised for buggery comments accusing Church of being a hindrance
A SUGGESTION by Justice Minister Delroy Chuck to over 30 parliamentarians from several CARICOM partners that they should lead by removing the buggery law in their countries, as the Church was the main hindrance in achieving this objective, has not settled well with The Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society.
The advocacy group expressed alarm at what they described as disturbing remarks made by the minister at the Regional Parliamentarians Forum organised by the Pan Caribbean Partnership (PANCAP) against HIV and AIDS.
The event was held from May 30-31, in Kingston, Jamaica.
In his remarks, the justice minister suggested that parliamentarians were faced with a challenge to overcome what he described as a cultural “ingrained belief” embraced by the Church which militates against any attempt to remove the buggery law.
“The challenge before us is whether we have the courage to do so,” Chuck told his regional colleagues.
“Faith-based institutions, including churches, are some of the greatest challenge. We have to open up and to think wider than the narrow teachings that they have adopted for centuries.”
Chuck said that during his fouryear tenure as speaker of the House of Representatives (under the Bruce Golding administration from 2007 to 2011), he was approached by an ambassador who urged him to “see how we can remove the buggery law in Jamaica”.
The justice minister said that, “having listened to the ambassador, I said, ‘The problem, you know, is not the parliamentarians’. How do you convince the churches to change their position because the Church’s position is ingrained, very strong, and what is more, the churches, in particular, are very powerful influencers of opinions in our society.”
He continued, “The issue before us as parliamentarians is: Are we going to lead or are we going to be (followers) of opinions and views in the society? This is a decision that somehow we will have to make because if we are going to be the leaders of opinions, then we have to do what is right regardless of the consequences.”