Caribbean News Now!

By Krystel Rolle
Nassau Guardian Staff Reporter

NASSAU, Bahamas -- The legalization of same sex marriage in The Bahamas could open the floodgates to requests for the legalization of other types of unions, including polygamous or incestuous ones, warned Pastor Cedric Moss, who declared that the issue should be put to the people before any decision is made.

"I think if the majority of citizens in the country want same sex marriage, then same sex marriage would be the order of the day," Moss told The Nassau Guardian on Tuesday.

"If that happens I, and other faithful Christians will not support [this type of] marriage.

“I would not marry a same sex couple, but I would respect that it's what the majority wants. So for me this is an issue not for Parliament, not for courts; it's an issue for the citizens.

“And I think the same way we had a referendum on gambling, which is not as important as this one; we should have a referendum on marriage."

Moss commented on the subject after Chief Justice Sir Michael Barnett predicted on Friday that the Bahamian courts will soon have to address the issue of same sex marriage.

“I also have no doubt that in deciding the issue we will have respect for the decisions that emanate not only from the Commonwealth countries like Canada and Australia, but also from decisions of the courts of the Unites States of America," Barnett said.

Moss acknowledged that the issue has been or is in the process of being debated in several countries around the world.

"I think this discussion about homosexuality is consistent with what we see happening around the world. Countries are talking about it,” he said. “Naturally we expect that, that will happen in this country as well. This is one of the realities of living in a democracy.”

He added, "The thing is once you start to remove a boundary, you say it's no longer going to be between a man and a woman; I want it to be between two men and two women, then what about polygamy?

“What about a man marrying his daughter or a boy marrying his father? Why shouldn't they be able to do that? That's the problem with that. These are not marriages. These are counterfeits."

Erin Greene, a human rights activist, who has championed lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-gender (LGBT) rights for years, claimed on Monday that many homosexual couples have married in some churches on the island.

"The church is a non-governmental body, so a church can do what it wants. We have married gay couples in the country... because there are churches who are willing to do it,” she said.

But Moss said those are not real marriages.

"Those churches would not have performed marriages,” he said. “They would have performed ceremonies.

“Marriage is between a man and a woman. Anything other than that is a counterfeit."

Republished with permission of the Nassau Guardian

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