Dear Editor,

The pique in interest in the issue of homosexuality also witnessed the resurgence of accusations of the Church ‘singling out’ gays when speaking of sexual sin, or even sin in general.

In fact, which other activity labelled as sexual sin in the Bible, or sin in general, has brought together open forums of practitioners and allies to rally significant political clout and campaign internationally for the sake of advancing not only the practice of said sin, but also its universal endorsement?

I offer a two-fold explanation of the seeming ‘singling out’ of gays by the Church. On one hand, the vast majority of Jamaicans agree with the Church on a number of moral issues, sexual and otherwise. Persons adhering to other religions, or even no religion at all, still, unknowingly, abide by a Biblical moral code. Indeed, even persons who engage in activities that the Bible says are wrong will still refer to the same as a moral compass.

I offer a two-fold explanation of the seeming ‘singling out’ of gays by the Church. On one hand, the vast majority of Jamaicans agree with the Church on a number of moral issues, sexual and otherwise. Persons adhering to other religions, or even no religion at all, still, unknowingly, abide by a Biblical moral code. Indeed, even persons who engage in activities that the Bible says are wrong will still refer to the same as a moral compass.

For instance, would the average pimp or ‘gyalis’ condemn monogamous, faithful marriage as being less moral or less honourable than their current lifestyle? Unsurprisingly, other sexual sins do not attract heated debate, because there is nothing to debate as far as Jamaicans are concerned

On the other hand, the LGBT community has marched, protested, picketed, published, and campaigned themselves into the forefront of every discussion on human rights, at the local and international level. Complaining about the disproportionate attention they are now receiving from the Church is unjustified, and serves as evidence of superficial consideration of the wider context in which this debate is conducted, and more significantly, their very active role in garnering this attention. Furthermore, the community is guilty of reframing this disproportionate attention to make the Church seem ungrounded, even irrational and reckless in its condemnation of their behaviour.

At best, it is a misinterpretation of the Church prioritising problems by what is most pertinent to society today, as opposed to what the Church deems as most sinful. At worst, it is an attempt of the LGBT community to subtly shift from being bullied to being the bully, breaking the boundaries of free speech, liberalism and mutually respectful debate to literally demonising anyone who disagrees with them. In short, one must admit that homosexuality has been singled out recently. But the question is, by whom? Could it be that the gays have singled themselves out?

Onyka Thompson

onyka.thompson@gmail.com