The popular pastor, the Rev Dr Devon Dick, has found himself in the eye of a social media storm — the deep-rooted controversy over sexual preferences other than heterosexuality, specifically related to lesbians, gays, bi-sexuals, transgenders, and queers (LGBTQ).

Rev Dick, it is claimed, recently advised his Boulevard Baptist Church, St Andrew, flock to get ready to vote on whether the congregation should offer blessings to LGBTQ people, notably in same-sex marriages, at an upcoming members meeting.

The pastor has since been quoted as saying he was not advocating such a decision but had taken note of discussions on the subject elsewhere and thought the members should vote on the issue.

Apparently, the mere mention of same-sex unions was enough to land him in hot water with some church members, who are said to have hastily shot down the proposal, such that it did not reach voting stage.

But the matter quickly found its way outside the church walls, as the firmly anti-gay Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society questioned the motivation of Rev Dick for wanting to place such a discussion on the agenda of the members meeting.

The Boulevard Baptist Church brouhaha is only the latest reminder that the complexities of human sexuality and sexual practices remain stubbornly unresolved, and likely won’t be any time soon in Jamaica where anti-gay legislation exists, and are supported by the findings of public opinion surveys in recent memory.

For example, a 2017 poll found that 88 per cent of respondents believed male homosexuality to be immoral; a 2015 study showed that nearly seven out of 10 Jamaicans selected the most extreme level of disapproval for gay citizens running for political office; a 2014 study by the Latin American Public Opinion Project found that 89 per cent of Jamaicans disapproved of same-sex marriages; a 2010 survey said 85.2 per cent were opposed to legalising homosexuality, even among consenting adults; and a 2008 poll indicated that 91 per cent of Jamaicans believed lawmakers should not attempt to repeal the colonial-era buggery law.

Jamaican politicians fear that acting against the wishes of the majority of the electorate could come with disastrous consequences at the polls. And the one thing politicians don’t play with is their voting pool.

For Jamaicans, the LGBTQ debate is, like abortion and the death penalty, one of the existential issues of our time, seemingly inextricable and destined to promote everlasting and deep division among the populace.

We in this space believe that human adults have a right to their sexual preference, with the caveat that it is not imposed on others or used to inflict harm. What people do in their own bedrooms is hardly of concern to us.

The LGBTQ debate grows ever more enmeshed in religion and politics, two of the most divisive belief structures. In fact, there are people who wish to use politics to enforce religion, even at the expense of democracy.

It is matters like this that informed the ideology of the separation of Church and State, starting with the American and French revolutions and the Enlightenment of the 18th century.

Whatever his motivation, Rev Dick dipped his toe into the water and found, belatedly, that it was way too hot.