Our Readers' Opinions
January 29, 2013

Don’t use God as the excuse for your animosity!

Tue, Jan 29, 2013

Editor: I read, honestly with amusement, the views espoused by Ann-Marie Ballantyne (in her letter on 1/25/13) in regard to homosexuality and the arrogance she has in believing that her views take precedence over others, in that someone who happens to be gay should be silenced about talking about his life.{{more}} She refers to “the boldness of Vincentian fashion star Kirk Cambridge to talk about his lifestyle”. Her justifications for her bigotry and hatred are spurious at best. She believes that she has the right to discriminate and define other people in denigrating and despicable terms because this is what her God wants. Vengeful people envision a vengeful God and bigoted people conjure up a bigoted God. She states that she stands “FIRM for morality”.

However, morality presumes choice and I would like to know how many gay and lesbian people does Miss/Mrs Ballantyne personally know?

I would tell you that as another gay, Vincentian man, I didn’t choose my sexuality, as would any other gay, lesbian or heterosexual person that I know.

She wrote”arguments pushed by homosexuals proponents today, they make God “anti-equality” and “the greatest bigot”. On the contrary, her views clearly exhibit that she is anti-equality and bigoted. God is described as being omnibenevolent, which is the absence of hate and to presume that you speak for God is arrogant and it exposes the folly of someone who’s misguided in the source of her bitterness.

It doesn’t take boldness to stand in your truth and definition of self with the expectation of equal treatment and protection under the law. Human rights are not supposed to be bound by sexuality, age or gender. The “preservation of society” that Miss/Mrs Ballantyne advocates for is predicated on the destruction of hundreds, if not thousands of other peoples’ lives in SVG. We are people who want to live free of harassment and hatred, disguised in the cloak of construction.

Don’t use God as the excuse for your animosity.

Rights and Justice