Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding is standing firm on his opposition to gay marriages and same-sex unions. He is on record as saying no gays would sit in his cabinet.And he has repeated his opposition on the issue in opening the debate in Parliament on a constitutional amendment on the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms.
"I make no apology in saying decisively and emphatically that the Government of Jamaica remains irrevocably opposed to the recognition, legitimisation or acceptance of same-sex marriages or same-sex unions," Golding told Parliament Tuesday.
"There is the possibility that sometime in the future parliament could pass a law that says same-sex unions are legal but it won't be done in this parliament. Not as long as I sit here," he insisted.
His statement is consistent with what he told the BBC last year with regard to gays in cabinet.
"I will not accept it that homosexuality must be accepted as a legitimate form of behavior or the equivalent of marriage," he told an interview while acknowledging that his government had no right to interfere in what consenting adults do in private.
Golding said he is aware that his stance could prompt the "aggressive" international gay-rights lobby to continue attempts to discourage tourists and investors from traveling to Jamaica.
"But we remain steadfast in our determination that the values and culture must be protected and preserved," Golding said.
Jamaica's constitution affirms the right to freedom of association, but the country has experienced recent antipathy towards gays and gay rights groups, according to Human Rights Watch.
Earlier this year the rights group wrote Golding urging action to stem endemic violence against gays, bisexuals and transgender people in Jamaica and calling on him to condemn a member of his Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) who called for tightening of laws against homosexual conduct.
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