CAISO: Don’t panic over gay court case

GAY-RIGHTS lobby CAISO, in a statement yesterday, said people should stay calm over advocate Jason Jones’s legal challenge to laws banning buggery, even as a group of Christian pastors again protested outside Parliament against any possible legal change.

The pastors, in a leaflet distributed outside Tower D, Wrightson Road, Port of Spain, said plans are afoot to legalise homosexuality next month, including removing the buggery ban, and teaching homosexuality as normal in schools. The leaflet urged, “Say no to the LGBTQI agenda, say no to indecency, say yes to the natural family.”

The pastors vowed to protest each Friday from noon to 1.30 pm outside Parliament. CAISO in turn urged, “Keep calm. We can share the nation.”

The lobby accused the pastors of making extraordinary claims. CAISO head Colin Robinson said, “I don’t see why the protesters seem so panicked, or why they are trying to hold politicians accountable for a judge’s decision. I do want to reassure all concerned Christians that we can share the nation with them, if they share it with us.

“CAISO defends faith groups’ right to protest and to hold moral views about grooming, clothing, diet, sexuality and marriage. But the role of the law, protected by the Constitution, isn’t to enforce any faith group’s teachings.”

CAISO’s Dr Angelique Nixon urged CAISO stakeholders not to exaggerate the weight of a “loss” in Jones’s lawsuit, saying that would not mean the Government would suddenly march into people’s bedrooms.

On the other hand, she said a win would still leave people unprotected against discrimination or bullying, which could only be countered by politicians passing new laws.