Barbados: Government Minister Says No Gay Marriages Will Be Allowed

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Tuesday March 27, 2018 – Minister of Social Care and Community Development Steve Blackett is sending a clear message to “external forces and internal forces” that same-sex marriage will not be tolerated in Barbados.

In an address at a meeting of the ruling Democratic Labour Party (DLP), he complained that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people were “badgering” Government to accept same-sex unions. But he said that while he was tolerant of the LGBTI community, the DLP administration would not cave to their demands. 

“This LGBT lobby is so insistent, so persistent, claiming this community is being marginalized and stigmatized…They have been so insistent and persistent that I, as a straight person, you as a straight person, we’re beginning to feel marginalized, harassed and stigmatized by them,” the minister contended.

“If you want to be same-sex, that’s your business…; nothing wrong with that at all. Barbados has always been tolerant to homosexuals among us. Any of us who grew up in Barbados know of what they used to call ‘she-she men’ in your communities…and they integrated into our communities. They are our relatives, our family or friends, our kith and kin, our hairdressers, our tailors…Same-sex relationships in most neighbourhoods are nothing new,” he added. Read more via Caribbean 360