THE EDITOR, Sir:
I DID not see Stephen Vasciannie's email address in his article today (Monday, February 27).
I wanted to let him know that, as far as I know, the buggery law is still in force in Ireland and the U.K. and runs alongside the right to practise homosexuality.
The whole issue is not so much whether homosexuality takes place in privacy, but whether it is between consenting adults.
It seems to me that the buggery law in Jamaica, by the logic of the human rights argument, will become applicable only to cases where there is no consent.
CONSENTING ADULTS
Once you predicate the practice of homosexuality on the basis of human rights, there is no way you can then say that consenting adults may not have the freedom to do so.
The problematic issue, at a more fundamental level, is how we understand human rights.
The recent fiasco over the cartoon of the prophet Muhammad was, in effect, over the meaning of the right to free speech.
We are on a slippery slope here, Stephen. The argument of the church leaders is related to an interpretation of human rights. Please, consider the issue more carefully.
I am, etc.,
LIVINGSTONE
THOMPSON
lthompson@citc.ie
83 Hermitage Glen
Kells, County Meath
Ireland
Via Go-Jamaica
