Gay rights are rights for all

THE EDITOR, Sir:

I have always loved my daughter and have also always taught her to stand up against any instance of inequality or injustice. Therefore, it would have been wrong of me, as a man of God, to treat her any differently when she confided in me about her sexuality.

It has caused many issues in my church community, but I believe that as a pastor, I am here to be a voice to the voiceless and protect minority groups from the injustices of being different in Jamaica.

My daughter's sexuality has not changed anything about her; she is still just as ambitious and intelligent and still has the same dreams and hopes as any other young woman. I say this to stress that gay Jamaicans do not want anything but the right to live, work and spend time with their loved ones in a country whose laws do not make them feel like criminals.

MAIN DUTY TO LOVE

Why do we constantly speak out against gay people? As people of God, our main duty is to love, and I have seen everything but love meted out to the gay community in Jamaica.

My daughter's sexuality has never changed my love for her, but I will admit that as a man of God, it was somewhat hard to accept. A YouTube video really helped me to reconcile my religious views and my feelings toward my daughter's sexuality.

Recently, there has been so much talk about a 'gay agenda' when the people who organised a march two weeks ago seem to be the ones pushing an agenda. I am not part of the gay community, nor am I part of J-FLAG, but it seems to me that my daughter, the community and J-FLAG only have one agenda - to promote equality, tolerance and love. That's an agenda every single Jamaican, regardless of sexual orientation or religion, should embrace.

M. BROWNE

Mandeville, Manchester