Pastor blasts MoBay Pride organisers

WESTERN BUREAU:

Pastor Peter Burnett, the chairman of the St James Ministers' Fraternal, has sharply rebuked the organisers of the weeklong celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender lifestyles, describing the event, which will kick off in Montego Bay on Sunday, as an abomination to God.

"The gathering of the Montego Bay Pride movement in Montego Bay has come to the attention of the St James Ministers' Fraternal," said Burnett in a press release. "As such, we have seen it fit to publicly declare that we regret such a gathering, especially as we have learnt that the aim of it is to mobilise their efforts to get more persons involved in their practices.

"To us, and for us, such a practice is an abomination to God and the increase of it will bring more curses into our already hurting city," the clergyman declared. "We have further learnt that there will be a 'march and worship' service to push for the acceptance and normalising of this practice.

"We put a lot of stock on visibility. We make sure that people know that we are here. We do pop-up protests by driving into town and jumping out with rainbow flags and placards so that people know we are here," said Maurice Tomlinson, founder and coordinator of Montego Bay Pride.

However, Burnett charged that the St James Ministers' Fraternal supports the Judeo-Christian worldview, which affirms that marriage is a sacred covenant between a man and a woman. He went on to reprimand the authorities for granting approval for the event.