St James pastor applauds stance against Montego Bay Pride

WESTERN BUREAU:

With the Supreme Court expected to hear gay-rights group Montego Bay Pride’s discrimination lawsuit against the St James Municipal Corporation today, one St James pastor has staunchly declared that Jamaicans must uphold the country’s heritage of traditional marriage between one man and one woman.

Bishop Ralston Powell, pastor of the Glendevon New Testament Church of God in Montego Bay, voiced his support for Montego Bay Mayor Homer Davis in his keynote sermon yesterday during the annual Heritage Week thanksgiving service at his church. The service was held under the theme ‘Our Heritage ... A Great Legacy’ and also heralded Montego Bay’s 39th city-status anniversary.

“I want to ‘big up’ our mayor (Davis) for the stance he took some weeks ago, and when I heard it, I thought that there must be someone who stands for righteousness. Our ancestors left with us a relationship, that man must marry woman and call her his wife,” said Powell, referencing Davis’ refusal last month to let Montego Bay Pride host a series of meetings at the Montego Bay Cultural Centre.

“Two men cannot be fruitful, and two women cannot raise a family, and we need people who must be determined to speak the truth and lose their position and office for righteousness. If the Bible is what governs us, and if this is our heritage, then when the question is raised, someone needs to stand up and say, ‘If you want to have your meeting, go to the seaside or find some bush to go to, but I am not bringing you in the public domain,’” Powell declared to rousing applause from the congregation.

Maurice Tomlinson, the founder of Montego Bay Pride, filed a lawsuit against the municipal corporation on September 24 on the grounds that Davis’ denial of permission in order to preserve the “sacredness” of the cultural centre was unconstitutional and discriminatory.

Powell also noted that Jamaicans must be as determined to protect their heritage from injustice as their forefathers had been.

“Those who paved the way for us were determined that they must succeed. We must determine that we’re not going to surrender Jamaica, land we love, to crime and violence but we’re going to stand for righteousness and holiness,” said Powell.