December has swept through, with its days earmarked by many faiths for festivity and fellowship. The imported Christmas firs in Bridgetown blinked out over the Careenage, and shops were decorated with tinsel and holiday salutations. For most, it was a stressful period that culminated in hamcutters and visitations from extended family. Maybe gifts to open.
But for many members of the LGBTQ+ community, this was a period of compounded loneliness, the anniversary of families and old lives lost at the expense of who they unchangeably are. So, as many religious organisations continue to celebrate some of the holiest days on their calendar, it is time for them to reflect on how their words and actions have contributed to the mistreatment of the LGBTQ+ community on this island.
According to a 2022 national survey commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme, 84 per cent of LGBTQ+ respondents identified religious groups as a major barrier to their human rights and acceptance. This stark statistic gains significance when juxtaposed with the fact that, at the last census, 76 per cent of the island’s population identified with a Christian denomination. Therefore, the burden of this discontent falls at the feet of a religion that is pillared around ‘Love thy neighbour as thyself’ (Matthew 22:36-40).
Houses of worship should never serve as platforms for judgment or division. The consequences of using religious doctrines to propagate hate are real and impact lives in profound ways. Five years ago, Barbados TODAY ran an article titled I’m Free: How Canada’s Rainbow Railroad helped a Barbados couple fleeing persecution find peace. It detailed the danger one LGBTQ+ couple faced, including death threats, a Molotov cocktail chucked through an open window, and overall police indifference. This event is one of many and is not happening in some vacuum. It is spirited on by the violence thrown out at the pulpit, which makes its way into classrooms, and the highest offices in the land.
If, as a society, we are satisfied with the manipulation of holy words towards violent ends, then we are recreating a roadmap set down by colonisers hundreds of years ago. If, instead, we wish to embody the best of Christ, we are called to embrace love, compassion, and acceptance for all members of our community.
It is time for the difficult work of collectively sculpting a Barbados where religion can act as a unifying force, not a tool for oppression and punishment. That will require the faithful to speak out in defence of compassion and engage actively with the LGBTQ+ community from the heart of this virtue. That will require faith leaders to practice what they preach and spend more time listening to a minoritised group than vilifying it.
Ark Ramsay
