Topic of same-sex marriage ‘frustrating a lot of people’– Cindy Rosan
Rosan made the comment while sitting as a co-host of the July 12, 2022, edition of "Da International Morning Braff" radio show on Tola Radio 100.5 FM.
People frustrated with topic – Rosan
“At the end of the day, if we are talking about the same-sex marriage and I think that is frustrating a lot of people… the UK has made it clear on many occasions that they will not be forcing it on their overseas territories, it has come up over and over,” she added.
‘Cindy’ was at the time reacting to the Premier’s Dr the Hon Natalio D. Wheatley’s (R7) comments that the VI can make its own laws regarding the same-sex marriage bill that some United Kingdom (UK) parliamentarians are seeking to force upon the British Overseas Territories.
The bill was on Wednesday, July 6, 2022, introduced in the House of Lords to legalize same-sex marriages in British Overseas Territories, including the Virgin Islands, where they’re currently banned.
Gay rights pioneer Lord Michael M. Cashman put forward the private members’ bill, which is a bill introduced by MPs and Lords who are not government ministers.
Rosan reminded, however, that the bill was done by a private member of the House, rather than by the UK Government and as such, is not the UK forcing the matter on OTs.
VI can make its own laws – Premier
Rosan added, “I’m sure as some point, some government will come in and say we got to protect everybody’s rights and so we got to review this and give them (OTs) the opportunity to make the decision or we will make the decision.”
Addressing the topic, Premier Wheatley told Virgin Islands News Online (VINO) on July 11, 2022, that he is not in favour of legislation being forced on the VI.
“I do not agree for any legislation to be imposed on the people of the Virgin Islands from the United Kingdom parliament. We have our own parliament, and we can make and amend laws for ourselves,” he said.
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28 Responses to “Topic of same-sex marriage ‘frustrating a lot of people’– Cindy Rosan”
Cindy need to sit her crazy a$$ down. How much attention can one individual want? No wonder Ba**y left her..
You are disgusting. You are one of the person's that causing others getting feeling of frustration on this same sex marriage issue. On this issue you need to let it rest. The people of the British Virgin Islands Islands are apoximately least 95% probably as much as 98% against same sex marriage. Stop your continuing barking on this issue.
Rrrrrrrright.
Where is the news that Vance win her crazy @&& in court?
Rule number one is to know how your opponents operate.
What is it about the oppressed Caribbean culture that makes us shout and scream about the immorality of slavery and yet be so cold blooded, cruel and inhuman about this kind of love?
Especially you church people. Many of you are so sure you are right that any inhumanity toward gay people is not just fine, it is something to celebrate and promote.
Just like many Europeans were 100% certain that Africans were chosen by god to be slaves and cruelty towards them was righteous and to be promoted.
And the same people imposed their own made up God-stories on the slaves to help control them. And now the slaves descendants promote the same cruelty to others.
And besides, are you not aware that same sex marriage is a legal thing? Not a Church thing. It just gives rights to couples so they can have things like inheritance and other spousal rights in certain situations (eg hospital visits, next of kin, etc).
And has it occurred to you that their actions will not in any way affect you? You can live your life without even knowing two people are legally married. It won’t change your life at all but will make a positive difference to them. But you don’t want that. You want hate.
You all so Godly. You need to sit under a big tree for a moment and contact the higher power. Nothing in the universe gives you the right to mistreat fellow humans.
You know this because you use this argument all the time when you talk about colonialism. If you have any real morals they should apply here, too.
I didn't listen to the show but it doesn't say in the article!!
Yes or no, Cindy?
Just curious
Should know better? Should?
People here knows better. Of course.
But people here like to pretend they have principles and morals. But they just dress up in fine clothes on Sunday and proceed to be greedy, abusive and cruel for the rest of the week.
It was viewed as a massive success and a historic moment across the continent. Despite this the more than half of the countries in Africa outlaw homosexuality, with four enforcing the death penalty. At a time where we see more and more countries worldwide becoming progressive with regard to LGBT rights, why does Africa still maintain their anti-LGBT stance? Is homosexuality, rather than homophobia a “western import” as claimed by Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni?
Of course not. There is a direct correlation between countries which belong to the Commonwealth, and therefore have previously been under British rule, and countries that still have homophobic biphobic and/or transphobic legislature in their constitutions. 25 per cent of the world’s population (2.4 billion people) currently live in a country belonging to the Commonwealth, however they make up a disproportionately large 50 per cent of countries that still criminalise homosexuality.
But this phenomenon is specific to those under British rule. By the 13th century in France, punishments for male homosexuality include castration for the first offence. But the French repealed their anti-sodomy laws after the first French Revolution in 1750, two centuries prior to the British in 1967. This is then echoed in La Francophonie nations; out of 54 member states, only 33 per cent of these criminalise homosexuality, in comparison to 66 per cent of Commonwealth nations.
Prior to European colonisation, throughout the African continent we see far different, more relaxed attitudes towards sexual orientation and gender identity. As far back as 2400 BC tombs have been excavated in ancient Egypt with two men’s bodies Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep embracing each other as lovers. In addition to their acceptance of same sex relationships, Ancient Egyptians, similar to other civilisations at the time not only acknowledge a third gender, but venerate it. Many deities were portrayed androgynously, and goddesses such as Mut (the goddess of Motherhood; lit. translation Mother) and Sekmeht (goddess of war) are often depicted as women with erect penises.
This was not unique to Egypt or this time period. In the 16th century, the Imbangala people of Angola had “men in womens apparel, with whom they kept amongst their wives”. In contrast, King Henry VIII had just signed the Buggery Act in 1533 in England, which criminalised sex between two males. The last men to be sentenced to death by hanging in England were in 1835 for engaging in homosexual sex; whilst at the same time there was an openly gay monarch, King Mwanga II of Buganda (present day Uganda), who actively opposed Christianity and colonialism. The Igbo and Yoruba tribes, found mostly in present day Nigeria, did not have a binary of genders and typically did not assign gender to babies at birth, and instead waited until later life. Similarly the Dagaaba people (present day Ghana) assigned gender not based on ones anatomy, but rather the energy one presents. In the royal palaces of Northern Sudan, daughters were sometimes given slave girls for sex.
For centuries, across the African continent there was a completely different attitude towards sexual and gender identities. Many African countries did not see gender as a binary in the way that their European colonisers did, nor did they correlate anatomy to gender identity. In no African country prior to colonisation do we see any persecution of LGBT individuals because of their sexuality, nor any anti-LGBT laws.
So how, despite a very relaxed attitude towards homosexuality and gender fluidity for almost all its recorded history, has Africa become one of the most difficult continents to be LGBT?
Colonisation and the spread of fundamentalist Christian attitudes from the British meant that much of Africa lost its previous cultural attitude towards sexual orientation and gender identity and were forced to adopt “new” values from British colonisers in the 19th and 20th centuries. Homophobia was legally enforced by colonial administrators and Christian missionaries. In 1910, Christians made up about 9 per cent of the population of sub-Saharan Africa; by 2010, the figure had leapt to 63 per cent. Anti-LGBT laws were not only written into constitutions, but also into the minds of many African people, and after the passing of several generations, this has become dogma.
While many of the countries under British rule are now independent, the majority who still criminalise homosexuality, including Jamaica and Uganda, have carried over these laws from the colonial era. Generations later, many Africans now believe that an anti-gay attitude is one that is a part of their culture. So much so, that former Zimbabwean President Mugabe labelled homosexuality as a “white disease”.
The association of homosexuality as something “western” is echoed throughout the ex-Commonwealth and particularly in African and Caribbean nations. For many who had their lives and cultures stripped from them by the British, western-ness is to be treated with suspicion and it’s essential to hold on to any part of themselves and their culture they can. This combined with the fact that western countries have threatened to deny aid to these countries unless they conform to their ideals has hindered the fight for LGBT rights in African countries. For instance, when ex-Prime Minister David Cameron threatened to withdraw aid from Uganda as they “were not adhering to proper human rights”, the presidential adviser responded with ‘But this kind of ex-colonial mentality of saying: 'You do this or I withdraw my aid' will definitely make people extremely uncomfortable with being treated like children."
It is clear that top down reform, with the western world leading the way is not going to be the road that Africans take to change their anti-LGBT laws; scepticism towards the West and homophobia are far too closely intertwined. Rejecting pro-LGBT legislation is rejecting neo-colonialism and is in favour of African nationalism, self-determination and self-worth. Unfortunately, African homophobia is a tricky mix of anti-neo-colonialism, politics, and religion, made worse by the HIV/AIDS crisis. This crisis has led Africans to associate HIV/AIDS and death as a consequence of being gay, similar to American attitudes towards HIV/AIDS during the United States AIDS crisis of the 1980s.
So what is the future for LGBT rights in Africa? In many countries, despite the legacy of colonisation, citizens are taking a more autonomous stance on LGBTQ+ legislature, with the queer communities taking the lead, instead of external pressures from the West. Across the world, countries that have improved their LGBT rights records have done so because of the hard work, organising and leadership of local LGBT groups and communities, and the case of Africa is no different. Enforcing top-down change from the West would do little to change the attitudes of Africans towards homosexuality; this is a struggle that must be led by local LGBT communities who know best what they need and how to fight for it.