By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

MOST practising lesbians and gays are the products of dysfunctional families which are on the rise, claimed former Bahamas Christian Council President Bishop Simeon Hall yesterday.

He said spousal abuse, incest and rape have irreversible negative affects on children and have contributed to a lesbian and gay community that is the fast growing subculture in Bahamian society.

Bishop Hall believes that in order to stunt the evolution of that group of persons there needs to be an overhaul of the family structure.

“Strong, loving functional families,” he said, “are the last bastion against the homosexual avalanche. Most churches and sociologists agree that adult behaviour in all areas is shaped and influenced by what has happened in the family.

“Spousal abuse, incest and rape, all these have irreversible negative affects on children and unfortunately and regrettably these are on the rise. And I believe the root cause of some persons embracing the homosexual lifestyle.”

And although a noticeable growth of gay and lesbian couples has been seen throughout the country, Bishop Hall said he is not worried about non-heterosexual marriages becoming legal in the Bahamas.

“I am convinced that the majority of the heterosexual Bahamians while they respect the individual rights of others will never accept the legalisation of same sex marriage and to this we give our full support.

“Same sex marriage clearly violates the divine intent, but will also cause greater deterioration of the social order as we know it today.”

In the short term, Bishop Hall repeated that the church must treat all lesbian and gay individuals as human beings.

“We must, in imitation of Christ reach out with love to those persons chained to this lifestyle. While I affirm that homosexuals are yet humans, I also assert that the practice is a deviance from what God’s word has established.

“Homosexuals and heterosexuals share a common humanity. A homosexual is still a person,” he said.

The Bishop has been accused of flip-flopping on this issue since he took a different tone against homosexuals a few years ago.

In response to newly released HIV/AIDS statistics in November 2011, he urged them to “seek help in turning away from their non-productive and deadly practice.”

He said the practice of homosexuality cannot produce anything good.

“Homosexuality…is anti-family (and) it goes against what God has ordained. It is deadly,” he said.