Marco City MP Gregory Moss and his party, the United People's Movement (UPM), are accusing the Christie administration of pushing 'the gay agenda', months after the majority of people who voted in the gender equality referendum voted against several questions, including one that would have made it unconstitutional to discriminate against someone based on sex.
The party condemned the affirmative vote of The Bahamas at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on December 19, 2016, supporting the appointment of an independent expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The party said Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell is no doubt aware that it was the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) that led the drive to have the UN make such an appointment.
In a press statement, the UPM said while the laws and customs of The Bahamas clearly support the protection of people against unlawful violence, the result of the vote was "clearly to elevate and equate so-called discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity with violence against persons".
"That is nothing other than a back-door attempt by the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) government to reject and subvert the will of the Bahamian people as expressed in the referendum of June 7, 2016 to not allow the concept of same-sex marriages and gay rights to enter the laws of The Bahamas," the statement read.
"The UPM rejects the contention of the PLP that the vote at the United Nations was 'merely a procedural one'.
The party believes Professor Vitit Muntarbhorn, the independent expert on sexual orientation and gender identity, is not an unbiased expert, but an ally to the ILGA cause.
But the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said recently The Bahamas' vote was "consistent with Christian values" after several pastors urged Mitchell to direct the country's UN representative to vote against the resolution to appoint Muntarbhorn.
In a recent e-mail sent to Mitchell, pastors Cedric Moss, Alfred Stewart and Lyall Bethel also expressed fear that the UN vote would push an LGBT agenda.
But the ministry said, "The vote at the UN General Assembly was a procedural one on whether the report of the Human Rights Council should be adopted in its entirety or with certain deletions.
"The Bahamas voted to accept the report in its entirety as we have done in the past and consistent with the mandates of people of The Bahamas.
"We remind the public that each diplomat is instructed in the language and philosophy of the Constitution of The Bahamas which insofar as is relevant for this purpose, it says 'an abiding respect for Christian values and the rule of law'.
"Each vote of The Bahamas whether at home or abroad is guided by those principles.
"Christian values include decrying any action which would support violence, discrimination, bigotry or intolerance against people of every stripe without distinction.
"The vote was consistent with those values."
But the UPM viewed the vote differently.
"The UPM rejects the actions of the PLP government in supporting the appointment of Professor Muntarbhorn as an independent expert as being an affront to the Christian values and culture of the Bahamian people and to their sound rejection of the gay rights agenda in the June, 2016 referendum," the statement said.
"The UPM also rejects the insidious attempt by Minister Mitchell to clothe the PLP's embrace of the gay rights agenda in the language of the preamble to the Bahamian Constitution and in our Christian values.
"His statement that 'Christian values include decrying any action which would support violence, discrimination, bigotry or intolerance against people of every stripe without distinction' shows how far he and the PLP government are from biblical principles in responding to the gay agenda.
"While the UPM rejects unlawful violence in every form against all people, including people in the LGBT community, it also rejects the attempt to label Christian values and the Christian rejection of the gay agenda as being discriminatory, bigoted or intolerant."
The party said while it accepts that all consenting adults are free to express their sexuality as they wish in private, it maintains the God-given and constitutional rights of all Bahamians to enjoy their religious freedom, inclusive of the expression of their faith and the rejection of those things which God has ordained as being sins and abominations, without fear of any form of legal or constitutional restriction or consequences whatsoever.
"A UPM government will respect and defend the Christian values of the Bahamian people, will defend the constitutional rights of the Bahamian people to express their Christian faith, will maintain the sanctity of marriage as only being between a natural born male and a natural born female and will maintain those positions both within The Bahamas and internationally."

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