The Pentecostal Assemblies of the West Indies (PAWI) on August 18 hosted their second rally in three days to discuss “the agenda of the LGBTQ+ community for Saint Lucia and the wider Caribbean”. The rallies came ahead of the scheduled Pride Celebration from August 23 to 26. Per the organisers, the numerous activities are aimed at educating and sensitizing the public, as well as “nurturing the dignity of non-heterosexual and gender-conforming people on-island”.
The first rally was held at the Victory Pentecostal Church in Vieux Fort on August 16. Then on Sunday, churchgoers from the north of the island braved the scorching sun and gathered at the Temple of Faith Pentecostal Church in Odsan. With few seats to spare, they welcomed guest speakers Professor Wayne West and Attorney Philippa Davies, both from Jamaica. Foreign Affairs Minister Sarah Flood-Beaubrun, who is also the founder of the Caribbean Centre for Family and Human Rights (CARIFAM), attended. Ms. Flood-Beaubrun is a strong proponent of the nuclear family.
Following a rousing rendition of ‘Stand up for Jesus’ the rally got under way with Professor West at the podium. He prefaced his presentation by stating their lack of interest in “what happens in people’s bedrooms”. What was of concern was what West described as the LGBTQ campaign to change the society to one where the LGBTQ group is dominant. The church and others, he says, will be subject to this. West reminded his audience that Christ came to save all sinners, including homosexuals.
He referenced two cases in the United Kingdom: Former magistrate Richard Page, who was fired after he expressed his belief that it was in a child’s best interests to be raised by a mother and a father. Then there was Dr. David Mackereth who resigned his job after he refused to refer to transgender people by their preferred pronoun.
“There are lots of stories like that and it’s going to happen in Saint Lucia, unless you do something about it,” West warned. “If you don’t see this punch coming, it’s going to knock you out.” Identifying the Christian worldview and the atheist/secular worldview, West argued that a country cannot have two worldviews for law and public policy because it is not workable.
“So you in Saint Lucia have to decide which worldview you want,” he said, “whether you want the atheist, secular worldview which will cause you to be fired if you say a man is a man, or do you want the Christian worldview?” He stated that the Judeo-Christian worldview is under threat and blamed this on Christians who allow others to dominate the places of power, such as the judiciary and universities. He highlighted Caribbean nations as where the Judeo-Christian worldview is dominant, but is challenged by others who would make the secular view dominant.
Dr. West also called into question the legitimacy of university studies and encouraged the audience not to believe them. He claimed the universities are doing poor research and, as long as there is a public policy a university wants introduced, it will publish a study that supports its view.
Attorney Philippa Davies spoke on the possible changes in the education system that would expose children to concepts and words associated with the LGBTQ agenda “in order to groom the children to accept lies about homosexuality”. She pointed to Macmillan’s Primary Level Health and Family Life Education series that defines gender identity as “your own sense of being a girl or a boy”. This, she says, will open the way to normalizing transgenderism. “They’re teaching the children that you can separate what your body says, to who you would like to be.”
As for the buggery law, Davies likened it to a stopgap in the dam. “The buggery law draws the line in the sand between abnormal and normal sexual behavior; between natural and an unnatural sexual behavior. LGBT activists know they have to get rid of the buggery law first in order to break open the dam and flood society with their lies. . . Repealing the buggery law opens the way for same-sex marriage. Saint Lucia, you have to keep your buggery law in place. Keep it in place!”
Following the event, PAWI’s Presiding Bishop Dr. Thomas Eristhee expressed satisfaction with the turnout at the two rallies. He announced plans to host more rallies and marches, and to submit a petition to the government to keep the buggery law on the books.
Saint Lucia’s Criminal Code defines buggery as “sexual intercourse per anus by a male person with another male person.” Any person who commits buggery commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for life, if committed with force and without the consent of the other person, or ten years in any other case.
