Bahamas
(Reuters):
The
Bahamas
has
banned
the
gay
cowboy
movie
Brokeback
Mountain,
triggering
a
new
controversy
over
the
island
chain's
reputation
for
homophobia.
Gay
rights
groups
and
other
critics
called
on
the
Plays
and
Films
Control
Board
to
think
again,
so
far
to
no
avail.
''I
cannot
understand
denying
people
the
right
to
make
their
own
choices,''
said
theatre
director
Phillip
Burrows.
The
award-winning
2005
film
about
two
cowboys
who
fall
in
love
got
the
thumbs-down
from
the
control
board
after
a
request
for
it
to
be
banned
from
the
Bahamas
Christian
Council,
which
has
been
involved
in
previous
anti-gay
action.
The
ban
does
not
come
as
a
surprise
to
Bahamians.
Last
September,
Miss
Teen
Bahamas
was
stripped
of
her
title
after
she
admitted
to
being
a
lesbian.
Four
years
ago,
employees
walked
off
the
job
at
an
isolated
resort
cay
in
the
Bahamas
after
a
shipload
of
gays
arrived.
The
disgusted
workers
described
carnal
scenes
on
the
beach
as
''like
Sodom
and
Gomorrah''
and
refused
to
work
until
they
had
gone.
In
2004,
Christian
groups
led
a
protest
against
the
Norwegian
Dawn
cruise
ship,
which
had
docked
with
1,600
gay
passengers.
Rallied
by
the
Save
the
Bahamas
Initiative,
which
maintains
that
family
values
are
undermined
by
gay
couples,
hundreds
of
demonstrators
waved
banners
saying,
''If
you're
gay,
stay
away,''
and
''Even
animals
have
more
sense
than
homosexuals.''
The
2004
protest
did
not
repeat
the
violence
of
1998,
when
lesbian
couples
were
chased
off
Bay
Street,
Nassau's
main
shopping
thoroughfare,
by
furious
protesters
and
the
mooring
ropes
of
a
visiting
gay
cruise
ship
were
tossed
into
the
sea.
In
its
2005
Country
Report,
the
US
State
Department
criticised
the
Bahamas
government
for
actively
promoting
opposition
to
homosexuality.
''Although
homosexual
relations
between
consenting
adults
are
legal,
there
was
no
legislation
to
address
the
human
rights
concerns
of
homosexuals,
lesbians,
bisexuals
or
trans-gendered
persons,''
said
the
report,
released
last
month.
A
gay
rights
organization,
the
Rainbow
Alliance,
has
called
for
tolerance
and
last
year
opened
an
office
in
Nassau.
''We
hope
this
will
become
a
center
for
social
change,''
said
member
Helen
Klonaris.