Bahamas Bishop Urges Gays To Get Help!

A senior Bishop at the New Covenant Baptist Church in the Bahamas, Simeon Hall,  is calling for all homosexuals to "seek help" and turn away from "deadly, abnormal sexual practices".

The religious man, who claims not to be homophobic use a local newspapers statistics as the basis for yet another attack on gay people.  Bishop Hall says that in the Bahamas the number of men contracting AIDS because of homosexual practices has doubled in the past few years.

"According to Dr. Perry Gomez, director of the National HIV/AIDS programme, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the Bahamas with men is near 14 per cent, nearly double the 8 per cent documented in 2008 in the Joint United National programme on HIV/AIDS," he said.  "Homosexuality, like lesbianism, is anti-family and it goes against what God has ordained. This sexual practice cannot produce anything and now we are seeing that, according to statistics, it is deadly."

Bishop Hall said he is not trying to demonise homosexuals, but rather help them to seek help,  "I wish to affirm that homosexuals and lesbians are human beings just like everyone else. I do not demonise them, but I hurriedly urge them to seek help and turn away from this non-productive deadly practice."

He has told many church goers in the past that he doesn't want any gays or lesbians in The Bahamas or in his churches. 

Erin Green, a spokesperson for the local Gay Lesbian Bi-sexual and Transgender community told local newspapers the bishop is ignorant if he thinks that homosexuality is the only cause of the HIV/AIDS increase in the Bahamas.    "I invite Bishop Hall to attend the Caribbean HIV conference this weekend, where he, along with other Bahamians, can engage in activities and expel these myths that are so prevalent in Bahamian society," she told the paper.

"It is dangerous to believe homosexuality equals AIDS. As a country we need to educate ourselves, not only AIDS/HIV, but also homosexuality."

In the latest released research, The Bahamas has the highest prevalence of HIV in adults anywhere in the Caribbean, roughly 3.3 per cent.  AIDS is still a leading cause of death among Bahamian men and women, aged 15-44.   However, according to this research HIV infection occurs primarily among heterosexuals -  approximately 87 per cent