Gov't sticking with buggery laws

ROSEAU (CMC):

The Dominica government says it has no intention of changing the present buggery laws even as the advocacy group, Minority Rights Dominica (MiriDom), said it was seeking talks with the authorities on the matter of equal rights.

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, speaking on the state-owned DBS radio yesterday, said his administration's position on the matter is stated in law "and this matter is still on our books and will remain there for the foreseeable future".

"I respect the views of this new group. I understand from persons they intend to write to the government. We welcome their writing to government, we welcome meeting them, as as a matter of fact ... they are citizens of this country and they would like to express their views.

"But one has to look at the broader context of this request and it will be dangerous for the country to move in the direction of repealing laws against buggery."

Private affair

Prime Minister Skerrit said, "As it is now anybody who wants to engage in whatever activities can do so in the privacy of his home. But one should not believe that the government is prepared or thinking of wanting to make this a public affair."

Skerrit said he has not heard "any compelling arguments for it to be repealed and I don't think any compelling arguments can be made for it to be repealed. So we respect the rights of the group, and if they write to us requesting a meeting ... we will be more than willing to meet with them."

Spokesman for the group, Daryl Phillip, told radio listeners that Dominica's laws making homosexual acts a criminal offence have fuelled negative perceptions about people engaged in the practice.

Earlier this month, the group in a statement said it was also calling on the Roman Catholic Church to make its position clear on the issue, saying that the buggery laws fuel homophobia in countries where they are still on the law books.

But Bishop Gabriel Malzaire in response said that the Catholic Church here adheres to the call by the Holy See.

The head of the Roman Catholic Church here said that God's law must always be obeyed "and all of us are called to live by God's law if salvation is part of our agenda. Therefore, whether it regards fornication, adultery, homosexual activity, the whole gamut, we have to live by God's law."