10/05/07

By INDERIA SAUNDERS, Guardian Staff Reporter

Inderia@nasguard.com

The Bahamas needs to decide whether it can afford the damage a "gay and lesbian lifestyle ban" would have on its $2-billion tourism industry, said a member of an international gay rights group.

In an interview with The Guardian yesterday, Brian Winfield, communications director of Equality Florida — the state's umbrella organization for gay and lesbian rights — said The Bahamas was already treading on thin ice with the international gay community. The strained relationship has everything to do with the very vocal and highly publicized anti-gay protests against Rosie O'Donnell's Family Vacation Cruise Ship in 2004.

"I do think that there is real sensitivity among gay Americans on how The Bahamas treats visitors and their own gay residents," he said. "A number of Caribbean destinations have been branded as being highly anti-gay, if not dangerous, like Jamaica, and for the vast number of gay and lesbian travelers who are a large part of the travel industry, Jamaica is not even a consideration.

"To some degree the question is does The Bahamas really want to go down that same road?"

His comments come as both the Bahamas Christian Council (BCC) and individual activists in the community call for the government to create a law banning the "gay lifestyle" of homosexuals both in the public eye as well as behind closed doors. The BCC was also involved in the 2004 protests against O'Donnell's cruise coming to country. "It was horrible," said Winfield. "They got off the ship to be greeted with an enormous amount of hatred and whether that hatred is in the name of God or not doesn't change the fact that it's hatred.

"I mean slavery was supported by scripture in the history of the United States — the fact that people use the bible to do it doesn't change what it is."

The arguments are those of thousands of American gays and lesbians, who if statistics are to be believed, wield disposal incomes very much the envy of their hetersexual counterparts and firmly placing them in the target market of tourists increasingly this country's bread and butter.

A growing glut of high-end resorts has further cemented the destination's shift up market and its need to better attract America's top percentile.

That mission could easily be compromised by another highly public anti-gay campaign.

Winfield suggested that Bahamians considering playing a role in that ban also study those stats on the decretionary spending of the gay and lesbian community.

That economic clout has made the group the focal point of advertising campaigns across North America focused on tapping into that buying power. Corporate America has generally joined them, with even conservative Detroit automakers offering a tacit acknowledgement of the importance of inclusion.

Resort destinations that once banned gay couples have had courts force them from that position. It has worked to their advantage, however. Many of those couples are without children and enjoy relatively flexible vacation schedules extending their travel opportunities around the year.

An increasing number of choices of wear to go for sun, sand and sea, however, means The Bahamas is especially vulnerable to losing those well-healed visitors.

"I think tourism is The Bahamas' number one industry," said Winfield, "and as such, it would be doing real economic damage to (itself) to disregard the gay and lesbian community as potential travellers."

The dollars-and-sense argument may have little sway with some Bahamians.

"The loss of their influence on the children is worth the loss of $4 million," said Clever Duncombe, a social activist who has been one of the most vocal in this current spate of anti-gay and lesbian crusading.