US lawyer to headline local anti-gay rally
David Gibbs III
(CNS): A conservative Christian lawyer from the United States who has suggested that legalising gay marriage would lead to a catalogue of social ills will be one of three guest speakers headlining a religious rally in Cayman next month. The event, which is being organised by a group of local churches, is billed as promoting biblical values, but top of the agenda appears to be the fight against gay rights and in particular preventing members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender community gaining the right to marry or have their partnerships legally legitimised or to enjoy a family life within transgender or same-sex relationships.
David Gibbs III, who takes an anti-gay stand, is not quite as controversial as his father David Gibbs Jr but he has nevertheless spoken out at many public religious events in recent years about what he believes is an agenda or conspiracy by the liberal left to promote gay marriage and alternative lifestyles.
He believes this will lead to a rise in single-parent households, an increase in dependents on social welfare and healthcare. In 2009 he told participants at an anti-gay rally in North Carolina that gay marriage would “open the door to unusual marriage” in the state.
“Why not polygamy, or three or four spouses?” Gibbs asked. “Maybe people will want to marry their pets or robots.”
Dr Brendan Bain
The lawyer, who in 2005 fought to keep brain-damaged Terri Schiavo on life support, has been using the courts and the US Constitution to fight against gay rights. He will be joining Dr Brendan Bain from the Jamaica-based Family Life Ministries and Cayman’s own Pastor Alson Ebanks at the rally on Sunday 11 September at the Lion’s Centre.
Organisers of the event, which has the motto ‘The Future Is Now: Preserving Values for a Better Tomorrow”, are hoping these speakers will be a “rallying call” to promote a biblical perspective of family because of what they claim is the “shock” over the “speed with which changes are occurring in societies worldwide”.
In a release about the event, which may well stir up discrimination, intolerance and abuse of the LGBT community, Gibbs said his presentation will aim to frame the legal debate on the definition and nature of the family, and “navigating today’s increasingly diverse perspectives”.
Pointing to the legal and constitutional issues surrounding family and the community, the fundamentalist Christian stated, “If you give people good information, they can make good decisions, and that’s what we want to do. The outcome would be healthy discussion and debate that will positively benefit the Islands for generations to come.”
Gibbs said that as an observer of legal and constitutional trends, he has been concerned about some major shifts in the western world. “I think it is important that we come to grips with these critical issues before this grand experiment we are hoisting on the next generation cannot be stopped,” he added.
Dr Brendan Bain will be sharing information on medical and public health issues the organisers said though it is not clear how as an internal medicine, infectious diseases and public health, specialist where his presentation will fit.
In the release he said it could not be ignored that “a number of individuals, international groups and governments are exerting pressure on our communities to accept sexual practices that have not been previously accepted in most Caribbean communities”.
Pastor Alson Ebanks
Meanwhile, Pastor Alson from the Church of God will speak on the framework for defending biblical family values, and call the Christian community back to follow the Bible as the best guide to preserving those values. The rally will look at “decisions involving sexuality” but Pastor Ebanks said it would involve more than what he called “alternative lifestyles”, though he admitted this was the main point.
“It would be hypocritical for us not to acknowledge that one of the catalysts for this rally is the publicity over the last several months given to alternative lifestyles, but this cannot be the main focus of the rally since the real issues are more extensive,” the pastor said, pointing to husband-wife relationships, sexual morality as a whole, family roles and responsibilities, and “how adherence to these in the context of Biblical values are good for the society as a whole”.
Although the PPM government has made it very clear it has no policy plans to introduce gay marriage or any kind of legal protection for same-sex couples, the fear that it might at some point in the future has seen mounting public intolerance towards the local LGBT community coming from the pulpit and parliament.
Last week yet another private members motion was filed by Anthony Eden in the Legislative Assembly on the possibility of legalised same-sex unions or gay marriage, which was backed by all of the independent MLAs. This time Eden is calling for a referendum. A previous motion asking government to confirm its commitment to marriage remaining an institution between the members of the opposite sex gave rise to some extremely unpleasant anti-gay rhetoric in parliament.
Category: Local News
Anyone who says that God is not real or that the Bible is not the Word of God… One simple statement for you… you will eventually know for yourself.
Peace and truth to all
This is one of the most blatantly biased articles I have ever read. The “event, which may well stir up discrimination, intolerance and abuse of the LGBT community” … Give me a break. What utter biased non-sense. What stirs up hate is this article, which is evident from the amount of unabashedly hateful comments about Christianity posted here. What an embarrassment that CNS could publish such a poorly written and intentionally misleading string of words.
Guy christianity is based off martyrdom and hate. It’s not called “hate comments” when you state the obvious.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-37257005
I think the Bishop from the Church of England who just became the first to publicly acknowledge he is gay should be brought in to add a bit of color to this.
Long story short, any book that tells you to stone anyone is full of BS.
There is no such thing as ‘sexual preference’. By nature we are designed to mate with the opposite sex for the sheer sake of producing offspring and preserving humanity. Love, pleasure and religion are the relative elements, not intercourse.
Hence, if an extinction level event occurred and two Sexually Confused Individuals shacked up in a bomb shelter are the only ones that survive, humanity is done for.
Idiots.
According to the bible an extinction event already occured when God flooded the Earth to get rid of sin and appointed Noah as the righteous man to repopulate the human race. Too bad we still have sin because that fool of God has know idea how to manage his creation. Who’s the real idiot?
He can’t manage his finances either. After thousands of years he still has his shills at the churches demanding money.
Reality check, 9:30 – Humanity has already dug a hole for itself with stupid religions like christianity and we’re trying to climb out of that hole now.
Homosexual behavior is common throughout the natural world. The argument that it is not natural is therefore invalid.
Idiots
Gotta love Cayman’s fundie Christians. They don’t lose a wink of sleep over money laundering for dictators, environmental destruction, government corruption, or a failing school system. But let a few gays threaten to get married and it’s the fall of Western Civilization. Time to make a stand! What a weird god they seek to please. And how pathetic is it that the US exports some of the worst of its hate and lunacy with these globetrotting dirtbags who fleece the yokels of developing nations? If Trump wins maybe all these hate missionaries and crazy crusaders for hire will be able to gain more traction in their own country so they’ll leave us alone.
As for our own homegrown nuts in leadership positions, they have to retire sometime. Hopefully the next generation will be an upgrade in both the intelligence and morality departments.
Watch this excellent documentary, “God Loves Uganda”, to see just how evil this US anti-gay hate racket is.
http://www.godlovesuganda.com/
Can you point to Cayman on a map?
Can you name the planets in our solar system?
I have sat and read all of the CNS stories on this topic and I must say it is very clear that CNS has a bias. If anyone should be accused of encouraging intolerance and hatred its is CNS and some of your readers.
The Cayman Islands choose to include Christianity in our Constitution. We chose to be a God Fearing nation, we chose to raise our families according to Christian tradition and principles. Yes there are glaring exceptions with the “stoning of adulterers, eating pork etc” but name any law, religion, policy etc that is followed 100%.
Just because members of the Christian society do not live according to the “rules” 100% that does not mean that the bible is wrong and should be ignored. Gods word is clear, same-sex marriage is a sin, homosexuality is a sin, so is murder and adultery. Yes you have a point when you say “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone”, but please remember the context…Jesus spoke those words to make a point to his disciples, he most certainly did not give us the authority to use those words on his behalf.
So whether we like it or not, condeming those who say we should not allow same-sex marriage does not make it any less a sin and if we choose to embrace Christianity there is an even more justified reason for not allowing it.
So please remember, we voted for the Constitution, we agreed that we were a Christian nation, we chose to uphold Christian Principles, we are a Christian nation. If anyone wants to change that lets have a Referendum and change it, but until such time, lets stop being hypocrites and stick to the plan.
Caymanians…you all need to stop being so wishy washy and weak minded. You know what the bible says, and you know what the majority says, just because you happen to have a gay friend or relative, or you find it amusing to watch the interactions of the two Gay Canadians that live in your complex does not allow you to discard years and years of Caymanian tradition, culture and belief. Stop being so willing to import everything foreign because it makes you different. We have always had gay Caymanians. That won’t change but this is a bigger issue than the wants of a select few, this is democracy and majority rules.
Please note: Changes to the Immigration Policy do not help Gay Caymanians, the change will only recognise same-sex partners of persons here on a work permit. Perhaps the Government should have done this in a way that would actually help Gay Caymanian couples.
The PPM has had Gay candidates in the past, why wasn’t it done by them? or for them?
Aha! Selective religion-choose which parts you like and don’t like. Has it occurred to you that it was men who allegedly wrote Gods words and as with all men, they probably had off days or wanted to exercise control over other people, and that the real stories (that make sense to me at least) are the ones of a loving God? You choose to believe the hatred bit…that does not make you a God Fearing Christian, and why on earth should you fear God anyway? Messed up, all of you.
The bible actually says nothing about same-sex marriage. It’s funny how often people state that the bible is clear, when the only thing that’s actually clear is that everyone has a different interpretation of it.
Er, Adam (a man) and Eve (a woman) ………… is there something else you are puzzled about?
2:06- Yea, interpret this verse for me please, this puzzles me. Pslams 137:9.
Yes. I’m puzzled about how their children, including Abel, Cain and Seth (Gen.5:4) reproduced. They must have had to have sex with their siblings. How do biblical literalists explain the incest taboo?
I think the problem is thinking about such nonsense rationally 12:08
God is in charge. He allowed it at the time to start populating the world. Remember how he forgave the sinner on the cross and gave him a promise of salvation, yet he was not baptize by water? Each of us must decide to follow God or Satan. The choice is ours my friend. But don’t expect believing Christians to buy in to your ungodly lifestyle. Keep it in the closet because I certainly don’t want for my grand children to see that kind of filt and confuse them. I want them to be as straight as an arrow…man with woman partner!
God is in charge – False
Only one you need fear. Lord Voldemort.
Sure. That’s a good story about what heteros do. Where does it say that same-sex marriage is a sin?
To “come on now”, try hard to understand this. I will type slowly for you. Ready? Here we go:
You can be religious. You can pray, worship, and go to church as much as you want. You can choose NOT to enter into a gay marriage. Ok? Still with me? Now here comes the hard part (for you).
Why are you not content with this situation? Do you understand anything about the concepts of freedom and fairness? Your marriage is your marriage. My marriage is my marriage. What is misfiring in your brain that prevents you from understanding this?
Just admit that you and all who think like you are bullies. You are nothing more than pathetic bullies hiding behind God. You’re all a bunch of hypocrites as well. If you ever found yourself outnumbered and being denied a basic right by the majority you would freak out and scream for justice until the end of time.
My Silverado has a 5.3 liter (that’s 5,300cc to you in the U.K., sportsfan) V8 and it has never misfired yet. If it ever does you’ll be the first to know, believe me. You appear quite earnest, I must say.
Christian society not following the bible 100% just means they do have common sense and able to critically think for themselves. The bible itself is not proof of some creature in the sky that for some reason is more concerned with what you do behind close doors, rather than children starving to death. In fact, christianity alongside side islam is two of the most repulsive idealogies that man conjured up.
To all christians who think the bible is the word of the creator of the universe, you’re all deluded and to force that view on to others is truly, truly disgusting. Grow up.
with comments like this, I feel so welcomed to the Island. This transgender woman will likely never visit Grand Cayman again. You are a bunch of ignorant bigots. It’s a shame you have such a paradise and choose to pollute it with intolerance and hate. I’m not risking my family, time, money, and personal safety just to take in 7 mile beach. I have a real fear that I could be stopped at the airport or thrown in jail for just being who I am. What a bunch of morons.
Caymanian Christianity and Muslim extremest are getting more alike every day.
Can’t tell the difference between the Christian faith and Islamic faith anymore. Both are terrible ideas to begin with.
He, he looks like a nice man
…who, like his father before him, believes in “the fundamental right” to “beat” and abuse children. It would be hard to find a more hell-bound speaker.
Oh I would. Especially if he kept his glasses on.
Who are we to Judge anyone? Who is this man that come to this country and instill his hatred on others? Every man has a right to decide his own destiny, and trust me there is only one judge. God will be the judge. Every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess before him, for he is Lord.
Only person doing the judging is Lord Voldemort. Every knee shall bow and every wand shall know, there is only one Lord, Lord Voldemort.
Sounds like another case of non-Caymanians trying to impose their views on Cayman.
So what?
So you’re saying that the Governor’s daughter can bring down pro-LGBT advocates from the UK but it’s not ok to rebut that campaign with a pro-straight/religion conference? Is that fair? The LGBT Agenda is the one spewing HATE disguised as love. The advocates hate that their lifestyle isn’t accepted amongst decent people with proper moral values as it should be. It’s no way to live and you know it. Check YouTube for all of the rejections Obama has been getting from Africa.
Lol and beating your wife, slavery and stoning adulterers is the way to live? Tell me what does the bible say about apostasy?
Gibbs de Turd is coming.
Don’t we all have the right to express our beliefs? So why is it called “hate” speech when Christians speak up and defend their belief against LGBT? Just because you disagree with someone and speak up for what you believe in doesn’t equal hate. Just as those on this forum who have made comments against Christians doesn’t equal hate speach or does it? You can’t have it both ways.
Change “gay” for “black” and still run that argument
Oh good one sir. Well delivered and in a way that the recipient will remember it!
10:13 — aren’t we clever?
The headliner thinks society wants to marry pets and robots! If you look around this anti-gay crowd and see a large percent of nuts (which you will), you might want to question if it is the right cause for you. Many other valuable ways to spend your time.
Wow! Ignorant much? They must love you in the Church here.
I appreciate that the writer has kept this article fair and balanced. Many of the previous articles on LGBT content here were biased, in my opinion.
Anon, 2:17 pm, I think the original news release was seeking to be fair and balanced, but the CNS re-hash not so much.
Dear Readers: Please check out this link — there is David C. Gibbs Jr, and then there is the speaker, David C Gibbs III — unrelated to each other:
https://spiritualsoundingboard.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/which-gibbs-article-and-chart-v2.pdf
This may explain some of the Internet nuggets that have been noted by some posters and elsewhere which are inconsistent with what David C. Gibbs III stands for.
Apparently a case of mistaken identity.
Hardly unrelated. They are father and son. I had a look at the article posted by several people and it seems perfectly clear on the difference between the two GIbbs. Try again, you seem to be squirming. Are you one of the organisers?
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/leavingfundamentalism/2016/05/31/the-fixer-christian-lawyers-history-defending-abusers/
4:26 — not at all — had I been an organizer I would have known they were father and son. In any case, if we condemn people on the basis of our relatives, many of us would be in a pickle!
4:26 pm — so everything you read on the web is accurate? You always have to consider the source.
“Religion was invented when the first CON MAN meet the first Fool” Mark Twain
Go and see the Con Men speak and see how many fools there will be there!
Man is a Religious Animal. He is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion–several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat if his theology isn’t straight. He has made a graveyard of the globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brother’s path to happiness and heaven….The higher animals have no religion. And we are told that they are going to be left out in the Hereafter. I wonder why? It seems questionable taste.
– “The Lowest Animal” Mark Twain
Here’s a great article about the lawyer they’ve got for this (how much is he being paid, by the way?). Prepare to be sickened. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/leavingfundamentalism/2016/05/31/the-fixer-christian-lawyers-history-defending-abusers/
lol … whats so sick with a lawyer representing his clients??? Thats what lawyers are suppose to do. 🙂
OMG that truly is sickening. Why are we encouraging and paying such people to come here and spread their hate (and no doubt abuse)?
This is nothing short of disgusting.
I have wondered about that as well. Would he even be allowed into certain countries. eg. the UK, NZ, or Canada given his reputation for hate speech?
Hate speech? How sad that people on this site can make the most vile anti-Christian utterances, yet if anyone has a variance in opinion on the gay lifestyle he or she is said to be spewing hate?
I have seen nothing even remotely near the quality of unpleasantness and aggressiveness in the churches’ information as is on this every site, while alleging that debate on a topic of concern all around the world is “hatred.” A little elevation of thought, logic and discourse are very evidently and urgently needed.
No, not anti- christian, anti-BS.
4:19 – Christianity is vile on it’s accord. No one needs to point out the obvious, it’s already in the light.
intolerance of intolerance is not hate. You be you and let us be us and there is no problem. Strip us of our dignity, right to be who we are, who we will marry and how we identify, you are going to have a problem!
1:15 pm — we need to be discriminating about what we see on the web — we can’t trust everything we see!
12:43 — you know, the thing about the Internet is that anyone can put anything up, however inaccurate. That is freedom that the Internet affords. One has to assess the source of information — this would not be the first largely or wholly inaccurate and contrived document. Think about all the innocent persons who end up in jail because people twisted the truth.
What makes it “great”? Do you know if you can trust the website? Here is a good example — one never takes statistics at face value — you always have to check the bonafide of the organization that puts the statistics out!
What a hopelessly slanted report (and not for the first time when it comes to CNS and anything connected with this topic in particular). Everyone’s entitled to an opinion, including journalists, but it is hardly appropriate to lace a news piece with what is clearly the writer’s personal views – I mean, it ends up being anything but objective, doesn’t it? Please, let’s have more objectivity and less opinion and speculation from now on. (However, I enjoyed the barbs directed at that American newspaper that claims to represent everything Caymanian whilst using American spelling for some unfathomable reason. Too much sun, maybe?)