Cayman’s homophobia has British roots
Madeleine Rowell writes: As a queer Caymanian woman, I was happy to hear the news of Justice Smellie’s decision to legalise same-sex marriage in Cayman. Rights gained for our community should be celebrated, and I am so grateful for the other LGBTQIA+ people in Cayman who made this possible, including Chantelle Day, Vickie Bodden Bush, and those working with Colours Cayman.
However, I am disappointed with the community’s response to the ruling, both those in favour and those against alike. More specifically, it is ironic that so many allies continue to ostracize Caymanians and our culture from a pedestal when queerphobia in Cayman is undoubtedly a legacy of British imperialism. For example, “buggery” laws criminalising homosexuality were carried by Britain to its colonies in the 16th century, and although Britain decriminalised homosexuality over fifty years ago, these laws haunt former (and current) colonies to this day. Moreover, it is clear that for many Caymanians, homophobia is rooted in Christianity, another export of the British empire.
Little can be understood about Cayman without accounting for British colonialism and how it lives on today. Part of the reason the anti-LGBTQIA+ movement is so strong in the Caribbean is that it serves as a populist stance against imperialist forces. Although I agree homophobia and transphobia has no place in our community, if we look at the current political climate through the lens of Cayman’s colonial history, it is understandable that Caymanians are worried by changes that they view as imposed by outsiders. And the origins of queerphobic attitudes should come as no surprise.
In discussions surrounding the recent ruling, British expats in Cayman fail to account for their motherland’s influence. They call Caymanians “uncivilized” and complain about the religiosity the British themselves imported. They complain that “developed” countries do not have these issues, that they are more progressive, without realising that “developed” countries have accumulated their wealth by exploiting the people and land of their former colonies. And supposedly we’re the ones who are backward.
To our British allies: please understand and be accountable for the fact that homophobia in the Caribbean has a colonial legacy. I am tired of seeing British allies approach homophobic Caymanians with an ahistoric superiority. Rather than pointing fingers and using racist tropes to shun Caymanians for homophobia (i.e. calling us “uncivilized”), think more critically about the ways you approach allyship and the ways you can support queer folks in your daily life. Also, be aware of colonial power dynamics and the racism that runs deep in our community.
To other Caymanians still grappling with the recent ruling: I deserve to live regardless of whether or not you think I’m going to hell.
Category: Viewpoint
State and Church should no doubt be separated, ergo the confusion, political leader playing god.
One can have a non religious marriage. An atheist for example can be wed and many have been in the Cayman Islands.
The union of two people is only as religious as the two people want it to be, they are not one in the same.
So why are politicians reffering to religion when discussing LGBT as it relates to marriage… I have yet to hear an intelligent response.
AND, many of our fourfather were gay. Being gay did not just appear.
I feel pretty and witty and gaaaaayyyyyy …..
Are we sure the roots are not in Africa? The lgbt agenda is not doing well there even in the places the Brits did not go.
One of the main reasons for conflict between the straight and gay communities in the UK has been that too many gays tried to cash in on their sexual preferences and turn them into a money-making career. They refused to respect other people’s beliefs, demanded special treatment and when they didn’t get it went crying to the courts and the media. In many ways it’s comparable to the rising levels of Islamophobia. The Muslims are doing the same and feeling the backlash. These people are living in a community – all they have to do to be part of it is blend in and if you can’t do that expect trouble.
And let’s be very blunt about it – this is not one-sided in the UK, the gay community can be just as bad. I remember some years ago going into a pub in a large seaside town in the UK with a friend of mine and our female partners. What we didn’t know was it was a gay bar and let’s just say the reception we got was rather less then friendly – my friend was spat on as we rather hurriedly left. Apparently a couple who made the same mistake two weeks before had been attacked.
In any case, the situation in the Cayman Islands is very different from the UK because prejudice of all kinds is being fed by the churches and the local politicians. I’m an atheist but if I tell anyone that here I’m treated like the Devil incarnate. What annoys me about this is I don’t have problems with sincere religious beliefs and, unlike some more extreme atheists, will show respect to believers as long as they respect me. I’ve also worked in both moderate Muslim countries and Israel with no issues – so why all the bigotry here? It’s almost like a moral veneer being applied to cover up everything nasty going on underneath.
This is the most homophobic comment of them all, congrats!
Stop lying on Christians and praising atheists, you’re corrupt to the core.Why not tell the whole truth.Yes Charles Darwin was a backslider who turned away from God when faced with hard times and became an atheist. What you hypocrites refuse to say is the truth that on his sick death bed, Darwin returned back to God, accepted Jesus as lord and savior, and nobody mentions it when quoting the father of atheism! Great, loyal atheists!
CNS: People don’t mention it because it’s not true. Here’s an article in the New Yorker.
Key quote: In 1915, [Elizabeth Cotton] declared that, thirty-three years earlier, Charles Darwin himself had revealed to her, on his deathbed, his wish to recant the doctrine of evolution in exchange for Christian salvation. This claim was shown to be false by none other than Darwin’s daughter, Henrietta Litchfield, who was with him at the end. She pointed out that Cotton…hadn’t actually visited him during his final days.
I suspect the whole point of this article is to reinforce the idea that if you hold an anti-gay point of view that means you are HOMOPHOBIC, which is completely false. It is a blatant mischaracterization of the people of these islands.
Wait, what?
ho·mo·pho·bi·a
/ˌhōməˈfōbēə/
noun
dislike of or prejudice against homosexual people.
Everytime I hear someone blaming the English for this or that. Do you all understand that 50% of Caymanians originally came from the UK? When half of them married Black people that is what makes up todays Caymanians. We didn’t have the issues of other colonies. Which is why we didn’t have the discrimination issues about slaves marrying British or Gays. But THIS issue is opening the door to precedents.
What about Sharia law? Shouldn’t they allow it? Freedom of religion? Careful what you wish for?
CNS: The fundamental issue here is the separation of church and state, i.e. religious opposition to same-sex marriage holds no sway in the courts. In the same way, Sharia Law can never take precedent over civil laws in countries that maintain that separation. So that’s a non-issue.
No, it is definitely an issue.
It amazes me that the supporters of gay rights believe without a doubt that their beliefs are right. Why? Because people with their same beliefs agree with them? It’s pretty pompous to call people that don’t agree with you backwards and uneducated. I don’t hate gays but I also don’t agree with the lifestyle as I am a firm believer in God. I am quite educated and even graduated from a very liberal university where free speech is under attack daily by those that would tell you that God is a myth. These are the same people that fight to have prayer taken out of schools and late term abortions legalized. I would say to the gay community have at it but please don’t attack my beliefs to justify your own.
1:51am THANK YOU
Anyone that thinks LGBTQIA+ (or whatever other derivative of this liberal insanity) in anyway remotely represents biological genders and/or sexes, should be seeking mental help.
When a grown man of 46 years of age, identifies, acts and IS BEING TREATED AS a six year old girl…
That is INSANITY
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/stefonknee-wolschtt-transgender-father-leaves-family-in-toronto-to-start-new-life-as-a-six-year-old-a6769051.html
Hello beta-males!? How long will you let these leftist feed you this steaming bullshit?
What a pretentious load of tripe. Always someone else’s fault.
Ah would you cop on to yourself… no doubt the brits are pricks but to blame a bunch of dead english pricks for a bunch of living Carribean pricks is at bit much… next you will be telling me its the Jews fault! Sure wasn’t Jesus a Jew? May as well just blame him for getting the ball rolling on this whole being nice, respectful, kind and decent nonsense! What a prick… ruining being a prick for everyone!
I’d love to see opinion, discussion argument on a few of these cases and relevance but i guess that calls for a little intellectual effort! https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22fulltext%22:[%22homosexual%20marriage%22],%22sort%22:[%22kpdate%20Descending%22],%22documentcollectionid2%22:[%22JUDGMENTS%22]}
I am a proud homophobic person. Yes, I am scared of gay behavior being normalize and taught as something good in our schools and institutions. I have the right to follow my conscience. My own conscience tells me the behavior is wrong. Uk or no UK! Another thing- because I have homophobia, it does not mean I hate the person!
I hope you don’t have children. Ignorance seems to be passed on.
The term homphobia is a joke or at least overused. There or more people who do not like gay practices and that is different than being afraid of them. The term was probably coined by a pro gay to emphasize their view that not accepting gay practices is an irrational fear. The origin of the word can be looked up but the point is people labled as being homophobic are probably better categorized as having a dislike or fundamental opposition to gay lifestyle.
Thank you. Great comment 👍🏼
What is “gay lifestyle”? I am pretty sure that’s not a thing… and if you weren’t so irrational and fearful you would be able to see that. I see why the OP is proud to be labeled “homophobic” vs just being called the “Outright prick” he actually is.
If the shoe fits…
If I have a dislike or fundamental opposition to black people, what would you call me?
If I have a dislike or fundamental opposition to women, what would you call me?
I don’t hate black people. I just hate their behaviour and the black lifestyle.
Let’s be honest here. Homophobia is a Christian belief. Atheists not bound by the crazy rabblings of a 2000 year old book.
A book with how many versions, revisions, redactions? The real book is an enigma. The ones we follow today are for the most part formulated from a want to control the masses and extort wealth for the pious overlords over the centuries.
I am sure I am going to get a thumbs down for this but the most homophobic people on this island are the most brainwashed and those people are Jamaicans which is ironic because JA has a huge gay population. I would like to plead with you if you do not like our country’s laws then please please go back to your shithole island. You are also breeding too fast and we do not have the room.
The irony in the use of the word “shithole” is astonishing.
When are you Caymanians ever going to own up to the fact that a portion of your population are illiterate, racist, backwards thinking and homophobic all by your little selves? It seems Jamaica is the root of all your evil. Yes, a lot of Jamaican’s are homophobic but they are entitled to feel how they feel. Not everyone is going to accept this lifestyle much less support it. I don’t care either way as this ruling for or against doesn’t affect my days whatsoever, but people are allowed to not agree with it, condone it or want the country’s laws amended to suit the desires of these people. Neither side needs to be shoving their ideals on the other for acceptance and approval.
Still better than your population, which is probably made up of inbreeds and retards.
5,:41pm you are stupid. If its better than here. What are you doing here.
I don’t like being prejudice, but as a Caymanian man, many of my Jamaican friends had me chanting “batty man fi dead” as a young boy. Consequently, I bullied gay students in school, and feel horrible for it now.
Anyone at school here in even the 90s or early-mid 00s knows that expression.
Really?? you couldn’t just keep it civilized?
2.12pm You have achieved the honour of being the flagbearer for racist Caymanians. Sadly that’s a major problem here and Jamaicans who have helped build this country are the major recipients of this vitriol.
Truth hurts!
Ohh what an excuse. Blame the Jamaican for after all caymanians are saints. The last census shows Jamaicans having the lowest birth rate in Latin aAmericand the Caribbean. So carry on feeling superior.bignorance is bliss. .
Careful Ms. Rowell ! you’ve written a balanced and fair piece on the current state of affairs but as you can see from the responses some amongst us only know how to excoriate impartiality. What I’ve learnt is that being British and “blameless” seems to go conjointly. They attack your culture when you remind them of theirs and the history they’ve so desperately tried to rewrite. Yet In spite of the scorn for the Cayman Islands and their people, we proudly exclaim to the world how we’re British and this is the incivility we receive in return from our global British family members.
I’m not Caymanian and come from a ‘civilized’ country and I find the English to be arrogant, self centered, and blind to the evils inflicted by their colonial past. It would be refreshing to be able to appreciate all the good things brought by the empire if they would acknowledge mistakes and wrongdoing. Not doing so makes you appear to think that it was all OK and would be fine even today when you should be a better human being.
Well that’s not painting a whole Country with a ‘ broad brush’ …MUCH… I’m sure if someone termed your entire ‘civilized Country’ with the same brush (which would include you too ), you’d decry them as bigots or racists. Preach only what you practice !
Dear Ms. Rowell,
Take heart. We will not agree on your life’s choices or sexuality- but it is not my job to impose my morals or faith on you. I hear your pain as a Caymanian. As a Christian Caymanian, I struggle to hear the hatred spewed from others who claim to share my faith. I support the challenge because I believe the intent of our Constitution is clear.
However, I do not believe that the approach of shouting at one another and hurling insults is Christ-like. I speak only for myself, and not all Christians, but I am choosing love- love that shares what I believe to be the truth, with respect and compassion.
But you and I share a common pain, for our people- because as much as Chantelle is a Caymanian, there is an undercurrent of anti-Caymanian and anti-expatriates flowing through these arguments.
And that’s your point. But the vitriol and disrespect is what many Caymanians face everyday in their workplaces, in their places of worship, in their homes. I know your family and that you are of a mixed background, like many of us Caymanians. But sadly, there are many who view where they are from as superior and we are all village idiots, bigots and the list goes on.
You have made your point. The cap fits and many of your responders find it difficult to wear. So they heap more insults and scorn. You’ve made your point and it’s left a mark.
Imperialism is alive and well and is now morphing into new forms. Let us never forget it is quite insidious. It’s what allows the FCO and the HRC to accept the outcome of this decision and pressure us to not question the process of how the outcome was reached at. After all given the serious implications for our constitution, that is the key question in all of this.
For today Ms. Rowell, we may disagree on the issue of same sex marriage, but tomorrow we may all be fighting side by side to face down another constitutional challenge on a matter that unites us as Caymanians regardless of religion or sexual orientation.
Let us continue to treat each other with respect and recognise that because I don’t agree with you means I am a bigot or a phobe of some sort.
Still undecided on my stance. What I don’t like is the escalation this could cause. After this passing there will be a law to “Protect Individual Pronouns”. We will be forced to use “preferred pronouns” to address individuals with fear of criminal prosecution if we don’t, as is the case in Canada. Fact of the matter is, if you are born Male/Female you inadvertently have secondary sex characteristic quite visible to everyone. For someone to call a biological Male a Male and be prosecuted because of “preferred pronouns” is surely the end of a composed civilization. But in the end… let’s just not take LGBTQAIZX+ to that extent.
Does that mean I can bring my husband from London over here now as my spouse ?
I am serious, And yes I am a man
I am gay (god help me )
I love this country
And I contribute to the community as much as I can,
I think this is amazing news for the country and a lot of my friends who are so scared to come out and now it is almost worse because they are so scared of what could happen or if it will even last.
As for me and a handful of people I know personally myself I have the following question that I please can only ask nicely that I don’t want to hear any bad words for saying .
Can I bring my husband over who I am legally married to from the Uk
The thought my legal husband could come here and work On a legal spouse permit hasn’t been determined yet, I have been told ?
Does that mean it never will?
I understand why it would be stalled on a decision and I actually understand and accept the current no on same sex benefits / ties / rights ,
Before we (and yes WE ) all get lost in this moment. I have concerns myself that are only going to raise , heated debates from both sides of the argument
Then we all lose.
While a lot of people are no doubt here trying to understand the abomination they tell me I am, I am just trying to understand what I am allowed to do, say , act , feel or worse NOT FEEL
Please any advice without scrutiny would be loved but not expected
Thank you all in advance
From Your closet heterosexual
yep…caymanians never take responsibility for anything.
1:31 pm, go back home please
nope…i love the weather here and my expat friends.
9:21 pm, you should sent home since you don’t want to go on your own
“Caymanians aren’t smart enough to form their own opinions” – basis of the article
11:42 am, please go home and fix your own Country and don’t come back, ok.
You’re too dense to understand what 11.42 said. He/she is simply pointing out that this illogical, prejudiced opinion piece is saying that Caymanians aren’t smart enough to form their own opinions. And it’s pretty clear that he/she disagrees.
For god’s sake THINK before you post, you idiot.
You are so stupid , you run down Cayman but don’t the sense to leave and go back to your better Country
You STILL don’t get it, do you?! We all agree with each other! The problem is you can’t read!
Why the thumbs down? The basis of this article IS that Caymanians can’t form their own opinions, and that’s why it’s so wrong.
Let me buy you a ticket to back where you came from…
Let me buy you a ticket back to where you came from..
This really emphasizes that the UK and other major countries have moved on since the 60’s whereas Cayman seems to have remained there. We are all too quick to forget that major racism was prevalent in the USA at that time. Any discrimination is wrong no matter what the majority may feel.
Love it when Britain gets blamed for absolutely everything.
Sounds like another one who dropped History 101.
England is to blame for plenty, Ireland spliting in two, iraq/Kuwait/ Iran, problems in Africa, India/ Pakistan on and on.
Dont forget the US – Britain can take the blame for Trump as well!
yes, but they are not to blame for racism and discrimination within the Cayman Islands.
They bought the Africans as slaves to the west indies, which cost plenty problems then and now
What they can be blamed for is meddling, interfering and retarding progress for generations of Caymanians and Caribbean people.
Pitting politicians against each other or pitting light skinned Caymanians against darker ones by giving them preferential treatment in education and jobs back in the day, you know the usual divide and conquer which was basically the default almost everywhere they set up shop.
Yes we are a colony, but that was never a relationship or a partnership. It was more about screwing over everywhere else for the sake of the crown instead of seeing intrinsic value in people, cultures, diversity and building around or celebrating that.
Now the chickens are coming home to roost. Your Windrush scandals and your anti-foreigner Brexit campaign is your brand. You can’t market yourself out of this war zone as you have no Churchill (sorry Mrs May) to grab you by the short and curlies and pull you out of this gutter.
Your kids are knifing each other down in the streets, you are the laughing stock of democracies around the ‘civilized’ world, yet you tell everyone you have a constitution? The emperor has no clothes.
No need for you to accept any blame at all. No paternity test needed…this very ugly baby belongs to you. Striking resemblance says it all.
The Irish are responsible for Ireland splitting in two.
Ireland is still West Britain. It merely masquerades as a separate country.
Ireland was one country until England went and took it, that what caused it to split in 2 with northern Ireland staying with U K and the rest of the Island (Ireland,) getting Independant
I think you need to read a bit of history. Ireland was comprised of five separate kingdoms (though they recognised a High King, they were not united) before French-speaking Danes (the Normans) conquered a large part of it in the 1180s (after conquering most of England and bits of Wales, and later Scotland). In fact, the only time that Ireland has been truly united was under the latter years of British rule. Ireland was also invaded, with less success, by the Scots (originally Irish) and Danish-speaking Danes (the Vikings), as well as the Normans.
The Anglo-Saxons (the real English, who arrived during the Dark Ages, following the withdrawal of the Roman Empire from the province of Brittania in 409AD) and the Welsh and Cornish (the remaining real Britons, who pre-dated the Roman Invasion in 43AD) had little interest in the conquest of Ireland and were mainly the victims of Irish slave raids (that’s how St. Patrick, an Englishman, originally got to Ireland, taken as a slave).
I seem to recall it was the U.K. that forced Cayman to adopt human rights laws.
If thats the case, two wrongs still dont make a right. Besides, same-sex marriage recoginition, SSMR, if it develops, will mean infringing on other peoples rights. We see this now happening in the UK/US.
Unison
All now you’ve failed to explain how exactly their marriage is affecting your rights.
Living in a country where homosexuality is illegal isn’t a right.
Heterosexual rights were not taken away and no one is forcing you to be gay.
The number of court cases going on in the U.S. regarding peoples freedoms, and you’re saying to us this will affect no one here?? Really?!
No – it won’t . US law has no impact at all on Cayman
That’s completely illogical. You cannot simultaneously argue that homophobia is a wrong and then say steps taken to correct the homophobia are also a wrong. Two wrongs doesn’t make a right doesn’t apply when the second action is designed to correct or mitigate the first and is its direct opposite. You have confused yourself. Having read your postings on gays I am guessing the real issue for you is the British actions to stop homophobia – but you realise just cant bring yourself to say that introducing it in the first place was right, even tho you subscribe to it yourself.
She has valid points but at some point you have to stop blaming others for what happened in the past and move on. Third largest financial center in the world yet the leaders acting like a bunch of uneducated bush people. Cayman needs to grow up!
10:37 am if you don’t like Cayman Laws, then kindly leave, why come to someone else country and expect to change their laws. You are here because here are better than your country for you in the first place, so go back home and enjoy your country laws.
No
And Caymanians talk about “Caymankind”. but yet, still try to argue the fact that expats came and took what they have and build Cayman to what it is today to open the eyes for the younger generation to show what the world has to offer. This message is to you Caymanians, if there weren’t any expats who would you marry….a cousin? How would you eat, how would you do anything? You welcomed the expats with open arms, and they made Cayman stand out on the map…something you all should be greatful for. Caymanians are the most racist people here, its always about “the white people” but yet because some Caymanians have a lighter color skin automatically they too consider themselves white. Get a grip people! I say leave the 10,000+ caymanians here and see what they can do on their own.
buy the ticket
How dare down my Great grandfather..generations before him and after.. My uncle’s are in their late 80’s. Mom in her late 70’s. You expats didn’t put this Island on map they did.. if it’s up to the expats there won’t be a fruit left on the island or any history left.. teach the youth the history of the Forefathers of this island not the wicked ways of this world you shove down their throats.. you opinions are yours.. that’s why we have free speech..but don’t dare discredit my Family history . maybe you can be a expat that leaves the island.
I posted this once but it didn’t appear..
CNS: I promise you I have not seen this comment before. Perhaps it didn’t save the first time.
By the way I am a 3rd generation Caymanian….i say it as i see it.
@sandra meekin, i am a 3rd generation Caymanian and black…not light skin! I say it as i see it.
I’m also a Caymanian of many prior generations going back to slave days but we have to remember, we are All ex-pats in one way or another since our ancestors came here from different Countries when this Island was uninhabited. My great Grandfather was a Slave…..No one here came from an indigenous group of people so in a sense ‘ex-pats’ did put this Island on the map. That’s why I try to be tolerant of all.
Yeah, careful with that argument. That’s what they will use when they come to take away the privileges that come with being born here having this place as your only home.
Most people expect to have a certain amount of rights wherever they are born. I’m pretty sure there aren’t many indigenous Britons running around the place either.
Good point 6.38pm ..just the OP is going on about the history of the Forefather/s which at the beginning of the string (here) is actually the history of an ex-pat (i.e. why many of us have English/Irish/Scottish/Jamaican names etc) – but what you say makes sense. Don’t get me wrong, I am proud of my ancestry and I believe that the morals and values that were passed down from generation to generation here were surpassed by none for the most part but ‘facts is facts’.
3:43 yes but our great and great, great forefathers came when it was nothing and built this place up, Johnny’s come lately only came when Cayman are something that they can get from it
Meekins is a name of Welsh origin
Meekins is my married name..my father came to the island to help build Owens air port.. where he met a beautiful Caymanian.. my descendants are Bush, Thompson’s and Parsons
The world will always have people challenging ..their rights..to what they believe.. I don’t care..that’s why we have freedom of speech.. but LGBTQ.. post just didn’t set right with me.. I see that my Dad was a expat .. but to down the Caymanian .. like how would feed themselves etc..
What utter rubbish you write. Take a thin slice of history and make it about you and the blame game. Remember that colonialism has gone on for centuries by many countries. It was the way of the world for a long time as was slavery. The world has progressed and we even have rules in war now, so stop blubbering on as the victim and deal with it for goodness sake.
It’s not homophobia because nobody is afraid of gay people, so you should probably come up with another term. Also, how many more letters are you going to add onto LGBT? Watch, you will soon see a P in there too.
Sustaining current levels of homophobia is a choice. Allies either stand arm in arm, or hide complicity in the background and try to blend in with what I suspect is a far less numerous herd. It’s time for everyone to come out of their shells when it comes to protesting government-sponsored discrimination and the hate and judgment-fueled agenda of some. Stand for something.
I find the title a little short sighted all be it the entire article. Gay marriage/union is relatively new idea in the grand scheme of things. While the “Brits” did spread their laws and traditions around the world many other inferior colonist powers certainly did not entertain gay marriage.
What we really have is a change in perceptive about what it right and wrong and really the nature of marriage itself. Marrying for love is a historically recent development as most marriages before this where to cement deals, and cross families ties.
I do take issue when people say “welcome to the 21st century” and other kit picky things, trying to put down the Cayman Islands as some kind of backwater. In my view the legal process was fair and came out well reasoned. Now there are appeals and rightfully so, which I am sure the Judges will come to the same initial conclusion putting the issue to rest.
We have to keep perspective that around 30* countries allow Gay marriage out of 195 countries in the world. I think Cayman will be solidly on the correct side this.
The correct side is to be with the 195 minus 30 countries 👍🏼
That;s 165 if you were struggling with the maths
The religiosity in question was imported from, propagated from and funded from the USA.
Wrong- first churches here were planted, supported and watered by the British.
This particular brand of Pious, Moses-Book Reformationist “Christianity” doesn’t persist from 17th Century Colonialism, it was artificially injected in more recent times and continues to be stoked by the Church of God in Anderson Indiana.
Oh come on now…you are singling out one church..how low will you go?
There was briefly an Anglican Church in George Town completely destroyed in a Hurricane in 1838. From 1838-1845 there were no organized ministries until Rev Elmslie, a Presbyterian, volunteered/or was sent to Cayman in 1846. At age 50, he was advanced-in-years as missionaries go, and travelled on horseback and started a number of very small community cottage churches across Grand Cayman. Elmslie was erected in his honour in 1920s (with no school). Two young Wesleyan missionaries, the Ratzlaff’s, arrived in 1941 to oversee construction of the first “Church of God” in Bodden Town (which began as Ms. Armenthia Carter’s cottage in the 1930s), and the first school to teach kids beyond grade 6, the “Mission House”, was the predecessor of what is now known as Triple C (Creative Christian Character). They had USA-based missionary funding and became the pace car and “moral standard” for all of the other churches that came later because it was the only school for that age group.
Ouch 10:48 – tough when someone can cite facts to support their theory, eh?
Dear Madeleine Rowell,
This was an excellent contribution.
It will be outrightly rejected by those who need it most – but excellent nonetheless.
– Whodatis
*We should also add the act of plantation owners and slave-masters publicly humiliating male slaves with homosexual assaults as a means of “discipline” and control.
The only agency remaining to a slave is that of manhood. Take that away by way of buggery / homosexual rape is a certain pathway to “cultural homophobia”.
You lose marks if you don’t state your references.
Obviously pseudo intellectual clap trap blaming colonialism would impress you. Lol.
Huh??
This has more to do with religion than with Britain. Not sure why you’re blaming Britain. At least it is no longer banned now. What’s Cayman’s excuse?
What? Religion? Yes, yes that’s what I thought.
Interracial marriage was also banned way back when…
Very intelligent point of view
You honestly think those arguments stand up? You’re saying, in a nutshell, that Cayman’s homophobia of today was seeded centuries ago by British Imperialism, and because the British introduced Christianity to its outposts all those years ago that just reinforces it. So Cayman’s appalling homophobic attitude to recent events…. is the UK’s fault. Right?
That’s right. I don’t suppose there are many people from your city or town called Noah or Zacharias, but there are here. The predecessor to our Legislative Assembly, the Justices and Vestrymen – do you know what a vestryman was? One of the leaders of a church. Where did they get that word from so they could use it in 1831 to establish our first rudimentary government? Who do you think handed out all those bibles?
Not too many Ezzards or Spurgeons either, to be fair…… The thing is, the rest of the world evolved.
!0.03am Which “churchman” do you think handed out all those grants of Cayman status?.
Yep – notwithstanding the inconvenient facts cited by 10:48 that say it might have been the US rather than the UK, but what the hey.
What gets me is the assumption that 200 years later people aren’t expected to form their own views as adults, or that Ms Rowell cites the far British as the desperate agent of homophobia, rather than the land owning and merchant class here who so gladly embraced it and perpetuated it. If I were a member of a class receiving Anthony Eden’s vitriol I might just blame him and his ancestors, rather than some nebulous foreign influence 200 years ago. Guess what Ms Rowell, it isnt the UK government (modern form) that is trying to stop your friends getting married, its Caymanians like Mr Eden. Very Christian of you trying to defend him because his ancestors 12 generations ago were misled, but I think you are throwing the rock in the wrong direction.
Is Eden really Caymanian? As I understand it he served in the US Army and his fundamentalist religious beliefs are from the ‘Bible Belt’ of the USA.
Don’t forget the influence of Christianity as well.
This isn’t Christianity.
Wow. So many valid observations, articulated intelligently and without malice.
Madeleine Rowell for Premier.
Prolonging the Cayman way of blaming someone else, anyone except ourselves. The whole lot reads like it was written by Roy Bodden.
He saved a college from ruin and turned a bunch of green teachers into respectable and seasoned professionals that the students all love. He has suffered and sacrificed greatly and we all owe him so much. I would not be able to enjoy my position at UCCI without his blessings.
Have you been to UCCI recently? He turned it in to even more of a hellhole than it already was.
If its a helhole now then you wouldn’t have survived in the 2000’s lol
There speaks the partisan interest…unable to be objective.
House of commons could use some of your “objectivity” right about now, your wasting it here in the Cayman Islands ! And imagine, a deal or no deal brexit either way is just the beginning of the end for those poor people. Sigh, hard to fight the good fight though with all that sand between your toes… Cayman Islands might have some new found problems but brexit and a billion dollar wall aint none of them!
…. aaaand you win the Shoehorn Award – getting Brexit into a discussion on gay marriage – well done
Not!
Very smart. Some Brits have forgotten that gay marriage is not legal in all of the UK. It is still illegal in Northern Ireland. It was only legalised in England, Scotland and Wales in 2014. That is hardly a matter of the past, I remember being in the UK when it happened.
I agree. It used to be illegal to be gay in the UK so I think we ( British) need to be supportive to Caymanians rather than critical of their views. We are not perfect by a long shot! Educate and give them time to understand that being gay is not disgusting or a life choice. I think in the next couple of generations things will change. When the old, stuck in their way types have gone, the new internet savvy, worldly, opened minded new generation can make Cayman their own. The youngsters just have to refrain from listening to their elders who have ignorant and uneducated views. It’s a complicated issue and it takes years for views and ideas to change.
The older generation were more wise. Today, its all about knowledge, and no wisdom, not knowing how to rightfully use knowledge. So many intellectuals condoning sinful lifestyle, but no fear of God in them.
Well did the scriptures say in the last days, “Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” (Daniel 12:4)
It shouldn’t take a full generation to learn you’re on the wrong side of history and local law, as determined by the Chief Justice after a Judicial Review. Maybe a couple months of arrests, and charges, and then people will start to learn. We are obliged to not only recognize same sex unions, but defend those civil rights as a society. It’s already not optional, or a “maybe one day” proposition.
Apparently their Christian heritage is better than ours.