Fiji PM Invokes Bible for Anti-Gay Law
GayNZ.com,
April 15, 2005
Fiji’s Prime Minister has told international gay and
human rights groups to keep their noses out of the country’s affairs,
invoking the Bible as justification for the country’s laws prohibiting gay
sex which last week saw a 55-year-old Australian tourist jailed.
PM Laisenia Qarase says the country has no intention of
repealing the law, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years jail. He said
in a radio interview that the Bible clearly states homosexuality is a sin and
Fiji’s law reflected that.
Various groups in Australia and New Zealand are calling
on their governments to become involved. On Monday Australian gays
demonstrated in front of the Fijian consulate in Sydney, joined by Greens
senator Kerry Nettle.
In New Zealand, OUT! Magazine editor Warren
Chapman-Taylor has written to MPs expressing concern, and is asking for the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to issue an official travel warning for
gay and lesbian New Zealanders travelling to Fiji, as the United Kingdom has
done already. No response has yet been received.
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