Fort Lauderdale church faces furor for starting gay congregation in Jamaica

By Alva James-Johnson
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted May 29 2007

The Rev. Grant Lynn Ford appeared on a recent Caribbean radio program hoping to improve
relations between Jamaicans in South Florida and the gay and lesbian community.

Instead, the pastor from Sunshine Cathedral, which recently started a gay and lesbian
congregation in Jamaica, endured a hostile radio audience.

Jamaican callers chastised him for promoting homosexuality in their country. One caller said
Ford would get a bullet through his head if he set foot on the island.

"What surprised me was the violence of it, and saying it on public radio," Ford said. "I
probably wouldn't invite any of them to my next family picnic. I might be the roasted pig."

The incident highlights a clash of cultures between gays and lesbians in South Florida and some
in the Jamaican-American community as reports of homophobic violence flow from the Caribbean
island. The tension is further fueled by anti-gay lyrics found in popular reggae music, which
many gay and lesbians find offensive.

Jamaica has more churches per square mile than any country in the world, according to the
Guinness Book of Records. Its values and mores are rooted in traditional biblical teachings,
making it a socially conservative society, despite its international image as an easygoing
tourist destination. Homosexual acts are prohibited by law on the island and punishable by
years in prison.

Some expatriates in South Florida said they find the hatred that some Jamaicans have for gay
and lesbians disturbing.

"People have a right to their religious views, but people don't have a right to wish harm and
carry out acts of violence toward other people," said Marlon Hill, chairman of the Jamaican
Diaspora Committee of the Southern United States. "Respectfully, through your music and through
your faith, express your religious beliefs. But no human being should be confronted with
imminent physical danger by another human being."

The Rev. Karl Francis, a Jamaican pastor who also appeared on WAVS, AM 1170 with Ford,
condemned homosexuality using biblical text. But he told the audience "to hate the sin and love
the sinner."

Violence isn't the solution, said Francis, pastor of the Living Word Open Bible Church in
Pembroke Pines. "I think the answer is to pray for them," he said.

Sunshine Cathedral is an affiliate of Metropolitan Community Churches, a Sarasota-based
denomination that provides spiritual support for gays and lesbians worldwide. The church
recently established a Jamaican congregation in response to a 2004 Human Rights Watch report
that alleged police and residents were persecuting gays, sex workers and people with HIV/AIDS.
Ford said the initiative is part of a 10-year plan to establish churches in diverse communities
throughout South Florida and the Caribbean.

Jamaican Consul General Ricardo Allicock, of Miami, said he was unaware of rampant abuse of
gays and lesbians on the island. Jamaican media attributed some of the recent killings to
crimes of passion between lovers, he said.

Allicock also said Jamaican police aim to protect all citizens, regardless of sexual
orientation.

"The government of Jamaica is committed to the preservation of human rights for every person,
adult and child, living in Jamaica," he said.

But ministers at Sunshine Cathedral disagree. They have traveled to the country in recent
months to challenge homophobic attitudes among government and religious officials, they said.
Ford said he travels with bodyguards for his protection.

Church leaders said the choir director for their Jamaican church recently was beaten to death
because of his sexual orientation. Church members held his funeral April 8 at a church
unaffiliated with the denomination. A crowd from a nearby community surrounded the building
armed with machetes and knives. They threw objects through the church windows while the funeral
was in process, according to the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals & Gays.

"Homophobia cannot be allowed to disrupt sacred ceremonies that are meant to honor the departed
and bring comfort to the bereaved, nor should violence be considered an acceptable way to
demonstrate disapproval of any minority group," said the Rev. Durrell Watkins, Sunshine
Cathedral's worship leader, in a written statement.

But Bevan Earle, the radio host who asked Ford to appear on the call-in radio show, said
anti-gay sentiments are common in Jamaica and some who grew up there don't want to see more
gays and lesbians in their homeland.

"I don't like seeing two men hugging and kissing," he said. "It's sending the wrong message,
and our children are going to be spoiled in the long run."

Alva James-Johnson can be reached at ajjohnson@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4546.

 Click here to subscribe today to the Sun-Sentinel or call 1-877-READ-SUN.