St. Maarten Private Eye

Pastors Never Express Concern on Gay Cruise ---- Labega

GREAT BAY—The pastors never expressed objections to gay cruises in the Tourism Master Plan (TOURMAP) during consultation on the plan, disclosed Head of the St. Maarten Tourism Bureau Regina Labega. She said she was a “bit taken aback” when she learnt of the pastors’ objection to the gay cruise, as that issue never came up in the meeting with the pastors and was thus not included in the policy document. The tourism office would be reluctant to adjust the policy document to bar gay cruises coming to the island, as in Labega’s view, this is discriminatory. The Executive Council ultimately has to take a decision on the issue, Labega said.
She explained that when the TOURMAP was being devised some years ago, all the different segments of the community were broached for their input, including the St. Maarten United Ministerial Foundation (SMUMF). “If that was an issue, it would have come up in the Tourism Master Plan,” Labega said. SMUMF Public Relations Officer Pastor Elemeade Allen admitted that the issue of gay cruises never came up in the meeting on the TourMap. He said the pastors would be meeting on the issue and to give a statement.
She said that the tourist bureau does not support discrimination dictating against any group and St. Maarten has always been known to be a gay friendly destination. “St. Maarteners have not been known to discriminate against any group. We embrace and we accept all different type of people regardless of their persuasions so I think it is dangerous to single out any particular group,” Labega said.
The tourism head believes that any physical protest action of the church could affect the general image of St. Maarten’s tourism and not only towards the gay market. This is especially so because of the incident last year where gay visitors were beaten in the Beacon Hill area—a case that has been labeled gay bashing. “It (the protests) can appear to be discriminatory to other people and other segments as well. We got to be careful,” Labega said.
Labega argued that gay cruises have been coming to St. Maarten for years and wonders why the pastors are just now protesting. She also asked if they are certain that all 3100 persons on board the ship are gay and if they will also protest gay visitors coming through the airport. “Why is it an issue now? Why single out gays…is that so an important issue right now. What about gays that come through the airport and come yachts? questioned Labega.
Meanwhile, the tourism official said it is difficult to ascertain the economic benefits of gay visitors to the island. “Industry reports dictate that the gay community tends to spend a substantial amount of money at a destination…I wouldn’t want to comment on what a gay persons would spend and what they would not spend,” Labega said.

St Martin News Network

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