Sexual orientation and homosexuality has long been a taboo subject in the Caribbean community. Several Caribbean artists have lost revenue due to cancelled concerts and bookings as a result of music which has been classified as “homophobic”. Bermuda’s Centre for Justice seeks to address these issues and open a dialog by hosting the screening of the movie ‘Children of God’ in collaboration with Amnesty International Bermuda, Bermuda International Film Festival, the Human Rights Commission and The Vision Ministry in hopes of opening up this dialog.
A spokesperson said: “Children of God debuted at the Bahamas Film Festival in 2010. It depicts the struggles and triumphs of a society’s prejudices and battles with sexual orientation and everyone’s right to equality, respect and dignity.
“It is our collective hope that the film will serve as a platform for advancing our social dialog around equality in Bermuda, particularly with respect to sexual orientation, but equally importantly, an amendment to the Human Rights Act 1981 to prohibit discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.
“We are hosting this event as part of our campaign to amend the Human Rights Act 1981 to include sexual orientation as a protected ground from discrimination.
“A petition calling for the amendment will be open for signature by the public during the event and on Centre for Justice’s website,” said the spokesperson.
The movie will be screened at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute on Thursday 23rd August 2012 from 6:00pm and 8:00pm and will be followed by a panel discussion.
The panelists will be Kareem Mortimor, the film’s writer and director, Chen Foley of Centre for Justice, Pastor Sylvia Hayward-Harris of The Vision Ministry and Nelleke Hollis of Amnesty International Bermuda with Rick Richardson as the Moderator.
