17/11/2016
Gay Threat /The Barbados Today - News you can trust?
One week ago on November 9th, 'The Barbados Today' published an inaccurate report of my contribution to a panel discussion. The response from readers was swift and vicious. To set the record straight, here are the facts:
Neither the Moderator, other panelists, nor persons in the audience understood me to be "blaming g**s for the islands declining population." They have all expressed surprise at this misinterpretation. This understanding was unique to the reporter.
• The subject under discussion was “Contemporary Threats to the Family”. There were 4 panellists, each focusing on a different area and fielding questions according to their professional background. My presentation addressed s*x education in primary and preschool.
• I was responding to a question about the ’fallout’ of s*xual rights issues for Small Island Developing States. I answered by referring to two realities of present day Barbados. 1) The declining population. 2) The shrinking productive sector.
• With reference to (1), I pointed out that a homos*xual union cannot reproduce another human being and so cannot contribute to population growth. I did not say (nor am I of the opinion) that the homos*xual lifestyle is responsible for retarding population growth.
• With reference to (2) I explained that universally there is a relatively high rate of mental illness and su***de among the homos*xual population as compared with the general population. This impacts negatively on the labour force through lowered productivity on the job, absenteeism or premature withdrawal from the workforce. It is important to note that my concern with workplace productivity is longstanding and has most often been with reference to chronic non-communicable diseases in the general population, not mental illness among homos*xuals.
• The statistics I used regarding the population replacement rate are standard tenets of population demographics. They are not my personal opinion.
Newspapers, magazines and popular media do not provide a firm foundation for forming opinions on significant issues. When seeking or responding to information about serious national, regional or international issues, it is always best to go to the original source or to a well-respected, credible website.
Veronica C. Evelyn Ph.D.; M.Phil.; Cert. Social Work; Cert. Addiction Studies; MSCEIT™ Certified.
Director
Proteqt Inc. Behaviour change. Better living. (John 10:10
