all aboard

Bermuda is an island steeped in religion. Its population still holds their traditional values very dear & most of them are very clear that marriage is a union between a man & a woman. I get the feeling that being gay is definitely frowned upon by the traditional lot over here, but perhaps tolerable as long as everyone's nice. But I could be wrong. I wanted to find out more & did manage to find one website for gays & lesbians in Bermuda, only to find out it was disabled.

Personally, I could not care less if one is gay or straight. Each to his own. Growing up, my parents never talked about gays or lesbians - nothing negative, nor positive was said. Perhaps, this enabled my brother & I to form our own liberal opinions as we got older. And the irony is that our family has always been staunch Roman Catholics. In any case, I am intrigued. I'd imagine there are quite a few gays & lesbians, locals & expats alike here on the island. For a local, what is it like growing up gay in Bermuda? For an expat, are they as open about their sexual orientation as they would be in their liberal home country? Do both feel that they perhaps have to be discreet while here on the island?

And speaking of, Rosie O'Donnell is coming to Bermuda on a cruise that she has exclusively chartered for gay & lesbian families. Rosie had a similar cruise chartered last year that headed for the Bahamas but when they docked, most of the 1,600 passengers stayed on board to avoid anti-gay protesters that gathered in light of their arrival. And so this year, the cruise is going to a private island in the Bahamas, but not before stopping off in Bermuda.

Now here's where it gets interesting. I could not find the news article mentioning the charter today. I'd imagine it was taken down to diffuse any light that may have been brought to it yesterday, in the hope of staving off any conflicts or issues that may arise. Bermuda largely depends on tourism. Given its population's divided views, how will its traditional population react to this charter? Will Bermuda's population exhibit the same reaction as the Bahamian people did? Will they welcome Rosie & co. with quiet disapproval, because it's a family affair with kids on board while also a source of tourism income OR will they have something to say about it, before the ship even leaves NY?

And how will Rosie react to the negativity, if there is any? She has long been an advocate for the gay & lesbian community in America. She is very vocal about anything anti-gay, which is all fine & dandy but turning the simplest of comments made by others into an anti-gay slur is just not happening. She has managed to make issues where there were none on the basis of discrimination based on sexual orientation. Many of her fans have been turned off attributing it to her arrogance. Well, this is Bermuda, where it's a whole different ball game, where being arrogant is definitely definitely frowned upon, but being gay just may be tolerated as long as you are nice (but I am still waiting for confirmation on this one - so what say you?).