Authorities in Nevis barred a gay and nudist cruise aboard the S.V. Polynesia, a 248-foot schooner operated by Windjammer Barefoot Cruises. The ship was carrying 110 passengers, most of them from the U.S., on a six-day cruise. Authorities in Nevis stated that the passengers' sexual orientation and nudity were offensive to local customs and laws. According to Windjammer, the passengers had no intention of disembarking in the nude. The cruise will leave Nevis and head for St. Barthelemy, ending Saturday in St. Maarten.
I think it's important to state that this was St. Kitts. Maybe we should add St. Kitts to our Jamaican no sail zone????
Having just returned from St. Kitts, where we witnessed the uniformed Police bellowing at the locals to "shut up" because they were chanting their available wares told us much.
The old adage, "build it and they will come" can be offset with what is obviously now happening in St. Kitts, "condemn them and they sure as hell will never return"...
Charter group from Gay Naturists International, was barred from disembarking passengers at Nevis. On Thursday, Malcolm Guishard, Minister of Tourism for the island of Nevis, issued a statement, noting that port authority, customs and immigration officials boarded the ship for routine clearance only to find that most passengers were naked. Guishard said the decision was made because the authorities were not given reasonable assurance that passengers would respect local laws and standards of public decency. He also said the decision was made solely on constitutional law which prohibits public nudity in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, and strongly denied that sexual orientation of the passengers had anything to do with this decision. Guishard said: "If this ship had been chartered by a heterosexual clothing-optional group, our decision would have been exactly the same."
Me thinks Paul and Malcolm doth protect too much. What happens aboard a vessel has nothing to do with what is expected of the pasenger in port. Homophobia is as found. It is always so easy to excuse homophobia after the fact under the guise of a misunderstanding. Meanwhile the discrimination is a fait a complete. A middle finger to St. Kitts
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