“We are invincible,” said Minister Ursell Arends at the end of a FB post recording the informal lighting ceremony of the government building downtown, in rainbow colors.
After the law legalizing same sex marriage was struck down twice, in parliament, the Raiz minister, still managed to get the government building lit — not parliament, of course, they are against.
The ceremony at 7:30pm on Friday evening, was organized in a rush, but was still attended by a handful of people, seated on orange chairs.
Egmar Irausquin, Creative Director, Elite Productions & Entertainment, can light up the whole town if needed — he did an excellent job, as expected.
A number of businesses on island flew the rainbow flag this month, I noticed RBC bank and Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort among others. Also the local Dutch representation of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, hoisted the rainbow flag last evening, marking the end of Pride Month.
Suggestion: Orguyo, the local pride organization should make an investment in rainbow flags and hand them out to local businesses each June, so our landscape is taken over by this symbol of inclusion, love, and acceptance.
Apparently, a strong religious lobby on the island applies pressure on law makers to deny equal rights to a LARGE segment of our community.
The people who voted against the legalization of same sex marriage, for the second time, are not all fervently religious, and their vote was influenced by the perceived voters’ reaction, not by deep convictions of any kind.
MEP parliamentarians Tevreden, Berlis, Hoek, Erasmus, Molina, Vrolijk, and Vallejo said nay, alongside AVP parliamentarians Dowers and Eman, and independent Do Nacimento. One MEP parliamentarian, Tromp-Lee, made it a habit to be absent, and thus joined the naysayers.
Keep those names in mind — they do not represent the people of this island.
