PHILIPSBURG:--- Representatives of The St. Maarten/St. Martin Alliance For Equality (SAFE) Foundation profiled the organization's presence at the annual Lions Health Fair on Saturday.
The organization, which was incorporated on December 10, 2013, (International Human Rights Day) set up a table under a tent, engaged in conversation with passersby, distributed pamphlets about the organization and about the lives of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender) people and general raised awareness about the organization's presence in the community.
The representatives said that for the most part feedback from the community was extremely positive, with only one or two dissenting voices.
"There really is still the perception amongst a vocal minority that same-sex desire is a choice and unnatural, so that led to some frank discuss early in the morning and then later in the day, with us pointing out that first homosexuality is no more chosen than heterosexuality and secondly homosexuality is completely natural and can be seen in other species of nature as well. At least two people made reference to the Bible and to the fact that God does not condone homosexuality; we simply told them that while there are many interpretations of the Bible on that subject, we respect their opinions and the only thing we ask from them is that they also respect us as human beings," SAFE treasurer Nadjesca Gumbs said.
One representative pointed out that for many LGBT persons the loss of emotional support, and in the case of LGBT youth also financial support, from family members can lead to psychological breakdowns and depression, and make LGBT persons extremely vulnerable. She said that it is important for families to embrace their LGBT relatives and to not put additional pressures on them, noting that in some cases society already does.
The table was open throughout the entire day, thus from 9am-4pm and saw quite a few persons passing through requesting information either for themselves or a relative.
"We are here to raise awareness about LGBT people in the community and to assist with information where and when necessary, so we were happy to be able to give information to the public. The five representatives who manned our table throughout the day did a great job and we look forward to move opportunities in the future where the community can interact with us," Lysanne Charles, SAFE president, said.
Charles also said that there were numerous ways in which people looking for information about LGBT persons or LGBT issues in general could contact the organization, namely through the SAFE SXM Facebook account https://www.facebook.com/safe.sxm, their website www.safesxm.com, through Google mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., and of course also on G+.