Antigua Cabinet To Discuss LGBTQ Rant

ST JOHN’S, Antigua, Aug 30 2016 – Comments made by lesbian blogger Tasheka Lavann about persecution of gays is among agenda items when Cabinet meets on Wednesday, Foreign Affairs Minister Charles Max Fernandez has said.

The Antigua Observer newspaper reports that Minister Fernandez said the Huffington Post interview, in which Lavann said she feared being “slaughtered,” was brought to his attention by a few people over the weekend.

“It will be discussed in some detail in the Cabinet and direction will be taken from there,” Fernandez revealed during a telephone interview.

The foreign affairs minister said while there have been no complaints to government ministries or embassies, he feels it important to raise the issue at the level of the executive.

“I will want to raise it for sure. I am sure that the minister of tourism may want to raise it. I think that it is something we may want to look to respond to. I think there will have to be some kind of statement put out certainly to our embassies overseas,” he said.

Lavann’s three-minute interview with the Huffington Post has led to strong public backlash from residents who accuse her of sullying the country’s name, by giving the wrong impression to the world about the treatment of homosexuals here.

The former Miss Antigua & Barbuda later said the interview was taken out of context and that she did not refer to the twin island state when she said gays are being killed because of their sexuality.