By ANGELO ARMBRISTER

Freeport News Reporter

Responding to comments made by the Grand Bahama Christian Council President about what was labelled as an "abominable drag queen contest" promoting homosexuality, a local entertainment promoter said yesterday that her upcoming event was wrongfully included in a local news broadcast which has forced the cancellation of the show.

GBCC President Sobig Kemp held a press conference on Wednesday condemning the promotion of homosexual lifestyles and appeared on ZNS during the evening news with flyers promoting the show slated for this Saturday.

Organizer of that show, Alexus Braxton-Royale, an admitted transsexual, told The Freeport News yesterday that she was appalled that her flyers were used in association with something pegged as immoral and photos of an event which she knew nothing about.

During Kemp's address, he said that the Council has been informed of the promotion of homosexual lifestyles being conducted in Freeport by a certain local night club.

"The very fact that such an event is staged suggests that there is a market for this kind of entertainment," he said.

"The Council wishes to remind our community that this particular lifestyle is condemned in Scripture due specifically to the fact that it is unnatural and was never intended by our Creator."

Disturbed by the implications that somehow these events would corrupt the nation's youth, Braxton-Royale said that she feels the true fear stems from the country's ever present homophobia.

"I find their intervention in this matter highly preposterous and grossly irregular. The facts of the matter are simple. My company underwent the task of planning, booking and hosting a weekend highlighting Bahamian Female Impersonators and Male Lead performers as a private function for adult individuals over the age of 18 years old," she said.

"Any right-thinking individual can easily draw parallels to my scheduled show to that of the Edward's Twin show in the Rainforest Theatre, which by the way is marketed as a "family gathering." The obvious difference is that we hear no public outcry from any religious group concerning that."

Braxton-Royale added that it is almost hypocritical to see that the same people blasting her show would pay to see Madea, "a man in a dress" but kick up a fuss when their, "fellow Bahamians do it.

Stressing that it is pure entertainment, Braxton-Royale said that most of the people in her shows lead a heterosexual lifestyle, however, whatever lifestyles they lead is nobody's business but their own.

"The constitution permits any individual the right to freedom of expression and the freedom of association, and only makes exception to where the public interest and safety are at risk," she said.

"By law, the Christian Council has no legal right to force the closure of my event without presenting a case that shows a clear threat to the public's interest and safety. The absence of this makes their intervention in this matter a direct violation of the rights and freedom of the individual as outlined in the Constitution of the Baham-as."

Citing that female impersonation is an art form that is respected worldwide, the local promoter said that this country's local entertainers deserve the very same respect and dignity afforded to the international artists that occupy "our hotels with their shows."

"To label the local shows as immoral is highly hypocritical and shows how selective we can be with supposed immorality," she said drawing reference to a Crystal Palace show entitled "Celebrities on Stage," which she said offers male and female impersonations.

Kemp met with Braxton-Royale yesterday, where she stated her case in efforts to clear the air and her company's name.

Kemp yesterday said that after meeting with Braxton-Royale it shed new light on the matter that these functions are adult entertainment and that no children are allowed to be a part of them. Further that the laws of The Bahamas allow for a freedom of expression.

The Council, he said, however still wishes to admonish homosexuals that God loves them, but hates their lifestyle.

"There is hope for the homosexual because God loves them in spite of who they are," he said.