The head of Samoa's Council of Churches is calling for the government to ban same-sex marriages. The Reverend Oka Fauolo told the Samoa Observer he supports the idea of drafting a law to specifically prohibit the practice. Fauolo said his church, the Congregational Christian Church, had never considered the issue, as the church knows that God created a man and a woman. An anonymous supporter of gay marriage in Samoa has accused the church of “hypocrisy”, and said the church should be concentrating on why people are hacking each other to death with machetes. Article 17 of the Samoan Constitution provides for protection against discrimination – in the application of the law or in citizens' interactions with the state – on a number of grounds, such as sex, religion, language and political opinion, but does not include sexual orientation. Most Samoans are conservative Christians, and few support networks exist for LGBT locals.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Wednesday, 19th July 2006 - 12:00pm