By IPS Correspondents
PORT OF SPAIN, Apr 10 2007 (IPS)

If you Google the name “Elton John”, you will find a host of web sites providing you with details about the prolific songwriter and flamboyant performer, who had at least 30 hits on the Top 40 charts between 1970 and 1982.

A 2004 profile by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) notes that he “has the rare accolade of charting a Top 40 single every year from 1970 to 1996”.

But his long and illustrious career has failed to sway a group of conservative religious leaders in Tobago, who recently mounted a spirited campaign to bar the British singer from participating in the third annual Plymouth Jazz Festival which opens here Apr. 27.

The latest in a series of musical events that have sprung up in the Caribbean as part of a renewed drive to develop the tourism industry, the festival will feature John, who was knighted by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth in 1997, U.S. pop divas Diana Ross and Gladys Knight, R&B’s LL Cool J, as well as Jamaican reggae artists Sean Paul and Beres Hammond and local soca acts Machel Montano and Destra Garcia.

But even as some local musicians complain that the line-up hardly comprises a traditional “jazz festival”, at least 10 evangelical ministers have formed a committee to lobby against Sir Elton’s appearance on the grounds that his “lifestyle” is not suited to the inhabitants of the island.

Sir Elton is an acknowledged homosexual who recently married his male partner and, according to Archdeacon Phillip Isaac, his visit to the island “can open the country to be tempted towards pursuing his lifestyle”.

“This is the first time the church has had to deal with a person bordering on mischief,” said Lawrence, dismissing questions of hypocrisy given the thriving prostitution trade in Tobago.

Pastor of the People’s Pentecostal Church, Glenroy Frank, said his message to the singer would be to accept Jesus Christ into his life and change his ways.

Their campaign doesn’t seem to be gaining much traction with the island’s music fans, however, with concert promoters noting that VIP tickets for Apr. 29, when Sir Elton will perform, have already sold out and that the public in general regards the matter as a “non-issue”.

Many locals have penned letters to the media supporting Sir Elton’s performance and ridiculing the stand taken by the pastors.

The Trinidad and Tobago Humanist Association (TTHA) says the campaign “reveal[s] true intolerance that hides in the hearts of these individuals who claim to stand for love and forgiveness”.

“The bigotry against homosexuals seems to have tacit support from persons who occupy high office,” the group added, recalling that a few years ago, the then-Basdeo Panday government passed an equal opportunity bill “which specifically excluded homosexuals from protection against discrimination”.

It said that the current Patrick Manning administration also shelved the island’s draft gender policy “because he did not appreciate a paragraph which suggested that Trinidad and Tobago’s anti-homosexual laws be revised”.

“What this reveals is that all the talk from politicians and other leaders about tolerance is just fetid air. These attempts to keep homosexuals repressed will neither make them vanish nor change the fact that they are citizens of Trinidad and Tobago,” the TTHA said in a statement.

But local officials have made it clear that they do not support the pastors. The chief secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly, Orville London, acknowledges that while “the church and state are partners”, they are “not identical twins”.

“The Assembly does not plan or have any desire to discriminate against anyone because of a particular persuasion,” London told reporters after a meeting with church leaders on the island. “Sir Elton is coming to do what he does best and that is to entertain the people of Tobago and Trinidad at large.”

While there seems little chance that the evangelical committee will get its way, the promoters of the festival have called on the pastors to rethink their position because they worry it has the potential to hurt the economy of the smaller island.

Anthony Maharaj, chief executive officer of CL Communications, which is organising the concert, warned that this “small group needs to understand the damage they are doing to tourism in Tobago”.

“When these people behave like this they are affecting vendors, taxi drivers and all others who work in the tourism industry in Tobago. They should be concerned about this,” he said, insisting that the singer would perform at the festival.

Indeed, the issue has grabbed the attention of a number of international media outlets, including the New York Post, the Daily Mail in Britain, and the U.S. cable station VH1, whose show “Best Week Ever” lampooned the controversy with a skit entitled “Performance Anxiety”, where the narrator suggested that Tobago was scared to let Sir Elton into the country because he would turn the population into homosexuals.

The skit included photos of residents having their traditional village attire replaced by stereotypical gay outfits.

Some bloggers have started calling for a boycott of the island.

“If you’re looking for open-minded vacation spots, you might want to cross Trinidad and Tobago off your list,” wrote Chuck Yarborough, a columnist with the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

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