15 Jan 2016

Fiji PM's anti-gay stance may hurt tourism

12:55 pm on 15 January 2016

The International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association says the Fiji prime minister's comments against same sex marriage may impact on Fiji's tourism industry.

The Association's president, John Tanzella, is quoted as saying some people may be reticent about making a trip somewhere where a top official has called gay marriage rubbish.

The Fiji prime minister, Frank Bainimarama, also said there would be no same sex marriage in Fiji and any woman wanting to marry another woman should have it done in Iceland and stay there.

Iceland's president is the world's first openly gay head of government.

Mr Bainimarama's stance has been criticised and a Fiji lawyer says Mr Bainimarama has breached the law by inciting communal antagonism.

Last week, the founder of Fiji's Oceania Pride Jasmine Kaur asked Mr Bainimarama to apologise to the LGBTIQ community, but he hasn't done so.

The global gay and lesbian tourism market is worth about 140 billion US dollar and tourism is a key pillar of the Fiji economy.

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Photo: Iceland Magazine

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