Dear Sir,

Like all right-minded people on this island, I was appalled to read that the audience at Liberty Theatre “cheered and applauded” the hateful diatribe against gays and interracial relationships spewed by the disgusting individual known as Irritated Genie.

Apparently, they even encouraged this man, who advocates for murder and violence regularly, to set up a Bermuda chapter of his twisted organisation.

But the response that really got my attention was the Progressive Labour Party’s. From this newspaper’s article, it was reported that the Opposition leader refused to comment on the event or the speaker’s hate-filled rhetoric.

Actually, not one elected PLP MP or PLP senator has found the courage or moral decency to speak out against such a hateful man being unleashed on the Bermudian public.

Its silence has been deafening and, in my opinion, says a lot about its character and undermines its claim to want unity and preventing such hate speech from being presented on our island.

In the recent past, we have heard PLP MPs admonish a Letter to the Editor as being racist and how the author should be banished from our shores. That letter I can guarantee never wished death upon a race nor spoke out against interracial marriages. The PLP has called out and denounced what it perceives as being racist numerous times in the House and in the media.

It has labelled people that dare to ask the tough questions as being racist, Uncle Toms (or worse) if it disagrees, while at other times it has been justified in its condemnation.

But now all of a sudden, the party seems to be at a loss for words when a foreigner comes to Bermuda to preach hate against gays and interracial relationships? Not to mention not a word has been said against his very dangerous views, which he has expressed publicly time and time again.

On top of that, I have read on social media that a former PLP-appointed government senator is vehemently defending the Irritated Genie. This is a man who has repeatedly advocated the mass murder of whites, the ethnic cleansing of so-called black race traitors, labelled Barack Obama a “goddam f****t mulatto”, calls for gays to be cut out like the cancer they are, while advocating for their murder, compares interracial relationships to bestiality, designated August as a special month in which to “plan every act of vengeance, retaliation, protest, aggression, etc ... (to do) your hunting” and many more other despicable statements. And yet he is being defended by the same individuals who constantly decry racism and abhor its perpetrators? Scary stuff.

One can only imagine the backlash that would be spearheaded by the PLP if a David Duke character was allowed to come to Bermuda to rant against black people and interracial relationships. I can guarantee you that the Opposition would not remain silent as it has in this case.

As it stands, the PLP’s silence can be viewed as tacit approval of such a character and his twisted and warped beliefs, especially given it track record of regularly speaking out against real and/or perceived racism.

The Irritated Genie represents the former and a very dangerous form at that; one that is not needed in Bermuda, ever. I truly hope the PLP does not view such a man in a favourable light.

Notwithstanding all the noise around this subject, it is the PLP’s silence that has been the loudest for me.

IRRITATED VOTER