A Christian leader has come out in support of the granting of equal rights to gay people.

And Rev. Graeme Carruth, of the Emmanuel Methodist Church, said he believed a person's sexual orientation should never be considered as something that might inhibit them having "true faith in Christ".

He spoke out after comments in last Friday's Royal Gazette by non-denominational Christian activist Duane Santucci, who said church leaders should "come out from behind closed doors" in voicing their opposition to a recent call to recognise gay people as potential targets for discrimination under the Human Rights Act.

Asked yesterday whether he would support such an amendment, Rev. Carruth said: "I would have to listen to what the discussion was and make a decision based on what our church believes and what my conscience was telling me."

But in a letter to the Editor, he said he doubted the capacity of existing laws to protect gay people in Bermuda.

"I agree that no group of people in Bermuda should have `special rights' over another group. And I am pleased to see that Bermudians, born with different sexual orientations, as Mr. Santucci says, "are already protected under the law as it stands".

"I am concerned though that after recognising the value of protecting our gay neighbours, Mr. Santucci undermined the conviction by saying that the gay lifestyle is immoral and "goes against the human rights as God has commanded it and what he created mankind for''.

"If I were a gay man, I would seriously doubt the capacity of the existing laws to protect me amid such hostility."

Rev. Carruth said he was responding to Mr. Santucci's appeal for Christian figureheads to speak out on the "difficult issue".

"(Mr. Santucci)'s right. We have hidden away for too long. So today I declare that after careful study of Scripture and after witnessing the Holy Spirit come upon gays and lesbians, our denomination welcomes anyone as equal and fully Christian in all ways regardless of sexual orientation.

"For our church, sexual orientation is no barrier to true faith in Christ. As a denomination we continue to support full equal rights for any person of any race regardless of sexual orientation."

Rev. Carruth added that he was surprised by Mr. Santucci's reference to gay people as "members of the homosexual race".

"Combining the reference to the homosexual race with his view that homosexuality is immoral left me wondering if I were supposed to believe that God condones outright racism!"

The Wesleyan Methodist Church Synod, in which Rev. Carruth's church participates, was involved in a protracted legal battle with dissident congregation members at Grace Methodist Church, who wanted to split from the ruling Canadian Synod because it backs the ordination of gays and holds other liberal policies.

A 1998 ruling by the Supreme Court backed the Grace Methodist faction, led by lay preacher Willard Lightbourne, but that judgment was overturned by the Court of Appeal this June.

Yesterday, Mr. Lightbourne, said he believed gay people were entitled to their civil rights but made clear that he thought they were sinning against God.

"Civil rights is one thing and everyone should be entitled to their civil rights. I can't say that a gay person should be fired because he's gay. But when it comes to matters of the church, the (homosexual) act is a sin and an abomination to God's will," he said.

He said he was opposed to the ordination of gay ministers and added: "I am one of those who is strongly against homosexuality. They are like thieves or criminals, and what they do is like any other sinful act.

"They need to repent and be saved."