To Colwyn (Junior) Burchall, no form of discrimination is acceptable.

Mr. Burchall is straight, but he is very much a part of the latest campaign for equal rights for gays in Bermuda as he believes any kind of prejudice has a dehumanising effect on people.

He is pictured in an advert for Two Words and a Comma, a drive for the words “sexual orientation” to be added to the 1981 Human Rights Act, which outlaws discrimination on the Island.

Drawing a comparison between racism and homophobia, Mr. Burchall said: “I got involved because this to me is a human rights issue. You are first and foremost a human being. As such, really you should be granted protection by the Human Rights Act.

“Racism and homophobia have certain elements which are the same in that the group in power dehumanises another group. If I have a problem with white supremacy and racism, it follows that I will have a profound issue with homophobia.”

In an advert running in the Island’s newspapers, Mr. Burchall is photographed with his three-year-old son Amari.

He says for all he knows the youngster could grow up to be gay — and that he would not want him discriminated against. I’m sure that straight folk wouldn’t believe that their child would be born gay, but somehow it happens.

“We don’t want a society where our own children are discriminated against.

“We want a society where the diversity of humanity can be accepted and embraced.”

On its website, the group, which has about 25 members, states: “Two words and a comma are (just about) all it would take to prohibit discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.

“But Bermuda has yet to make that simple amendment since the Human Rights Act first became law in 1981.

“We are among the many Bermudians concerned about the fact that our country does not provide adequate protection under the law for all its citizens.

“But if the history of the human rights movement is marked in part by failures on the part of our political leadership, it has also seen some remarkable successes driven by ordinary people taking the lead.”

The group chose to use individuals at the beginning of different races, religions and sexual orientation to reinforce the fact that it is a community issue and not simply a gay rights issue, organiser Lelia Wadson said.

Some group members have been campaigning for changes to the Act since the Stubbs Bill to decriminalise homosexuality in Bermuda in 1994.

And many were behind the march on the House of Assembly last year after MPs failed to debate a Private Members Bill brought to the House by PLP MP Renée Webb. The bill would have seen the two words added to the Act. At the time many churches spoke out against the bill and condemned homosexuality.

The issue was thrown back into the limelight this year when US celebrity Rosie O’Donnell cancelled a gay family cruise to the Island because of comments made by several churches on the Island.

The public can expect the campaign to continue for five weeks. Visit http://www.twowordsandacomma.com/ for more information.