Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, Friday's House of Assembly session showed that there are no depths that Bermuda's politicians cannot plumb.

Confronted with an issue that would test their judgment and consciences, 34 of the Island's 36 MPs chose to remain silent.

Only Renee Webb, who introduced her private member's bill that would have made discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation illegal under the Human Rights Act, and Nelson Bascome, who spoke against it, showed the courage of their convictions.

And while this newspaper supported the amendment and would have liked to have seen it pass, it has nothing but praise for Mr. Bascome. At least he had the guts to speak when no one else did.

For the rest, this was a sad day. Not a single Cabinet Minister spoke. The leader of the Opposition remained silent. So did all of the other members of the House. The Island's supposed leaders caught a collective case of laryngitis.

Worse, when it appeared the amendment had been defeated on a voice vote, Ms Webb could not even find two MPs to stand with her in order to have a roll called, meaning no one will ever be certain how individual MPs would vote.

It may be that the Island's MPs left the House with a sense of relief, because that had the perfect political expedient in their back pockets ? deniability. Now they can tell one person that they voted for the amendment and another that they opposed it. That makes them perfect politicians ? the polar opposites of statesmen.

Friday's debate stands in stark contrast to the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1994 when the so-called Stubbs bill received a vigorous and full debate. That vote, rightly determined by conscience and not by party line, saw a number of Progressive Labour Party MPs, notably then-leader the late FrederickWade and former leader Dame Lois Browne Evans, vote for the bill, in spite of the fears that it would hurt their party's chances among the so-called "church vote", something that , it is worth noting, did not come to pass in 1998.

That debate was also preceded by a lengthy and bi-partisan lobbying effort, and it must be said that Ms Webb's effort this year seems to have been much more a one-woman effort. Whether that was by design or necessity is not entirely clear.

Before the debate, Ms Webb said that the church vote should not matter. Bermuda, she said, is not a theocracy. Perhaps not, but Bermuda's politicians seem to be keener to attach their names to church events than they did to this bill, and one wonders just how strong the separation of church and state are today.

Certainly, the secular and progressive traditions of the PLP seem to be dead. Former PLP MP Julian Hall said that Premier Alex Scott's administration may be more conservative and authoritarian than any United Bermuda Party government, and there is plenty of evidence to support his view. These events will also provide more ammunition to those who argue that this Government is solely concerned with defending human rights and preventing discrimination when it concerns race.

The Government's mealy mouthed and pitiful refusal to allow female impersonator Mark Anderson to take part in the Bermuda Day Parade was craven and anti-democratic. No Government Minister can now call for tolerance with any credibility.

And so we have it. The Minister responsible for human rights was in the bathroom and the Opposition adopted the "strategy" of sitting on its hands, apparently terrified to admit that its members might actually have different opinions on this subject. How pitiful.

As for the people who face discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, their cause has been set back for at least the life of this Parliament and possibly for longer.

Bermuda will now be known as a place that is as intolerant as the deepest parts of the Bible Belt or an Islamic republic, while its democratically elected leaders will be known as the people who were afraid to speak or put their name to their vote when called upon to do so.