A former Bermuda Regiment Commanding Officer has launched an outspoken attack on the campaign to end discrimination against gays.

Colonel Eugene Raynorwho sits on the Regiment promotion board, yesterday said the human rights legislation that protestors were trying to change was ?already adequate for normal people?.

But Government backbencher Renee Webb, who tabled the defeated bill attempting to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation, said she was ?mortified? by his comments ? and said she was surprised by the level of ?bigotry prevalent throughout the statement?.

Asked to clarify his opposition to the bill, Col. Raynor told a press conference yesterday that gays were ?pretending to be one thing that does not exist?.

He later said the law should not be changed to accommodate ?people who have a special need?. He called on Ms Webb to withdrew her bill because he claimed it was ?based on pretence?.

However, Ms Webb, in response, said: ?It?s a fact that human beings are created differently and it?s a fact that we have homosexuals, heterosexuals and bisexuals living in our community.

?They are not pretending anything. They are what they are and should be treated as equals under the law. Nobody is asking for any special rights, nor is anyone asking for anyone to accept anyone?s behaviour. That?s a personal choice.?

Commenting on the recent march on the House of Assembly by human rights campaigners, Col. Raynor said: ?Are we stuck with human rights legislation that is so archaic that it cannot properly serve the people of Bermuda? Or are we being asked to face up to the fact that we now have a new class of humans?

?These people have a problem and are a problem to themselves and now they have the audacity to demand that you legalise their problem.?

Displays of ?exhibitionism? are increasingly common on the Island, he claimed, asking: ?What picture does that send to the rest of the world??

Asked what message his comments sent to the world about tolerance in Bermuda and why all people did not have the right to be treated equally, he replied: ?You are either male of female, so why do you need special rights? Because of your behaviour pattern? No.?

Ms Webb, responding to his comments, told that Col. Raynor was ?clearly homophobic? and said she was mortified when she read his ?confusing? comments stating that, like drug addicts, gays needed help.

Col. Raynor told reporters that he was speaking out as a private citizen and not in his Regiment role as an Honorary Colonel. However, he later accepted that reporters were less likely to turn up to a press conference if it was called by a private citizen.

He said he spoke out because too many people were silent on the human rights issue.

He denied he was homophobic and added: ?I?m quite open to accepting whatever it?s you want to do do it. But don?t shove it in my face and say you have to accept it.?

Asked how his comments would be greeted by gays serving in the Regiment, he stated: ?We have always had gays in the Regiment and they have always conducted themselves in a reasonable manner and have not imposed themselves.?

Col. Raynor rejected a suggestion his comments could leave him open to a discrimination charge from somebody alleging they were denied a promotion under his command because of their sexual orientation. ?I do not think it?s possible,? he said.

Col. Raynor said he had sent a copy of his five-page statement to Regiment Commanding Officer William White yesterday morning.

No comment had been received from him ahead of the press conference, he said.