marching on Parliament to protest the attempt to scrap Bermuda's anti-gay laws.

The Salvation Army as a rule does not participate in political marches, public relations secretary for Canada and Bermuda Lt. Col. Mel Bond said yesterday from the Christian organisation's Toronto headquarters.

Army Divisional Commander Maj. Gilbert St. Onge, however, did not view Monday's march as political, although he conceded, "some might''.

Salvationists took part in the Christian Coalition march purely in protest of a Bill that would make gay sex legal if passed, he said.

The Army did not condone homosexuality, he said. Its "Positional Statement on Homosexuality'' made that clear.

But it was not anti-gay either, he said.

Maj. St. Onge, agreeing the Army was seen around the world as a protector of human rights, stressed it had not been protesting gays by marching.

Salvationists were among 300 Christians who took part in the march. It ended in the handing of a petition to the Premier opposing a private member's Bill to make homosexual acts legal.

While the Bill was the first real step Bermuda has seen to dismantle its anti-gay laws, Great Britain -- considered a leader when it decriminalised homosexuality in 1967 -- is set to vote next week on lowering the age of consent for gay sex.

"I want to make it clearly known that our stance is not anti-gay,'' Maj. St.

Onge said.

"Our viewpoint has always been that we embrace the person. We do not condemn homosexuals, but we cannot condone their actions, which are the same as an alcoholic or drug abuser, where life is being destroyed.'' The Army, which runs a homeless shelter, would welcome any gay person into its care, he said.

Maj. St. Onge said the Army took part in the march basically because it had been invited to say a prayer.

He had prayed for Bermuda's political leaders and gays to make "the right decision'' and be on the side of morality.

Petitioners had said the passage of the Bill, tabled by United Bermuda Party backbencher the Hon. John Stubbs, would contribute to "demoralisation and degradation of our society''.

The Bill is not expected to come before the House until at least March 11.

Maj. St. Onge said the Army was not actually in full support of Bermuda's anti-gay law because of its "punitive aspects''.

"I am not convinced a person involved in homosexuality should be sentenced to prison,'' he said.

However, the Army was opposed to scrapping the law because it felt the move would be "more crippling''.

"While we are opposed to the legalising of any act which would further weaken the moral fabric of our society, we maintain the equally important Christian duty and obligation to minister to the homosexual providing compassion, Christ-like attitudes and spiritual counselling,'' he said in a letter to The Royal Gazette .

"The Salvation Army offers ministry to people regardless of their circumstances in life and seeks ultimately, the best, both socially and spiritually for all.'' Lt. Col. Bond said he was not aware of the march or the local branch's participation in it.

"We do not as a rule participate in marches other than our own,'' he said.

"And we have never participated in any marches of that kind.'' Lt. Col. Bond said the Army believed gay sex was "out of step'' with scripture.

But, he said, "We are not about to victimise in any way people of that sexual orientation.'' Its positional statement said: "Salvationists are opposed to the victimisation of persons on the grounds of sexual orientation and recognise the social and emotional stress and the loneliness borne by many who are homosexual.

"The Army regards the origins of homosexual orientation as a mystery and does not regard a homosexual disposition as blame-worthy in itself or rectifiable at will. Nevertheless, whilst we are not responsible for what we are, we are accountable for what we do ...'' Army policy renders gays ineligible for soldiership.

The British Parliament, free of party constraint, is to vote next Monday on lowering the age to have gay sex from 21 to 16, bringing it in line with everyone else, Reuters reported this week.

Ms Edwina Currie, Britain's outspoken former health minister, proposed the vote. She insisted the timing was right and argued the state had no place in the bedrooms of the nation.

The news agency remarked that next Monday's vote in the 651-seat House of Commons "could hardly be more badly timed'' for Prime Minister John Major, whose "back-to-basics'' campaign for a return to traditional core family values has been left in tatters over a string of sex scandals in the ruling Conservative Party.

Members of parliament, their personal lives now under the microscope of Britain's voracious tabloid press, may not be ready in the present emotion-charged atmosphere to take a liberal stance over gay sex, Reuters said.

"Our personal morality is our own affair,'' said Ms Currie, who has won the backing of the opposition Liberal Democrat and Labour parties but still needs to win over a large chunk of wavering Conservatives. "The age of 21 is ludicrously high. It is widely ignored and it turns gay young men into criminals,'' she told Reuters.

Britain was a leader in decriminalising homosexuality in 1967 but now has the highest age of consent for any country in the European Union.