A story in yesterday's newspaper reporting Opposition MP Mr. Nelson Bascome participating in prayer vigils against passage of the Stubbs Bill legalising gay sex was incorrect. Mr. Bascome has not partifcipated in any such prayer vigils.

The Christian Coalition has turned "fanatical'' in its crusade against legalising gay sex in Bermuda, Health Minister the Hon. Quinton Edness charged yesterday.

He further attacked the anti-gay group as being "un-Christian and vindictive'' in its call for residents to shun the Allan Vincent Smith Foundation, an AIDS charity, because of links with an alleged pro-gay group.

"It is a darker side of humanity when an organisation has to malign another organisation which is doing so much good in the community,'' he said.

"And (coalition members) are doing this without any foundation or proof, but simply to make their point or win their fight. It is appalling.'' Hospice coordinator Mrs. Hilary Soares also defended the foundation saying it played "an absolutely invaluable role'' in AIDS education.

She accused the coalition of interfering with efforts to stop the spread of AIDS by lobbying against UBP backbencher Dr. John Stubbs' bill to legalise gay sex. About 50 coalition members stood outside Parliament on Friday praying to stop passage of the bill, expected to be debated by MPs this month.

`Just Say No to Dr. Stubbs' Bill' posters have been distributed to coalition supporters. Some have stuck them on the rear windows of their cars.

Mrs. Soares said: "If the law stays as is, there are health implications for the future which may be very difficult then to handle.

"Gays with AIDS will not be comfortable in `coming out of the closet' in order to seek help for the illness. I feel this has been happening all along.

The sensible thing to do is to pass the bill and for these people to really take their place in society as normal people do.'' While his counterpart lashed the coalition's latest campaign call, Shadow Health Minister Mr. Nelson Bascome declined to get involved in the controversy.

He had "no comment'' when asked whether the coalition had gone too far in calling for a charity to be shunned.

It is understood Mr. Bascome has taken part in prayer vigils against passage of the Stubbs bill.

Mr. Edness said while he supported the coalition's right to free speech, it was "absolutely ridiculous'' for it to say the foundation was unworthy of support because it was connected to an alleged gay group.

The organisation provided information to people in the community to protect themselves against the devastating disease AIDS, he said.

"I think the community should fully support them. They do a tremendous job,'' he said.

"The coalition is being fanatical -- they are plucking at straws and they are being vindictive. Next it's going to be an individual that they malign.'' Mrs. Soares added: "I believe the coalition is well-intentioned in their effort to save us all from whatever they perceive will be the results of this bill going through. But I don't think any country has found anything in particular happened after they liberalised their laws regarding gay sex.'' Mr. Allan Smith, a gay Bermudian whose death of AIDS in 1991 sparked the formation of the foundation by his family, died at the Agape House hospice.

The coalition, headed by Dr. Vernon Lambe, said last week that people should not give any support whatsoever to the foundation because of its ties with the Terrence Higgins Trust, a leading British AIDS campaigner.

The trust had promoted "pornographic'' homosexual materials in British schools, coalition spokesman Mr. Ouemonde Brangman claimed.

He told The Royal Gazette he had learned of the trust's "despicable'' activities from the controversial video the coalition shows as part of its campaign against Dr. Stubbs' bill.

Foundation president Mr. Martin Smith said although the organisation had a working relationship with the trust and followed its aims, it was not affiliated with it.

What mattered, Mr. Smith said, was that "everybody'' in Bermuda worked together to stamp out the spread of AIDS.

He hoped Bermudians would continue supporting the foundation in that regard despite the coalition's opposition.

The foundation aimed to educate all groups at risk of getting AIDS, he pointed out.