Bermuda was boring for fun-seeking homosexuals.

Mr. Anthony Falzarano, a former "high-class'' male prostitute, said he mixed with rich and famous gays in New York before becoming a Christian.

His friends would take him on trips to Puerto Rico and St. Thomas, he told 150 people at a "Healing for the Homosexual'' meeting.

Mr. Falzarano said he would tell his friends: "Let's go to Bermuda this time''. They would reply: "No no no, homosexuality is illegal there, there's no bars there, it's boring.'' Bermuda should not scrap its law against gay sex, he told the gathering at St.

Paul's Centennial Hall.

"Praise God for your perseverance. We're taking the sodomy laws off our books state by state. You fight to keep yours.

"It would have been a lot worse on your Island if they were openly allowed to carouse.

"How many more people on your Island would have Aids today? God was protecting you because you were faithful.'' Mr. Falzarano, 36, is head of Transformation Ex-Gay Ministry in Washington DC.

The organisation -- part of an international movement -- has been invited by a local church group to hold meetings this weekend and advise on setting up a similar body here.

Appearing to fight back tears several times, he told how he was molested as a child and suffered from having a "psychologically absent'' father. He was kept by wealthy gay men and became "addicted'' to sex, having 400 male partners. He is now married and has two children.

The ministry believes a homosexual act is a sin, but not homosexual "orientation'', the meeting heard.

Homosexuals are "victims'', he said. "Do you think someone decides to get up one day and think `I will be a homosexual'? They are broken people, broken early in childhood.'' "Fire and brimstone'' preaching is not the answer, said Mr. Falzarano, who added his group are hoping to educate some "naive'' pastors.

He added some gay groups in the US had "satanic connections''.