Homosexuality is a “deep-rooted cancer that needs to be cut out of society before it destroys us”, Washington speaker Ayo Kimathi told more than 100 people at the Liberty Theatre today.

Mr Kimathi, known as the Irritated Genie, gave a two-hour presentation on behalf of the organisation War On The Horizon, that included a clip from Gambia President Yahya Jammeh endorsing the death penalty for homosexuals and saying “homosexuality is the detriment of human existence”.

The theatre was packed to capacity with standing room only, and large numbers clapped Mr Jammeh’s comments.

Mr Kimathi, who has attracted headlines in the international press for his outright views on homosexuality and race, was brought to the Island to speak along with professor James Small by Bermudian David Tucker. On its website, War On The Horizon describes itself as an organisation designed to prepare Afrikan people worldwide for survival in the 21st century.

The speaker went on to say that homosexuality was originated by the white man, that blacks should only marry other black people, and should only buy products from black companies.

He asked the audience whether he should set up a chapter in Bermuda, to which they responded by cheering and applauding.

At one stage, the name of community minister Patricia Gordon-Pamplin, who earlier this week announced upcoming information sessions on same sex marriage, was called out by one member of the audience.

Mr Kimathi said on that subject: “When your public figures endorse homosexuality either they have no idea what is going on and they are just doing it because they got pressured to do it or they are involved in it.”

He went on to set out three pillars that he said should unite all black people around the world through a movement he calls “Straight Black Pride”.

“We needed an African agenda but we need to start with something simple,” he said. “We needed a platform for the everyday black person where we can come together as brothers and sisters and work together: something we can unite on.

“The first is straight — what that means is simple — we don’t agree with homosexuality, we don’t agree with paedophili, none of this European ‘white sex’ stuff that we talked about, we ain’t with that, we are not even negotiating with it.

“As long as you ar straight, we do not ask you how your past has been. What do you think about someone molesting a child? That is a problem, that is a crime. OK, what do you think about homosexuality? It is a moral crime to an African person — OK, we get along.”

He read out a passage describing “white sex”, that is, originating from white people, as “any act of sexual deviance, perversion, and/or aggression deriving from Europeans that occurs between other than a consenting man and woman including misogyny, rape, homosexuality, child molestation, bestiality, orgies, sadomasochism, interracial sex.”

The second pillars were the need for blacks to marry blacks only and for the black man to have self-respect.

He continued: “Our women told us we are sick and tired of investing in you our whole life and the minute you get something, you go out, marry someone who don’t look like us. We had to tell them, you are right. “We need to have self-respect. We can’t walk around with our pants hanging off our behind and have a platform that works. Sister, if I can see everything that you got and you want me to respect you, we have a clash.”

During his presentation, Mr Kimathi also outlined the history of slavery showing a harrowing video clip of the physical and psychological horrors experienced by black people throughout slavery and the discrimination that they still face today.

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