MP Renee Webb last night declared the leadership of the country's two political parties the "weakest I have ever seen" after her bill to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation was thrown out of the House of Assembly.

The Government backbencher and former Cabinet Minister looked stunned when her Human Rights Amendment Act 2006 was rejected by fellow MPs after only one other member spoke out on it.

"I have never seen anything so lacking courage in what I just saw," she said afterwards. "I couldn't believe what I was seeing."

A gay man who watched the debate from the public gallery told : "I was very disappointed. The main feeling is disappointment; sadness and disappointment once again with my country and my government."

Ms Webb had given an impassioned hour-and-a-half long speech on why the amendment to the Human Rights Act 1981 ? which would have added "sexual orientation" to the list of things for which people cannot be legally discriminated against ? was needed.

She told members: "It's the right thing to do. We in Bermuda need to ensure that we join the democratic countries of the world and fight for freedom for all of its people."

She asked members not to get caught up in emotion but to consider the "fundamental rights and freedoms" of people on the Island.

"I believe that Bermuda needs to move towards becoming a more compassionate society and not allow discrimination under the guise of any particular belief to take place."

When it came to debating the issue, only fellow PLP backbencher Nelson Bascome stood up. He denounced homophobia but said he did not believe the House could "legislate morality".

The bill then passed to the committee stage before those against it loudly made known their objection during a voice vote.

Jennifer Smith, committee chairman and Deputy Speaker of the House, declared: "The No's have it."

The speed with which it was dismissed caused Ms Webb to question whether the MPs had been rejecting the entire bill and its five clauses or just an amendment which would have included a definition of sexual orientation that she said members had requested.

Ms Smith told her: "They didn't want anything, from clause one to five."

Ms Webb asked whether there would be a roll call but was told no. Ms Smith said the bill would be reported to the House as not approved in committee.

Ms Webb said afterwards that members of her Government had told her they would stand up and speak on the bill.

"A lot of them said they were speaking," she said. "People give their word that they are going to speak or that they are going to vote and then they disappear into the void.

"I was disappointed that people did not get up. It's a sad day in Bermuda when people will not even talk about the basic human rights of their own fellow Bermudians. We are elected to serve. It would have been great to have a conversation.

"They don't even want to talk about issues and they definitely don't want anything controversial or their name attached to it."

Ms Webb said that in order for a roll call to take place ? where members give their names and then their vote ? two other MPs would have had to stand with her in support of the draft legislation.

"If you wanted to speak, you could have got up and spoke," she said. "If you supported it, you would have got up and requested names and we could have got a vote.

"They are more concerned about getting elected. Even if it failed, they did not want names."

She said she was proud to have brought the bill to the House but when asked if she would try again, replied: "You think I would bring something liberal to this bunch? You must be kidding."

Earlier, she had told the House that the bill was to protect all members of society whether their sexual orientation be homosexual bisexual or heterosexual.

She quoted the opening clause of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. If we in this honourable house don't believe in that I think we definitely have a problem."

She said Bermuda was party to that declaration based on that fact that Britain was party to it. And she said laws protecting people based on their sexual orientation existed in many countries, including South Africa, Canada, France and Denmark.

"Bermuda is very developed when it comes to human rights and hopefully we will be even more developed as a consequence of this amendment."

The bill was opposed by the African Methodist Episcopal Church and Ms Webb said she was pleased to see members of the clergy in the public gallery.

But she tore up an article on homosexuality which had been handed out to members before the debate.

She said the article - which Speaker of the House Stanley Lowe had earlier said should not have been distributed - contained the line: "Devil spirits are the true cause of homosexuality."

"It's nothing but spewing hatred of your fellow beings," she said. "Do not use religion to discriminate. Jesus Chris, on whom Christianity was built, talked about love. He did not talk about discrimination.

"Religion is a beautiful thing but don't use it to try to promote hatred of any particular group."

Ms Webb said there was no logic to the argument that the proposed law would allow same sex marriages on the Island.

She concluded her speech by saying: "I have faith in my colleagues to do the right thing, whatever that is. Clearly I would want my colleagues to support this amendment because I believe my colleagues fundamentally support human rights."

Human Rights Minister Dale Butler, who supported the bill, told he wanted to speak but missed his chance by going to the bathroom.

He said: "I came back from the bathroom and lo and behold we had moved to committee. I didn't have to speak but I wanted to speak but the thing moved so quickly. I had worked all afternoon on my speech."

He said the normal process in the House was that the Government and Opposition took turns to speak on a bill. But he said after Mr. Bascome spoke, no one from the United Bermuda Party stood up.

"I was totally surprised at the tactics that were used," he said. "I really thought that we would be there all night. They had obviously had a line and they stuck to that line."

He added: "We didn't have a party strategy."

John Barritt, Opposition House Leader and Whip, said his party had met before the second reading and "made a conscious decision" to wait to hear what the Government thought of the bill before standing up.

"We had been told that Government was going to speak," he said. "We had people who were prepared to speak because we had people both for and against.

"Some people wanted to hear the position that the Government wanted to take. We sat and waited. No one got up."

He described the reading as "most unusual and bizarre", adding: "What's surprising is that it happened so quickly."

He said: " I was prepared to support it. In the end I said: 'Aye'."