opponents of Bermuda's law against gay sex.

Among those grilling UBP Senator Jerome Dill was Opposition MP Mr. Julian Hall, who revealed he considered putting a gay rights bill before Parliament but decided not to "sacrifice'' his political career.

Speakers said the law has been made "invalid'' by the Constitution and by international human rights agreements, and challenged Government to scrap it.

But Sen. Dill said Bermuda is not "promulgating'' a law in contravention of international agreements. The law was generations old and the question was whether it should be changed in the light of the agreements.

He said he did not know if the law is invalid.

"Any member of the legislature can introduce a private member's bill and the Government has made it crystal clear that if that bill is introduced it will be debated,'' he said.

It was up to Bermudians to lobby MPs and tell them what they want the law to be, he added.

Sen. Dill revealed the law -- which applies to anal sex between men and women as well as between men -- has not been used in court since 1977.

Without saying whether the law should be changed, he said it should treat people fairly without regard to their "race, sex or whatever''.

Lawyer Miss Elizabeth Christopher said: "I don't think that the Government should wait until the majority of Bermudians think it should be changed. The Government should move now.'' The law promotes blackmail and violence against gays, she said, and risks embarrassment for Bermuda on the world stage. Victims of anti-gay attacks have stopped prosecutions because they feared being identified, she said.

Mr. Hall told the Human Rights Commission meeting the gay rights issue is near the bottom of the list of important issues facing the Island. The broader issues were prejudice, intolerance and disrespect, which lay at the root of the reasoning process that led to the present legal situation.

"There has been a serious display of cowardice on the part primarily of the Government, but also on the part of the Opposition,'' he said.

"I wanted to bring in a private bill to have this ridiculous piece of legislation repealed. No-one in my party stopped me.

"I had to ask myself is this the right time for Julian Hall to sacrifice his political career, because I know this is an intolerant society.'' Psychotherapist Mr. Michael Ashton told the meeting being gay is not a disease. "It's not related to child molestation, it's not a frivolous choice, it's most likely biologically determined and it's not amenable to change.'' Research points to differences in gay people at birth, he said.

The Rev. David Chisling said he was saddened by the recent visit of an "anti-gay ministry'' to the Island. He was "annoyed'' by people who ignored Bible passages condemning adultery and by church ministers who were quiet on such issues as gay rights.

The biggest applause of the evening went to Mr. Martin Smith, whose gay son Allan died of AIDS, when he told the gathering: "It's really time our legislators had some balls to change the law.''