Grenada rejects
recommendation to decriminalize homosexuality

Grenada will not consider a recommendation from a regional U.N. office to decriminalize homosexuality and prostitution, the island's top health official says. Health minister Ann David-Antoine said religious and cultural factors would prevent the government from taking up legal reforms advised in a report by the United Nations Development Program in Barbados. The report came after a September conference on combating HIV/AIDS.

The UNDP report, which was delivered to Grenadan officials last week, advised the socially conservative island nation to begin discussions about reforming existing laws prohibiting both gay sex and prostitution. ''Every sovereign country has to take on board its own cultural situation, the faith and religious situation within the country,'' David-Antoine told reporters after announcing the government would not consider the measure.

Leisa Perch, HIV/AIDS program manager of the UNDP office in Barbados, could not immediately be contacted for comment. David-Antoine also said Grenada, one of nine countries hosting matches for the 2007 cricket World Cup, would not consider legislating sex workers for the upcoming tournament. Barbadian officials made a similar announcement in September. (AP)