Thursday, February 23. 2006Come to Jamaica and Feel Harassed Sing with me now:One love One heart Let’s get together and kill the queers Come to Jamaica and get gay bashed. Many of you might know how notoriously homophobic Jamaica is. The island outlaws homosexuality. If you are suspected of being queer you face jail time and violent crimes that sometimes end in murder. On the upside, Jamaican officials have allowed the release of Brokeback Mountain in two movie theatres. You can read the Guardian’s report on this decision here. On the downside, stories of murdered homosexuals abound. June 2004, Brian Williamson, the island’s leading gay rights activist was murdered in his home, his body was mutilated with a knife and a crowd gathered outside the home celebrated Williamson’s death, shouting homophobic slogans, which are readily heard in Jamaican dancehall songs. One lyric by Beenie Man: “I'm dreaming of a new Jamaica, come to execute all the gays” Between January 2004 and January 2005, “four LGBT people were murdered and more than 100 suffered physical and/or verbal abuse.” This is according to a 2005 press release from Amnesty International. December 2005 the Christian Post reported that a male HIV/AIDS outreach worker had been murdered in an act of homophobic violence.
The violence is not just against homosexual men. Women suspected of being lesbians are often raped and beaten. You can find stories about them at womensnews.org, or follow the link here. I had a hard time finding stories about trans people in Jamaica. So why is it when I googled “gay travel” and "Jamaica" that my computer didnt' blow up? I searched through several travel sites with various affiliations (some queer friendly, some more generic with gay travel sections). They all offered warnings about the intensity of Jamaican’s homophobia ("hysterical reactions"). And after warning you, most sites suggest that you can still travel there as long as you keep your sexuality to yourself. Hm. Come to Jamaica and stay in the closet? One site even said that you should be prepared to receive a strange glance from locals if you out yourself. Not a single site honestly explains that if you are SUSPECTED of being gay, you may be beaten, raped, jailed, and/or KILLED. Hysterical is a euphemism for murderous. Queer people, and those of you who are supportive of queer people, should carefully research the countries we intend to visit on vacations. And we should ask ourselves how comfortable we are supporting an economy that aggressively despises and criminalizes its queer citizenry. Now, I can understand the argument that if you go somewhere and are out and about and being your friendly queer touristy self that the natives MIGHT becomes more open minded by virtue of getting used to the presence of queerness….but in nations/cities where there are histories of queerphobic violence, how much change can you possibly effect as a gawking tourist? Unless...you volunteer somewhere...A great thing to do if you insist on going somewhere like Jamaica, and this is asking lots from you, would be to vacation AND simultaneously volunteer at a local queer organization that way you're helping yourself and the queer citizens of the place you're visiting. If you're considering travelling to Jamaica and would like to volunteer, jflag.org is a good place to start. You can’t go change the world in one vacation, but you can make a small difference between sunbathing and shopping. And you can help make life for queers there better. What I really think you SHOULD do, though, is boycott travel to Jamaica and places like it and write to the Jamaican embassy urging them to work with organizations like jflag as well as their local police departments. Here’s all the info for the Jamaican embassy in Washington D.C.: Jamaican Embassy 1520 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20036 Telephone: (202) 452-0660 Fax: (202) 452-0081 Comments
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Here, here! Why should we give money to a government/industry that would just as well see us dead? For a little luxury? Are we that shallow of a community that we can't juse go to some other Carribean location?
In the spirit of getting them where the money is, here's the contact info for the Jamaica Tourist Board, so everyone can send messages there as well. Jamaica Tourist Board - USA 5201 Blue Lagoon Drive Suite # 670 Miami, Florida 33126 Tel: (305) 665 0557 Fax: (305) 666 7239 US Toll Free - 1-800-233-4JTB (1-800-233-4582) Email: info@visitjamaica-usa.com
I am a Jamaican who has stumbled across this article. While I agree with some of your points you are in your passionate ferver spreading quite a few falsehoods.
1) Homosexuality is not Illegal in Jamaica. The act of buggery is Illegal. Hence there is no law that will allow homosexual females to be prosecuted. Secondly there are laws being passed through the legislature at the moment to attempt to bring Jamaica on par with international human rights with regards to "privacy at home and a private family life". This would prevent the authorities from invading what is carried out in private. Though this legislation is coming under pressure from legal christian groups. 2) You have mentioned the murders of two prominent Homosexual Jamaicans. Think of the hate crimes against homosexuals in first world countries such as the US and the UK and you will easily come up with numbers far greater than two. Despite the chantings of the music it is highly irregular to have someone killed for being homosexual. The discrimination in Jamaica is no different than would be in small town america or rural uk. I do agree however that the music and the culture stirs up alot of hatred towards homosexuality (esp. homosexual males). That is the way of our culture. Homophobia is rampant throughout Jamaicas social systems as is shown in the governments recent decision not to allow gay marriages. I agree that as such you should avoid travel to Jamaica. However, not through fear of murder but rather as an opposition to discrimination. In the mean time spreading falsehoods in your fight for acceptance makes you little better than those you are fighting against.
#2
on
2006-02-26 06:16
Thanks for your comments and the clarification about homosexuality's legality in Jamaica.
#2.1
on
2006-02-27 10:45
"That is the way of our culture" is it? Well then nothing more needs to be said, I assume. It's not the fear of being killed that should stop you from travelling to Jamaica, it's just the reality that you'll be openly discriminated against. What an important distinction, thank you for taking the time to point it out here.
Feh. I have a suggestion too. Why not put "One love for the heterosexuals, no love at all for the gays" on your Tourist Board press releases in future?
Before I start, let me state that I am a Jamaica. So nobody will blame any other nationality for my comments.
1. The mere fact that 'homosexuality' is not mentioned in the Jamaican law book as a punishable crime is no reason to assume that homosexuals are not persecuted. The two laws that affect homosexual males criminalize any form of sexual activity, and (note!) and display of affection between two males. This is a smart way to say avoid banning homosexuality. 2. Jamaicans need to understand that each individual has a right to make his or her choices in life. No one should feel compelled to follow the rules of another person, especially those that are religiously based. The right to privacy in on'e bedroom will not prevent gay people from being harrassed...after all we don't live in our bedroom and it would be a shame to limit the lives of any people to the confines of their bedroom. This is such a 'low' approach to equal rights and justice for all. 3. Concernign the number of murders - the actual number of murders involving gay men is actually higher. In fact, a month after Williamson's ghastly murder in Kingston, another man was killed in Montego Bay, under similar accusations as the fellow that was beatened at UWI Mona campus recently. There was the murder of a senator's son in his home. There was a murder of a man somewhere in Red Hills. You can look up some of the articles that were written in The Jamaica Outpost (www.jamaicaoutpost.com). The issue is a real issue that is affecting lives. Using defensive approaches will not make life better for gay Jamaicans who are terrified of having their sexuality revealed. Well, that's it for me for now.
i am a Jamaican- and i say jamaica is a nice place, we do not accept gays, this lifestyle cannot be forced upon us or be seen therefore anything gay. we do not accept gays. JUST REMEMBER, NOT EVERY ONE IN JAMAICA SUPPORT KILLING GAYS, BUT THESE ARE THE REPORTS THAT ARE HIGHLIGHTED
#5
on
2008-10-05 21:36
Gay activists, stop destroying Jamaica's economy with this negative propaganda so they can have food before they go to bed at night, and they won't harass you as the cause for their suffering. Just leave people alone. Do whatever you want to your partner we dont care just dont try to shove things down peoples throats and violate people's rights to live naturally.
#6
on
2009-06-17 04:53
Being gay is a sin in my law , but its not for you to judge, thats my job, your job is to love your naghber as you love yourself and love your enermys as christ loved and died for all you siners in my name, your job is to show my way. thoughs that judge others will also be judged, some think there way is right in there oun eyes but it leeds them to hell, my son is the way the trouth and the life who are you, jamaica is sining against me , repent now in the son the ghost and and the farther, some will turn there back and face hell, i ask you not to follow them they made there choice. Im your farther in heaven and i love you.
#7
on
2009-07-20 17:54
I agree with any country that does not want GAY people openly showing there affection in public..they should keep that life style to there damn self. There are people who are trying to raise ther
ir kids the right way and dont need that kind of influence.....find christ
#8
on
2010-02-24 14:05
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The murder and mutilation of Jamaican gay activist Brian Williamson still invokes warnings for gays considering travel to Jamaica....
Tracked: Feb 25, 13:19