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NEWS & LETTERS, March-April 2005Jamaican gay bashing
Chicago--Two activists with Jamaica Forum for Lesbians,
All-Sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG) spoke out Feb. 11 at an Amnesty International
OUTfront! forum on the climate of murder they faced in Jamaica. Even as they
dared to speak out in Chicago, they chose to use only their first names because
of the threat to anyone identified as gay in Jamaica. Karlene testified that if you are gay or lesbian or
merely perceived so by others, when you leave your house in the morning you are
not guaranteed that you will return that night. Even within the family, a man
got youths to beat up his own son he suspected was gay. Popular singers like Capleton and Elephant Man feel free
to detail how "battybwoys" (gay men) and "sodomites"
(lesbians) should be burned, drowned or stoned. But government policy,
Rastafarian and mainstream church statements, and police non-intervention have
fostered an open season on lesbians and gays. Gareth told how they had been able to carry on the work
of J-FLAG since 1998, but with no open address. Their telephone line alone gets
murderous threats every day. A demonstration the next day at Moody Memorial Church
and the residence of Cardinal George reminded us that church efforts to make gay
bashing state policy, while more deadly in Jamaica, exist here too. --Supporter |
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