LGBT rights in Jamaica
Encyclopedia
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights in Jamaica are dominated by the prohibition of sexual acts between men. Sexual acts between women are legal, by virtue of the absence of any reference to them in law. Sexual acts between men are punishable with up to ten years jail, although the law is seldom enforced between consenting adults.Jamaica
has been described by human-rights groups as the most homophobic place on earth due to the hate speech
and bias motivated crimes often directed at LGBT people.
prohibits sex between men, as is the case in much of the English-speaking Caribbean. Article 76 of the Offences Against the Person Act states:
Article 77 adds:
Article 79 further states:
"Gross indecency
" is not defined, but has been interpreted to include male homosexual conduct between consenting adults in private.
According to the Human Rights Activist Peter Tatchell
, homophobia is not authentic Jamaican culture. It was imposed on the people of Jamaica in the nineteenth century by British colonisers and their Christian missionary allies.
views international criticism of its human rights
record as meddling, and either claims that homophobia is not a serious problem or that gay rights violate the conservative social values of the Jamaican people. In fact the parties are more willing to accept an embargo on nations that criticize the LGBT rights in Jamaica than change their ways to appeal to the international community. The Jamaican Labour Party has likewise avoided the issue, although in 2004, the former Jamaican Attorney General and Justice Minister, Dr. Oswald Harding, stated that he felt that Jamaica law should follow the advice of the Wolfenden Committee
in Britain and decriminalize homosexuality
and prostitution
when it occurred between consenting adults in private.
In April 2006, the Sunday Herald ran a front page headline "No homos!" in which then opposition leader and current Prime Minister of Jamaica
Bruce Golding
vowed that "homosexuals would find no solace in any cabinet formed by him". The statement was supported by several clergy
men and a trade union
leader. During the 2001 elections Golding's party used as its theme song "Chi Chi Man" by T.O.K.
, which celebrates the burning and killing of gay men. The purpose of the use of this song was an attack on the then Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, who at the time, was the subject of a whispering campaign on his sexuality, with some critics referring to him as "P.J. Battyson." (Batty boy
or man, with a variety of spellings, is an extremely insulting Jamaican epithet for a gay or bisexual male.)
New or minor political parties, no matter their political philosophy, in Jamaica oppose LGBT rights on religious grounds. The conservative National Democratic Movement opposes LGBT rights on religious grounds along side the more leftist parties such as the Peoples National Party and the New Nation Coalition that express strong support for "Christian principles" http://rjrnewsonline.com/news/politics/new-nation-coalition-party-launched.
(2004),
Amnesty International
agrees: "Gay men and lesbian women have been beaten, cut, burned, raped and shot on account of their sexuality"; and gays and lesbians constitute one of the "most marginalized and persecuted communities in Jamaica". Amnesty gave an example of a recent incident reported in a national newspaper, where a father encouraged a mob to beat up his son, whom he suspected was gay, while he looked on smiling. No charges were laid.
While police do not compile statistics on attacks against homosexuals, J-FLAG
, the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays, report that they know of 30 gay men who have been murdered in Jamaica between 1997 and 2004.
The violence has prompted hundreds of LGBT Jamaicans to seek asylum in nations such as Great Britain, Canada and the United States, and several have been successful. In 2005, the European Parliament
passed a resolution calling on Jamaica to repeal their sodomy laws and to actively combat widespread homophobia.
Recent reported incidents of violence include:
In addition to the prevalence of homophobic violence, Jamaica has the highest murder rate of any country in the world (Padgett 2006). The high incidence of violence in Jamaica presents a huge problem to securing better health outcomes. The WHO has labeled violence a public health priority because of the “serious immediate and future long-term implications for health and psychological and social development that violence represents for individuals, families, communities, and countries” (Krug 2002). In their 2002 World Report on Violence and Health, the WHO discusses violence in an ecological model, occurring at the individual, relationship, community, and societal levels. This model is moving from a criminological approach to violence that only examines the individual level. It recognizes that individual acts of violence are part of a systematic culture. The nature of homophobic violence in Jamaica certainly fits into this model. Men do not commit violence due purely to personal malevolence, but are part of a larger social structure that does not view violence against homosexuals as wrong.
However, the influences on violence against homosexuals are not limited to the societal level. Global forces also have a tremendous impact on local violence. The high levels of violence in Jamaica can be understood in terms of globalization. As Richard Falk wrote, “Democracy must be deepened at the level of the state and extended effectively to cover international institutions and transnational market forces.” In essence, he is arguing that a strong democratic government and provisions for human rights must be in place before economies participate in the global economy. The forces of globalization have caused the Jamaican economy to develop in ways that they did not have the cultural or governmental mechanisms to support. Increasing wealth disparities caused by globalization have created a climate ripe for social violence. The expansion international markets had a number of effects on Jamaica, the growth of an illegal drug trade chief among them. The inherent violence of the drug world can easily have made an impact on the average person’s likelihood to use violence against another. The restructuring of economy, even without such vast wealth disparities, can cause violence. As was noted in the WHO World Report on Violence and Health, “rapid social change in a country in response to strong global pressures can overwhelm existing social controls over behavior and create conditions for a higher level of violence” (Krug 2002).
The organization was created in 1998, and operates underground and anonymously. In June 2004 founding member and the public face of J-FLAG and Jamaica's leading gay-rights activist, Brian Williamson
, was stabbed to death in his home. Police ruled that the murder was the result of a robbery, but J-FLAG believes his murder was a hate crime
. Human Rights Watch
researcher Rebecca Schleifer had a meeting with Williamson that day, and arrived at his home not long after his body had been discovered:
Human Rights Watch also reports that police helped a suspect evade identification, and consistently refused to consider the possibility of a homophobic motive for the killing, with the senior officer responsible for the investigation claiming “most of the violence against homosexuals is internal. We never have cases of gay men being beaten up [by heterosexuals].”
A friend of Williamson's, Lenford "Steve" Harvey
, who worked in Targeted Interventions at Jamaica AIDS Support for Life, was shot to death on the eve of World AIDS Day
the following year. Gunmen reportedly burst into his home and demanded money, demanding to know "Are you battymen?" "I think his silence, his refusal to answer that question sealed it", said Yvonne McCalla Sobers, the head of Families Against State Terrorism. "Then they opened his laptop and saw a photograph of him with his partner in some kind of embrace that showed they were together. So they took him out and killed him." Four people have been charged with the killing.
Since 2008, a political news/blog site, Gay Jamaica Watch, with its related social network, has moved to the forefront of day to day civil rights commentary in Jamaica, whilst J-FLAG is involved with other activities.
The current UN Declaration on Human Rights does not have any language pertaining to the protection of sexual orientation. When it was written after World War II, no countries had a gay rights movement (Donnelly 2003), so its inclusion was not even a point of contention. Over the past century, LGBTQ advocates worldwide have begun the struggle for equal protection using the framework of human rights, but there is currently no international consensus. Many countries have extended the same rights and protection from discrimination, but many others, like Jamaica, feel that acceptance of homosexuality is not socially acceptable, nor something that should be protected by the state (Donnelly 2003). In his discussion on the nature of human rights laws as they concern sexual minorities, Jack Donnelly begins by saying that it is impossible to be completely protected from discrimination, but it is a right to be protected from discrimination that “tends to ill will or causes unjustifiable harm” (Donnelly 2003; 225). He argues that excluding people of alternative sexual orientation from “equal rights for all” contradicts central ideas on the nature of human rights. This relates back to his idea on the indivisibility of human rights; in order for any rights to be completely enacted, they must all be extended to their fullest potential (Donnelly 2003). This requirements an acknowledgement of the effect that economic and social rights have on the ability of citizens to enact their political rights. In the face of state sanctioned violence against homosexuals, the very foundation of human rights in Jamaica is threatened.
A discussion on human rights, as they concern sexual orientation, could facilitate the prevention of AIDS and homophobic violence in Jamaica. However, many see the inclusion of sexual orientation as a human right to be a form of cultural imperialism (Norman, Carr, Jiminez 2006). Acceptance of homosexuality is seen as against the conservative Christian values that most citizens hold. In Jamaica, not only is there is no legal protection for people of alternative sexual orientation, but there also are many laws that prohibit and condemn homosexual acts. Legally, anal sex is defined as an “abominable act of buggery” and is punishable with up to ten years hard labor (Fink 2009). Violence against gay and positive people is commonplace, but legal repercussions for the aggressor are rare. UNAIDS representatives for Jamaica, describe these laws and repeated blind-eye towards homophobic violence as “legalized discrimination” and points out how they have driven the epidemic further underground, making access to treatment and outreach more difficult (Fink 2009).
In 2004, Human Rights Watch
issued a report on the status of LGBT people in Jamaica. The report documented widespread homophobia
and argued that the high level of intolerance was harming public efforts to combat violence and the AIDS
-HIV
pandemic. The Caribbean has by far the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in the Americas, with heterosexual contact the predominant route of HIV transmission.
A recent poll showed that 96% of Jamaicans were opposed to any move that would seek to legalise homosexual relations. Many Jamaicans are devoutly Christian and claim that their anti-gay stance is based on religious grounds. In February 2006, a coalition of church leaders and members of the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship declared their opposition to the privacy provisions of a proposed Charter of Rights that would form the basis of an amended Jamaican Constitution. Chief among the concerns was that homosexuality could be made legal, although the Justice Minister AJ Nicholson and the Leader of the Opposition Bruce Golding
have denied this; both oppose decriminalizing buggery which although not a gay specific crime, is most often used against gay men.
Local LGBT-rights group J-FLAG
acknowledges that anti-LGBT sentiment is influenced by certain passages from the Bible
, but counters that
The Rastafari movement
, is in many ways even more intensely anti-homosexual. According to a Rasta elder:
The focus remains heavily on homosexuality as representing anal intercourse, above virtually all other aspects associated with gay culture in society. Linked to this is Jamaica's pre-eminence as a country with male-dominant social values. Consequently, adultery and fornication are praised as signs of male virility in the lyrics of popular songs, particularly in Jamaican Dancehall. Homosexuality (i.e. buggery) in this context is seen as a potential affront to the male 'ideal'.
The Western perception of Jamaica as a carefree “island” society is in sharp contrast with its widespread social conservatism and high incidence of violence. There is a strong Christian attitude in Jamaica that condemns homosexual acts as abominations. Heightened masculinity is also seen as an important, definitive aspect of being a man. An accusation of homosexuality is seen as the worst insult someone could give a man (Fink 2009). Anthropologist Kingsley Stewart of the University of the West Indies said, “Homophobia influences almost every aspect of life. It has even come to shape the everyday language of ghetto youth” (Fink 2009). Masculinity in Jamaica is defined in opposition of homosexuality. This is similar to the narrative offered by Fanon in Black Skin, White Masks, where the author asserts that blackness can only be understood in its comparison to whiteness. Traditional masculinity in Jamaica is defined as the antithesis of homosexuality. It is impossible to understand masculinity outside of its guarded relationship to homosexuality. This heightens the seriousness to which an accusation of homosexuality affects a man’s reputation and the drastic measures he will go to avoid being indicted.
Prevailing understandings of homosexuality limit public discussions to recycled misinformation and prejudices, which make it difficult for LGBT Jamaicans to come to terms with their sexualities. The organization Gay Jamaicans United, which seeks to provide a web-resource for LGBTQ Jamaicans who have questions about sexuality and gender identity, was launched in April 2010.
columnist Morris Cargill wrote in 1999:
(This writer supports the "nurture" view with respect to environment and sexual orientation
.)
As a consequence, Jamaican lesbians experience less persecution than gay men, but have nonetheless cited examples of hate crimes.
Although lesbian civil ceremonies have taken place, Jamaica does not recognise any legal basis for partnerships between women.
and dancehall
. As a consequence performers are high profile, either (depending on perspective) seen as influencing popular opinion or reflecting it. Artists such as Buju Banton
, Bounty Killer
, Beenie Man
, Vybz Kartel
, Mavado
, Elephant Man, Sizzla
, Capleton
, T.O.K.
and Shabba Ranks
, write and perform songs that advocate attacking or killing gays and lesbians.
Apologists argue that these artists are simply championing Rastafarian values in contemporary reggae music by recording material which is concerned primarily with exploring Rastafarian themes, such as Babylon's corrupting influence, the disenfranchisement of ghetto youth, oppression of the black nation and their abiding faith in Jah
and resistance against perceived agents of oppression. Homosexuality is enmeshed with these themes.
One of Beenie Man's songs contains the lyrics: "I'm a dreaming of a new Jamaica, come to execute all the gays." Lyrics from Sizzla's songs include: “Shot batty boy
, my big gun boom” (Shoot queers, my big gun goes boom). "A Nuh Fi Wi Fault" by Elephant Man rants: "Battyman fi dead!/Please mark we word/Gimme tha tech-nine
/Shoot dem like bird".
Shabba Ranks
's reputation was badly damaged by his explicitly homophobic views and lyrics. This was evidenced by a notorious incident on the Channel 4
programme 'The Word' where he advocated the crucifixion
of homosexuals. This view was also aired, for example, on his track "No Mama Man", where the following lyrics can be heard: "If Jamaica would a legalize gun / to kill battyboy would be the greatest fun".
An international campaign against homophobia by reggae singers has been launched by OutRage!
, UK-based gay activism group., the UK-based Stop Murder Music Coalition (SMM) and others. An agreement to stop anti-gay lyrics during live performances and not to produce any new anti-gay material or re-release offending songs was reached in February 2005 between dancehall record labels and organizations opposed to anti-gay murder lyrics. As of July 2006 this agreement seems to have been revoked.
The Canadian High Commission in Jamaica is also requiring performers who wish to tour in Canada to sign an Entertainer Declaration that states that they have read and fully understand excerpts from the Criminal Code of Canada
, Charter of Rights
and Human Rights Act
and "will not engage in or advocate hatred against persons because of their... sexual orientation."
It is estimated that approximately 1.6% of the entire population of Jamaica is HIV positive and rates of infection have been gradually climbing over the past decade (Norman, Carr, Jiminez 2006). Almost 25% of Jamaicans, including mostly gay men and sex workers, are identified, as “at risk” for infection (Norman, Carr, Jiminez 2006). The epidemic is certainly more concentrated within the gay community. Current statistics estimate that as high as 32% of all gay men in Jamaica are HIV positive (Fink 2009). The way Jamaicans associate HIV with homosexual anal sex has been partly shaped by the international media coverage at the beginning of the epidemic. AIDS researcher Robert Carr said, “AIDS was seen as a disease of gay, White, North American men” (Fink 2009). The initial terror from the beginning of the epidemic, before there were any treatments, incited already pervasive homophobia to violent action (Fink 2009). While the past few decades have shown how the spread of HIV is not confined to any singular social category, the association has held strong in Jamaica.
A study conducted by AIDS researchers found that half of surveyed university students in Jamaica felt sympathetic towards heterosexual men and non-sex workers who were HIV positive, but did not reciprocate the feelings for homosexual men and female sex workers (Norman, Carr, Jiminez 2006). Essentially this study showed that less blame is attached to people who became positive through “less controllable” acts such as voluntary heterosexual intercourse or drug use. Many Jamaicans felt that sex workers and homosexuals are not to be pitied because they were acting in a way that put themselves knowingly more at risk (Norman, Carr, Jiminez 2006).
Stigma and homophobia have affected the lives and the spread of HIV in many ways. Men who are both gay and positive face innumerable obstacles and acts of violence over the course of their lives. AIDS researchers Carr and White found that the association of HIV with generally stigmatized social groups has a halo effect that impacts all persons living with HIV (White and Carr 2005). The association of AIDS with homosexuals has increased the discrimination towards all homosexuals and others living with HIV. Victim blaming over infection has left positive individuals, especially gay men and sex workers, with few resources and even fewer public advocates.
Harsh social stigmas against homosexuality and the criminalization of sodomy by the Jamaican government have forced men to pursue increasingly risky encounters. The secretive nature of gay culture in Jamaica makes outreach nearly impossible. Men are so fearful of being associated with homosexuality that they refuse to learn prevention techniques or seek out treatment. Fear of being identified as gay has also forced many men into early marriages in the hopes of avoiding future accusations. Miriam Maluwa, the UNAIDS country representative for Jamaica, said, “[Gay men] marry fairly rapidly, they have children fairly rapidly to regularize themselves, and that is really a ticking bomb” (Fink 2009). Gay men forced into heterosexual marriage are bound to have extramarital affairs. These affairs put their wives at high risk for infection as well.
In his book, Pathologies of Power, Paul Farmer briefly discusses the relationship between homophobia and HIV. “Homophobia may be said to lead to adverse outcomes if it “drives underground” people who would otherwise stand to benefit from preventive campaigns” (Farmer 2005). This is certainly the case in Jamaica. The fear of stigma has crippled the agency of prevention and treatment programs. Farmer acknowledges the effect homophobia can have on treatment and prevention, but in line with his consistent views, argues that crimes against women and gay men are disproportionately felt by the poor as a product of structural violence (Farmer 2005). Structural violence, according to Farmer is driven by “neither culture nor pure individual will…rather, historically given (and often economically driven) processes and forces conspire to constrain individual agency” (Farmer 2005). Homophobia is simply a symptom of larger issues of structural violence. Their already stigmatized existence is further compounded by the practical limitations of the extreme poverty in Jamaica. Farmer later writes, “None of this is to deny the ill effects of homophobia… The point is rather to call for more fine-grained, more systemic analyses of power and privilege in discussions about who is likely to have their rights violated and in what ways” (Farmer 2005). Analysis of the larger cultural, economic, and legal issues surrounding the state of homophobic violence and the spread of HIV under this idea of structural violence display their complex origins and solutions.
Wealth disparities and government sanctioning of gay rights abuses have created a culture of cyclical violence. Currently, Jamaica is trapped in a cycle: fear of HIV increases homophobia and violence towards homosexuals, which forces men to be secretive and avoid prevention, which leads to an increase in infections, which contributes to increased stigma.
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
has been described by human-rights groups as the most homophobic place on earth due to the hate speech
Hate speech
Hate speech is, outside the law, any communication that disparages a person or a group on the basis of some characteristic such as race, color, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, or other characteristic....
and bias motivated crimes often directed at LGBT people.
Criminal Code
Jamaican criminal codeCriminal Code
A criminal code is a document which compiles all, or a significant amount of, a particular jurisdiction's criminal law...
prohibits sex between men, as is the case in much of the English-speaking Caribbean. Article 76 of the Offences Against the Person Act states:
Whosoever shall be convicted of the abominable crime of buggerySodomy lawA sodomy law is a law that defines certain sexual acts as crimes. The precise sexual acts meant by the term sodomy are rarely spelled out in the law, but are typically understood by courts to include any sexual act deemed unnatural. It also has a range of similar euphemisms...
, committed either with mankind or with any animal, shall be liable to be imprisoned and kept to
hard labour for a term not exceeding ten years.
Article 77 adds:
Whosoever shall attempt to commit the said abominable crime, or shall be guilty of any assault with intent to commit the same, or of any indecent assault upon any male person, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, and being convicted thereof, shall be liable to be imprisoned for a term not exceeding seven years, with or without hard
labour.
Article 79 further states:
Any male person who, in public or private, commits,
or is a party to the commission of, or procures or attempts to procure the commission by any male person of, any act of gross indecency with another male person, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, and being convicted thereof shall be liable at the discretion of the court to be imprisoned for a term not exceeding two years, with or without hard labour.
"Gross indecency
Decency
Decency is the quality or state of conforming to social or moral standards of taste and propriety.-See also:*Taste *Communications Decency Act*Public indecency*Indecent exposure*Sodomy law*Norm *Grotesque body...
" is not defined, but has been interpreted to include male homosexual conduct between consenting adults in private.
According to the Human Rights Activist Peter Tatchell
Peter Tatchell
Peter Gary Tatchell is an Australian-born British political campaigner best known for his work with LGBT social movements...
, homophobia is not authentic Jamaican culture. It was imposed on the people of Jamaica in the nineteenth century by British colonisers and their Christian missionary allies.
Political parties
Neither one of the two major political parties in Jamaica has expressed any official support for gay rights. The People's National PartyPeople's National Party
The People's National Party is a social democratic and social liberal Jamaican political party, founded by Norman Manley in 1938. It is the oldest political party in the Anglophone Caribbean and one of the main two political parties in Jamaica. Out of the two major parties, it is considered more...
views international criticism of its human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
record as meddling, and either claims that homophobia is not a serious problem or that gay rights violate the conservative social values of the Jamaican people. In fact the parties are more willing to accept an embargo on nations that criticize the LGBT rights in Jamaica than change their ways to appeal to the international community. The Jamaican Labour Party has likewise avoided the issue, although in 2004, the former Jamaican Attorney General and Justice Minister, Dr. Oswald Harding, stated that he felt that Jamaica law should follow the advice of the Wolfenden Committee
Wolfenden report
The Report of the Departmental Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution was published in Britain on 4 September 1957 after a succession of well-known men, including Lord Montagu, Michael Pitt-Rivers and Peter Wildeblood, were convicted of homosexual offences.-The committee:The...
in Britain and decriminalize homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
and prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
when it occurred between consenting adults in private.
In April 2006, the Sunday Herald ran a front page headline "No homos!" in which then opposition leader and current Prime Minister of Jamaica
Prime Minister of Jamaica
The Prime Minister of Jamaica is Jamaica's head of government, currently Andrew Holness. Andrew Holness was elected as the new leader of the governing Jamaica Labour Party and succeeded Bruce Golding to become Jamaica's ninth Prime Minister on 23 October 2011...
Bruce Golding
Bruce Golding
Orette Bruce Golding MP served as Prime Minister of Jamaica from 11 September 2007 to 23 October 2011. He is a member of the Jamaica Labour Party.-Biography:...
vowed that "homosexuals would find no solace in any cabinet formed by him". The statement was supported by several clergy
Clergy
Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. A clergyman, churchman or cleric is a member of the clergy, especially one who is a priest, preacher, pastor, or other religious professional....
men and a trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
leader. During the 2001 elections Golding's party used as its theme song "Chi Chi Man" by T.O.K.
T.O.K.
T.O.K. is a dancehall group hailing from Kingston, Jamaica. The group consists of Alistaire "Alex" McCalla, Roshaun "Bay-C" Clarke, Craig "Craigy T" Thompson, and Xavier "Flexx" Davidson...
, which celebrates the burning and killing of gay men. The purpose of the use of this song was an attack on the then Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, who at the time, was the subject of a whispering campaign on his sexuality, with some critics referring to him as "P.J. Battyson." (Batty boy
Batty boy
Batty boy , batty man are pejorative sexual slurs used to describe gay, bisexual and effeminate men, or those presumed to be gay and bisexual. The term is a Jamaican Patois abbreviation of the word bottom into batty; "batty boy" is a cognate of the American English "butt boy"...
or man, with a variety of spellings, is an extremely insulting Jamaican epithet for a gay or bisexual male.)
New or minor political parties, no matter their political philosophy, in Jamaica oppose LGBT rights on religious grounds. The conservative National Democratic Movement opposes LGBT rights on religious grounds along side the more leftist parties such as the Peoples National Party and the New Nation Coalition that express strong support for "Christian principles" http://rjrnewsonline.com/news/politics/new-nation-coalition-party-launched.
Violence against homosexuals
According to Human Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
(2004),
Verbal and physical violence, ranging from beatings to brutal armed attacks to murder, are widespread. For many, there is no sanctuary from such abuse. Men who have sex with men and women who have sex with women reported being driven from their homes and their towns by neighbors who threatened to kill them if they remained, forcing them to abandon their possessions and leaving many homeless.In addition,
police actively support homophobic violence, fail to investigate complaints of abuse, and arrest and detain men based on their alleged homosexual conduct.In one gay-hate murder,
several witnesses [said] that police participated in the abuse that ultimately led to his mob killing, first beating the man with batons and then urging others to beat him because he was homosexual.
Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
agrees: "Gay men and lesbian women have been beaten, cut, burned, raped and shot on account of their sexuality"; and gays and lesbians constitute one of the "most marginalized and persecuted communities in Jamaica". Amnesty gave an example of a recent incident reported in a national newspaper, where a father encouraged a mob to beat up his son, whom he suspected was gay, while he looked on smiling. No charges were laid.
While police do not compile statistics on attacks against homosexuals, J-FLAG
J-Flag
J-Flag, the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays, is the first LGBT rights organization in Jamaica, founded in 1998, and works for the human rights of lesbians, all-sexuals, and gays in Jamaica and the world...
, the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays, report that they know of 30 gay men who have been murdered in Jamaica between 1997 and 2004.
The violence has prompted hundreds of LGBT Jamaicans to seek asylum in nations such as Great Britain, Canada and the United States, and several have been successful. In 2005, the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
passed a resolution calling on Jamaica to repeal their sodomy laws and to actively combat widespread homophobia.
Recent reported incidents of violence include:
- In February 2007, three men were accosted by a large mob in a shopping area in Kingston and accused of being homosexual. Riot police were called, and they eventually carried the men to safety. There are allegations, however, that the men were also abused by the police. http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20070214t220000-0500_119155_obs_cops_save_three_alleged_homosexuals_from_angry_crowd.asp http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20070216T200000-0500_119206_OBS_COPS_WHO_RESCUED_ALLEGED_HOMOSEXUALS_NOW_UNDER_FIRE.asp.
- In January 2006, Nokia Cowan, a young Jamaican man, plunged to his death off a pier in Kingston after reportedly being chased through the streets by a mob yelling homophobic epithets.
- In April 2006, students at the Mona campus of the University of the West IndiesUniversity of the West IndiesThe University of the West Indies , is an autonomous regional institution supported by and serving 17 English-speaking countries and territories in the Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dominica,...
rioted as police attempted to protect a man who had been chased across the campus because another student had claimed the man had propositioned him in a bathroom. The mob demanded that the man be turned over to them. It only dispersed when riot police were called in and one officer fired a shot in the air. If the claim of a sexual advance is substantiated, the chased man could face charges.
In addition to the prevalence of homophobic violence, Jamaica has the highest murder rate of any country in the world (Padgett 2006). The high incidence of violence in Jamaica presents a huge problem to securing better health outcomes. The WHO has labeled violence a public health priority because of the “serious immediate and future long-term implications for health and psychological and social development that violence represents for individuals, families, communities, and countries” (Krug 2002). In their 2002 World Report on Violence and Health, the WHO discusses violence in an ecological model, occurring at the individual, relationship, community, and societal levels. This model is moving from a criminological approach to violence that only examines the individual level. It recognizes that individual acts of violence are part of a systematic culture. The nature of homophobic violence in Jamaica certainly fits into this model. Men do not commit violence due purely to personal malevolence, but are part of a larger social structure that does not view violence against homosexuals as wrong.
However, the influences on violence against homosexuals are not limited to the societal level. Global forces also have a tremendous impact on local violence. The high levels of violence in Jamaica can be understood in terms of globalization. As Richard Falk wrote, “Democracy must be deepened at the level of the state and extended effectively to cover international institutions and transnational market forces.” In essence, he is arguing that a strong democratic government and provisions for human rights must be in place before economies participate in the global economy. The forces of globalization have caused the Jamaican economy to develop in ways that they did not have the cultural or governmental mechanisms to support. Increasing wealth disparities caused by globalization have created a climate ripe for social violence. The expansion international markets had a number of effects on Jamaica, the growth of an illegal drug trade chief among them. The inherent violence of the drug world can easily have made an impact on the average person’s likelihood to use violence against another. The restructuring of economy, even without such vast wealth disparities, can cause violence. As was noted in the WHO World Report on Violence and Health, “rapid social change in a country in response to strong global pressures can overwhelm existing social controls over behavior and create conditions for a higher level of violence” (Krug 2002).
Political activism
The first gay organization in Jamaica was the Gay Freedom Movement (GFM), founded around 1974 by five Jamaicans and an American Jesuit then working in the island. It focused on consciousness-raising within the LGBT community and professional organizations, issued a newsletter, Jamaica Gaily News, and ran a Gay Youth Program, Prison Outreach Program and a free STD clinic. General Secretary, Larry Chang, who was also publisher and editor of JGN, was the first Jamaican to come out publicly, being interviewed on radio and JBC-TV and through his letters to the press. Before he fled to the US in 2000 where he was granted political asylum in 2004, he had helped found Jamaican Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG), which is today the only LGBT rights organization in Jamaica.The organization was created in 1998, and operates underground and anonymously. In June 2004 founding member and the public face of J-FLAG and Jamaica's leading gay-rights activist, Brian Williamson
Brian Williamson
Brian Williamson was a Jamaican Gay rights activist and co-founder of the Jamaican forum for lesbians and gays, J-Flag...
, was stabbed to death in his home. Police ruled that the murder was the result of a robbery, but J-FLAG believes his murder was a hate crime
Hate crime
In crime and law, hate crimes occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group, usually defined by racial group, religion, sexual orientation, disability, class, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, social status or...
. Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
researcher Rebecca Schleifer had a meeting with Williamson that day, and arrived at his home not long after his body had been discovered:
She found a small crowd singing and dancing. One man called out, "Battyman he get killed." Others were celebrating, laughing and shouting "Let's get them one at a time", "That's what you get for sin". Others sang "Boom bye bye", a line from a well-known dancehall song by Jamaican star Buju Banton about shooting and burning gay men. "It was like a parade", says Schleifer. "They were basically partying."
Human Rights Watch also reports that police helped a suspect evade identification, and consistently refused to consider the possibility of a homophobic motive for the killing, with the senior officer responsible for the investigation claiming “most of the violence against homosexuals is internal. We never have cases of gay men being beaten up [by heterosexuals].”
A friend of Williamson's, Lenford "Steve" Harvey
Lenford Harvey
Lenford "Steve" Harvey was a leader in the Jamaican HIV/AIDS community, and led several programs to assist people living with HIV/AIDS, and to promote safer-sex education and AIDS awareness in Jamaica....
, who worked in Targeted Interventions at Jamaica AIDS Support for Life, was shot to death on the eve of World AIDS Day
World AIDS Day
World AIDS Day, observed December 1 every year, is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. Government and health officials observe the day, often with speeches or forums on the AIDS topics. Since 1995, the President of the United States has made an...
the following year. Gunmen reportedly burst into his home and demanded money, demanding to know "Are you battymen?" "I think his silence, his refusal to answer that question sealed it", said Yvonne McCalla Sobers, the head of Families Against State Terrorism. "Then they opened his laptop and saw a photograph of him with his partner in some kind of embrace that showed they were together. So they took him out and killed him." Four people have been charged with the killing.
Since 2008, a political news/blog site, Gay Jamaica Watch, with its related social network, has moved to the forefront of day to day civil rights commentary in Jamaica, whilst J-FLAG is involved with other activities.
The current UN Declaration on Human Rights does not have any language pertaining to the protection of sexual orientation. When it was written after World War II, no countries had a gay rights movement (Donnelly 2003), so its inclusion was not even a point of contention. Over the past century, LGBTQ advocates worldwide have begun the struggle for equal protection using the framework of human rights, but there is currently no international consensus. Many countries have extended the same rights and protection from discrimination, but many others, like Jamaica, feel that acceptance of homosexuality is not socially acceptable, nor something that should be protected by the state (Donnelly 2003). In his discussion on the nature of human rights laws as they concern sexual minorities, Jack Donnelly begins by saying that it is impossible to be completely protected from discrimination, but it is a right to be protected from discrimination that “tends to ill will or causes unjustifiable harm” (Donnelly 2003; 225). He argues that excluding people of alternative sexual orientation from “equal rights for all” contradicts central ideas on the nature of human rights. This relates back to his idea on the indivisibility of human rights; in order for any rights to be completely enacted, they must all be extended to their fullest potential (Donnelly 2003). This requirements an acknowledgement of the effect that economic and social rights have on the ability of citizens to enact their political rights. In the face of state sanctioned violence against homosexuals, the very foundation of human rights in Jamaica is threatened.
A discussion on human rights, as they concern sexual orientation, could facilitate the prevention of AIDS and homophobic violence in Jamaica. However, many see the inclusion of sexual orientation as a human right to be a form of cultural imperialism (Norman, Carr, Jiminez 2006). Acceptance of homosexuality is seen as against the conservative Christian values that most citizens hold. In Jamaica, not only is there is no legal protection for people of alternative sexual orientation, but there also are many laws that prohibit and condemn homosexual acts. Legally, anal sex is defined as an “abominable act of buggery” and is punishable with up to ten years hard labor (Fink 2009). Violence against gay and positive people is commonplace, but legal repercussions for the aggressor are rare. UNAIDS representatives for Jamaica, describe these laws and repeated blind-eye towards homophobic violence as “legalized discrimination” and points out how they have driven the epidemic further underground, making access to treatment and outreach more difficult (Fink 2009).
Public attitudes toward LGBT people
In late July 2008, a poll was conducted amongst various Jamaicans that read "Whether or not you agree with their "lifestyle," do you think homosexuals are entitled to the same basic rights and privileges as other people in Jamaica?" Of the respondents, only 26% said "yes," with 70% saying "no" and 4% undecided.In 2004, Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
issued a report on the status of LGBT people in Jamaica. The report documented widespread homophobia
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
and argued that the high level of intolerance was harming public efforts to combat violence and the AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
-HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
pandemic. The Caribbean has by far the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in the Americas, with heterosexual contact the predominant route of HIV transmission.
A recent poll showed that 96% of Jamaicans were opposed to any move that would seek to legalise homosexual relations. Many Jamaicans are devoutly Christian and claim that their anti-gay stance is based on religious grounds. In February 2006, a coalition of church leaders and members of the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship declared their opposition to the privacy provisions of a proposed Charter of Rights that would form the basis of an amended Jamaican Constitution. Chief among the concerns was that homosexuality could be made legal, although the Justice Minister AJ Nicholson and the Leader of the Opposition Bruce Golding
Bruce Golding
Orette Bruce Golding MP served as Prime Minister of Jamaica from 11 September 2007 to 23 October 2011. He is a member of the Jamaica Labour Party.-Biography:...
have denied this; both oppose decriminalizing buggery which although not a gay specific crime, is most often used against gay men.
Local LGBT-rights group J-FLAG
J-Flag
J-Flag, the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays, is the first LGBT rights organization in Jamaica, founded in 1998, and works for the human rights of lesbians, all-sexuals, and gays in Jamaica and the world...
acknowledges that anti-LGBT sentiment is influenced by certain passages from the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, but counters that
the appropriation by legislatures of the Christian condemnation of homosexuals is a purely arbitrary process, guided largely by individual biases and collective prejudices. In the case of adultery, of which much more mention is made in Biblical text, Jamaica has no law pertaining to its condemnation or prosecution. The same applies to the act of fornication.
The Rastafari movement
Rastafari movement
The Rastafari movement or Rasta is a new religious movement that arose in the 1930s in Jamaica, which at the time was a country with a predominantly Christian culture where 98% of the people were the black descendants of slaves. Its adherents worship Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia , as God...
, is in many ways even more intensely anti-homosexual. According to a Rasta elder:
The real reason why the average 'Jah DJohn DoeThe name "John Doe" is used as a placeholder name in a legal action, case or discussion for a male party, whose true identity is unknown or must be withheld for legal reasons. The name is also used to refer to a male corpse or hospital patient whose identity is unknown...
' in Jamaica has this extreme, rational aversion to male homosexuality is not... because of 'fear of the other', it is not because of Biblical injunction; it is not because of its supposed 'un-Africanness' nor the fact that Jamaica is nominally a 'Christian country'. It is simply that he cannot condone the abandonment of the clean 'nip and tuck' of normal heterosexual relations for the unhygienic foray amid waste matter, unfriendly bacteria and toxic germs... 'Jah D' cannot see how it can be considered normal to forgo the natural, preordained creative union of male and female; to disdain the mix of complimentary fluids whether premarital, marital or extramarital and willingly embrace a process which leads to rooting amongst waste which anal penetration necessarily involves.
The focus remains heavily on homosexuality as representing anal intercourse, above virtually all other aspects associated with gay culture in society. Linked to this is Jamaica's pre-eminence as a country with male-dominant social values. Consequently, adultery and fornication are praised as signs of male virility in the lyrics of popular songs, particularly in Jamaican Dancehall. Homosexuality (i.e. buggery) in this context is seen as a potential affront to the male 'ideal'.
The Western perception of Jamaica as a carefree “island” society is in sharp contrast with its widespread social conservatism and high incidence of violence. There is a strong Christian attitude in Jamaica that condemns homosexual acts as abominations. Heightened masculinity is also seen as an important, definitive aspect of being a man. An accusation of homosexuality is seen as the worst insult someone could give a man (Fink 2009). Anthropologist Kingsley Stewart of the University of the West Indies said, “Homophobia influences almost every aspect of life. It has even come to shape the everyday language of ghetto youth” (Fink 2009). Masculinity in Jamaica is defined in opposition of homosexuality. This is similar to the narrative offered by Fanon in Black Skin, White Masks, where the author asserts that blackness can only be understood in its comparison to whiteness. Traditional masculinity in Jamaica is defined as the antithesis of homosexuality. It is impossible to understand masculinity outside of its guarded relationship to homosexuality. This heightens the seriousness to which an accusation of homosexuality affects a man’s reputation and the drastic measures he will go to avoid being indicted.
Prevailing understandings of homosexuality limit public discussions to recycled misinformation and prejudices, which make it difficult for LGBT Jamaicans to come to terms with their sexualities. The organization Gay Jamaicans United, which seeks to provide a web-resource for LGBTQ Jamaicans who have questions about sexuality and gender identity, was launched in April 2010.
Female homosexuality
For lesbians in Jamaica, the situation is considerably more ambiguous. In common with many countries where homosexual acts are or were illegal, legislation refers specifically to acts between males, making female homosexuality legal by omission. Views of female homosexuality from a heterosexual perspective, expressed in terms of male superiority and difference, are common. Jamaica GleanerGleaner
Gleaner may refer to:*Gleaner Company, a newspaper publishing enterprise in Jamaica.*Gleaner Manufacturing Company, a manufacturer of combine harvesters.*Gleaning, the collection of crops left over after harvest....
columnist Morris Cargill wrote in 1999:
There seems to be a certain logic in female homosexuality. For if it is true, broadly speaking, we acquire our first sexual proclivities in infancy, girl children who are petted and fondled by their mothers, nurses and female relatives acquire what might be said to be a "normal" sexual affection for their own sex. But this is not true of male children, so it seems to me that there is a very fundamental difference between male and female homosexuality.
(This writer supports the "nurture" view with respect to environment and sexual orientation
Environment and sexual orientation
Environment and sexual orientation is research into possible environmental influences on the development of human sexual orientation. Some researchers distinguish environmental influences from hormonal influences while others include biological influences such as prenatal hormones as part of...
.)
As a consequence, Jamaican lesbians experience less persecution than gay men, but have nonetheless cited examples of hate crimes.
Amnesty has received reports of specific acts of violence against lesbians, namely rape and other forms of sexual violence. There are reports of lesbians being attacked on the grounds of ‘mannish’ physical appearance or other visible ‘signs’ of sexuality. Some reports of abduction and rape emanate from inner-city communities, where local NGOs have already expressed concerns about high incidences of violence against women.
Although lesbian civil ceremonies have taken place, Jamaica does not recognise any legal basis for partnerships between women.
Portrayal of LGBT people in popular music
Jamaica's popular culture has a strong tradition of music, particularly reggaeReggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
and dancehall
Dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...
. As a consequence performers are high profile, either (depending on perspective) seen as influencing popular opinion or reflecting it. Artists such as Buju Banton
Buju Banton
Buju Banton is a Jamaican dancehall, ragga, and reggae musician.Banton has recorded pop and dance songs, as well as songs dealing with sociopolitical topics....
, Bounty Killer
Bounty Killer
Bounty Killer is a Grammy nominated Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay. He is the founder of a dancehall collective known as The Alliance.-Early life and career:...
, Beenie Man
Beenie Man
Anthony Moses Davis , better known by his stage name Beenie Man, is a Grammy award winning Jamaican reggae artist. He is the self-proclaimed "King of the Dancehall".-Biography:...
, Vybz Kartel
Vybz Kartel
Adidja Palmer , better known as Vybz Kartel, is a Jamaican dancehall artist, songwriter and businessman. He has many nicknames, including Addi Teacher and Gaza Emperor.-Biography:...
, Mavado
Mavado (singer)
David Constantine Brooks , better known by his stage name Mavado, is a Jamaican musician, actor, DJ and music producer.- Biography :...
, Elephant Man, Sizzla
Sizzla
Sizzla Kalonji, or simply Sizzla in are de reggae musician. He is one of the most commercially and critically successful contemporary reggae artists and is well-known for his above-average prolificacy...
, Capleton
Capleton
Capleton is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall artist. He is also referred to as King Shango, King David, The Fireman and The Prophet. His record label is called David House Productions...
, T.O.K.
T.O.K.
T.O.K. is a dancehall group hailing from Kingston, Jamaica. The group consists of Alistaire "Alex" McCalla, Roshaun "Bay-C" Clarke, Craig "Craigy T" Thompson, and Xavier "Flexx" Davidson...
and Shabba Ranks
Shabba Ranks
Shabba Ranks is a Jamaican dancehall musician.He was one of the most popular dancehall artists of his generation. He was also one of the first Jamaican deejays to gain worldwide acceptance, and recognition for his 'slack' lyrical expressions and content, when "ridin' di riddim"...
, write and perform songs that advocate attacking or killing gays and lesbians.
Apologists argue that these artists are simply championing Rastafarian values in contemporary reggae music by recording material which is concerned primarily with exploring Rastafarian themes, such as Babylon's corrupting influence, the disenfranchisement of ghetto youth, oppression of the black nation and their abiding faith in Jah
Jah
Jah is the shortened form of the divine name YHWH , an anglicized version of the Tetragrammaton . The name is most commonly associated with the Rastafari movement or within the word hallelujah, although Christian groups may use the name to varying degrees. For example, Jehovah's Witnesses use a...
and resistance against perceived agents of oppression. Homosexuality is enmeshed with these themes.
One of Beenie Man's songs contains the lyrics: "I'm a dreaming of a new Jamaica, come to execute all the gays." Lyrics from Sizzla's songs include: “Shot batty boy
Batty boy
Batty boy , batty man are pejorative sexual slurs used to describe gay, bisexual and effeminate men, or those presumed to be gay and bisexual. The term is a Jamaican Patois abbreviation of the word bottom into batty; "batty boy" is a cognate of the American English "butt boy"...
, my big gun boom” (Shoot queers, my big gun goes boom). "A Nuh Fi Wi Fault" by Elephant Man rants: "Battyman fi dead!/Please mark we word/Gimme tha tech-nine
Intratec TEC-DC9
The Intratec TEC-DC9 is a blowback-operated, semi-automatic firearm, chambered in 9×19mm Parabellum, and classified by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as a handgun. Designed by Intratec, an American offshoot of Interdynamic AB, it is made of inexpensive molded polymers...
/Shoot dem like bird".
Shabba Ranks
Shabba Ranks
Shabba Ranks is a Jamaican dancehall musician.He was one of the most popular dancehall artists of his generation. He was also one of the first Jamaican deejays to gain worldwide acceptance, and recognition for his 'slack' lyrical expressions and content, when "ridin' di riddim"...
's reputation was badly damaged by his explicitly homophobic views and lyrics. This was evidenced by a notorious incident on the Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
programme 'The Word' where he advocated the crucifixion
Crucifixion
Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...
of homosexuals. This view was also aired, for example, on his track "No Mama Man", where the following lyrics can be heard: "If Jamaica would a legalize gun / to kill battyboy would be the greatest fun".
An international campaign against homophobia by reggae singers has been launched by OutRage!
OutRage!
OutRage! is a British LGBT rights group that was formed to fight for equal rights of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people in comparison to heterosexual people. It is a group which has at times been criticised for outing individuals who wanted to keep their homosexuality secret and for being...
, UK-based gay activism group., the UK-based Stop Murder Music Coalition (SMM) and others. An agreement to stop anti-gay lyrics during live performances and not to produce any new anti-gay material or re-release offending songs was reached in February 2005 between dancehall record labels and organizations opposed to anti-gay murder lyrics. As of July 2006 this agreement seems to have been revoked.
The Canadian High Commission in Jamaica is also requiring performers who wish to tour in Canada to sign an Entertainer Declaration that states that they have read and fully understand excerpts from the Criminal Code of Canada
Criminal Code of Canada
The Criminal Code or Code criminel is a law that codifies most criminal offences and procedures in Canada. Its official long title is "An Act respecting the criminal law"...
, Charter of Rights
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada. It forms the first part of the Constitution Act, 1982...
and Human Rights Act
Canadian Human Rights Act
The Canadian Human Rights Act is a statute originally passed by the Parliament of Canada in 1977 with the express goal of extending the law to ensure equal opportunity to individuals who may be victims of discriminatory practices based on a set prohibited grounds such as gender, disability, or...
and "will not engage in or advocate hatred against persons because of their... sexual orientation."
Homophobia and HIV
There are many factors perpetuating the AIDS epidemic in Jamaica, but the high stigma surrounding homosexuality is certainly one of the most difficult to overcome. Jamaican men, in particular, are so concerned about being associated with homosexuality that they are hesitant to seek out HIV treatment and prevention services (Fink 2009). The spread of HIV also encourages a cycle of blame and violence, which marginalizes and encourages violence against a gay lifestyle. This cycle takes on further meaning under Jamaican law, which criminalizes anal sex and often turns a blind eye to violence against homosexuals (Fink 2009). Few are willing to take up the language of human rights against what is currently happening to homosexuals and positive individuals because they are considered responsible for the spread of HIV. An understanding of the Jamaican AIDS epidemic must acknowledge the role that stigma and homophobic violence play in perpetuating its spread (Norman, Carr, Jiminez 2006). Additionally, this stigma and violence must be analyzed within the context of structural violence and the forces of globalization. Homophobic violence and the spread of HIV must be viewed as a product of these transnational forces.It is estimated that approximately 1.6% of the entire population of Jamaica is HIV positive and rates of infection have been gradually climbing over the past decade (Norman, Carr, Jiminez 2006). Almost 25% of Jamaicans, including mostly gay men and sex workers, are identified, as “at risk” for infection (Norman, Carr, Jiminez 2006). The epidemic is certainly more concentrated within the gay community. Current statistics estimate that as high as 32% of all gay men in Jamaica are HIV positive (Fink 2009). The way Jamaicans associate HIV with homosexual anal sex has been partly shaped by the international media coverage at the beginning of the epidemic. AIDS researcher Robert Carr said, “AIDS was seen as a disease of gay, White, North American men” (Fink 2009). The initial terror from the beginning of the epidemic, before there were any treatments, incited already pervasive homophobia to violent action (Fink 2009). While the past few decades have shown how the spread of HIV is not confined to any singular social category, the association has held strong in Jamaica.
A study conducted by AIDS researchers found that half of surveyed university students in Jamaica felt sympathetic towards heterosexual men and non-sex workers who were HIV positive, but did not reciprocate the feelings for homosexual men and female sex workers (Norman, Carr, Jiminez 2006). Essentially this study showed that less blame is attached to people who became positive through “less controllable” acts such as voluntary heterosexual intercourse or drug use. Many Jamaicans felt that sex workers and homosexuals are not to be pitied because they were acting in a way that put themselves knowingly more at risk (Norman, Carr, Jiminez 2006).
Stigma and homophobia have affected the lives and the spread of HIV in many ways. Men who are both gay and positive face innumerable obstacles and acts of violence over the course of their lives. AIDS researchers Carr and White found that the association of HIV with generally stigmatized social groups has a halo effect that impacts all persons living with HIV (White and Carr 2005). The association of AIDS with homosexuals has increased the discrimination towards all homosexuals and others living with HIV. Victim blaming over infection has left positive individuals, especially gay men and sex workers, with few resources and even fewer public advocates.
Harsh social stigmas against homosexuality and the criminalization of sodomy by the Jamaican government have forced men to pursue increasingly risky encounters. The secretive nature of gay culture in Jamaica makes outreach nearly impossible. Men are so fearful of being associated with homosexuality that they refuse to learn prevention techniques or seek out treatment. Fear of being identified as gay has also forced many men into early marriages in the hopes of avoiding future accusations. Miriam Maluwa, the UNAIDS country representative for Jamaica, said, “[Gay men] marry fairly rapidly, they have children fairly rapidly to regularize themselves, and that is really a ticking bomb” (Fink 2009). Gay men forced into heterosexual marriage are bound to have extramarital affairs. These affairs put their wives at high risk for infection as well.
In his book, Pathologies of Power, Paul Farmer briefly discusses the relationship between homophobia and HIV. “Homophobia may be said to lead to adverse outcomes if it “drives underground” people who would otherwise stand to benefit from preventive campaigns” (Farmer 2005). This is certainly the case in Jamaica. The fear of stigma has crippled the agency of prevention and treatment programs. Farmer acknowledges the effect homophobia can have on treatment and prevention, but in line with his consistent views, argues that crimes against women and gay men are disproportionately felt by the poor as a product of structural violence (Farmer 2005). Structural violence, according to Farmer is driven by “neither culture nor pure individual will…rather, historically given (and often economically driven) processes and forces conspire to constrain individual agency” (Farmer 2005). Homophobia is simply a symptom of larger issues of structural violence. Their already stigmatized existence is further compounded by the practical limitations of the extreme poverty in Jamaica. Farmer later writes, “None of this is to deny the ill effects of homophobia… The point is rather to call for more fine-grained, more systemic analyses of power and privilege in discussions about who is likely to have their rights violated and in what ways” (Farmer 2005). Analysis of the larger cultural, economic, and legal issues surrounding the state of homophobic violence and the spread of HIV under this idea of structural violence display their complex origins and solutions.
Wealth disparities and government sanctioning of gay rights abuses have created a culture of cyclical violence. Currently, Jamaica is trapped in a cycle: fear of HIV increases homophobia and violence towards homosexuals, which forces men to be secretive and avoid prevention, which leads to an increase in infections, which contributes to increased stigma.
See also
- Politics of JamaicaPolitics of JamaicaThe Politics of Jamaica takes place in a framework of a representative parliamentary democratic monarchy. The 1962 Constitution established a parliamentary system based on the United Kingdom model. As chief of state, Queen Elizabeth II appoints a governor general, on the advice of the prime...
- LGBT rights in the AmericasLGBT rights in the AmericasLesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights are complex in the Americas. The British, French, Spanish and Portuguese colonists, who settled most of the Americas, brought Christianity from Europe...
- LGBT rights by country or territory
External links
- J-FLAG – Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays
- Amnesty International USA: "Battybwoys affi dead" – Action against homophobia in Jamaica
- UKBlackOut - Comprehensive Black Lesbian & Gay Resource
- TIME.com: The Most Homophobic Place on Earth?
- The Jamaica Star: Gay people, get real!
- Global Gayz: Gay Jamaica – Crime and Punishment
- 2004 Jamaica update from UNHCR
- Seeking Asylum: Jamaica
- Murder Inna Dancehall lyrics of homophobic dancehall songs + chronological events
- Gay in JA – BBC radio documentary (RealPlayerRealPlayerRealPlayer is a cross-platform media player by RealNetworks that plays a number of multimedia formats including MP3, MPEG-4, QuickTime, Windows Media, and multiple versions of proprietary RealAudio and RealVideo formats.-History:...
format) - NY Times - Attacks Show Easygoing Jamaica Is Dire Place for Gays
- RainbowClique.com: The Caribbeans first stand-alone social networking site for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender persons.
- Lawyers' Christian Fellowship Jamaica.