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by Ace Tafoya/PNN
Surrounded by the crystal blue waters of the Caribbean Sea sits Jamaica. An
Island slightly smaller than the state of Connecticut with a population of
roughly 3 million people. A third world country famous for sugarcane,
coffee, rum, bananas, the"Luminous Lagoon", ganja and Bob Marley and the
Wailers.
Sadly, this nation which broke from British Commonwealth in August 1962
faces a major crisis:
Prejudice and Homophobic Violence.
On February 15th, Amnesty International's OUTfront program together with
Community United Against Violence presented at the Swedish American Hall in
San Francisco, 'J-FLAG Breaking the Cycle of Homophobic Violence in
Jamaica.'
J-FLAG (Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals, and Gays) is the isle's one
and only organization helping the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual and Transgender
community.
Growing reports of torture, stabbings, stonings, rapes and even murder
against people with alternative lifestyles are reported to police. But the
cries seem to be falling on deaf ears, because nothing ever happens to the
culprits.
The reception and discussion on these and other issues featured prominent
activists form the land of the yellow, green and black and by local
speakers. Unfortunately, we were prohibited from taking pictures of the
four-member panel because of confidentiality. Gareth and Karlene (J-FLAG),
Andy Wong (CUAV), and Rebecca Schleifer from Human Rights Watch (who wrote a
80-page booklet entitled "Hated to Death - Homophobia, Violence, and
Jamaica's HIV/AIDS Epidemic") came together to speak out of the concerns of
anti-gay violence and HIV cases on the rise in Jamaica.
"We're just trying to rally people...around a common cause, a very specific
issue, which is an international one, which is the discrimination against
people of Jamaica who are in same-sex relationships," voiced Brian Griffey,
Field Organizer of AI's Western Regional Office. "A discrimination against
gay people with HIV/AIDS, or people who are perceived to be gay."
Jamaica's laws regarding homosexuality and sodomy are archaic. Many
individuals and activists are calling on the government to repeal those
outdated and outrageous sodomy laws. I know the United States has had
horrific murders such as Gwen Arajo, Matthew Sheppard and Brandon Teena,
but we are way ahead of the game in terms of civil rights.
Speaking about people being verbally harrassed and physically abused almost
everyday, Gareth (for protection I can't use his last name) has been an
active member of J-FLAG since 1998 and has manage to have a full-time job
and go to school full-time. "I went to the police station to file my report
(of being harrassed) and when I reached that station, I was laughed at by
every police officer in the station," he said. Basically if you've been
victimized by these harrassments you are virtually on your own. "It sends a
clear message to me: The fight that I'm fighting, I had to do it by
myself."
Gareth also witnessed a man being beaten, whipped and chopped in the streets
but was afraid to help him because of intense pressure of his situation.
"They left this guy to the burden of these people...I was just hoping that he
would make his get-away and everything (would be) okay. When I woke up in
the morning, the first thing in the local paper was that this guy was
killed."
For her part, Karlene told the audience of about 50 people of a friend of
hers who was raped because she is a lesbian. "Unfortunately," she sighed,
"she was unable to report it, because of fear and embarrassment. A year
later he told her if she said anything, he was going to kill her."
Gareth and Karlene are on a 7 city tour of the U.S. that started January
28th, spreading the truth about discrimination, HIV/AIDS issues and sexual
orientation. Their journey started in New York, from there they spoke in
Washington, DC, Atlanta, Detroit, Chicago, San Francisco and then they move
on to Los Angeles. We have a chance to help these courageous people during
their process.
You can pick up 'Action Alert' cards at the AI office on 350 Sansome, Suite
630 in San Francisco or we can write to the Prime Minister of Jamaica in
support of these people to have him repeal these ancient laws. His address
is:
Right Honorable P.J. Johnson
Prime Minister of Jamaica
Office of the Prime Minister
Jamaica House
1 Devon Road
Kingston 6 JAMAICA
Or to get in touch with J-FLAG for donations or support of any kind, their
address is:
J-FLAG
P.O.Box 1152
Kingston 8 JAMAICA
Their website is: JFLAG.org
We can help these people, we've done it before by protesting current
dancehall music artists that promote anti-gay violence in their lyrics by
boycotting their concerts. Brother and Sisterhood has to be restored for
the people of Jamaica suffering these horrendous hate crimes. And in the
words of Bob Marley, "One Love, One Heart, Let's get together and feel
alright." It's basic human rights and it's time.
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