“Prejudice Somewhere
is Prejudice Everywhere”: Examining Homophobia in Jamaica
Internationally acclaimed Jamaican singer, Diana King has taken an unprecedented step within the local music industry as she dropped a bombshell on Thursday, admitting that she is a lesbian. High Profile Jamaican female Reggae singer Diana King, known for classics such as Shy Guy, I Say A Little Prayer and L-L-Lies made the confession through a note which she issued on her official Facebook page last week that she was gay. It's a historic moment within the Jamaican music industry as she's the first artiste of note to have admitted openly to be gay. In her note on face book, King wrote, "My name is DIANA EUGENA KING; known to most as DIANA KING my fans call me ‘King Singa’. I AM … WOMAN … MOTHER ... AUNT … JAMAICAN … AMERICAN ... INTERNATIONAL ARTIST ... SINGER ... SONGWRITER ... BAND LEADER … FRIEND ... LOVER ... ENTREPRENEUR ... GODDESS! Among other things AND YES!!!…I AM A LESBIAN ... the answer to my most asked INDIRECT question. I welcome the "WHO CARES" right now. LOL." (End of quote).
Apparently her dressing and her
facial and body tattoos in recent time seem to suggest that she was gay and the
continued questions about her sexuality and the push towards viewing gay rights
in the US and Europe as a civil liberty issue must have made her comfortable to
make such a bold move. On the back of her posting, her face book page was
flooded with mixed reactions of genuine as well as insincere support for her
right to self-determination. Shortly after her posting - the religious right
rapture hungry class of the Jamaican community and its diaspora flooded her
face book page posting with a torrent of abuse and condemnation.
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 in jail, although the law is seldom enforced between consenting
adults. Jamaica has been described by human-rights groups across the globe as
the most homophobic place on earth due to the hate speech and bias motivated
crimes often directed at LGBT people. Yet hatred against Homosexuals and lesbians
continues unchecked in Jamaica. Admitting to be openly gay or being an open gay
sympathiser could lead to an unofficial death sentence. Most Dance hall deejays,
political aspirants and rapture hungry evangelist in Jamaica have one thing that
they like to do in common and that is to use gay bashing as a means to attract
an audience.
The former JLP prime minister the Honourable Bruce Golding in an interview with the BBC in 2008 on BBC straight talk, while on a Visit to the UK one of the most liberal place on earth admitted to its host in an interview that he would not knowingly allow a gay members to serve in his cabinet. When questioned about the archaic buggery laws he remarked: “We are not going to yield to the pressure, whether that pressure comes from individuals, either that pressure comes from government or groups of countries, to liberalise the laws as it relates to buggery”. The reverberation of such an ill-conceived statement through the conservative side of the then prime minister Golding’s mouth made headlines in the liberal and gay press in Europe and across the Atlantic. Gay rights activist such as Stonewalls Peter Tachell, LGBT activist Michael Petrelis and Jim Burroway went into a frenzied overdrive to berate the prime minister’s statement.
The online magazine Queerty
branded Jamaica as one of the most homophobic place on earth and in one of its
quarterly publication called for its affiliates to kick off a boycott of
Jamaican products because of its flagrant institutionalised human rights
violation against gay persons. The owners of Stonewall Inn decided to dump
their supplies of Red stripe beer and Myers Rum down their sinks.
The lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transsexual movement online went into overdrive and started a ‘Boycott Jamaica’
campaign. They accused the Jamaican government of turning a blind eye to
violence against the gay community in Jamaica and posted an altered red stripe
logo with the inscription “Boycott Jamaica and feel alright”. Above the logo
was a call to ban red stripe and Myers rum.
Following are some of the low lights posted on the website:
• In
2006 Kingston man Nokia Cowan was drowned after a crowd shouting “Batty Boy” (a
Jamaican Gay insult) chased him off a pier.
• One
of the island’s most prominent gay activists, Bryan Williamson was murdered in
2009 and a crowd even celebrated over his body.
• In 2008 a mob burst into the house of a gay man, Andre, having dinner with his friends. They screamed homophobic epithets waved machetes sticks and knives. Fifteen to 20 men kicked off the door, entered and beat both men senseless. Andrew received a deep wound to his skull and marks ear was sliced in half.
• February
2010 two men (Dwayne Gordon and Andy Williams) allegedly stabbed to death Dane
Harris because he was gay. The accused justified the crime by alleging that
Harris made sexual advances at them.
Cultural attitudes towards the
gay community in Jamaica have long been unhelpful and sometimes dangerous. One’s
sexual preference or the denial to practice it is not often viewed as a civil
liberty issue in Jamaica. Moral absolutists are rife and the hatred comes from
every quarter, from parliament, pulpit and the places where deejays “strut
their stuff”. Jamaica has failed to adopt the full letter of the United Nations
Human Rights act. While a number of European countries have repealed the
archaic Buggery laws countries like Jamaica has clung to it because repealing
it might lose votes for politicians at a general or local government election.
In the dance halls mealy mouth deejays use the issue to illicit crowd response
and keep their fledging careers going .While puerile politicians such as Ernest
Smith a St Ann JLP representative make insensitive anti-gay remarks in
parliament without having being made to apologise. Meanwhile at all times
rapture hungry evangelist use it on the pews across the island causing their
closet homosexual members to go further underground. Those who fail to see gay
rights as a civil liberty often confuse child sexual molestation with gay
issues. If you are a heterosexual in Jamaica defending or having sympathy for
gay rights you are accused of being gay and homophobic and a fatwa is passed by
deejays sanctioning your death. Such is the level of ignorance. The rights of
gays to assemble in private attract a death visitation and the mention of a
public assembly is even worse!
These homophobic acts never go unnoticed in the International press and social media. It sullies the reputation of brand Jamaica. This unnecessary hatred is woven into the country’s cultural fabric and is difficult to disentangle because of entrenched attitudes. Culture is not static, it is fluid. Jamaica cannot remain behind the iron curtain as globalisation takes traction. Vehicles like the internet expose these human rights breaches that are indefensible. The dumping of Myers Rum and Red Stripe Beer by the gay lobby is only a spark of things to come if we continue in the same vein. The country should respond boldly to these breeches. According to the late Doctor Martin Luther King ‘injustice somewhere is injustice everywhere’. The country must begin by embarking upon a public education campaign in schools and across public institutions. To deny persons the opportunity of understanding their civil liberties is a breach of human rights by itself. Leadership should be transformative and inspire change. It should not be based on a vote catching exercise that keeps the status quo in power. Principle decisions by the leadership of a country should be underpinned by a respect of the UN Convention on Human Rights as a moral compass for ethical governance.
This covenant details the basic
civil and political rights of individuals and nations. Among the rights of
nations are: The right to self-determination, the right to life, the right to liberty
and freedom of movement, the right to equality before the law, the right to be
recognized as a person before the law, the right to privacy and protection of
that privacy by law, freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, freedom of
opinion and expression, freedom of assembly and association. The covenant forbids
torture. All these fundamental rights impact upon persons of alternative
lifestyles in a positive way. Yet, countries like Jamaica, Saudi Arabia, Iraq,
Uganda and Ghana all have discriminate laws that excludes LGBT from
participating equally, thereby, failing to enjoy the freedom and rights as
prescribed by the International Convention on Human Rights.
Let us be very clear: Gay rights are a civil rights issue that needs a positive rights agenda urgently. It’s not just old rules that should be flouted by nation states. It includes not just the freedom to exist but includes freedom of expression regardless of one’s sexual preference. Developing countries like those stated above need to encourage an open mind and predictable rules about protecting people of diversity. Civil liberty is a philosophy that promotes a willingness to treat people of whatever gender, race and faith equally. These principles needs to be stood up for, advocated and when not followed we should challenge, not concur.
In conclusion, Diana King, a
respected reggae icon has come out of the closet bombarded by questions about
her sexuality. She has been lauded by some for her honesty and castigated by
the homophobic brigade. She has rehashed one of the most important debates
about gay rights issue and our attitudes to people’s privacy and choice of
alternative relationships. This is a very historic moment for the Jamaican
music industry to embrace the positive changes as the gay lobby around the
world are crying out for justice which they rightly deserve. This author,
albeit as straight as an arrow is fully in support of her right to
self-determination. It opens the flood
gate for LGBT people in Jamaica to also assert their right to
self-determination. Attitudes are changing internationally towards people of
alternative lifestyles; let us align ourselves with equal rights and justice
regardless of our personal preferences. Remember that we should never accuse in
someone what you would excuse in yourself.
