POLICE THWARTS MOB ATTACK ON GAY COUPLE

A gay couple living in a rural district just outside of Port Maria, St. Mary missed a fatal end by the skin of their teeth. On Sunday

March 6, the two heard a disturbing uproar outside their quaint home and upon peering through a window, they saw what most gay men in Jamaica dread most. There was a contingent of about 10 men heavily armed with cutlasses, sticks, rock stones and other weapons. The mob had apparently come to beat and run them out of the community because they were homosexuals.

D. Waite, a 32-year-old man and one of the victims, said that the group of men were shouting out his name, calling him a ‘battybwoy’ and saying that they were going to beat the hell out of his and his ‘battyman fren raas’ that morning.

According to Waite, the sight of the men with their weapons was a frightening ordeal for himself and his partner, 35- year-old N. Fisher. Waite called the police using his cellular telephone and two jeep-loads of police arrived just in time to prevent any physical harm to both men, who remained inside their home. By this, there was a massive crowd of onlookers in the small community, since a scandal of this magnitude would have alerted anyone in the vicinity. Waite told The JO that several men were saying “ah battyman dem; dem fi dead” (they are gay men; they should be killed) even in the presence of the police. The police was able to successfully disperse the crowd and thwart the plot of the mobsters to harm another two gay men in Jamaica.

However, at the end of the ordeal, the police apprehended no one. Checks with the Port Maria police station, the station that dealt with the incident according to the victim, further proved that no arrests were actually carried out by said station. The victims decided not to pursue the issue for fears of retaliation from other men in and around the area. Waite further expressed concern for his elderly mother who still resides in the area. 

Both Waite and Fisher have since relocated from the district, leaving most of their possessions in the place they once called their home. Waite further expressed his disappointment that even after reporting the matter to a local organisation that normally assists gay men, no one has since contacted him to see if he and his partner were safe. He, however, said he was grateful that the police had come in time to save both his life and that of his partner. He said the officers were very helpful in preventing any harm to them but was disappointed that they failed to apprehend any of the perpetrators. Word coming from his former district indicates that the men are still adamant about finding them to physically harm them.

Waite finally said that he was very worried for his and his partner’s safety especially since they have to leave their current place of safety to earn their living.