Life Sentence For Killing Of Jamaican Gay Leader
Kingston, Jamaica - A 25 year old man has been sentenced to life for the 2004 killing of Brian Williamson, Jamaica's leading LGBT civil rights advocate. Dwight Hayden will have to serve 15 years behind bars before being eligible for parole. Judge Basil Reid rejected a plea for mercy from Hayden's lawyer, noting the brutality of the killing. Williamson's body was discovered in his Kingston apartment on June 7, 2004 by a roommate returning home from work. Williamson was lying facedown in a pool of blood. He had been stabbed at least 70 times in the neck.
Hayden was charged in 2004 with murder and robbery. A second man, known only as "Bombhead" is still being sought in connection with the killing.
The Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG), which Williamson founded, branded Williamson's murder a "hate-related crime". In a statement the the group said Williamson was "one of Jamaica's most courageous human rights activists" who was killed because he is gay. Hayden denied he killed Williamson because of homophobia, admitting only to robbery.
At least 30 gay men are believed to have been murdered since 1997, according to J-FLAG.
In March four people were charged in the killing of another gay man - Lenford "Steve" Harvey who ran Jamaica AIDS Support for Life. (story)
Rap and Reggae music frequently contain lyrics calling for violence against gays and has to a call by British rights leader Peter Tatchell for hate crime prosecutions in the UK against the artists and the distributors of their music. (story)
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