Jamaica Gets Gay Lashing

Int'l AIDS parley told island's police attacks homosexuals
INGRID BROWN, Senior staff reporter browni@jamaicaobserver.com
Thursday, August 07, 2008

MEXICO CITY, Mexico - Jamaica came in for a lashing as "a homophobic society that discriminated against homosexuals", at the International AIDS Conference underway in this Mexican capital.
Executive director of the little known Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVCC), Robert Carr, used a PowerPoint presentation to graphically paint a picture of Jamaica as a country where cops attack and chase away homosexuals who go to police stations to report crimes against them.
Pointing to a picture of a recent mobbing of gay men at a plaza in Half-Way-Tree, St Andrew, Carr showed the police holding weapons, and a media videographer filming the event.
"In a context where people denied homophobic violence, the police show up armed and the media show up to take pictures," he declared.

It was not immediately clear why the AIDS conference was used to provide a forum for homosexuals, but Carr claimed that both the Government and the media denied that there were human rights violations against this group.Carr, who is also a senior lecturer at the University of the West Indies, was armed with newspaper clippings and photos to support his presentation to delegates attending the International AIDS Society (IAS) XVII Conference.
Under the heading "Structural interventions to challenge homophobic violence in Jamaica", Carr outlined an initiative recently launched to change Jamaicans' attitude towards homosexuals, noting that it involved working with civic leaders and government members, initiating media campaigns and members of the Catholic Church.

He cited an Observer story entitled 'Inside a gay church' and a letter to the editor which, among other things, said homosexuality was "contrary to natural law", as evidence of the country's attitude to homosexuals.

Furthermore, violence and discrimination against gay men were celebrated in popular music, and the police refused to protect and at times even joined in violent attacks when homosexuals went to seek refuge at the stations, he said.When politicians were confronted, he said, their response was that Jamaica was a Christian country.

But he acknowledged that the situation was "more promising" now than four years ago, based on the favourable response the gay lobby group Jamaican Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG) had received to a letter written to Police Commissioner Hardley Lewin.
The letter, which was shown in the presentation, gave a promise to change the culture of the police force, accepting that it was their responsibility to protect the rights of all people.
"He has since followed through because we are seeing the impact on the ground," Carr said.He added that the group was also seeing improvement in its relationship with religious leaders on the Caribbean island.