Are Jamaicans homophobic with good reason?

Dear Editor,

Reggae artistes whose shows are being boycotted in the United States and whose records are being blacklisted in Europe must be hurting financially.

We are often reminded that it is not only the artistes who suffer, as many of them contribute to the care and upbringing of numerous underprivileged children in their communities.

At a recent public lecture dedicated to the late Professor Rex Nettleford, Professor Carolyn Cooper -- a recognised authority on Jamaican culture and music -- stated that there is a need for the Jamaican Government to form a lobby for the protection of these artistes as a pushback against gay lobbyists. In her opinion, the world needs to be told that Jamaicans are homophobic "with good reason". Due to time constraints, I was unable to ask her if she believed Professor Nettleford would have approved of her statement. Instead, I have pulled together some responses to my recent letter to the editor enquiring why Jamaicans are so homophobic, in order to identify if the blacklisted artistes in fact reflect a general homophobic society and the reasons for such homophobia.

In summary, Jamaicans don't accept the gay lifestyle because they fear it will unleash a Sodom and Gomorrah cataclysm on Jamaica, such as the recent Haitian or Chilean earthquakes. There is also the perception that gays will want to recruit young boys and as a result the human race willdecrease as there will be less heterosexual relationships. They also believe that gay sex is "nasty" and as such must spread disease.

It is clear that the rationality of these expressed objections to the gay lifestyle is suspect. What was surprising, however, was that the private sex act of consenting male adults was largely felt to be nobody's business and no longer worthy of legal regualtion.

Maurice Tomlinson

maurice_tomlinson@yahoo.com