Ten days ago, you'll recall a bizarre report on Rod 2.0 where Jamaican psychologists and academics predicted violence if the opposition Jamaican Labour Party moved to decriminalize homosexuality. The Jamaica Observer also found the suggestion distasteful and joins the island's largest newspaper to go on record to oppose homophobia, anti-gay violence and move to accept gays into society:
It is likely that the pro-gay pressure on Jamaica and its Caricom partners will become even greater should the more liberal Democrats overcome the Republicans in the US presidential election next year. Jamaicans are already well aware that Reggae artistes who have used their medium to campaign against homosexuality have felt the weight and power of the growing global gay lobby.
For Jamaicans, caught up in our own little world, the global pro-gay trend has developed with bewildering speed, sneaking up on us like a thief in the night.
Like it or not, our political and other leaders must somehow start to nudge our people towards the day when an accommodation is made with the homosexual community.
The shame is that while Jamaicans are "caught up in [their] own little world", their society remains spectacularly hostile and violent to gays. Still, this is good news. Change happens, one day and one headline at a time.
Jamaica, Global Transformation and Gay [Ja Observer]
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Did Jamaican Cops "Rescue" Gays? [R20]
JA Leading Newspaper Demands Equal Rights [R20]
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When I was younger I used to see the ads on TV about Jamaica as a vacation destination and I thought it looked beautiful. Knowing what I know now, there is no way I'd go there.
Posted by: Robguy | 19 July 2007 at 05:54