In Wake of Jamaican Anti-Gay Violence, Corporate Shunning, Controversy
In the wake of reports of anti-gay violence in Jamaica, GLBT equality groups have encouraged a boycott of the island and corporate sponsor Red Stripe has withdrawn its support from Jamaican music events.
Radio Jamaica reported that, according to the equality groups, Jamaican society is highly intolerant of its GLBT members, who are at grave risk of being persecuted, beaten, or even murdered, and that the Jamaican government has seemed disinclined to address the problem.
A Feb. 24 article in the International Herald-Tribune looked into the issue, reporting on episodes of violence in which groups of men attacked gay men in their own homes with machetes, a police officer came out of the closet in an attempt to dispel anti-gay myths, and the funeral of a gay man was disrupted when a crowd smashed the church windows and then stormed inside to object to the ceremony. All of these events happened in one town, Mandeville.
Gays are also encouraged to "cure" their sexuality, or to "convert," through prayer and the power of willfully heterosexually focused concentration, as though simply wishing to experience attraction to a member of the opposite sex would make it true.
In the article, a pastor who counseled one of the victims of the machete attack expressed the opinion that gays should be the object of efforts at counseling rather than of violence, but the same pastor also declined to be identified in the article lest he and his family also become targets of anti-gay violence.
In an Apr. 5 item the International Herald-Tribune reported on the financial withdrawal of Jamaica’s premiere beer, Red Stripe, from concerts scheduled for the coming summer months.
In a subsequent article posted at Box Turtle Bulletin on Apr. 7, Kincaid made note of his earlier article being referenced by The Observer, framing the excerpts with the observation that one in three working citizens of the island country is dependent on tourism for a living.
Kincaid also cited a Caribbean net news letter to the editor in which the writer declared, "It fully angers me to hear that this group of foreigners think they can dictate the policy and laws of another sovereign nation because they trade products and services with them. It was selfish, shortsighted thinking like this that led to Haiti being in the state it currently is."
Noted Kincaid, "When confronted with murder, the response [from Jamaica] is, ’How dare you criticize me?’ and no one seems to find this concerning [sic]."
Added Kincaid, "Further, I would discourage anyone whom I love from vacationing on the island. Those who champion violence against some can champion violence against many."
full article
Radio Jamaica reported that, according to the equality groups, Jamaican society is highly intolerant of its GLBT members, who are at grave risk of being persecuted, beaten, or even murdered, and that the Jamaican government has seemed disinclined to address the problem.
A Feb. 24 article in the International Herald-Tribune looked into the issue, reporting on episodes of violence in which groups of men attacked gay men in their own homes with machetes, a police officer came out of the closet in an attempt to dispel anti-gay myths, and the funeral of a gay man was disrupted when a crowd smashed the church windows and then stormed inside to object to the ceremony. All of these events happened in one town, Mandeville.
Gays are also encouraged to "cure" their sexuality, or to "convert," through prayer and the power of willfully heterosexually focused concentration, as though simply wishing to experience attraction to a member of the opposite sex would make it true.
In the article, a pastor who counseled one of the victims of the machete attack expressed the opinion that gays should be the object of efforts at counseling rather than of violence, but the same pastor also declined to be identified in the article lest he and his family also become targets of anti-gay violence.
In an Apr. 5 item the International Herald-Tribune reported on the financial withdrawal of Jamaica’s premiere beer, Red Stripe, from concerts scheduled for the coming summer months.
In a subsequent article posted at Box Turtle Bulletin on Apr. 7, Kincaid made note of his earlier article being referenced by The Observer, framing the excerpts with the observation that one in three working citizens of the island country is dependent on tourism for a living.
Kincaid also cited a Caribbean net news letter to the editor in which the writer declared, "It fully angers me to hear that this group of foreigners think they can dictate the policy and laws of another sovereign nation because they trade products and services with them. It was selfish, shortsighted thinking like this that led to Haiti being in the state it currently is."
Noted Kincaid, "When confronted with murder, the response [from Jamaica] is, ’How dare you criticize me?’ and no one seems to find this concerning [sic]."
Added Kincaid, "Further, I would discourage anyone whom I love from vacationing on the island. Those who champion violence against some can champion violence against many."
full article
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