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violence in Jamaica, GLBT equality groups have encouraged a boycott of the island and corporate sponsor Red Stripe has withdrawn its support from Jamaican music events.
As reported Apr. 7 by Radio Jamaica, American, Canadian, and European GLBT advocacy organizations have encouraged a tourism boycott, to which the country's Tourism Minister, Edmund Bartlett, has not offered any response.
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.
Within the country, a domestic GLBT group, the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals, and Gays (J-FLAG) attempted to gain the government's ear on the subject, reported Radio Jamaica, but to no avail; according to Bartlett, however, a letter from J-FLAG has come to the attention of the country's Prime Minister, Bruce Golding.
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.
According to that story, Jamaican law condemns gay sex, and the anti-gay social climate is rooted, at least in part, in Biblical injunctions against same-gender sexual activity... although, the article also notes, casual sex between the genders is accepted as another part of the same culture.
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.
Outside observers point to the homophobic lyrics of Jamaican reggae music. While it is a chicken-and-egg problem as to whether the music creates homophobia in the culture, or the culture fosters anti-gay music, the content of dance hall and reggae songs have for years drawn criticism from GLBT groups.
As the global perception of Jamaica as a place violently disposed toward gays becomes more firmly entrenched, the effect is not limited to criticism of the island's music, GLBT groups targeting the country's tourism-reliant economy, and more media attention to anti-gay episodes of mayhem. Corporate support for communal events has also begun to erode as the issue of Jamaican anti-gay violence grows around the world.
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.
Concerts that Red Stripe had initially intended to support but now have pulled out of include the annual Reggae Sumfest--scheduled to include Buju Banton, whose lyrics are seen by some as violent and virulently anti-gay--and the Sting reggae concert.
Red Stripe, which is also a popular export to other nations, issued an Apr. 4 news release that read, "Some performers continue to propagate, through their live performances, violent and antisocial lyrics," reported The Jamaica Observer on Apr. 7.
The news release continued, "Red Stripe will not be party to this, and thus we have taken the very difficult decision of withdrawing sponsorship from live music events."
In writing about Red Stripe's decision, the Jamaica Observer declared, "All we can say is: Long Live Reggae/Dancehall [music]--with or without corporate sponsorship."
The Observer article also made reference to Box Turtle Bulletin blogger Timothy Kincaid in a subsection headed, "Gay activists and the Jamaican Position."
The capsule article cited a story written by Kincaid about efforts by an American church, the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), which runs the GLBT-inclusive Sunshine Cathedral in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to encourage Jamaica's government to take notice of anti-gay violence within the country and act to stem it.
The Observer reported that church leaders had met with Richard Allicock, the Jamaican Consulate General, in Miami, and cited a quote from the Box Turtle Bulletin story, attributed to MCC head the Rev. Nancy Wilson, in which she said, "We're engaged in a long-term discussion and were not going to stop until gays and lesbians are protected in Jamaica."
As quoted by the Observer, the Box Turtle Bulletin story continued, "One might suppose that a call for the cessation of violence was a campaign which all Christians could support. One would be wrong."
Continued the Box Turtle Bulletin article, "Not only were MCC's requests reviled in the Jamaican media, but Jamaica's Christian community did not take well to being told that they ought not murder gays."
The Observer followed up the Box Turtle Bulletin excerpts with, "Need we say more?"
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.
Mentioning efforts by the MCC to encourage the Jamaican government to counter anti-gay violence, Kincaid wrote, "Now Jamaicans in position of influence have given their response," before citing Radio Jamaica's report that Bartlett had "brushed off" the suggestion of boycotts targeting Jamaica's tourism industry and exports.
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]."
Kincaid went on to say that "whether or not there is a boycott on Jamaican goods, I am certain that I would be afraid to visit there. The physical danger is not minor and I fear that should there be a threat to me, neither the government, the church, or the society would come to my rescue."
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."