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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago
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Whilst reading up on some background information on this guy who has slashed his throat on a Virgin Atlantic flight at Gatwick, I stumbled across an article in Time Magazine.
I was sat open jawed at some of the things it stated.
Obviously I was aware of homophobia within certain religions / cultures but didn't have the Caribbean nations as being backwards in regards to the issue.
Have a read and see what you make of it :
Though familiar primarily as a laid-back beach destination, Jamaica is hardly idyllic.
The country has the world's highest murder rate. And its rampant violence against gays and lesbians has prompted human-rights groups to confer another ugly distinction: the most homophobic place on earth.
In the past two years, two of the island's most prominent gay activists, Brian Williamson and Steve Harvey, have been murdered — and a crowd even celebrated over Williamson's mutilated body.
Perhaps most disturbing, many anti-gay assaults have been acts of mob violence. In 2004, a teen was almost killed when his father learned his son was gay and invited a group to lynch the boy at his school. Months later, witnesses say, police egged on another mob that stabbed and stoned a gay man to death in Montego Bay. And this year a Kingston man, Nokia Cowan, drowned after a crowd shouting "batty boy" (a Jamaican epithet for homosexual) chased him off a pier. "Jamaica is the worst any of us has ever seen," says Rebecca Schleifer of the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch and author of a scathing report on the island's anti-gay hostility.
Jamaica may be the worst offender, but much of the rest of the Caribbean also has a long history of intense homophobia. Islands like Barbados still criminalize homosexuality, and some seem to be following Jamaica's more violent example. Last week two CBS News producers, both Americans, were beaten with tire irons by a gay-bashing mob while vacationing on St. Martin. One of the victims, Ryan Smith, was airbused to a Miami hospital, where he remains in intensive care with a fractured skull.
Gay-rights activists attribute the scourge of homophobia in Jamaica largely to the country's increasingly thuggish reggae music scene.
Reggae's anti-gay rhetoric has seeped into the country's politics. Jamaica's major political parties have passed some of the world's toughest antisodomy laws and regularly incorporate homophobic music in their campaigns. "The view that results," says Jamaican human-rights lawyer Philip Dayle, "is that a homosexual isn't just an undesirable but an unapprehended criminal." |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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sadly it goes to show just how different attitudes are around the world
my son recently came to me horrified by a story he had just read about a guy that was to be given the death penalty for being gay, i cannot remember which country it was in now but there was a petition to try and stop it which we signed and it worked it was stopped thankfully
i just remember being incredibly proud that my son was horrified and incredibly lucky to live in a country that is accepting, in the majority, of different lifestyles (if thats the right term) |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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A lot of escorts refuse to meet Caribbean men. They're too obnoxious basically, treating the girls like dirt.
A second's word or phrase search of adultwork will back this up.
There's exceptions, and it doesn't apply to Caribbean women, but there sure is a cultural problem there, they're very illiberal.
So; not only are gays getting whacked, but straight sex has taken a dive as well. |
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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago
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"sadly it goes to show just how different attitudes are around the world
my son recently came to me horrified by a story he had just read about a guy that was to be given the death penalty for being gay, i cannot remember which country it was in now but there was a petition to try and stop it which we signed and it worked it was stopped thankfully
i just remember being incredibly proud that my son was horrified and incredibly lucky to live in a country that is accepting, in the majority, of different lifestyles (if thats the right term)"
that was in uganda.
there was a bbc documentary on the subject earlier this year.
the crew were literally 'chased' out of the country when one of the journalists admitted to a goverment minister that he was himself gay.
scary stuff !
and good on your son and no doubt your mothering / nurturing skills that he does think like that. |
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Yes, i saw the documentary on uganda. Ive never judged anyone on their creed, colour or sexuality and find it very difficult to understand how there can be such hate towards individuals. Although there still is predudice in england im glad i live here. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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well without sounding racist...as long as they dont bring it here !-of course I say that about any ethnic groups religious views that are essentially contrary to most westernized ideals.Of course isnt much of the homophobia also really catholiscism to its extreme?-ignore my almost ignorant nature of "bible" religions as I dont particulary care for being told what I should be and what I should do.
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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The organisation I work for has to be very careful where we hold our gay, lesbian and transgender conference in England, for fear of our delegates being attacked by the locals.
A gay friend was walking hand in hand to a gay pub in Vauxhall, south London and was attacked.
On this very site I've seen bigoted comments aimed at bi men.
Homophobia amongst Jamaican's is a well known fact. Hell, any "deviant" sexual practise is frowned on. If my family and friends had an inkling of what I liked sexually I'd be shunned like a leper. Those that would let me into their homes would serve me on disposable plates.
Let's not pretend that we, in this country are accepting: most just learn to cover up their bigotry! |
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