Despite laws criminalising same sex relationships, and a reputation for being one of the most inhospitable places for LGBTI people to live, a well-attended symposium took place to discuss and affirm LGBTI rights in Jamaica, around the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia 2014.

The group J-Flag of Jamaica organized a symposium, on the theme of Personality, Religion and Sexual Citizenship, in the week around May 17, 2014. The event, held in Kingston on Friday May 16, facilitated discussion on what citizenship means in Jamaica for LGBT people in Jamaica today, and on the way to a more inclusive Jamaica.

Events organised for IDAHOT 2014 in Jamaica.

The following themes were developed during the session:

• Man to Man Is So Unjust: Disclaiming Sexual Citizenship in Fundamentalist Jamaica – Prof. Carolyn Cooper, Senior Lecturer, Department of Literatures in English, UWI Mona
• Equal Rights and Justice for All: (Re)Imagining and (Re)Presenting Inclusiveness – Dr. Karen Carpenter, Clinical Sexologist/Psychologist, Caribbean Sexuality Research Institute
• Where Are You From?: Moving from Shame in Search of the Divine – Georgia Love, Training Coordinator, WMW Jamaica (formerly Women’s Media Watch)
• It’s Not About Them, It’s About Us: How Can the Church Turn the Tide in the Sexuality Debate – Rev. Margaret Fowler, Minister, Hope United Church

IDAHOT 2014 in Kingston, Jamaica.

To see the photo album of events this year, please click here.

Entre sus objetivos se encuentran:

• Poner en relieve las luchas y los avances logrados por J-FLAG en lograr que Jamaica sea el lugar de elección para las personas LGBT: para vivir, trabajar, formar una familia, y hacer negocios.
• Disipar los conceptos erróneos acerca de la comunidad LGBT con el apoyo de la investigación.
• Explorar las características de la homofobia que sufren las personas LGBT.
• Proporcionar una cobertura nacional del diálogo basado en la evidencia sobre la identidad sexual y expresión de género.
• Mejorar la comprensión del público de los desafíos únicos que enfrentan los cristianos LGBT.

Para ver el album de imágenes hacer click aquí.

El evento se desarrollará en Kingston el viernes 16 de Mayo de 10:00 a 13:00 horas.

El simposio tiene como fin facilitar la discusión sobre los contextos de la ciudadanía de Jamaica (sexual), el lugar de las personas LGBT en Jamaica hoy y el camino hacia una más inclusiva Jamaica.

Entre sus objetivos se encuentran:

• Poner en relieve las luchas y los avances logrados por J-FLAG en lograr que Jamaica sea el lugar de elección para las personas LGBT: para vivir, trabajar, formar una familia, y hacer negocios.
• Disipar los conceptos erróneos acerca de la comunidad LGBT con el apoyo de la investigación.
• Explorar las características de la homofobia que sufren las personas LGBT.
• Proporcionar una cobertura nacional del diálogo basado en la evidencia sobre la identidad sexual y expresión de género.
• Mejorar la comprensión del público de los desafíos únicos que enfrentan los cristianos LGBT.

Para mas detalles sobre el evento pueden visitar el siguiente link.

El Foro de Jamaica para Lesbianas, Bisexuales y Gays sostiene la visión de avanzar en un espíritu de unidad, amor, dignidad y el respeto hacia una Jamaica, y el mundo, libre de prejuicios, injusticia, discriminación y opresión.

Para mas información pueden visitar su sitio web, seguirlos en Twitter o visitar su pagina de Facebook.

Amnesty International Special Focus to LGBTI Rights in Jamaica

Together with the Jamaican LGBTI organisation J-FLAG, Amnesty International published a joint press release to mark the Day.

Jamaica was one of three countries selected by Amnesty International for a special focus on the International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia 2013 (the others were Ukraine and South Africa). Amnesty created a special action page affirming that “In Jamaica, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people face harassment, threats, attacks and other human rights abuses because of their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.” They also launched a country-specific twitter campaign.

Larry Chang Human Rights Symposium: Homelessness and Forced Migration of LGBT Jamaicans

Jamaica AIDS Support and LGBTI organisation, J-FLAG, hosted a discussion in Kingston on the issue of migration and homelessness among the gay community. As a local blog piece explained before the event ‘forced out of their homes, living on the street, harassed, abused, assaulted, despised, often in fear of their lives. The local media have made much drama out of the situation; and always the fact of their homelessness and subsequent (often defensive) “bad behavior” is linked to their being homosexual or transgendered. If you are in Kingston, do try to join us for this discussion; we should also be streaming it live and I will share that link when I have it on Twitter (@petchary).’

Controversy erupted during and after the event, however, as it became clear that the organisers had opted not to invite any homeless people to the event. J-Flag released a press release defending the decision shortly afterwards. Pictures from the event, as well as comments and podcasts published in relation to it, can be found at http://glbtqja.blogspot.com.br/2013/05/jflag-excludes-homeless-msm-from-idaho.html

Quality of Citizenship Jamaica Statement

In a special statement for May 17, the group highlighted the deficit between official government positions outlining state opposition to violence against LGBT people, and a reality in which ‘there is no equality for LGBT people’.

The authors ended by underscoring that, ‘Today, International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, Quality of Citizenship Jamaica stands in solidarity with the world to oppose the intolerance, discrimination, hate, and abuse that is meted out to the LGBT people of the world. We call on the Jamaican Government to honour its international commitments, to affirm the status of equal citizenship for all Jamaicans, to ensure the same quality of citizenship for all Jamaicans.’

Blog Posts and Videos

Several posts outlining the importance of May 17, and denouncing hatred against LGBTI people in Jamaica were uploaded at an IDAHOT blog at the Amply Your Voice blog.

One contributor mixed together a collection of homophobic cartoons, set to a homophobic Reggae track, especially for the Day entitled, ‘Gay situation in Jamaica as the Nations Newspaper sees it!’, which you can see here

The forum sought to highlight the urgent need to address issue of bullying in schools. It was supported by the British High Commission. Among the presentations made were those by representatives from UNICEF and UNSECO.