Orville Taylor

If the lie is true that we are the most homophobic country on Earth, then Bruce Golding will never lose an election in Jamaica. To the surprise of many pro, borderline and anti-gay Jamaicans, the prime minister spoke with great affirmation on British television last week. At first, when my closest friend exclaimed, "BBC!" I thought that he was simply referring to the station on which the interview was being conducted.

However, in facing the same audience that initiated the demise of Shabba Ranks's career in the 1990s, 'white-listed' Buju Banton, and caused many a dancehall artiste to bow or be banned, 'Driver' was strident. In response to the question regarding gays being in a Cabinet, he replied in the affirmative, but "Not mine!"

Not going down that road

While I do not believe that his party, parliamentary group and Cabinet have any suspected homosexuals, he couldn't have said anything else. Indeed, why should he? For two double terms, between 1992 and 2002, the P.J. Patterson administration, up to two years ago, chose not to go down the road of decriminalising male-male sex, effectively turning its back on the local gay lobbyists and their human-rights advocates. This is against the background of the fact that large numbers of Jamaicans strongly believe that there were/are gay men among the 60 parliamentarians.

Of course, Jamaicans For Justice and the homosexual mouthpiece J-FLAG, feel that he made a wrong move.

The problem with the gay/anti-gay debate in this country is that it is framed by lies, half-truths and incomplete information. Nevertheless, before getting into them, let us start where every logical and decent Jamaican must agree. First, no person should have to feel threatened simply because of his/her desire to lie with his/her own kind. No one should be beaten or harmed in any way because of sexual orientation, and the Government must ensure this.

Not the business of government

Second, as long as it concerns consenting adults and no element of force, coercion or paedophilia is involved, it cannot be the business of the Government. Therefore, as in the 2003 case of Lawrence v Texas, we have no place in a gay person's bedroom. I certainly don't want to be there.

Now for the knowledge! The term 'homophobic' is inaccurate in referring to hatred of homosexuals in that it is based on a flawed psychological perspective that assumes that the reason for the antipathy is internal conflicts within the 'hater', who is struggling with his/her own fear of being homosexual. As my CARICOM friends would say, "That is a lot of bull!" A more correct and precise term is 'homo-antipathic' or more simply, 'anti-gay'.

Then comes the bigger lie: Jamaica being the most anti-gay place on Earth. Some 85 countries have anti-sodomy laws and these include almost all the Islamic nations, Nigeria and the emergent Asian 'success stories' of Malaysia and Singapore. Add to the list the 1.1 billion Indians, whose ancient Penal Code, Section 377, calls it 'unnatural sex' and explicitly states, "Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse with any man woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or imprisonment which may extend to 10 years." Just this year, Zoltan Parag, an Indian contestant in Mr Gay International, declared that he was afraid to return home.

In some African and Asian nations, the legal penalty is death. China, with 1.3 billion inhabitants, has stepped up its campaign to shut down gay websites and broadcasts and describes homosexuality as being, "against the healthy way of life in China".

Russia does not officially outlaw homosexuality, but thousands of gays are abused annually. Moscow's Mayor Yuri Luzhkov calls homosexuality "satanic" and opposed a march almost exactly a year ago. On that occasion, the demonstrators were set upon by Russian citizens, and British heterophobic activist Peter Tatchell was bludgeoned, and Italian parliamentarian Marco Cappato was kicked while the police watched. Tatchell, Cappato and Russian gay activist, Nikolay Alexeyev, were detained by the cops.

A long history of tolerance

Jamaica, in contrast, has had a long history of tolerance for 'known' homosexuals, and only the poor and powerless gays are even blinked at. True, we are a violent society, but more acts of hostility are perpetrated against heterosexual youth between 16 and 24 years, women and children, than against gay men. More policemen were killed in the last year than suspected homosexuals have been 'innocently' murdered in a decade. With the exception of perhaps two cases, most homicides of gay men have either been by their lovers or victims.

We have a list of urgent priorities in saving our nation from self-destruction, and though important to a powerful minority, it is just not as urgent as the recalcitrant murders or female and child-abuse rates.

The final lie is that Jamaica is refusing to protect the human rights of homosexuals. You cannot protect that which does not yet exist. No freedom from discrimination based on sexual orientation exists in the UN's Charter of Rights. Furthermore, the 2003 Human Rights and Sexual Orientation Resolution being pushed by a minority of nations, has not yet been accepted by the majority. It is still a proposal.

Indeed, the International Labour Organisation (ILO), which gave the concept of human rights to the UN, does not include sexual orientation among its fundamental rights. By the way, the ILO has more and wider membership than the UN, as it comprises trade unions and employers from all nations.

By the way, Article 16 (3) of the UN's Charter states, "The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State." That is the stated defence of Prime Minister Golding. Call him a bigot if you wish, but we all know that Jamaica is not yet ready for the 'next step'.

Dr Orville Taylor is senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work at UWI, Mona. Feedback may be sent to orville.taylor@uwimona.edu.jm or columns@gleanerjm.com

In Dr Orville Taylor’s column published in The Sunday Gleaner of May 25, we had the following sentence: “While I do not believe that his party, parliamentary group and Cabinet have any suspected homosexuals ... .” That is incorrect. We should have said: “While I do not believe that his party, parliamentary group and Cabinet have NO homosexuals ... .” The use of the double negative by Dr Taylor means he believes that there are in fact gays in Prime Minister Bruce Golding’s Cabinet. We regret the error.