Jamaica is finally being held to account for the violence suffered by LGBTQ+ people
Finally the Jamaican state has been held to account for its complicity in the violence and discrimination I have faced for being gay. An international tribunal has ruled that Jamaica should scrap its homophobic laws immediately.
The hatred that LGBTQ+ people routinely face in Jamaica, and the colonial-hangover laws that criminalise gay relationships, are well documented. But, for the first time, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has determined that laws against the “abominable crime of buggery” and acts of “gross indecency” effectively led to state-sanctioned violence against LGBTQ+ Jamaicans.
As one of the two claimants in this case, I had to detail my experiences over decades living as a gay man and rights activist in Jamaica.… Seguir leyendo »