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Jaevion Nelson, J-Flag’s executive director, says there has been a “public awakening” following two homophobic attacks in 2013 – one of them the murder of Dwayne Jones, who attended a party in women’s clothes. “People are willing to engage us, have us at the table and listen to our concerns.” “That’s a huge step forward,” says Glenroy Murray, former associate director of programmes at the organisation. But the second time, in 2017, politicians listened courteously. The first time J-Flag addressed parliament calling for changes to these laws, in 2001, they were not taken seriously or treated with respect. Under the country’s colonial-era “buggery law”, anal sex is criminalised (sharing a legal clause with bestiality), as are acts of intimacy between two men.īut attitudes are changing. So has social media, which has allowed the organisation, and other groups campaigning for LGBT rights, to “humanise” gay people.Īs a result, the former minister for justice and the mayor of Kingston have both spoken out publicly in support of the group.
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Pride celebrations have brought unprecedented visibility to the community. Since then, pride week has grown: a beach party last year attracted 1,200 people. Three years ago, the country held its first pride event when a flashmob of 15 LGBT people gathered in Kingston’s Emancipation Park, dressed in the colours of the rainbow. Less than two decades later, J-Flag has made this “dim possibility” slightly brighter. Public reaction has, however, been hostile … for the next few years, at least, gay rights in our society, as far as road marches or public appearances are concerned, is a very dim possibility.” A journalist in the Gleaner wrote at the time: “We are being prepared to accept seeing two men kissing, holding hands or sharing popcorn from the same bucket at the movies. When the organisation launched on 10 December 1998, it caused outrage. The change has come through the dedication of activists, including the work of Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays (J-Flag), the country’s largest LGBT rights organisation, which this month celebrates its 20th anniversary. Non-violent discrimination is even more pervasive, with bullying and exclusion faced in education, healthcare and within local communities. In a 2013 survey of 71 LGBT people conducted by Human Rights Watch, more than half said they had been victims of homophobic violence. Yet that label has clung to Jamaica ever since, and with good reason. It was all a far cry from the country that Time magazine called “the most homophobic place on Earth” in 2006. A light rain eased the heat and the dancers went home to sleep.
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The park was strung with rainbow banners for the fourth annual Pride JA celebrations. A transgender woman strutted by in a flowing white dress adorned with a sash bearing the words: “Miss Supermodel Intl 2018”.