Human Rights Watch wants St. Vcent to repeal gay sex ban | Miami Herald

Contents:

• GAY SEX IS STILL ILLEGAL THIS CARIBBEAN ISLAND; HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH WANTS BAN REPEALED
• THE U.S. & JAMAI ARE FIGHTG OVER GAY RIGHTS
• A SAFE SPOT FOR GAY TRAVELERS AT JAMAI'S HEDONISM II
• TEEN SET ABLAZE, LEFT FOR DEAD AFTER MEETG MAN FROM GAY DATG SE
• TIPS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS JAMAI
• IS JAMAI GAY IENDLY - JAMAI FOM
• GAY JAMAI TRAVEL GUI
• WHAT'S LIKE TO BE GAY JAMAI?
• 5 SAFT PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2019 (AND THE MOST DANGERO)
• TRAVEL SAFETY REPORT: 20 WORST PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2021
• GAY JAMAI ONE WEEK: MONTEGO BAY, PRISTE BEACH, GAY KGSTON, AND MUCH MORE
• HERE IS WHY JAMAINS ARE DEMANDG REMOVAL OF LGBTQ GAY PRI FLAG OM US EMBASSY

GAY SEX IS STILL ILLEGAL THIS CARIBBEAN ISLAND; HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH WANTS BAN REPEALED

Lol NewsMIAMI – The diplomatic ti between the Uned Stat and Jamai uld soon be jeopardy.There are reports that Jamai is refg to accred the spoe of a gay Amerin diplomat.“Our culture is not really acceptg of ,” said Renae Stevens, who was visg the Jamain nsulate Miami Wednday.Attorney Wayne Goldg is an advisor to Jamai’s ernment.“The whole ia of legislatn to legalize same-sex marriag, I thk they still have a long way to go,” he said.

Vcent and the Grenad is known for s volnic terra, spectacular ral reefs and yacht-filled the ty Eastern Caribbean untry loted the Lser Antill also has a dub reputatn when to the treatment of lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr people: Its lonial-era gay sex ban. “The laws sgle out nsensual gay sex the ‘sexual offens’ sectn of the crimal that is otherwise rerved for crim like rape, ct and sexual asslt, ” the report said.

Vcent and the Grenad, the level of homophobia the untry and ntued effect of s archaic law on rights of LGBT dividuals warranted report’s release while there is currently a trial si St. Vcent, gay sex is crimalized Domi, Grenada, Guyana and Sat Rights Watch says that the Hoe of Assembly St.

THE U.S. & JAMAI ARE FIGHTG OVER GAY RIGHTS

Vcent and the Grenad should repeal the gay-sex provisns s crimal and pass prehensive civil anti-discrimatn legislatn that clus protectns based on sexual orientatn and genr inty. “Every LGBT person terviewed said they wished to leave the untry and envisned their future abroad due, part, to the homophobic or transphobic vlence and discrimatn the untry, ” the report said. González said the crimalizatn of gay sex giv “tac state sanctn to the discrimatn and vlence that LGBT people experience their daily liv and pels many to look abroad to live eely and fulfill their dreams.

Rumors are swirlg that tensns between Jamai and the Uned Stat are risg after the former refed to grant accredatn to the spoe of a gay Amerin diplomat – whose inty has not been ma public – sce same-sex marriage is not legal the Caribbean natn. Equalx reports that addn to same-sex marriage beg illegal, homosexualy among men remas outlawed Jamai and n be punished wh up to seven years prison.

A SAFE SPOT FOR GAY TRAVELERS AT JAMAI'S HEDONISM II

Homosexualy among women is not explicly illegal, but sodomy between any two humans is punishable wh up to 10 years prison. Bloom, while open to everyone, heavily attracts gay men of lor-makg this an tertg opportuny to see how this played a homophobic Caribbean untry.

)Intertgly, the gay fellows om the Bloom group all hung out on the p si, and that's where we felt the most fortable, too.

TEEN SET ABLAZE, LEFT FOR DEAD AFTER MEETG MAN FROM GAY DATG SE

A group of three men Jamai kidnapped, disfigured, then set fire to an 18-year-old who believed he was meetg a man om a gay datg victim, om St. Jam, told police that he went to a lotn at Montego Bay where he and the man om the gay datg se agreed to meet. The paper reported that a siar scheme had been set up before where kidnappers and thiev would e a gay datg se to lure victims to secure lotns to rob them.

However, thori believed they had end the January 2020, a siar se ught ternatnal headl when a warehoe manager, 43-year-old Allie Jackson, also ed the gay datg se to meet wh someone. Jamai is the most homophobic island the Caribbean, wh harsh anti-gay laws, even though there's a large lol gay populatn.

TIPS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS JAMAI

Puerto Ri, notably Old San Juan, is a iendlier statn, certaly South Beach (part of Miami Beach) or Key Wt, but fely not Jamai where tolerance of gays is most pronounced. A light ra eased the heat and the dancers went home to was all a far cry om the untry that Time magaze lled “the most homophobic place on Earth” 2006. In a 2013 survey of 71 LGBT people nducted by Human Rights Watch, more than half said they had been victims of homophobic vlence.

Non-vlent discrimatn is even more pervasive, wh bullyg and excln faced tn, healthre and wh lol change has e through the ditn of activists, cludg the work of Jamai Fom for Lbians, All-Sexuals and Gays (J-Flag), the untry’s largt LGBT rights anisatn, which this month celebrat s 20th the anisatn lnched on 10 December 1998, ed outrage.

IS JAMAI GAY IENDLY - JAMAI FOM

Public reactn has, however, been hostile … for the next few years, at least, gay rights our society, as far as road march or public appearanc are ncerned, is a very dim possibily. So has social media, which has allowed the anisatn, and other groups mpaigng for LGBT rights, to “humanise” gay a rult, the former mister for jtice and the mayor of Kgston have both spoken out publicly support of the group.

GAY JAMAI TRAVEL GUI

”Jaevn Nelson, J-Flag’s executive director, says there has been a “public awakeng” followg two homophobic attacks 2013 – one of them the murr of Dwayne Jon, who attend a party women’s cloth.

Of urse, the rorts aren't exactly Jamai, but gay PDA will get you disapprovg glar and nasty ments if you're off rort.

I wouldn't enurage my gay iends to go to Jamai until attus change drastilly and I love the place wh all my heart - this is jt one of the thgs the culture that I abhor.

WHAT'S LIKE TO BE GAY JAMAI?

We have seen several gay upl over the years at Coupl Swept Away and Coupl rorts have had a clear policy of welg "all upl love. " Someone had mentned that staff at the AIs may be havg negative opns of gay guts even while takg re of them and thought this was a problem. Sadly, homophobic laws om the lonial era are still place, makg life difficult for LGBT are, however, slowly improvg.

5 SAFT PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2019 (AND THE MOST DANGERO)

Jaevn and have been fightg for gay rights for over two turns out that gay life Jamai isn’t que as hidn as you may thk.

Consequently, LGBT Jamains who belong to more upper and middle-class muni and those who have social pal, regardls of their soc-enomic background, do not experience homophobia the same way a person om a poorer muny advice do you have for LGBT people thkg about visg Jamai? Homophobia, a legacy of our lonial past, is perpetuated on different ways the society pecially given the tertwed relatnship between the state and relign. Visors to the island are, however, ually spared om the homophobia and transphobia as que a b of work has been and ntu to be done wh stakeholrs the tourism sector.

TRAVEL SAFETY REPORT: 20 WORST PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2021

Although there has been no quantative rearch of which we are aware, there has been a regnizable cle the prevalence of homophobic ntent morn dancehall mic.

So while safety and secury are always factored the cisns and actns of dividuals and anizatns wh the LGBT muny, the varyg levels of fear which subsist do not cripple the vibrancy of the movement or the 80 percent of Jamains believe that homosexualy is immoral, acrdg to Human Rights First. In 2012, the natnal survey on homophobia found that a third of Jamains believe the ernment is not dog enough to protect LGBT people om discrimatn and vlence.

In an attempt to help terme the worst plac for gay travelers, the duo created the 2019 LGBTQ+ Danger Inx, rankg the world’s most dangero—and saft—untri for gay travelers.

GAY JAMAI ONE WEEK: MONTEGO BAY, PRISTE BEACH, GAY KGSTON, AND MUCH MORE

The journalists looked at the top 150 most-vised untri the world by the number of g tourists, then ranked them g eight factors, cludg laws agast gay relatnships, legal protectn agast discrimatn and more. There, people n be put prison for up to 14 years jt for beg gay, and some stat even have the ath penalty unr Sharia law.

In almost all s, the laws outlawg nsensual gay sex were put to place unr Brish le and were left place followg pennce.

“In 2018, India managed to annul Sectn 377, a Brish lonial-era law prohibg ‘unnatural acts, ’ orr to legalize nsensual gay sex, ” says Fergson, who pots out that ancient Indian lerature such as the Mahabharata and Ramayana have many referenc to LGBTQ+ hero cludg transgenr warrrs and two queens who ma love orr for one queen to get pregnant wh an heir for their kgdom.

HERE IS WHY JAMAINS ARE DEMANDG REMOVAL OF LGBTQ GAY PRI FLAG OM US EMBASSY

“Long story short, this pots to the fact that was likely the Brish fluence that largely led to Indian homophobia the first place, ” she says. “We found this to be a b ironic as the reason for many of the harsh homophobic laws untri throughout the world is largely leftover om laws created durg Brish le, ” says Fergson.

Has ma great progrs wh legalized same-sex marriage, worker protectns and crimalizatn of homophobic vlence. “One reason for that is that there is a great al of variatn gay rights pendg on the state you’re , ” says Fergson. You n see the entire rankg of the 150 untri here and also get 37 safety Swen, the saft untry the world for gay.

Prime Mister Jt T promoted clivy by marchg Toronto’s Pri Para and beme the untry’s first Prime Mister to vis a gay bar. Ci like Lisbon and Porto have the bt gay scen the untry and Portugal is hopg to host the 2022 Europri, the world's biggt event celebratg gay pri Europe. Wh an overall natnal attu that is relaxed and acceptg towards homosexualy, Belgium is known for havg a vibrant gay and lbian scene, particularly Bssels, ” says Fergson.