Gay Jamains lnch legal actn over island's homophobic laws | Jamai | The Guardian

Contents:

• TIPS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS JAMAI
• GAY JAMAI TRAVEL GUI
• A SAFE SPOT FOR GAY TRAVELERS AT JAMAI'S HEDONISM II
• 5 SAFT PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2019 (AND THE MOST DANGERO)
• THE U.S. & JAMAI ARE FIGHTG OVER GAY RIGHTS
• TRAVEL SAFETY REPORT: 20 WORST PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2021
• GAY JAMAINS LNCH LEGAL ACTN OVER ISLAND'S HOMOPHOBIC LAWS
• JAMAI GAY TRAVEL - LGBT RMATN JULY 2023
• DIPLOMATIC TENSN REPORTEDLY RISG BETWEEN UNED STAT AND JAMAI OVER GAY AMERIN DIPLOMAT
• WHAT'S LIKE TO BE GAY JAMAI?
• IS JAMAI GAY IENDLY - JAMAI FOM
• FDG COMFORT AND SAFETY AS A GAY TRAVELER
• GAY RIGHTS IN JAMAI
• ‘GAY TOURISTS WELE’ - JTB HEAD SAYS PERCEPTN ABOUT JAMAI BEG HOSTILE IS WRONG

TIPS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS JAMAI

Jamai is the most homophobic island the Caribbean, wh harsh anti-gay laws, even though there's a large lol gay populatn. 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.

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.

GAY JAMAI TRAVEL GUI

)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.

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.

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.

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

“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. “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.

“One reason for that is that there is a great al of variatn gay rights pendg on the state you’re , ” says Fergson. 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.

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

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. It was ranked so highly largely due to the extreme penalti for simply beg gay, which clu up to 14 years prison and the ath penalty stat unr Sharia law, ” says Fergson.

“This oil-rich Middle Eastern untry enforc up to three years prison, floggg and the ath penalty unr Sharia law for any acts of homosexualy.

“In Yemen, the punishment for beg gay for both men and women is prison time and 100 lash, wh ath by stong for married men, ” says Fergson. “Sdi Arabia is another of the untri on our list which implements the ath penalty for nsensual homosexualy unr their terpretatn of Sharia law, ” says Fergson.

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

“In Tanzania, any homosexual acts rult 30 years to life prison, and there has been a recent ernment crackdown on LGBT activy wh the untry.

“Iran ma #6 on the x, due part to s extreme punishments for homosexualy, which clu 100 lash for homosexual terurse or the ath penalty, and 31 lash for same-sex acts other than terurse, ” says Fergson. “Publicly, homosexualy is a taboo topic, so LGBTQ+ travelers choosg to vis Sudan should proceed wh utn and rema discreet wh regards to their sexualy.

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

“Historilly, Barbados and some other Caribbean islands have had poor anti-LGBTQ+ legislatn and practic, largely left over om the Brish occupatn which put the laws place and rerced anti-gay attus. Unfortunately, imposed punishment for homosexualy is severe and the existence of gay people Malaysia was nied by their tourism mister as recently as March 2019, ” says Fergson. Pro-LGBTQ+ anizatns are also banned by the ernment Malawi and general public sentiment regards homosexualy as off-lims.

That said, the LGBTQ+ muny is margalized this untry and there are heavy nsequenc for beg homosexual, which clu seven years to life prison for any same-sex act, ” says Fergson. Unfortunately, thgs may soon be gettg even worse for the LGBTQ+ muny, as the Ugandan ernment has recently lled to retroduce an anti-homosexualy bill, which would clu the ath penalty for same-sex acts, the midst of the recent murr of a gay Ugandan activist. “In the Paltian terrori of Gaza and the Wt Bank, the anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment is taken very serly, wh homosexual acts rultg up to 10 years prison, ” says Fergson.

GAY JAMAINS LNCH LEGAL ACTN OVER ISLAND'S HOMOPHOBIC LAWS

“Groups advotg for LGBTQ+ rights are threatened by the erng thori Palte, who nsir homosexualy to be ‘a blow to, and vlatn of, the ials and valu of Paltian society. Currently, Kenyan law stat that same-sex terurse between mal rults 14 years prison, while all other homosexual acts between mal are punished wh five years imprisonment, ” says Fergson. “However, the crimalizatn of gay sex is beg discsed wh the ernment, which would likely bolster LGBTQ+ travel to the untry.

JAMAI GAY TRAVEL - LGBT RMATN JULY 2023

In fact, Jamai was lled ‘the most homophobic place on Earth’ by Time magaze 2006 and LGBTQ+ people are sadly still the victims of homophobic vlence today. Rankg 19th on our x, Ethpia outlaws same-sex relatns and ‘cent, ’ or homosexual, acts rult up to 15 years prison, ” says Fergson. “Recently, there have been ath threats by Ethpia’s Orthodox Christian muny over gay tourism to the untry, puttg LGBTQ+ tourists at risk.

“Same-sex acts rult up to three years prison wh a fe, and posssn of homosexual materials rults up to two years prison wh a fe. 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.

DIPLOMATIC TENSN REPORTEDLY RISG BETWEEN UNED STAT AND JAMAI OVER GAY AMERIN DIPLOMAT

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. Homosexualy among women is not explicly illegal, but sodomy between any two humans is punishable wh up to 10 years prison. And although there have been some improvements over recent years, more than 70 untri still have homophobic laws, acrdg to Equalx.

Sce the Fergsons’ study on the most dangero plac for gay travelers 2019, several laws have changed—some for the better (Sudan), and some for the worse (Hungary, Poland). “Of the ‘least safe’ untri on our list, the top 49 still have prison sentenc as punishment for beg gay, ” says Fergson. “It was ranked so poorly largely due to the extreme penalti for simply beg gay, which clu up to 14 years prison and the ath penalty stat unr Sharia law.

WHAT'S LIKE TO BE GAY JAMAI?

This Middle Eastern kgdom is another on our list which n implement the ath penalty for nsensual homosexualy unr their terpretatn of Sharia law, ” says Fergson. “The punishments for homosexualy Malawi have earned this Ain untry as the number four worst untry for LGBTQ+ travelers, ” says Fergson.

Pro-LGBTQ+ anizatns are banned by the ernment Malawi and general public sentiment regards homosexualy as off-lims.

IS JAMAI GAY IENDLY - JAMAI FOM

In fact, Jamai was lled the most homophobic place on Earth by Time magaze 2006 and LGBTQ+ people are sadly still the victims of homophobic vlence today.

Homosexual acts, which their laws refer to as ‘rnal terurse agast the orr of nature, ’ are subject to 20 years prison. “This oil-rich Middle Eastern untry enforc up to three years prison, floggg, and the ath penalty unr Sharia law for any acts of homosexualy.

FDG COMFORT AND SAFETY AS A GAY TRAVELER

Acrdg to the Gallup World Poll, only 1% of rponnts felt their cy was a good place to live for gay and lbian people. That said, the LGBTQ+ muny is margalized this untry and there are heavy nsequenc for beg gay, which clu seven years to life prison for any same-sex act, ” says Fergson. “One possible sign of posive chang the untry is that the print recently pardoned a gay uple who were sentenced to a 15-year prison term.

In Tanzania, any homosexual acts rult 30 years to life prison, and there has been a recent ernment crackdown on LGBT activy wh the untry.

“In the Paltian terrori of Gaza and the Wt Bank, the anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment is taken very serly, wh homosexual acts rultg up to ten years prison, ” says Fergson. “Iran ma number 15 on the x, due part to s extreme punishments for homosexualy, which clu 100 lash for terurse or the ath penalty, and 31 lash for same-sex acts other than terurse, ” says Fergson.

GAY RIGHTS IN JAMAI

Unfortunately, thgs may soon be gettg even worse for the LGBTQ+ muny, as the Ugandan print has recently been rampg up the anti-gay rhetoric to help w vot an upg electn. “Earng the equal 16th spot, the Maldiv punish homosexual acts and terurse wh up to eight years prison or 100 lash.

The Netherlands also ranked number one the latt Gallup Poll wh 92% of rponnts sayg that the cy or area where they live is a good place for gay and lbian people. “Ci like Lisbon and Porto have the bt gay scen the untry and Portugal me send place s bid to host the 2022 Europri which is the biggt event celebratg gay pri Europe. I knew vaguely that Jamai is pretty gay uniendly and we obvly planned to not do PDA public, but as I was talkg to a iend, they exprsed extreme ncern and said that we need to be really reful, and seemed to be doubtful that avoidg PDA will be enough (I’m kda butch but when ’s hot out I’m obvly not wearg flannels and rgo pants.

Two gay Jamains have lnched a legal challenge to lonial-era laws, which effect crimalise homosexualy, on the grounds that they are unnstutnal and promote homophobia throughout the landmark actn, supported by the UK-based Human Digny Tst, is aimed at removg three cls of the island's Offenc Agast Persons Act of 1864, monly known as the "buggery" battle over the legislatn – blamed by crics for perpetuatg a popular culture of hatred for "batty boys", as gay men are rid some dancehall mic – has also drawn a Brish lawyer to the bate, who said that Jamai should not follow the legislative example of the legal challenge is beg taken to the Inter-Amerin Commissn on Human Rights, which is molled on the European Court of Human Rights. Jamai is not a full member and any lg would only be advisory and not bdg; would, nohels, send out a strong signal of ternatnal the Jamain prime mister, Portia Simpson Miller, was elected last December, she said she would hire a gay person to serve her bet and nmned discrimatn.

‘GAY TOURISTS WELE’ - JTB HEAD SAYS PERCEPTN ABOUT JAMAI BEG HOSTILE IS WRONG

Dpe early sympathetic signals, her ernment has not attempted to repeal the Offenc Agast Persons Act do not formally ban homosexualy but clse 76 provis for up to 10 years' imprisonment, wh or whout hard labour, for anyone nvicted of the "abomable crime of buggery mted eher wh mankd or any animal". Murrs of gay men are creasg, acrdg to Dane Lewis, executive director of the Jamai Fom of Lbians, All-Sexuals and Gays (J-Flag), who is one of those petng the missn. In 2002, two gay Jamain men were granted asylum the UK bee their liv were danger om "severe homophobia" the Jamain police officers have the past dismissed killgs as the rult of gay-on-gay "crim of passn" – an terpretatn disputed by civil rights a Hoe of Lords bate this week on the treatment of homosexual men and women the velopg world, the Conservative Lord Lexn said a "wave of persecutn and vlence has been suffered by gay people nnected wh [J-Flag]".

Intolerance of homosexualy, he noted, was a legacy of the Brish empire: "Today, 42 of the 54 natns of the Commonwealth crimalise same-sex relatns. "[Jamains] feel they are beg prsurised by the UK and US ernments terms of visas and aid grants to modify their posn [on homosexualy], which they say is morally based, " Diamond told the Guardian. "The prime mister's office Jamai did not rpond to laws the CaribbeanWhile Jamai holds the crown for beg the worst place the Ameris to be gay, the rt of the English-speakg Caribbean has a long history of homophobia.