• JAMAICAN BOYCOTT Is the ban on all things Jamaica doing more harm than good? Says Gareth Henry, former program manager and co-chair of the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-sexuals and Gays: “This boycott is a slap in the face and will force the (GLBT) community into hiding and increase the level of violence. Already the boycott is being used as ammunition towards the gay and lesbian community. While intentions are good, its also hurting good people on the ground.”
• BAGHDAD PRIDE While Iraq’s gays fear having their anuses glued shut, the U.S. Embassy will host gay pride next Friday for its own diplomats. [WaPo]
• CATHOLIC CRUNCH The Roman Catholic Diocese of Maine stands accused of violating its tax-exempt status by helping collect signatures for a ballot measure to repeal same-sex marriage. [AP]
• GOING SOLO Scissor Sisters lead guitarist Del Marquis just dropped his own solo album. “I never really knew I was going to do music. I started off in design and being in the [Scissor] Sisters was a really fortuitous accident. I’ve fulfilled so many fantasies with that band that left me with a hole saying ‘What haven’t I done? What would I like to do before its all over?’ because you never know when it might end. I felt like this was necessary and I need to do this.” [The New Gay]
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• GAY INDIANS “A Coquille Indian Tribe law allowing same-sex marriage took effect this week, and two women plan to marry Sunday on the tribe’s Coos Bay reservation. Tribal member Kitzen Branting, 26, and her partner, Jeni Branting, 28, who now live in Edmonds, Wash., will become the first same-sex couple to legally marry in Oregon, though their marriage will be recognized only by the tribe. … The tribe wanted to work out laws governing child support issues before activating the law. It took effect Wednesday, said Melissa Cribbins, assistant tribal attorney.” [The Oregonian]
• AUSTRALIA Gay advocates blast the Rudd Government for refusing to recognize civil unions. Says Australian Coalition for Equality spokeperson Corey Irlam: “The reason the ACT doesn’t yet have the type of civil union scheme it wants it that successive federal governments don’t want same-sex relationships officially solemnised and celebrated. It’s prejudice pure and simple.” [SX]
threshold
I booked a cruise yesterday and purposefully avoided Jamaica.
Rasa
Sorry, but why would I want to go to a place like Jamaica that is so pervasively and blatantly homophobic (and violently so) ?
Buddy
I’m a travel agent (part-time) specializing in cruises I make it a policy to recommend my clients steer away from Jamaica. I worked there for a while back in the mid-90s and outside of the resort enclaves it’s a violent and dangerous place, gay or straight.
Of course I’m up-front with clients about the homophobia and gay violence issues – fortunately not one of them has felt the need to go in spite of the boycott so I haven’t had to book anyone there for years, not even on a cruise just touching the island.
kevin57
One principle I heard about the issue of boycotts is that activists in the targeted country have to be on board. If they’re not also saying, “Yes, this is the right response,” then it is not a productive idea. Second, a boycott of Jamaica would need to include most of the Caribbean. I lived for several months on a much smaller island that is part of the Caribbean world and the homophobia was also as viral there as in Jamaica. That said, I would have a very difficult time spending one cent in any of these places.
paulied
And what would JFLAG have us do – put our own safety on the line to visit that malignant island? No fuckin thanks!
An Other Greek
spent the weekend with Jamaicans, and they were VERY sympathetic to the boycott. Disclosure: these were wealthy and partially, not all, ex-pats, but, still, they WERE sympathetic.
A lot of Jamaicans are at a loss on how to deal with this problem. Clearly, on their own, it is getting worse. Outside intervention is deplored and rejected by many, but not all.
Typical for boycotts, no?
Let’s keep the pressure up.
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BobP
When jamaicans start to miss the (very large) gay travel dollars, they’ll rethink their homphobia. By then, it will be too late. Too bad.
An Other Greek
it shouldn’t be about “too late”.
Remember, the problem is IGNORANCE. This CAN be overcome.
Let’s be proactive WITH hope.
And let’s not overdo it either. Homophobia exists everywhere, and while the problem in Jamaica is extreme and the boycott warranted, let’s not make Jamaicans into caricatures. We can be better than that.
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mb00
Jamaica has never been a desirable place for me to visit. I’ve never been drawn to any of the islands in the Caribbean. Aside from Puerto Rico and hopefully someday Cuba, I don’t really care.
I do worry about our brothers & sisters in these isles of hate and I do hope that whatever action we and the rest of the world take to protect them from violence and death with have a good outcome sooner than later.
They have to understand that their violence will never come to an end. They will never eliminate the GLBT communities in their lands because we don’t choose to be, but are BORN to be.
As for the boycott, I don’t buy their music, I don’t buy their booze, I don’t buy anything that comes from these heinous regions.
An Other Greek
Alas, they are not heinous regions. Troubled and troubling, yes.
In case you don’t know: Jamaica is stunningly beautiful. The land itself, the weather, the fruits of the land… And the people too. And the culture. Wait, did I say culture? Yes, PART of the Jamaican culture is strong and important. This little island has shared its revolutionary spirit and arts way beyond its tiny borders.
Still, there is extreme poverty, ignorance, disease, violence, crime, and of course, homophobia. You see, when you mix such poverty with colonialism and religious missionaries and fundamentalists, the results are predictable.
Let’s not demonize Jamaica without understanding it or by denying its good… And let’s not answer the hate with our own.
I am not apologizing for Jamaica, and I do support the boycott. This is a sad and tragic state. It is all our loss that such a great little country is suffering so…
They need help. And I believe, in its own way, and in the proper context, the boycott will help progress. Or so I hope.
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BobP
I work with a jamaican woman, who can be quite lovely. She goes to great pains to tell everyone that she goes to church every day. She has been arrested AT WORK three times for assaulting coworkers. (I work for NYC, where it is very difficult to fire someone).
Please don’t make excuses for them. They wear their homophobia like a badge. They think they are doing gods work by hating.
Jon from Maine
Churches “should” pay taxes. Period
mb00
@BobP: I use to work with a Jamaican woman myself, in California. I understand EXACTLY what you’ve just stated.
She pretended to be all accepting and shit, but deep in her core, she didn’t like gay people and made it quite known. Always talked about going to church, and always wanted to have “civil conversations” about how and why being gay is wrong, all the while having an affair with another man for years, while her husband did the same and birthed a child with another woman. She was also arrested for beating up her husband as well as for other domestic disturbances. So when I’d make a point at how she probably had no room to be throwing stones, that demon in her would flare up in flash.
And she isn’t the first experience that I’ve had with Jamaicans. Sorry, I don’t like them. And NO this isn’t a racial thing before some of you start accusing. It’s more of a cultural thing. So Jamaica may have beautiful scenery, fruits and whatever else, but so do other less hostile islands.
majed
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