With BoycottJamaica.org, American gay activists Michael Petrelis, Wayne Besen, and Jim Burroway have branded the island nation as a breeding ground of homophobia that we shouldn’t support. But that doesn’t mean the rest of America agrees. Here’s one tourist who plans on visiting, bigotry be damned:
A letter printed in the Jamaica Gleaner:
Gay activists are targeting Jamaica because it is an easy target – plain and simple. Many US states have a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman.
I’m amazed at how time and time again those promoting the virtues of tolerance and diversity are the least tolerant (and the least diverse) of all.
Just recently, the gay rights group in San Francisco refused to accept the passage of Proposition 8, the traditional marriage initiative. Decisions by voters in Florida, Arizona and California to join residents of 27 other states with constitutional protections for traditional marriage have prompted threats of violence against Christians and their churches.
I think that violence against anyone is wrong, no one should have to suffer. I’m really tired of the gay community trying to silence anyone who happens to have a different (moral) opinion on things. They do this every time. It’s time to stand up.
The main thing that angers me about the Jamaica boycott site is how the gay and lesbian lobby thinks it can dictate the policy and laws of another sovereign nation.
Mark my words: The gay movement is doing far more harm to its cause than good with this bullying approach. It won’t work.
I can’t help but believe that for every one person who joins in this wrong-headed boycott, there will be two others who will make an extra effort to support Jamaica.
Jamaica is a Christian nation. Christians are not required by faith to support anyone who supports what God has deemed immoral.
A Christian will stand by higher moral convictions by not contributing in any way, shape or form, to those who wilfully defy God’s decrees, especially where morality is concerned. Jamaica simply will not compromise where the word of God is concerned.
I am coming to visit Jamaica and I am going to plan a long vacation there, and encourage all others who stand against immorality to do the same.
Neville Carnegie
United States
Wayne
Bigots of a Feather, flock together.
burger king
it’s not just jamaica, it’s the whole carribean, PR, DR, the Virgin Islands, queer folk who travel to any part of the region put themselves at risk for harassment, assault and unresponsiveness by police and courts.
burton21
Hope you don’t get shot! They might hate gays, but they’re a violent nation nonetheless with one of the highest worldwide murder rates. Enjoy that vacation.
kevin (not that one)
Actually, Neville just convinced me that a boycott is the right thing to do. Equating the homohating policies of the Jamaican government and people with Christianity and morality is precisely why I wouldn’t spend one red cent on anything remotely Jamaican….not until these people get that queerbashing isn’t “moral” or Christian.
Chitown Kev
@kevin (not that one):
And it is about the physical violence and public stonings and the dancehall lyrics that call for the extermination of gay people, it is WAY beyond that they are a Christian nation with “higher moral convictions.”
Please.
strumpetwindsock
Not required by faith to support anyone who supports what God has deemed immoral, eh?
Perhaps Neville needs to be reminded of the parable about the Samaritan. I hope he gets a chance to enjoy some of that good Christian ganja, too.
sal
u see what i have to read locally everyday…..intellectual press my behind
sal
..When local gays are wary of even going to the police for assistance,help that’s not “living”.when u turn on your local popular radio and your WHOLE LIFE u hear popular POPULAR songs about murdering u 24/7 with no one batting an eye,actually everyone praising it calling it “our culture” that’s not “living”.when u have “brave” gays carrying knives on them to protect them from attacks that’s not “living”……etc etc etc
Tallskin
Don’t ya just love when loons say things like: “Jamaica is a Christian nation. Christians are not required by faith to support anyone who supports what God has deemed immoral.”
Er, like being nasty to people. And NOT loving they neighbour!
Killing and murdering. Jamaica has a worse murder rate than even the USA.
Like NOT helping the poor.
Oh, and definitely NOT following sky pixie injunctions about sexual control. They fuck like bunnies, heterosexually speaking. I don;t think Jeeeeee-zeus would approve of THAT.
I could go on and on, but it wearies me.
sal
..the Caribbean,It’s a weird place,not like it’s “christian” the local music is sexual,the local dance is sexual,pot (drug)is celebrated ,Carnival is “our culture”,it’s like your a christian when u wanna judge but let anyone be honest about the local hetero’s lifestyle and u find they are hypocrites….elephant man can come down and play HATE ,with no problem…but Elton John and UPROAR,Elton the “evil” one….crazyyyyyy
Bruno
He conveniently skips the fact that we’re not boycotting other nations with anti-gay laws. Just this one, where homophobia is so widespread that even the government turns a blind eye to its horrors.
I guess it goes without saying we’re all boycotting Iran though, right?
Tamra Jones
Before you do anything, check out the extremely hateful antogay comments left on the Jamaica Gleaner’s discussion board. This country’s antigay animus is downright pathological.
http://gleanerblogs.com/haveyoursay/?p=102
BobP
This fool is obviously jamaican. Yes, Gays should be quite and not make a fuss over the way these bigots treat us. Typical homophobe.
He should go to jamaica and stay there.
John
this guy has nothing intelligent to say, I can’t believe the Jamaican Observer would get a letter that badly written and obviously homophobic and CHRISTIANS RULE in nature.
John
and print it…I meant to say that last part…I’m sure they get TONS of homophobic letter backing up their homophobic views..what am I talking about? Of course they would print a letter that appears to be written by a grown man with a 10 year old boys thought processing skills.
Attmay
@Tallskin: Agreed. KKKristians sure love to pick and choose when it comes to the Bible (which rhymes with ‘libel’) of their hate-group cult.
tinkerbell
“Neville Carnegie???” How close to Neville Chamberlain (early WW2 British PM) is that name? I must ask all: how many American-born US citizens named Neville have you met?
What a very colonial, British (i.e. Jamaican origin, British-colonial decent) name! Not to say coincidences don’t happen, but…I smell a Jamaican ex-patriot rat here.
getreal
Jamaica is not a christian nation. It is a national ruled by religious fanatics like Saudi Arabia and Iran.LGBT people there are regularly murdered and hatred and persecution pervades every facet of this society down to it’s music. “Bam Bam with da baty boy” a call to beat and murder gays can be found in much mainstream Jamaican music. These are not Godly people they are hateful people who have found a population to oppress and forced their limited point of view like most religious fanatics always do. Anyone who knows the bible knows these people are lying homosexuality is not a sin every scripture they point to when you actually look it up is hot about homosexuality but about temple prostitution. I cannot imagine adding a nickel to the economy of a country where gay people routinely live in fear and terror. This not an exaggeration. For the record I am christian and this article disgust and angers me.
EveryoneKnewHimAsNancy
But Jamaica is an oppressed Third World nation so you must all be hateful white racists to object to their culture. I mean, that’s what they tell me over at Billerico.com, so it must be true!
http://www.bilerico.com/2009/03/and_well_even_be_greeted_as_liberators.php
getreal
@EveryoneKnewHimAsNancy: I’m black so don’t play that white racist card with me.It is silly,unfair, and racist to the many white people on here. Just because someone has a difference of opinion does not make them racist.
EveryoneKnewHimAsNancy
@getreal:
Get real, GetReal! I was being sarcastic, and directing posters here to the Billerico post where Alex Blaze is indeed trying to imply that racism is the reason for the Jamaica boycott. I know that irony doesn’t travel well on the internet, but Gawd!
getreal
@EveryoneKnewHimAsNancy: Oh I am so sorry. I just am tired of reading where people are calling all white people racist. I always try to stick up for anyone who seems like they are being bullied.
scott
@burton21:
Ha. I think you’re being sarcastic with “enjoy your vacation” but even that is too nice. I say Neville Carnegie should stay there forever if he likes it so much. I’m sure he’ll fit in great.
Meanwhile, boycott. Boycott. Boycott!
Vanhattan
Jamaica is a big fucking hell hole. Hope this christianist enjoys his vacation in hell.
stevenelliot
I am sure Mr Neville Carnegie will enjoy his vacance to jamaica. He will be either in a hotel or a villa where he will be waited on by black females who are unmarried and most will have illegitimate children.
This being the culture of the islands. Since the time of slavery, island black men have been mentally “bred” to be farm animal studs. They stay at home with their parents like little boys and go out and impregnate the mares of the “hood”
Its a place of great beauty but it is still ruled by the laws of a white man’s god and the black man’s lack of change.
How does one expect these back-ass people to accept homosexulaity? Their old masters taught them to breed at will. Gayness is the antithesis of the mindset these people have had for 500 years.
getreal
That has got to be an April fools joke.
dgz
Jamaica is a dirt-poor, mostly uneducated nation with a strong cultural identity. so, i don’t know that a public boycott is going to change any minds, but i do know that i’m sure as hell not going there.
but don’t lump the whole caribbean together, there are islands of acceptance. (ha! get it? sorry.) St. Barts, the USVI, Curacao, and especially Puerto Rico are comparable to the US, at least.
osocubano
Hey, well, you’re free to waste your money any way you like.
I just don’t see why anyone would want to go there, even if it weren’t a homophobic Christian nation.
Alec
Ha! Yes, murder, heterosexual promiscuity and illicit drug use are all Christian virtues to be supported with one’s income, and those evil sodomites must be opposed at all costs! By all means, go to Jamaica!
What’s next? A tour of stoning sites in the parts of Africa and the Middle East that still permit that barbaric practice? Of course, I suppose those are off limits, being infidel territory.
You know what they say about a fool and his money. I have a feeling Mr. Carnegie will discover that for himself. It isn’t as if pickpocketing is unheard of in Jamaica.
Enjoy!
Tallskin
Sad thing is a lot of people (straights) originally from Jamaica spend their lives working and saving here in the UK then retire back to Jamaica, buy themselves a nice house etc – only to get murdered in their homes for their money by armed robbers.
Now, I would like to suggest that Mr Carnegie go meet himself some nice armed robbers – but maybe not, cos that wouldn’t be nice or very christian, would it?
ousslander
So according to him we should not have done anything like boycotting south africa for i’s apartheid system. We should have left them alone and not said a word.
But some how i think he’ll see that as completely dif situation
TikiHead
I hope while Neville is in Jamaica he is mistaken for gay and beaten to a pulp.
By Christians.
Attmay
@TikiHead: Me too.
Alex Blaze
@EveryoneKnewHimAsNancy: That’s not what I was saying, and I think you know that. But apparently the only defense you have for this boycott is misinterpreting other people’s words.
I mean, I know I write at a high level, but I don’t think I’m completely incomprehensible!
EveryoneKnewHimAsNancy
Yes, Alex, you do write at such a high level. You’re just so damn intelligent, so much more than the rest of us dumb asses. And it doesn’t surprise me at all that you have such a high opinion of yourself, based on that smug look on your face in your photo. The fact is on Billerico you were doing nothing but playing the more radical than thou game that by-the-numbers leftists like you always indulge in. First world bad, third world good; boycott bad because it will hurt Jamaican gays. I remember the same argument given by people who opposed boycotting South Africa and I remember what people like you said about that. But then, you end up saying this:
“Personally, though, I suppose one could say that I’m participating in this boycott – I don’t like Red Stripe, I can’t afford Myer’s Rum, I’ve never heard of Blue Mountain Coffee, and I don’t have any plans to take a trip to Jamaica.”
http://www.bilerico.com/2009/03/and_well_even_be_greeted_as_liberators.php
Wow, you get to eat your cake and have it, too! Just so, I gather, in case the boycott goes through and works, nobody will be able to say that you broke it. But in the main the boycott isn’t against a handful of Jamaican beverage companies or even the tourism industry as much as it is against a virulently homophobic, transphobic and misogynistic culture. You can compare the situation in the US with Jamaica to the latter’s benefit all you like, but despite the occurrence of anti-LGBT hate crimes in the US, if the level of anti-gay violence in the US was equal in ratio to that of Jamaica, you would have some justification in using your otherwise ridiculous metaphor that “we’re a country that just got out of its mini-Pinochet regime”. As bad as Bush was, there were no mass arrests or mass murders of a Pinochet level in this country, but that doesn’t deter Alex Blaze, who sees no need to punish Jamaica for its very real mini-Pinochet regime. You don’t need to accuse anyone of deliberately misinterpreting your words when you deliberately misinterpret reality with such cavalier disdain for anything that doesn’t fit your ideology.
SirTrail
LOL! I just came across this site as a result of looking for the Jamaica vs. US track meet. I am hard press to leave this site without dropping a line.
I am 100% Jamaican and hate the (fag, homo, and gay) lifestyle. I don’t want them in my company nor as friends. I believe the Word of God said “If you find a man sleeping with another man like he sleeps with a woman, he should be taken outside of the village or camp and stone to death”. As a society our moral fabric has decayed to a level where all sort of behavior which is morally wrong, is accepted as normal and those that practice these lifestyle believe that all society should accept their behavior and should have nothing to say about it. If you can be vocal about your believe (gays), we can be vocal about ours (straight).
This is why I believe in a Theocracy over a Republics and Democratic form of government. When God is the authority no man can justify their behavior against the perfect law of God. I will never accept it! Do I have the right to pass judgment? Yes I do! If we saw someone stealing, based on the law, is this person a thieve? Don’t care what their motives are. Is this person a thieve? Yes they are! Passing judgment is done daily. We see it in the courts based on evidence. As a Christian, the Word of God states that this behavior is an abomination to God. Is it my right to stone them to death? No, God has not given me this responsibility but he has asked me to stand against it.
This lifestyle have serious medical as well as mental consequences and they are the gay community little secret. For example, and this might be nasty but it must be told. The muscle in the rectum is a one direction muscle group it is not like the vagina which goes both ways. Over a period of abuse the muscles in the rectum looses their elasticity and the person practicing this behavior is unable to keep from going on themselves and not to mention the suicide level is over 60%. If this is normal/natural then we are in a world of trouble.
Just a word!
scott
@SirTrail:
Warning! Warning, Will Rogers! Crazy zealot alert.
I’ll try an make it clear and see if you’re open to logic. What makes you think homosexuals are having anal sex? What about woman homosexuals? And don’t you think heterosexuals are having anal sex?
And here’s another thing. What makes you think you can force your religion upon people with other religions? Maybe my religion thinks all Christians are devil worshipers who should be stoned if they utter their fairy tale beliefs? Is it ok, then for me to stone you then? I think any rational person would say no.
When a religion starts to dictate how people interact with each other and live peacefully with each other there is a problem. Think about it.
If you don’t believe it, go visit a radical Muslim nation like Iran and speak your beliefs there… you might get an eye-opening lesson.
Hendrix
If homosexuals want to boycott Jamaica and the Caribean Islands that will make the hetersexual community more at ease when travelling there. Good Job!!! I’m certain I would rather travel where I know perversion is going to be paraded in from of me and my children. When homosexuals attempt to justify sin it’s no different than a heterosexual tring to justify sin. We are all human beings created by a Lovng God who wants to have a relationship with us but cannot because Sin separates us from His Perfect Love. Jesus is the Only Way to Him through repentence and an acceptance of HIs Perfect Sacrifice, His Salvation. If we were born, we need it, regardless of the sin, we all need Salvation.
Gremms
It’s too bad that the country that brought us Bob Marley and dreadlocks would be so adamantly hateful. It’s even worse when you consider the nation’s history of slavery and colonialism. You’d think that the people of Jamaica would have learned to recognize obvious oppression and would be sympathetic, especially because they project this image of being laid back, loving stoners. Unfortunately they are just acting like their colonizers taught them to act. The same thing happened to India. When will these countries finally be free of the hypocritical Victorian mentality they inherited from Britain?
cruiser
@Gremms: Probably in about 100 years(give or take a decade)
sal
i am sooo shocked by the ignorant homophobes messages!!omg,soooo new!!!!i deal with smarties like u EVERYDAY,lame argument over and over.i’ll give ya one thing “Christianity” was forced upon our ancestors by the same white man u (u same folks who hate the “white man” in the Caribbean,i know u folks)despise,go back to your “real roots” like u always claim …drop the “christian” argument.anther thing,two word “DUTTY WINE”….hypocritesSSSSSS
kevin57
I’ve posted this same message many times already. I lived in the Caribbean for almost a year. The whole place is fucked up. Oh, the beaches are beautiful as is the climate. But the homophobia is horrible. So repressive! No way would I spend one more dollar patronizing that whole area until they catch up to the 19th century.
andre
we are missing the most important fact : do not blame the people of that “multicultural ” island , the one who we need to blame is the BAPTIST CHURCH , the one and only intolerant , disrespectful, BOYCOTT the Baptist church and we will see the results.
Have you seen the freaks praying and performing at the arrival of pride cruises.?
be well , be lgbtttqi marry, be multicultural,multi racial,multireligious, multi everything…VIVA crosspolination!
peace, pass it on.
a
Ray
“I know I write at a high level, but I don’t think I’m completely incomprehensible!”
Don’t flatter yourself, Alex.
You write like what you are…”a pimply faced undergrad”
“A mouthy twenty-something with ZERO credentials”
Ray
Alex:
You can hide behind your fake online persone but we both know you’re a complete fraud, don’t we?
So spare me the attitude…
Ray
I get so tired of the BULLKSHIT (like your’s Alex) from the gay community.
You’re all so full of shit (Like Alex BLAZE who is a COMPLETE FAKE…and you all buy it hook, line and sinker because he tells you what you want to hear) it’s a miracle you can walk.
Abdullah Aziz
Guys, people are not gay by choice! All this nonsense about what the bible says, how about this: “Beware of false prophets. They will come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly, they are ferocious wolves. By their fruits you shall judge them.” – Jesus Christ Sermon on the Mount
How to Get Six Pack Fast
The style of writing is very familiar . Have you written guest posts for other blogs?
Lauren
Should people believe that all white people are racist because of the actions of those who formed the KKK groups?
Should you really boycott an entire country because some would go as far as hurting and killing gays?
Dont let the actions of a few tarnish your views.
getreal
@Lauren: It is not a few the entire culture of Jamaica is permeated with homophobia. Why do people have to bring race into it. This is a small country where Americans spend a lot of dollars so a boycott could bring about serious change in a fairly short amount of time. Maybe when they are effected some of these so called innocent people will start standing up against the culture of homophobia.
Bill Perdue
@getreal: Getsevenwithgaymen says “Jamaica is not a christian nation.” That’s a typical jebuz jumper lie. Jamaicans who are antiGLBT, and that’s not everyone, are that way because they’re christers and for no other reason. They’re not born that way; they’re trained that way by priests and pastors. They’re prisoners of an ugly superstitious lifestyle used to justify slavery, misogyny, antiGLBT bigotry and colonialism. Virtually all christers are antiGLBT. Some say we’re child molesters and that we plot to spread HIV-AIDs. And some form criminal gangs to murder us. It’s just a matter of degree.
Bill Perdue
LGBT political movements, like our communities are ultimately international at their very root. The truth is that gay men in Mexico, lesbians in Egypt, bisexuals in New Zealand and transfolk in Ireland, irrespective of national and cultural differences have more in common with each other than they do with their fellow citizens. We need to support each other because for the most part no one else will.
But at this point I think that the boycott as presently organized is in trouble. J-Flag remains adamantly opposed to it as does the right right wing of the LGBT movement in the US.
I think the focus of discussion should be:
One: we should avoid at all costs any connection between ourselves and the US government, who in their relations with countries like Jamaica and Iraq, Iran and Nigeria are little better than pirates and mass murderers. That’s as true of Obama as it was of Clinton and Bush.
Second, boycotts against a particular product probably aren’t the best way to go about international boycotts, although we should continue to actively boycott reggae hate artists when ever they waddle up from the sewer. The question here is not about abuse by a particular company like Coors, but about state sponsored murder. By empowering anti-GLBT thugs and protecting them from prosecution the Jamaican government can legitimately be called a rogue government.
Third, if our international movement wants to go after a rogue government, instead of a beer manufacturer, we have to use the big guns, not a pea shooter. The big gun that brought the SA racists to the negotiating table was divestment. The kind of divestment campaign supported by Desmond Tutu against zionist apartheid has the additional advantage of taking the onus off our brothers and sisters and placing it on the backs of the bigots.
Fourth, the strategy of divestment requires the assistance of unions whose huge retirement funds can be used to help force companies to divest. Their voices will also cut across the Jamaican government’s rabid, christer inspired bigotry. That’s a win-win situation for us.
At this point I think the organizers should go back to the drawing boards, pull ILGA and IGLHCR into the discussions, as well as J-FLAG. If they get general agreement on a divestment campaign they can approach some nation(s) to raise the question in the UN or with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. That too will take the onus off our communities in Jamaica. There is nothing intrinsically wrong in going to these bodies even if we know with a certainty that it’ll be our efforts that will turn the tide.
getreal
Anyone with a brain who reads my post (which of course excludes Mr. Perdue) would see that I refuse to accept some Jamaicans claim that they persecute LGBT people because they are a “Christian nation”. A true Christian does not hate or persecute based on their religion they try to attain justice and right wrongs. Unfortunately there are fundamentalists who just use their beliefs as an excuse to hate (Mr. perdue is one). It is a funny he calls me getsevenwithgaymen. What in the world would I want to get even with them for? Mr. Perdunothing is just a sad lonely guy who trolls around this sight attacking people he feels it is okay to discriminate against instead of doing any real work in this movement. Is he canvassing, phonebanking,fundraising,? Does this man do anything but attack jewish people, christians, and women on Queerty that is his sole contribution to the equality movement. I guess people like me will do the work while posers like him beat their breasts. God bless him he must have no friends he actually notified posters he was going out of town. I get the impression this is his only form of personal contact. It is clear from his posts all black and white no sense of what is really going on. It’s sad.
getreal
But I will post on the subject which is what is important not the self-aggrandizement of certain posters who try to look important by posting 7 paragraph posts that never have anything to do with the story.
Jamaica is a country that is beholden to America in that losing our tourist dollars would do serious damage to their economy which could effect change for the LGBT people living there quickly. This is a country where not just homophobia but active persecution and violence against gay people is not only accepted but often encouraged by music, popular culture, and at times in the past clergy and politicians. I understand some people say “what about the innocent people”? Perhaps a boycott will encourage them to elect better leaders and not follow churches that preach hate. I don’t feel sorry for anyone who would live in a society with that kind of discrimination and not actively work to help change it. I don’t mean to sound harsh but in matters of institutionalized discrimination a citizen is either working to change things (part of the solution) or doing nothing (part of the problem). I have no pity for people who don’t stand up for those being discriminated against.
getreal
@Abdullah Aziz: That quote has absolutely nothing to do with homosexuality. Since you chose to bring up Jesus as a way to defend your homophobia remember Jesus never said Homosexuality was wrong. HE NEVER SAID IT. And homophobes like you can never explain that. Why don’t you beat it we have enough crazy hateful fundamentalists here already. Mr Perdunothing is our pet fundamentalist hatemonger and one pet is enough we don’t need two. But feel free to reapply in a few months.
Bill Perdue
@getreal: I back up my charges that you’re a bigot with links, with proof positive.
You’re answer is typical christer garbage from a jebuz jumper who thinks we’re pedophiles, that we plot to spread HIV/AIDS to innocent, unsuspecting women and that we’re broken. Dobson and the pope couldn’t agree more.
http://www.queerty.com/morning-goods-colter-johnson-20090203/ Go to comment 7 where she baits tallskin, accusing him of being a pedarest.
http://www.queerty.com/michael-lucas-takes-on-black-porn-stars-not-in-that-way-20090327/ Go down to comment 254. This is getsevenwithblackgaymen commenting on the plot of frican American gay men to spread HIV/AIDs. It’s pretty sick stuff. You can tell from her comments that she’s not very successful at converting or seducing gay men to her chosen christer sick lifestyle.
You have no links, no proof, just your hatred for gay men.
Try to post something has has a relation to the question at hand.
getreal
Notice how this bully attacks allies and other LGBT people for no reason other than they DARE to believe in God. Even if they use their belief for good. If Bill Perdue were straight he would be the type saying LGBT people deserved to be killed he has no sense of justice only hatred of people who are different than him. It’s sad. Another poster pointed out that Mr.Perdunothing attacks posters otherwise no one will talk to him I agree it is his only way to get attention from other posters.
@Bill Perdue: I love when you provide links they always make other posters see how crazy you are. Both links are perfectly normal. A threads where a group of people discuss that it is creepy to be attracted to underage kids and a thread where a group of black people discuss the problem of down low black men in the black community. I understand that you only see types not people if someone believes in God even if they are a gay rights activist they want to get even with gay men if they are straight they are against you. Because as you said you in past postings you r religious family rejected you when they found out you were gay a clergy person sexually abused you in some weird way and left you feeling that any God fearing person deserves your fear and distrust. This is your problem Mr.Perdunothing or your other name Charles Mueller. This thread is not your therapists office. If you can want to use it to champion pedophiles go to a pedophile website. It is interesting you live in a state with 3 different gay rights bills in contention and you do nothing but attack allies. You don’t even go after rabid homophobes like this because you don’t have the balls.You only want to attack people you on the same side.You do nothing for this movement why don’t you do the world a favor and disappear you obviously have nothing in your life that is meaningful so no one will miss you the posters on the site certainly won’t.
http://www.queerty.com/miss-california-will-enjoy-career-in-standing-up-for-what-you-believe-in-bigotry-20090421/
getreal
Redirecting the conversation back to the matter at hand boycott is not a dirty word let’s not forget Martin Luther King Jr and Baynard Rustin used them during the civil rights movement to good effect. I think we as Americans can make direct change in the lives of persecuted people by crippling Jamaica’s tourist industry. I just wish the people organizing the boycott would reach out beyond the gay community and reach out to justice minded people in general they would be more effective. As the work in California around Prop 8 shows we have people in virtually every community now championing the cause of equality. In California we have everyone from immigrants rights activists to mormons to baptist ministers to high school kids volunteering for this important work. There are a few divisive voices of negativity that naively think that this is a gay only problem but anyone doing any work in the movement knows they are huge coalitions of people from every race, religion, and sexual orientation working for change. Right wing wing nuts aside.
strumpetwindsock
@getreal:
Actually I agree with Bill WRT the boycott tactic (boycott tourism, but the booze boycott is ridiculous and unethical, IMO).
On the other hand I think we should lobby the federal government U.S., Canadian) to tie funding to human rights improvement, and boycott companies here which have influence there (Alcoa, for one).
I disagree with most of his analysis, though, so he shouldn’t be embarrassed that we think alike on this issue (after all disagreeing with him on whether to put pepper on your eggs is usually enough to get sent to the gallows, last time I checked).
I know boycotts can work. I just think much of the action against Jamaica is not a boycott at all; it is just vengance which is hurting those who have already complied (Red Stripe) and not touching the decision-makers at all.
getreal
@strumpetwindsock: Well I always appreciate your perspective. I did post we should withhold our tourist dollars completely. I should have been more clear I was supporting a boycott of any and all tourist dollars to that country. I also think it is a great idea to tie funding to human rights improvements although I think Canada might already be doing that. I know they have begun banning reggae artists with homophobic lyrics( and by homophobic I mean murderously so)from performing in Canada which I think is a great precedent.