Michael Gunning is on a mission.
The British-Jamaican swimmer grew up hearing “black people don’t swim” from classmates. Those classmates would probably eat their words today if they saw Gunning’s litany of championship titles…or his qualification for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (which, like everything else, were postponed due to COVID-19).
Gunning let the ridicule motivate him. “For me, it was just a motivation to prove them wrong and get selected for Team GB and be away for weeks from school and then come back and show them my medals,” he tells Reuters.
Gunning grew up in the UK, taking his first national swimming title at age 13. By age 16, he qualified for the European Open Water Championships.
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Three years ago, having survived the bombing of the Manchester Arena during an Ariana Grande concert, Gunning decided to emigrate to Jamaica. That move also presented its own problems. Gunning is a gay man, and Jamacia has a long history of homophobia. In 2006, Time actually named the country “the most homophobic place on earth.” Even today, gay sex remains illegal, queer people have no anti-discrimination protections under the law, are forbidden from adopting, and roughly a third of all men who have sex with men will contract HIV. 2017 also saw the murder of LGBTQ rights activist Dexter Pottinger who was brutally murdered in his own home. His killer received only a 12-year sentence for manslaughter.
Still, for Gunning, his prominence offers an opportunity to show his fellow Jamaicans that queer people can be happy, healthy and successful.
“The world is turning slowly and I think it is changing and I’m sure in time, Jamaica will accept LGBT people and legislation will change, but it’s a slow process and I think the more role models we have, the better,” he says.
Gunning qualified to represent Jamacia in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which are postponed until 2021. For Gunning, the coronavirus delay is just another reason to keep working it in the water.
“We’ve worked so hard for it for so long and, yes, we’ve had a little dip in the road, and it’s been pushed back a year but I’m so excited,” Gunning admits. “I’ve just got to keep getting my head down for Tokyo 2021.”
Ricanthony
Never catch me in Jamaica. No thanks.
jonasalden
Me neither!
Heywood Jablowme
Let me guess, they’re still blaming those mean old “British colonial laws” even though they’ve been independent since 1962?
Kangol2
Jamaica’s part of the British Commonwealth. Colonial laws and attitudes die hard. Try again.
Vince
Kangol2
I’m sure there’s a bunch of British Colony Laws they don’t follow either. Their biggest western import is Christianity and they’ll pick and choose from that as well. Just like their American Counterparts.
Kangol2
@Vince, I hear you. But let’s not forget, the US was a British colony–13 original British colonies–that formally broke away from the UK in 1776, and became a fully independent nation in 1789, I believe.
It took the US until 2003, by a SCOTUS decision and not federal legislation, to finally end all sodomy laws, which were a legacy of Britain.
That is roughly 214 years. So while I agree that Jamaica should drop all of its homophobic laws, it took the US considerably longer to shed the same homophobic residue.
Mister P
I wish him good luck.
Gadfeal
Not quite. The London-based Privy Council has acted as the Supreme Court of Appeal by default for many Commonwealth nations that have Anglo-Saxon legal systems. However, the UK is now very liberal and progressive in social attitudes and the conservative small islanders are so reluctant to abide by the present day Privy Council’s “openness” that there is a movement to replace them by a “Caribbean Supreme Council”. For gays, that would be a step backwards and the cost of a Supreme Court for a population of under 10 million spread out across the Caribbean – where inter-island transport is expensive, is a waste of scarce resources.
Colonial era UK is gone, much as Colonial Spain is gone; yet, their former colonies, run by local-born, cling to obsolete moral attitudes and keep centuries’ old morality laws on the books.
9Malam
I’ve never understood how Jamaica is “the most homophobic place on earth”. Its a race to the bottom for sure but how is it any worse than Russia, Iraq, Iran, Malaysia, Uganda, etc?
jjose712
Believe it or not Russia is far from being the worst country for gays (even in this case thing are getting worse for sure)
Vince
There used to be a bunch of videos of villagers clubbing and sometimes killing those that they suspected of being gay.
cory
I’m from Jamaica, n I’m living in the US under asylum because of being gay. What is true is that in most cases you are not pursued for being gay, like in some countries (and I should probably say to a great deal—depends where you live), but you most certainly cannot parade or let your sexuality be known, otherwise, you will be beaten or killed, and the reason this may not be well known is because it’s not well documented: the media sometimes don’t cover some of these stories as targeted sexuality hate crimes bcs of, for one, having fear of being connected to the community
9Malam
Hopefully you’ll get to stay. I’m sure its difficult having to ‘escape’ from your home country. But you’re very fortunate that you have. I hope you have a great life 😉
Kangol2
I hope that you’re able to build a new life here and pursue your fullest potential. I also support your brothers and sisters in Jamaica, and JFLAG, which advocates on behalf of LGBTQ people there.
Kangol2
I wish this swimmer the best, in his competitions and in Jamaica, and if he positively influences attitudes there, so much the better.
Tiny word note, Queerty: You immigrate to a country, and emigrate from a country.
In+migrare = migrate into, to ; ex+migrare = migrate from, leave
Inspector 57
I was walking alone on a beach in Jamaica one day and — I swear, out of the blue — there was a Jamaican guy walking next to me.
“Hey, how you doin’? You’re alone. I get you a girl.”
“Uhh… no. But thank you.”
“No, you don’t understand. I will get you the prettiest girl!”
“Thank you, but I’m gay.”
“OH! Well then *I* will be with you!”
Like Islam, Catholicism, Kentucky-ism, whatever religion or culture, self-interest somehow finds a way to circumvent “deeply held beliefs.”
May Jamaican culture and politics evolve.
Cam
People like this man are one of the ways attitudes can change. He wins a medal or gets accolades, suddenly you have people in Jamaica admiring someone who is gay. It’s a step forward, and he’s a brave guy. I hope they don’t arrest him or attack him before the Olympics. Jamaica is not a safe place for LGBTQ people.
skyboy63
F**k Jamaica.