Petter St. Jean, education minister for Dominica, has declared war on the Caribbean nationâs apparent gay menace: In a statement, St. Jean announced that heâs enlisted the aid of the former headmaster of the Dominica Grammar School, Simeon Joseph, to spearhead the Child-Friendly Schools Programme, a school-system-wide taskforce to crack down on homosexuality and âother deviant behaviours.â
âI have instructed that additional people be brought in so that we have a team that can really go out there and face that problem head on. We must save the young people of Dominica,â St. Jean said.
Gosh, how inspiringâitâs just like hearing Churchill speechify.
Dominica, which is part of a string of islands in the Lesser Antilles between Martinique and Gaudeloupe, punishes acts of buggery with ten years in prison and psychiatric treatment. This past spring, two American men were arrested for having sex on the balcony of their cruise ship, which was docked in Dominica.
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Omar Kuddos, an advocate for gay rights in the Caribbean, expressed alarm about the proposed campaign: âI am worried about the effects such a policy would have on anti-gay hate and bullying in the Islandâs schools and the consequent effect on LGBT pupilsâ self-esteem and well-being.â
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Dumdum
Holy crap!!! It is like we are living in The Dark Ages.No pun intended.When are these people going to step into the 21st century.It is a bloody witch hunt with human rights violations across the board.Don’t these people know that Jesus was Gay and a Jew.He dressed in flowing robes wore comfortable shoes and hung out with twelve guys in the desert. And you know there isn’t a lot to do out there in the desert.Anyone who has been on a road trip knows that.So lets recap.JESUS WAS A GAY JEW…GOD IS A BLACK JEWISH LESBIAN… OH YES MUHAMMAD WAS A PEDERAST…Oh how I long for the days of Pagan Polytheism and human sacrifice.The Northern Celts Traditionally took male lovers until the Christians came along. It is the Romans fault,they dropped the ball when they failed to feed ALL of the Christians to those damned lions.
niles
One good tidal wave should do the trick.
Dumdum
@niles: One can only hope.Too bad global warming is so darn slow.I blame our stupid greedy ancestors wanting cheap labor to grow sugar cane.
Jonathonz
Dominica has been on my shortlist of places to visit. It sounds really beautiful and isolated but I’m going to have to take a rain check until they can get with the program as far as LGBT rights are concerned. Sad.
Eric Auerbach
@Dumdum: Nutjob.
@niles: a$$hole.
@Dumdum: Nutjob a$$hole.
GreenmanTN
“Child-Friendly Schools Programme”? It sounds like they’ve learned to use Orwellian double-speak from the Republican party and the Religious Right (same thing).
Chances are their homophobic attitudes were financially supported and fostered by US evangelical churches, same as they were in Africa. Evangelicals are a scourge.
Dumdum
@Eric Auerbach: That’s right honey.A nut-job with a job.And a B.A. in Anthropology.I think you need to get laid.Maybe you and BJMcFrisky should hook up.I have the right to be as opinionated and as intolerant as anyone else.You can relate to that.I just have no patience for ignorant religious zealots who base their lives on an allegorical fairy tale.Stephen Hawking has produced definitive evidence that there is NO GOD. Do the math.
fly_guy
@niles: @Dumdum:
So, rather than sympathize with those gay kids or any other gay/tolerant people who unfortunately have to live on this island – and hope for the best, you wish that EVERYONE perish?!? Nice. I don’t hear you wishing disaster (tornadoes etc) on some of the very homophobic southern states (not that I think you should).
I’m from one of those islands & fortunate to have ‘escaped’ these experiences – especially after the taunts and bullying I faced as a kid. The tide is slowly changing and there are a few fearless souls now fighting courageously on their behalf. It’s easy for one to forget what the situation was like for LGBT people in the U.S just a few years ago. It’s wonderful that this country has progressed so much in just the past 4 years – but unfortunately countries like Dominica have very different cultures, laws and thinking (and the hypocritical church does not help!!)and so it will inevitably take a bit longer. I think a bit of positive support for our fellow communities in those countries is needed rather than wishing bad for every1 – you’d be surprised how many gay islanders read Queerty (I know a few). đ
kayakriver
some countries get into the 21st century, while others remain in the dark ages. that’s how it is.
Guillermo3
Reminds me of Reagan’s grand victory in the invasion of Grenada
[allegedly to save American college students there]:Perhaps our next
President can find some gay college kids in Dominica to save,though
said Prez is Republican,she/he will catch flack from the FRC.
MartinDK
@Dumdum: You sound really ignorant which is sad considering how you brag about your meager academic degree (lol).
Have you any real idea of what the prechristian world was like. Those pagan cultic sex rites would be performed with slaves, not consenting adults…
Im no christian, not orthodox anyway, but christianity changed the world into a place without slavery and with a moral more in tune with human nature than the roman period under Nero, Caligula and Tiberius.
Besides as a student of anthropology you ought to know that God sits in the soul not beyond the stars…
Dumdum
@fly_guy: You know I do sympathize to a point.But I am a 52 year old Gay man who was not just bullied.I was beaten.And from the age of six to 11 was sent to a shrink because I was perceived to be(not normal)by my parents as I was rather fay and did not want to hunt or even go near the beautiful pheasant my father killed,he insisted that I remove their heads and pluck the feathers.I did not like fishing nor was I drawn to any other manly pursuits.Although later on I found that I liked to pursue men.By the age of 15 I had learned to outrun the bullies but I could not out run my bio parental units.I firmly stated that I was a homosexual so my gun toting god fearing salt of the earth folks firmly kicked my skinny white ass to the curb.That was in 1975 I was only about 4 1/2 hours away from San Francisco so I hitched a ride to Oz.As a naive 15 year old virgin on the streets of The City I could paint a very graphic and colorful picture of just how this tender young morsel was welcomed by the drooling slobbering old trolls.But you get the idea.I never spoke to nor saw my B.P.U.s ever again. I think they are dead.One can only hope.Perhaps I AM a bit jaded but I survived got my GED went to college in S.F.and made a life for myself.I am fairly well traveled and have spent no small amount of time with native indigenous peoples though not even a handful remain.I have witnessed first hand the devastation wrought by well meaning missionaries and greedy corporations.I spent nearly a year with the Peace Corp in Africa in 1983-84 so I am no stranger to hardship and suffering.I apologize for any off the cuff remarks that may have offended you.I was being glib and insensitive,my only experience with the Caribbean has been that of a tourist and since there are literally thousands of these islands with a wide variety of Geo-Political affiliations,I could not possibly understand the complexity involved.My Bad.
Brian
Yet another backward black hole in the Caribbean. Why oh why are gays visiting these holes? If you are going there on your holidays, you are supporting our oppressors. Shame on you.
The whole of the Caribbean is a backward sewer.
MartinDK
@Dumdum: I regret my choice of words too, seeing that you had to struggle for your own education.
I wish people would be more openminded to spiritual things. There is much intolerance and oppression and it needs to be denounced, but taking a shit on all who value spiritual things is just hating as well.
Allegories, symbols and metaphors express aspects of life which are irrational, they give answers to questions that cannot be resolved with nature science or logic.
Today we cannot imagine living in a city where 2/3 of the population could be tortured or killed at their owners whim for breaking a glass. Do not wish for those things. Christian morality keeps these things away, but it is failing as the surging interest in films and tv-series like Spartacus Blood and Sand and The Hunger Games shows.
Dumdum
@MartinDK: Color me schooled.Looks like my weak attempt at humor failed as did my attempt to illustrate the ridiculousness of fanaticism.However I am proud of my meager degree,since I had to work two jobs to pay rent and put myself through 4 years of a somewhat notable college.U.S.F.With field studies for a year afterwards.And it is really a B.S.but I don’t like that cause it always reminded me of Bull S#%t.I am three months away from my masters and it has taken me years of hard work and lots of money and night classes to get this far.From the 16th to the 19th century over 12 million SLAVES were brought to the Americas from Africa by Christians.1860 U.S.Christians owned over 4 million slaves.I don’t know from god or soul.However I do understand sentience.I also understand superstition and ignorance.So I may be ignert an my skoolin aint all fancy so it dont qualifikate me to say nuthin bout nuthin cus a grl gotta eat n pay rent n all.Eatin bugs with Aboriginal Australians in the Out Back don’t make me no thorety.But did you know that those people have an unbroken oral tradition that has changed very little in over 10.000 years.And some bugs can be real tasty!!!
Don_Keno
I am sadden at the turn of events in my island home Dominica. Reasons as such I will never return. The abolishment of slavery did nothing to liberate the minds of the people. I truly believe the UN and other worldly powers need to place pressure on countries like my home country to stop them in their tracks. Nothing good will come of this.
the other Greg
@Brian: For one thing, the Dutch (autonomous) islands are just fine.
Whenever there’s a Caribbean article, there’s always an undercurrent of rac ism that’s not even much of an undercurrent. More like a “tidal wave” (comment #2). Because they’re mostly black islands the attitude in Queerty comments is always, fuck, kill them all. Where an article about Russia wouldn’t provoke the reaction of, let’s nuke them.
To American jingos who don’t have a passport – 37% of the population I hear – there’s always the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico where I’m sure you can hold hands with your boyfriend all you want. đ Or try Alaska in February, that should be nice, and there are hardly any pesky black people there.
This is not to support indiscriminate tourism to every Caribbean island but if you get to know a gay person who’s from one of these places, the picture becomes more 3-D.
Eric Auerbach
@the other Greg: Thanks for being the voice of reason. I <3 U
the other Greg
@Don_Keno: Very sad to hear that! I think you have the right approach.
gppm1103
@Brian:
I have been to every continent in the world including Antarctica. You are absolutely right…The entire Carribean is a worthless backwater. You can add Jamaica and Bermuda as two of the worst.
I’ve been there.
the other Greg
@gppm1103: Well at least you don’t call it a “black hole” (!) like Brian did.
And Bermuda is nowhere near the Caribbean.
I hope the natives of Antarctica treated you well, but I guess they’re black and white at the same time (squawk squawk).
gppm1103
@the other Greg:
I actually wasn’t talking about color. But I am guessing that you are either black or just a bitchy queen.
It is still a bigoted backwater and Bermuda may not be in the caribbean but the mentality is still the same.
Go have a drink.
Ogre Magi
@MartinDK: There was a lot more to homosexuality in the pre-Christian and non-Western world that sex rites with slaves
Ogre Magi
@Dumdum: Wow, you have lead a very rich and interesting life.I wish I had the courage to runaway to San Frincisco as a teen.
Dumdum
@Ogre Magi: It was pretty awesome once I got over feeling like a piece of meat. đ
Ogre Magi
@Dumdum: I was always to fearful to do something like that.Now I am stuck in a sh-t hole bible belt town.
ShaunNJ
I’m with The Other Greg and fly_guy. There are plenty of places in the Caribbean which are welcoming to gays (Curacao, USVI and Puerto Rico to some extent, Aruba, St. Barts, St. Martin (French), Martinique, Guadeloupe). One should never paint all people in a nation with one brush. In the U.S., we have plenty of homophobic places. Replace the word Dominica with Tennessee and you’d have a largely factual article. And many are working to create change in that state. I won’t say things used to be this way in the U.S. – we still have gay rights battles here. Don’t denigrate the entire Caribbean region (which I also read as racism) when we have the same issues in Alabama, Indiana, Florida, California, Idaho, Texas, Arkansas and even in places like Staten Island and Queens in NYC. New Jersey Gov Chris Christie wants gay marriage put up for referendum. Dominica will grow more progressive; even South Africa has gay marriage now and is ahead of the US in this respect.