Don't trivialise gay killings
Published:Wednesday | February 2, 2011 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
Andre Wright's article in yesterday's Gleaner, titled 'Tolerance doesn't mean agreement', attempted to bring some balance to the ongoing debate about Jamaica's continued criminalisation of buggery. Sadly, in doing so he trivialised the number of Jamaicans who have been murdered because they were, or were perceived to be, gay.
He calls these senseless killings mere J-FLAG sensationalism, yet please note that in 2009, the UWI publication 'Caribbean Review of Gender Studies' highlighted the nearly 30 murders of gays in Jamaica between 1997 and 2004. These include 17 male prisoners and warders killed in the 1997 prison riots when the commissioner of corrections proposed the introduction of condoms in prisons.
Further, on December 7, 2010, the Jamaica Observer reported the murder of a cross-dresser in Half-Way Tree, whose body was found with what appeared to be machete wounds. These deaths deserved more than the dismissive reference made by Mr Wright in his piece.
I am, etc.,
MAURICE TOMLINSON
Montego Bay, St James