Gays live — and die — in fear in Jamaica

Associated Press | Jul. 19, 2009 (News Report)

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Even now, about three years after a near-fatal gay bashing, Sherman gets jittery at dusk. On bad days, his blood quickens, his eyes dart, and he seeks refuge indoors.
A group of men kicked him and slashed him with knives for being a "batty boy" — a slang term for gay men — after he left a party before dawn in October 2006. They sliced his throat, torso, and back, hissed anti-gay epithets, and left him for dead on a Kingston corner. Full Story »

Posted by Samuel W. Velsor IV

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Subjects: World, Business, Living
Topics: Gay and Lesbian, Social Change
Member Tags: Jamaica
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Posted by: Posted by Samuel W. Velsor IV - Jul 19, 2009 - 3:59 PM PDT
Reviewed by: Samuel W. Velsor IV (review)
Content Type: Article
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Edited by: Samuel W. Velsor IV - Jul 19, 2009 - 3:59 PM PDT

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Samuel W. Velsor IV
4.5
 by Samuel W. Velsor IV - Jul. 19, 2009

DAVID MCFADDEN did an outstanding job of contacting many sources and showing how bad things are in Jamaica; even making reference to an issue of Jamaicans actions here in the United States.

A homophobic society at its worst, almost reminds one of Nazi Germany in the 1940's. When I visited (as a security person) Jamaica in the 1970's you could clearly see the effects, I was there with a large group of wholesale and retail travel industry persons; several of who were gay. For one the fear was to much and returned to the US early. There is no hope of any change, improvement any time in the future either.

Despite the easygoing image propagated by tourist boards, gays and their advocates agree that Jamaica is by far the most hostile island toward homosexuals in the already ... More »

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