Feb 16, 2008Quickie Link: US MCC Appeals on Jamaican Government to Stop Violence
By vanrozenheim
(USA) - Two weeks after one of their church members became the latest victim in a mob attack in Jamaica, leaders of a South Florida church are calling for a public awareness campaign in the Caribbean nation to encourage a more Gay-friendly environment. The latest incident occurred on Jan. 29. According to local press reports and New York-based Human Rights Watch, a mob broke into a house in the central town of Mandeville and slashed the occupants inside, sending two to the hospital. One was severely injured and the other is missing and feared dead, the advocacy group reported. One of the victims was a member of the Jamaican chapter of the Metropolitan Community Churches, local church leaders said. The assault was the latest in a string of attacks in a country where popular reggae lyrics openly encourage the killing of Gays, and citizens show little tolerance for Gays, despite repeated foreign condemnation.
