A significant change of heart from the editorial pages of the Jamaica Gleaner, once known for publishing ridiculously homophobic stories such as "High School Girls Gone Gay." Apparently, the specter of last week's lynch mob of 2,000, anti-gay citizens was a bit much:



The editorial asks for legislators currently reviewing sodomy and rape statutes to do the right thing and end same-sex restrictions. "If adult and consenting males choose to engage in homosexual sex, that ought to be their business—no matter what the rest of us believe about their lifestyle or behaviour."

If the rule of law is held in respect and each individual is to be assured the equality of its protection, the police will charge those in the mob who attacked the three young men outside the Monarch Pharmacy in Kingston's Tropical Plaza last Wednesday.

At the same time, those legislators on the parliamentary committee examining current legislation dealing with sexual offences should end the fudge and come to the conclusion that the State has no role in the bedrooms of consenting adults - whether male or female or a combination thereof.

Besides the well-known glorification of these attacks on lesbian and gay Jamaicans by Buju Banton and other dancehall artists, a blog inciting the murder of gay people - killbattyman - is being hosted by Google's blog service, Blogspot.

The photo above is one in a series of photos of this incident on this blog, posted under the charming heading of "Bring out the Gay!!!". They also published a video of a Jamaican TV news report about the incident. At one point, a viewer in the background can be heard cackling with laughter as the violence unfolds on the screen.

This is not a free speech issue. Incitement to murder shuts down the very exchange of ideas that free speech seeks to promote. It is illegal, and it doesn't come much clearer than the name of the blog: "Kill Batty Man (gays)".

In the light of ongoing violent attacks against Jamaica's gay community - why is Google allowing its services to be used to incite murder by hosting this hate-site?

Please consider writing to the Corportate Communications office in the UK requesting that they take killbattyman.blogspot.com offline:

Laura Ainsworth, Corporate Communications

Ph: +44 (0) 20 7031 3049 e-mail: lainsworth@google.com

Detective Chief Inspector Simon Taylor, who works for [the Association of Chiek Police Officers] crime committee, told PinkNews.co.uk that they have informed the Internet Watch Foundation about the site.

"ACPO condemn this completely. This is not the sort of thing we want anyone reading on the internet," said DCI Taylor.

[...]

It is unclear whether an offence under British law has been committed by the blog's authors or others in the UK, or other jurisdictions, who have distributed the homophobic material.

The homophbic blog, which has been on Google's blogger.com service since March 2006, features numerous slurs against gay people, including gay activist Peter Tatchell.

ACPO have pledged to look into the matter and said that the Internet Watch Foundation's role is to deal with offensive or illegal websites and attempt to have them shut down.

The issue of jurisdiction would make prosecutions difficult. The site is hosted by a US company, blogger.com, which is owned by Google.

A spokeswoman for Google told PinkNews.co.uk:

"We take this very seriously. I cannot comment on individual blogs but this one has been brought to our attention. The blogger team are investigating and if it is found to violate our terms and conditions or is illegal we will take appropriate action."

Google has confirmed that they removed a homophobic blog from their blogger.com service because it was in breach of their terms and conditions. The company defended their decision last week not to remove the offending webpage.

[...]

Peter Tatchell, who was one of the people vilified on the site, welcomed

the decision. "Thanks to PinkNews.co.uk and everyone else who lobbied Google to remove this murderous website," he said. "It is good that Google has heard our concerns but bad that it took them so long to respond. If this website had been advocating the killing of black or Jewish people, I am certain that Google would have taken a much tougher stand and removed it much sooner. This is not a free speech issue. Free speech does not include the right to incite the killing of other human beings. "

Ms Whetstone defended Google's decision. "We respect the fact that people may disagree with this, but as a company we believe that freedom of expression and freedom of speech are very important. There are many things on the Web which certain groups find upsetting or distasteful. It is up to governments to decide at the end of the day where freedom of speech begins and ends."

[...]

On Friday Google decided to put up a page warning people that the content on killbattyman blog might be offensive. The warning page disappeared over the weekend, but was restored this morning. Ms Whetstone said the company is reviewing why the page went down.

There are many things on the Web which certain groups find upsetting or distasteful. It is up to governments to decide at the end of the day where freedom of speech begins and ends.

Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043

phone: (650) 253-0000, fax: (650) 253-0001

send email to our press team.

I think, even in the Homophobic States of America an open call for the murder of gay people would be seen as illegal.

The congregation established the Jamaican church in December in response to a 2004 Human Rights Watch report that alleged police and citizens were persecuting gays, sex workers and people with HIV/AIDS, according to the church pastor, the Rev. Grant Lynn Ford.

Church leaders have traveled to the island to support gay men and lesbians and challenge homophobic attitudes among government and religious officials, he said. "The government says it's not happening. They attribute the death of every gay man and lesbian woman to domestic violence or a trick gone bad," he said. "But it's not that. It's a homophobic mob mentality."

Sunshine Cathedral is an affiliate of Metropolitan Community Churches, a Sarasota-based denomination that provides spiritual support for gays and lesbians worldwide.

Ford said the Jamaica initiative is part of a 10-year plan to establish churches in diverse communities throughout South Florida and the Caribbean. He said the gay and lesbian community in Trinidad and Tobago already expressed interest in starting a congregation.

[...]

The Jamaican church is divided into four groups, one each in Mandeville, Kingston, Ocho Rios and Montego Bay, church leaders said. Worshipers rotate locations for fear of attack. They meet once a month for a national gathering and three times a month for local services. The cathedral provides bus transportation, worship leaders and other resources.

Montego Bay, St James - The police in Montego Bay say they are investigating the mob attack on three alleged homosexuals during the MoBay Nite Out carnival event early yesterday morning, which left one of them hospitalised.

"We are speaking with them to see if they can identify the people who attacked them, with a view to making arrests," said St James commanding officer Steve McGregor.

The Observer was told that the men, who were part of a group of costumed revellers in the carnival procession along the popular Gloucester Avenue "Hip Strip", drew the ire of the mass gathering when they took to the stage shortly after midnight and proceeded to gyrate on each other.

The Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All Sexuals and Gays (JFLAG) is expressing outrage about this latest demonstration of anti-gay violence, which reportedly occurred on Sunday at the funeral of businessman Kirk Wayne Lester.

JFLAG has called for speedy police investigations into the attack, during which an angry mob reportedly armed with machetes, knives, bottles and stones attacked persons attending the service who they claimed were gay.

The Bureau Of Special Investigations of the Jamaican Constabulary Force says it's investigating the Feb 14 attack on human-rights activist Gareth Williams.

Williams, 29, filed a complaint, but says he doesn't have a lot of faith in the police. He and three other men were trapped inside Monarch Pharmacy at Tropical Plaza in Kingston, Jamaica as an angry mob hurled homophobic insults at them. Williams says police then assaulted him physically and verbally. This isn't the first time he's had problems with the police.

"I wouldn't even think of calling them if I was in danger," says Williams, an activist for 10 years who was the international recipient of the 2006 Awards For Action On HIV/AIDS And Human Rights.

The event was held in response to recent media reports of violence against homosexuals, especially gay men and concluded that although homosexuality is wrong and is illegal under the law, the intentional harming of another human being is illegal as well.

[..]

Is it any less to storm gays or to protect the murderers in the communities. Jamaican thinking has indeed become warped. One doesn't agree with homosexuals and/or their behaviour, but the behaviour of the people who condone the beatings and killings of these individuals is 'sailing in the same boat.'

We have often made the point in these columns that the test of a liberal democracy rests as much with how it protects the rights of its minority as its acceptance of the rule of the majority. For no right is sacred if it does not guarantee the rights of those with whom we disagree or do not like.

That, essentially, was our argument last week when we took issue with the Public Defender Earl Witter when he advised gays to "hold your corners" lest they provoke violence against themselves in homophobic Jamaica. Of course, Mr. Witter was well intentioned, his idea being that given the objective circumstances of Jamaica, people should not put themselves in harm's way.

We believe that Mr. Witter's position is not only wrong but plays into the hands of those who would deprive people of their rights or their freedoms. Today, it may be persons perceived to be homosexuals; you never know who will be next.

We are more convinced of the position in the face of the latest public attack on a presumed gay man in Falmouth, Trelawny, on Friday. This man was beaten by a large crowd, having been accused of dressing like a woman. He was rescued by the police.

It was a repeat of the scenario at a Kingston mall a few months ago when three allegedly gay men were stoned by a mob even as they were being rescued from a pharmacy by the police.Then, like on Friday, the law failed to follow its due course.

The provocation to violence in each of these cases was individuals exercising their right to freedom of expression, guaranteed in section 22 of the Jamaican constitution, in the manner of their dress. It was, however, not only their right to free expression that was under threat, but that ultimate right: the right to life. No one was arrested or charged.

There may be societal snickering at the attacks on homosexuals, for which there is a moral equivalency with the vigilante justice meted out to presumed thieves who are hacked to death. But there is grave danger in such acts of impunity: Are these moral arbiters and modern day inquisitors ever wrong?

What if they are?

Civilised Jamaica, we expect, will just shrug it off. Until the next victim is beaten and hacked in the name of the civilised and the moral.

The situation in Jamaica these days is appalling. Hardly a month goes by without some gruesome report of yet another vicious mob attack on gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people in that country. And yet the Jamaican government spends millions of dollars to advertise for Americans to visit the island that is quickly becoming known more for its intolerance than for its beautiful sandy beaches. It's time for Americans of conscience to speak up to support the LGBT community in Jamaica, and it's time for the American government to use more influence to promote human rights in that country.

...

Jamaica depends on tourism to support its economy, and many of those tourists come from the United States. I've been to Jamaica before, but unless I'm there to help bring about change, I refuse to go back under the current conditions. I encourage other people of conscience to consider what they can do to make a difference for their part. One option might be to lead a boycott of the country, but I am not yet sure if that would change the government's posture or simply punish the people who are already poor. I'm still thinking about that one.

Some will say that I'm simply attempting to impose liberal modern American values on Jamaican culture, That's not the case. Human rights belong to all people, not just to Americans or Westerners. People in every country deserve the right to be protected from mob violence and hate crimes, and all governments bear a responsibility not only to prosecute those who commit such crimes but to set the conditions in place to encourage tolerance and prevent those crimes.

John Hardy, a minister of the New Testament Church of God in Kingston, writes in the Jamaica Observer about a ridiculous theory explaining why the country is so homophobic — repeated rape by the Brit slaveowners of male slaves on the island has ingrained them to hate gays.



OK. How, then does he explain negative attitudes toward lesbianism? Better yet, what about women’s attitudes towards men, white, black, brown or otherwise — for being repeatedly raped and sodomized against their will? Shouldn’t they all turn lesbian if it’s all about the scar of sexual humiliation? My god, the ignorance. He offers this observation and prediction for us:



There is no excuse for the homophobia in Jamaica. Not the levels of continued violence against innocent people minding their own business. It’s not as though there are maurauding bands of gays and lesbians forcing themselves on the citizens of the island nation.

Below is an example of the mob violence against gays in Jamaica:

Sept. 8, 2007 - While governments in a number of Latin American countries and elsewhere begin to recognize the legal rights of same-sex partners, Jamaica is bolstering its image as one of the most virulently anti-gay societies in the Western Hemisphere. Between February and July of this year, 98 gay men and lesbians were targeted in 43 different mob attacks, according to the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays. Four lesbians were raped, four gay men were murdered, and the houses of two gay men were burned down. On Valentine’s Day the police took two hours to reach a Kingston pharmacy where a crowd shouting anti-gay epithets had cornered three men; then the constables allegedly attacked an activist who had tried to help the men, striking him in the abdomen with a rifle butt and slapping him repeatedly in the face.

Those grim tales don’t square with popular notions of Jamaica as a laid-back Caribbean paradise whose unofficial national motto reads “No problem, mon.” Human-rights activists fault gay-baiting recording artists, fundamentalist Christian church groups and mainstream political leaders who dare not antagonize some of the island’s more prominent men of the cloth, like W. A. Blair, the head of Jamaica’s New Testament Church of God, who has called for the public flogging of so-called Sodomites. Jamaica also has the world’s third-highest per capita murder rate, behind South Africa and Colombia, and the blend of widespread violence and anti-homosexual prejudice creates a ripe climate for hate crimes targeting gays and lesbians. “We’ve become increasingly violent as a society generally and increasingly tolerant of violence as a solution to our problems,” says Carolyn Gomes, executive director of the human-rights organization Jamaicans for Justice. “It is quite a toxic brew.”

[...]

Spokesmen for the country’s ministers of justice and national security declined repeated requests from NEWS WEEK for interviews. The one official who did agree to talk was public defender Earl Witter, a London-trained barrister who in an interview stated that the three men who were trapped in the Kingston pharmacy in February had been seen “displaying their feminine disposition” and urged homosexuals “not to go out of their way to display their sexual orientation.” In fact, almost no Jamaican is prepared to proclaim his or her homosexuality in public, and the menacing conditions on the island have been recognized by officials in the United States and Britain, who have granted asylum to some gay and lesbian applicants.

The political climate isn’t likely to change as long as evangelical Christian churches, whose congregations already outnumber those of the mainstream Anglican and Roman Catholic churches, continue to grow in size. “They claim to see sex as solely for procreation, and they are bullying the politicians into toeing the line,” says University of the West Indies senior lecturer Horace Levy. “There would be bloodshed if there was going to be a gay-rights march in this country.”

Gay rights may be spreading in many countries, but not in Jamaica. Violence against gay men is high, and police often look the other way, say activists. When Brian Williamson, Jamaica’s leading gay rights activist, was murdered in June 2004, a crowd gathered outside the crime scene to celebrate. NEWSWEEK’s Patrick Falby spoke with Devon, a 30-year-old homosexual who was granted asylum in the United States three years ago, about growing up gay in Jamaica. Devon, who lives in New York and attends a Seventh-day Adventist church, didn’t want his last name used for fear of being thrown out of the congregation.

Devon, who lives in New York and attends a Seventh-day Adventist church, didn’t want his last name used for fear of being thrown out of the congregation.