JAMAICA: Obama Champions LGBT Rights At Town Hall With Youth Leaders

The Human Rights Campaign applauds in a press release posted last night:

Earlier today, President Obama met with LGBT advocates in Jamaica, a country that still criminalizes same-sex relationships. Following the meeting, US National Security Advisor Susan Rice tweeted, “Anti-LGBT discrimination and violence is unacceptable everywhere. This is US policy globally, as we discussed here in Jamaica today.”

President Obama was in Jamaica to meet with Caribbean government leaders. As part of the trip, the President participated in a town hall meeting with “young leaders.” During his opening remarks, he acknowledged Angeline Jackson, the executive director of Quality of Citizenship Jamaica, the only organization in Jamaica dedicated to the needs of lesbian and bisexual women, for her bravery and advocacy. Dane Lewis, the executive director of J-FLAG, a Jamaican LGBT organization, was also in attendance.

“We commend the President for including LGBT advocates in his meetings in Jamaica,” said Ty Cobb, director of HRC Global. “By including them in his visit to Jamaica, he honored their brave work and demonstrated our country’s commitment to standing up for the human rights of all people.”

NEW YORK CITY: Gay Activists Disrupt Speech By Jamaican Prime Minister

Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller was delivering the keynote speech at the Sixth Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference in New York City on Thursday when she was interrupted by LGBT activists. Via the Washington Blade:

The advocates challenged the Jamaican prime minister over what they perceive as her government’s insufficient response to rampant anti-LGBT violence on the island that continues to make headlines around the world. This includes the release of a video earlier this month that reportedly shows a gay teenager being stoned to death in a street. The Jamaica-Gleaner, a Jamaican newspaper, reported that Simpson-Miller challenged the protesters from the podium. “Nobody ever hears the government of Jamaica beating up gays; not one,” she said. “Let me tell you something; you want to disturb, you can disturb, but this woman came here with the blood of Nanny of the Maroons and the spirit of Marcus Mosiah Garvey, and this woman is not afraid of no man, nowhere, anywhere. And I will speak the truth everywhere.” Members of the advocacy group also confronted her outside the church. They chanted “Gay rights Portia. Protect Jamaica’s gays” as she entered the building.

Several months ago US-based hate group leaders including Mat Staver and Judith Reisman traveled to Jamaica where they spoke against the repeal of the country's anti-sodomy laws. Also recently appearing in Jamaica in support of anti-LGBT laws was Peter LaBarbera. Watch Simpson-Miller's furious reaction below.

REPORT: Mob Stones Gay Youth To Death In Jamaica, Video Posted To Social Media

Gay Star News reports:

An angry mob stoned a young, allegedly gay man to death in Jamaica and filmed themselves hurling rocks at his head. The video of the murder of the alleged gay youth, believed to be aged around 19 to 21, has gone viral on social media after being posted last week. It shows the young man dressed effeminately with long hair, appearing to be tied up in ropes or wire, laying in a pool of his own blood. A large stone is thrown at the boy's head, blood gushes out. It's not clear whether he is still alive or conscious as the rocks break his skull. You can hear homophobic slurs, clearly said with a Jamaican accent, yelling: 'Batty man yuh fi dead!' This means, 'Gay, you should die'. The identity of the murdered youth and many of the other details of the stoning are still unknown. Some have reported the victim was gay and had visited underground gay venues in Kingston.

Gay Star News has declined to post the video, but did publish a still, earning some criticism on Twitter.

JAMAICA: Mat Staver To Headline Event To Keep Homosexuality Criminalized

Miranda Blue writes at Right Wing Watch:

American Religious Right leaders Mat Staver and Judith Reisman are scheduled to be featured speakers at a conference in Jamaica this weekend hosted by a group that has been working to preserve the country’s criminal ban on consensual gay sex. The annual conference, hosted by the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society, will focus on how “[c]ontemporary society has become increasingly hostile to the traditional definitions of marriage and family” and Staver, the head of Liberty Counsel, will discuss “global legal trends impacting the institution of the family.”

JCHS’s conference has drawn prominent American anti-gay activists before. In 2012, two top lawyers for the Alliance Defending Freedom spoke at the conference, one of whom defended Jamaica’s anti-sodomy law, calling homosexuality “harmful not only spiritually and psychologically, but also physically.” Last year, Americans For Truth About Homosexuality’s Peter LaBarbera made an appearance at the conference, urging Jamaicans: “Do not be like us, do not be like Britain, do not sit idly by as so-called ‘LGBT activists’ manipulate words and laws to achieve dominance in your country.”

The Jamaica Observer is calling the conference "an international human rights rally." Their article begins:

Dr. Judith A Reisman, former consultant to the United States departments of justice, education, health and human services -- whose daughter's life story was made into the 2004 movie Kinsey — will be one of the two international presenters at the International Human Rights Day Conference on Saturday at the Jamaica Conference Centre. The other speaker will be Matthew Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel Action, an international non-profit litigation, education and policy organisation dedicated to advancing religious freedom, sanctity of life and the family. The conference, to be held under the theme 'International Law, Development and the Family: The Family as a Strategy for Development', is one of two events being planned to commemorate International Human Rights Day by the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society (JCHS) in collaboration with Jamaica CAUSE

It probably doesn't matter that Alfred Kinsey died 58 years ago, before Reisman's daughter was even born, and therefore Kinsey is definitely not her "life story." But hey, it's not like Reisman hasn't made a career out of deranged and debunked claims and lawsuits regarding the work of Alfred Kinsey.

JAMAICA: Newspaper Poll Shows 91% Want To Keep Homosexuality Illegal

Via the Jamaica Gleaner:

A Gleaner-commissioned Bill Johnson poll revealed that 91 per cent of Jamaicans are against repealing anti-sodomy laws. According to the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society, it is a wise position, similar to Jamaica's rejection of communism in the 1970s. Founding member of the coalition, Dr Wayne West, says the attempts by pro-gay supporters to have the buggery law repealed would be a victory for what he calls the sexual rights agenda. He says this agenda involves having countries get rid of anti-sodomy laws while chipping away at freedom of speech, and the right of parents to tell their children what is right and wrong. West is questioning what is meant by fair treatment in relation to another poll finding indicating that most Jamaicans believe gay men are not treated fairly by either the legal system or the police.

Earlier this year Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller vowed to allow the national legislature to stage a conscience vote on repealing the so-called Buggery Act.

HRC Puts Porno Pete On Notice

More US Hate Exported To Jamaica

J. Lester Feder reports at Buzzfeed:

Brian Camenker, founder of MassResistance, was the keynote speaker at an event organized by the Jamaican Coalition for a Healthy Society in the Jamaican capital’s Emancipation Park on Dec. 10. The organization has led a campaign to preserve the sodomy provision — known locally as the “buggery law” — following Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller’s suggestion just before her 2011 election that she might allow a vote on its repeal. “I am here to warn you that [repeal of the buggery law] will have terrible consequences,” Camenker said, according to a video of the event uploaded by MassResistance on Saturday. “A law that contradicts God’s law is the beginning of a slippery slope that you cannot imagine.” Camenker described a series of events that he said flowed from the decriminalization of sodomy in Massachusetts, including the “indoctrination” of children in schools and the suppression of religious people opposed to LGBT rights.

Camenker was there just three days after Porno Pete.

Gay Americans Get A Pass?

Two weeks ago Porno Pete traveled to Jamaica where he demanded that the government not repeal its "anti-buggery" law, which carries a sentence of ten years in prison for male homosexuality.  Today he finally responded to my question and apparently he only wants gay Jamaicans to be imprisoned. And, presumably, gays in other countries.  But not me, for some reason. Isn't that sweet?

Porno Pete Takes Hate To Jamaica

Unable to face the humiliation of homosexuals marrying in his Illinois hometown, this weekend Porno Pete took his message of hatred to Jamaica.

Peter LaBarbera, president of the Americans For Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH), in the United States of America (US), has encouraged Jamaicans to be grounded in their Christian beliefs and not to be lured by other countries in repealing the buggery law. "The United States has no business lecturing anybody about sexual morality. America has rampant abortions, rampant promiscuity, and I stand wholeheartedly with Jamaicans and encourage you all to hold to your beliefs, " LaBarbera told The Gleaner. LaBarbera made the comments Saturday following The Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society International Human Rights conference at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston. "We are all watching Jamaica to see what happens (buggery law), and I believe if Jamaica can stand up and not bow to the pressure, you can be an example to the world. There is no need to follow anybody," LaBarbera said.

Per Jamaican law, homosexual male acts (but not female acts) are punishable by ten years in prison. LGBT people there are regularly murdered, often by angry mobs incited by local evangelicals.

Another Road Show For Hate

NEW YORK CITY: Activists Confront Jamaican Prime Minister At United Nations

Via press release:

New York-based LGBT activist group Jamaica Anti-Homophobia Stand halted Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller’s exit from a United Nations session at the Ford Foundation in New York today. Shouting “Gay rights are human rights!” and “Portia, shame on you!” the group of seven protestors greeted the PM as she began to exit the Ford Foundation offices on East 43rd Street in Manhattan. Simpson-Miller stopped, waved at the protestors and blew kisses, then went back inside the building. Protestors paced the sidewalk outside the Ford Foundation for one hour with signs reading “Eight Gays Killed in 2012” and “Portia Protect Gay Citizens.” The group called for an end to Jamaica’s anti-gay laws, which tacitly condone attacks and murders of members of the LGBT community in Jamaica. Consensual sexual intercourse and interaction between homosexuals has been illegal since 1864. Gays are imprisoned for 10 years with hard labor under Jamaica’s Buggery Law and often brutalized and killed by anti-gay mobs if caught or suspected.

RELATED: Jamaica's Gleaner mocked today's protest, claiming the it had "fizzled" because of low attendance.

TODAY: Activists To Protest Jamaica At United Nations General Assembly

Via press release:

New York-based LGBT activist group Jamaica Anti-Homophobia Stand will protest Jamaica’s Prime Minister, Portia Simpson-Miller, on September 26th and 28th in New York as she makes appearances at the 68th UN General Assembly. Simpson Miller’s appearances come shortly after a spate of attacks and murders of gay men and transsexuals in Jamaica. Allies such as Queer Nation, ACT UP and the Lesbian and Gay Democratic Club of Queens will join in this opportunity to stage a protest Thursday, September 26th at the Ford Foundation (UN Session) in Manhattan at 11:00 a.m. sharp. On Saturday, September 28th, activists will stage another protest against Simpson-Miller at the United Nations Plaza, 1st Avenue and 45th Street, New York, NY. The protests call for an end to Jamaica’s anti-gay laws, which tacitly condone attacks and murders of members of the LGBT community in Jamaica. Consensual sexual intercourse and interaction between homosexuals has been illegal since 1864. Gays are imprisoned for 10 years with hard labor under Jamaica’s Buggery Law and often brutalized and killed by anti-gay mobs if caught or suspected.

The protest begins at 10AM at United Nations Plaza. I'll have photos/video later if available.

Anthony Weiner Dances On Float As DJ Plays Song Calling For Murdering Gays

Anthony Weiner was the only New York City mayoral candidate with his own float in this weekend's West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn. (Other candidates marched or made appearances.) Today comes the news that as he danced on the float, Weiner's DJ played a Jamaican dancehall record that calls for murdering gay people. Complex provides a verse from the artist Capleton's lyrics:

"Lick a shot inna a battyman head!
Lick a shot inna a lesbian head!
All sodomite dem fi dead,
All lesbian dem fi dead."

"Battyman" is a Jamaican slur for male homosexual. The use of such so-called "murder music" lyrics by popular dancehall musicians have caused many of them to lose concert gigs around the world.

There's no reason to believe Weiner could even understand the words to the song he was bouncing to and it's entirely possible that the DJ was deliberately mocking Weiner's pro-gay positions. (Although Weiner did have a somewhat of a flap over his reaction to anti-gay voter back in June.) But man, can anything else possibly go horribly wrong in his campaign? The above-linked site is awaiting a statement from Weiner's camp.

(Tipped by Andres Duque)

Jamaican Christian Group Runs "Reject Homosexual Lifestyle" Newspaper Ad

On Monday the Jamaican Coalition for a Healthy Society ran the above full-page ad in the Gleaner, a national newspaper. After ticking off several statistics about HIV, the ad changes to a microscopic font for this disclaimer: "JCHS rejects all acts of violence against all persons." (They also apparently reject making that statement prominent in their message.) Dr. Wayne West, the group's chairman, defended the ad in an interview with the paper, which was apparently only too happy to take his money.

"What we have found is that in countries where this political homosexual lobby is advancing, they seek to silence you. You are labelled as homophobic, you are mad, you are not worth listening to, your opinion is of no consequence. But these are fundamental sociological changes and we must have these discussions," he stated. "Fight evidence with evidence. If you have a problem with what we are saying, then bring the evidence, don't just dismiss us as mentally ill." He said the coalition chose to speak out at this time to add to the recent discussions surrounding International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, commemorated on May 17.

On the group's website you'll find the Kingston Declaration, their own version of the anti-gay Manhattan Declaration.  Some excerpts:

Modes of behavior inherently harmful to the self and to the whole community, premised on false anthropological principles or which use other human beings as means to an end, cannot serve as the basis for rights, even if a State makes a declaration to the contrary. By nature, men and women are sexually complementary and attraction to the opposite sex can be discerned as being in accordance with nature’s design. All human beings, by their nature, possess free will, and are capable of restraining themselves from acting in a sexual or eroticized manner.

Also on their website the JCHS declares their "commitment to being cultural watchmen and bearers of God’s truth and love." And then they lovingly cite Jamaica's law against buggery: "Section 76. Whosoever shall be convicted of the abominable crime of buggery, committed either with' mankind or with any animal, shall be liable to be imprisoned and kept to hard labour for a term not exceeding ten years."

Campaign Against Jamaican Homophobia

Andres Duque tips us to a great new video series from the Jamaica Forum For Lesbian, All-Sexuals, and Gays (J-FLAG). Hit the link for more clips.

Jamaica To Hold Anti-Gay March

Christian groups will hold an anti-gay march through the streets of Kingston, Jamaica this weekend. The march will conclude in a park named for Nelson Mandela.

Hundreds of teenagers and young adults are expected to take to the streets of the Corporate Area of the Jamaican capital, Kingston, with participants coming from various schools, churches and professions marching for ‘sexual purity’. It will start at Hope Gardens at 9.30am on Saturday (15 September) and culminate in a short concert at Mandela Park in Half Way Tree. The concert will consist of prayers, worship and performances by various Christian artists. This will be interspersed with personal testimonies centered on ‘deliverance from sexual sin’. The organizers, Creative Counter Culture and 3R Youth, have emphasized they ‘love homosexuals’ but have combined together ‘porn, fornication and homosexuality,’ and are opposing all three simultaneously.

Jamaica's recently elected prime minister has called for the repeal of anti-sodomy laws, but it's not clear if the march is specifically in reaction to that.

JAMAICA: Pro-Gay Candidate Portia Miller Simpson To Become Prime Minister

Phil Reese reports at Washington Blade:

Portia Simpson Miller’s People’s National Party won a landslide victory in Parliament over the ruling Labor Party in Jamaica yesterday, giving her a second run at her previous role as first female Prime Minister of that Caribbean nation. [snip] In a nationally televised December debate between Holness and Simpson Miller, the People’s National Party leader came out against the “buggery” law in Jamaica that criminalizes homosexual behavior — though she refused to vow to push for its repeal. “Our administration believes in protecting the human rights of all Jamaicans,” Simpson Miller responded. “No one should be discriminated against because of their sexual orientation. Government should provide the protection.

"Ex-Gays" In Caribbean Newspapers

Igor Volsky reports that the above full-page Exodus International ad appeared this week in newspapers in Trinidad and Jamaica. Embiggen for bullshittery.

Jamaican TV Rejects Pro-Gay PSA

Under pressure from Christian groups, Jamaica's leading television station is refusing to run this pro-gay PSA from the local activist group J-FLAG.

JAMAICA: Police Beat Patrons In Bar Raid

Last week Jamaican police raided a Montego Bay gay bar, severely attacking its patrons. Rex Wockner reports at Bay Windows:

Around 20 officers kicked in doors, shouted anti-gay slurs, beat and pistol-whipped patrons, and made everyone leave, J-FLAG said. As the customers fled, patrons of nearby straight clubs pelted them with bottles and rocks, J-FLAG said. Ten of the raid’s victims sought medical treatment for injuries sustained in the attack, according to J-FLAG. There was a similar raid in early February at a gay club in Kingston, the capital. Officials have provided no explanation for either incident.

Following the raid, local LGBT activist Maurice Tomlinson received an emailed death threat which he forwarded to police "in case anything happens to me."