Toto
January 10, 2005, 02:27 AM
Anti-Gay Climate Breeding Violence in Jamaica (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-homophobia9jan09,1,6103278.story)
The stigma attached to homosexuality and those living with HIV/AIDS prevails across much of the Caribbean, where Victorian-era anti-sodomy laws remain on the books in at least 11 countries, and politicians courting fundamentalist Christian constituencies are loath to contest them. But gay activists and human rights groups point to Jamaica as the most intolerant of the lot.
. . .
In Barbados, Atty. Gen. Mia Mottley set off a social uproar a year ago when she suggested that the country's anti-sodomy law was counterproductive to combating HIV/AIDS because those engaged in homosexual relationships feared prosecution.
At the Barbados campus of the University of the West Indies, law faculty dean Simeon McIntosh contends that former British colonies that have criminalized homosexuality lack any constitutional basis for those actions.
He predicted that the regionwide Caribbean Court of Justice, expected to open its chambers this year to serve as the high court for at least eight island countries, eventually would be called upon to decide whether the nations have the right to prohibit citizens from consensual sexual relations.
No constitutional challenge has been made yet, he said, because the religious people of the region have succeeded in keeping the debate on a theological level, deeming same-sex relations an "abomination." Penalties for offenses are typically severe, including life imprisonment.
"There is a conception of democracy at play in the Caribbean that the majority should decide certain questions," McIntosh said.
"People say there should be a referendum [on repealing sodomy laws] knowing full well that the people in favor of criminalization will always win. They don't understand that certain fundamental rights are not held at the sufferance of the majority."
The stigma attached to homosexuality and those living with HIV/AIDS prevails across much of the Caribbean, where Victorian-era anti-sodomy laws remain on the books in at least 11 countries, and politicians courting fundamentalist Christian constituencies are loath to contest them. But gay activists and human rights groups point to Jamaica as the most intolerant of the lot.
. . .
In Barbados, Atty. Gen. Mia Mottley set off a social uproar a year ago when she suggested that the country's anti-sodomy law was counterproductive to combating HIV/AIDS because those engaged in homosexual relationships feared prosecution.
At the Barbados campus of the University of the West Indies, law faculty dean Simeon McIntosh contends that former British colonies that have criminalized homosexuality lack any constitutional basis for those actions.
He predicted that the regionwide Caribbean Court of Justice, expected to open its chambers this year to serve as the high court for at least eight island countries, eventually would be called upon to decide whether the nations have the right to prohibit citizens from consensual sexual relations.
No constitutional challenge has been made yet, he said, because the religious people of the region have succeeded in keeping the debate on a theological level, deeming same-sex relations an "abomination." Penalties for offenses are typically severe, including life imprisonment.
"There is a conception of democracy at play in the Caribbean that the majority should decide certain questions," McIntosh said.
"People say there should be a referendum [on repealing sodomy laws] knowing full well that the people in favor of criminalization will always win. They don't understand that certain fundamental rights are not held at the sufferance of the majority."