This is the last article you can read this month
You can read more article this month
You can read more articles this month
Sorry your limit is up for this month
Reset on:
Please help support the Morning Star by subscribing here
ACTIVISTS have demanded that Jamaica repeal a colonial-era law criminalising gay sex, noting that the government has ignored a regional rights panel’s recommendation, two years ago, to do so.
The call on Tuesday comes as a growing number of islands in the Caribbean region strike down similar laws that often threatened life sentences and hard labour.
Jamaica has resisted such a repeal and is considered by activists to be the Caribbean nation most hostile toward gay people.
Devon Matthews with Rainbow Railroad, a Canadian group that helps members of the LGBT community escape violence, said: “The situation has gotten significantly worse in the last number of years.”
Rainbow Railroad released a report Tuesday along with British-based group Human Dignity Trust, which found the LGBT community in Jamaica faces “horrific violence, discrimination and persecution and lack(s) the most basic protections under the law.”
Rainbow Railroad has seen an increase in calls for help from gay people in Jamaica since 2019, with 411 violent incidents reported last year compared with 377 in 2021, Mr Matthews said.
Jamaica’s government says it doesn’t enforce its 1864 laws, but activists say having them remain on the books encourages homophobia and violent acts against the gay community.
