'My life is in great, great jeopardy' in a country where violence against homosexuals is pervasive February 25, 2008 DANA FLAVELLE Staff Reporter A Jamaican police officer says he's living in fear after coming out as a gay man and hopes to come to Canada where he can safely speak up on behalf of other gay Jamaicans. Michael Hayden, who has been on the police force for four years, said other officers routinely attacked and abused him after becoming suspicious of his sexual orientation. But after speaking out publicly about the problem in The Jamaica Star newspaper this month, the 24-year-old Hayden said he began receiving death threats. "I want to stay here and fight," Hayden said in a telephone interview from Jamaica yesterday. "But it's not safe for me. My life is in great, great jeopardy." Human rights groups say Hayden's case is the latest in a series of disturbing anti-gay incidents in the Caribbean tourist destination. The Jamaican police force declined to comment on Hayden's situation. Sodomy is a criminal offence in Jamaica, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years. "We have no comment at this time," Karl Angell, a spokesperson for the Jamaican Constabulary Police Force, said in a telephone interview from Jamaica yesterday. Hayden is not the first gay Jamaican to seek asylum out of fear for his life, said Rebecca Schleifer, a researcher with Human Rights Watch in New York and author of Hated to Death, a report on gay bashing and its impact on the fight against HIV/AIDS in Jamaica. Jamaica lost a key leader in the HIV/AIDS battle, she said, when gay activist Gareth Henry fled the country last month and sought refugee status in Canada. Henry had been co-chair of the Jamaican Forum for Lesbians and Gays and also a volunteer with Jamaican AIDS Support for Life. Henry, 30, told the Star yesterday that he started thinking about leaving Jamaica after being beaten by police a year ago on Feb. 14 in a drugstore in Kingston, Jamaica. He says police deny beating him. He said he's lost 13 gay friends since 2004, yet police refuse to acknowledge there's a problem, often blaming the dead victim's lover or other gay men. "The situation for gays and lesbians in Jamaica is getting worse," Henry said in a telephone interview in Toronto, where he's now living. Henry said he feels for Hayden. "He's unsafe. They're hunting him daily. It's one of those very sad cases. For him coming out, he didn't want to be another person who died before he got to tell his story." Hayden is now on a leave of absence from his job and is in hiding while his allegations against his fellow officers are being investigated. Violence against men who have sex with men, ranging from verbal harassment to beatings, armed attacks, and murder, is pervasive in Jamaica, according to Schleifer's report for Human Rights Watch. The church denounces gay sex, popular music reinforces prejudices against gays and lesbians and police do little to stop violence against them, she noted.
:O zomg....and i thought i got it bad :dry: ok seriously, everyone just needs to calm down. My friend said to me yesterday that she went to a store and they were asking her if "are u the friend of that battyman from Ardenne High?" and they further say "empress if i never love you, i would kill him now. but is because u love 4 him so sweet". i was laughing but yet i really am unaware of when to take things seriously. My dad, spoke to my aunt whom is (head of the supream court of jamaica) a judge about poeple calling me names and giving me death threats. SO afar my parents keep picking up for me and denying my sexuality and i just don't say anything...period. my cousin said to me she thinks the reason my mom is defending me and telling me bad things about homosexuals is because she sences me being gay and she is afraid to admiot that to herself. in fact, when i was small i sued to love to put glitter on myself and worst play with barbie dolls and she took me to a psychitrist to find out if anything was wrong with me cuz i wasn't behaving like the average boy child. but they told her i would grow out of it and the reaosn i play with dolls is cuz i have no borthers and sisters and i live alone isolated from society. (live in the subs) my uncle who said he would be my lawyer if anytime my parents decided to sue anyone who threatens me strongly beleives i am just a childish person and have a problem with being "manly". as i said i take everything for granted and day after day after day i watch the news, see poeple who live just a few miles away miles away form me (50-100 miles ) get their body parts mutalated for their sexuality and all i can do is ....idk, sometimes i laugh, sometimes i cry. i don't even wish to go to counceling about it cuz far as i am concerned i can't trust anyone here......anyone! and it's scary but....i am good. my parents drop me to school everyday, pick me up everyday, i stay as far as i can from garrison areas (where homophobia is very high) and even though when i put on clothes it always looks ether very very punky/gay/high fashion i try to be as "manly" as i can be when i am out. just to please people. what i am happy for is that my mom dosn't stop me from wearing what i want to wear, and while most teenage boys here may sag and pierce their ears, i don't. i wasn't grown that way. however, for those who have it way worst than me and live in my city i really do feel sorry for them. and becky i havn't been able to contact the people of PJFLAG or the other contacts u gave me cuz honestly, i am scared. i am scared my mom will find out or worst my dad. i'm sorry but it's just too risky for me. don't think all this is going to stop me form being a super model though. i never quit, especially on my dreams.
I have been looking at certain pages and various lyrics of songs regarding this. It's shocking, it really is. But I think it's great that you're still determined to be a model though.
I just read some articles on this and I'm horrified....Thank God I never bought an Buju Banton records... Stay safe, Alex...
All I can say or think is What the Hell?. Seriously, Jamaica, look at a calendar and realize it's 2008. Why don't they change the stupid sodomy law and reform their country? Best of luck, Alex.
my mom cut out an article in the new york times this week also about violence against gays in Jamaica....and then she said "so yeah, we are NEVER going there. ever" annnnnd i doubt we really ever will the story was horrifying, this gay man was completely mutilated, his face was all bashed in and they cut both of his ears in half...yikes, fortunately he was able to make some sort of recovery, but he is still in hiding in jamaica and could only give the press an alias in lieu of his real name for safety's sake. apparently he is being harbored by a jamaican priest who is trying to help him to renounce his homosexual tendencies, but we all know how that goes. the priest has a gay son, but gave up on trying to turn him hetero (the priest also remains anonymous for fear that he may be a target since he harbors a gay person)
Wow- I kind of bypassed this thread a while ago with a "oh- that's pretty bad". I just realized that SexyAlex lives there and read what he had to say. All I can say is wow- that's awful and I'm truly worried for you. I know you're no idiot- but be careful- ok? I hope either your country changes (for the better) or you find a way to escape it.
NAHH, Brayn's ok. trust me. if ur a tourist and ur gay they will accept it however if ur a local and ur gay it's of a big issue. because homosexuality is against the jamaican laws so. i know that for a fact. what keeps me alive is poeple knowing i was born in england so they asume the reason i do the things i do is because of that and somewhat take "pitty" on me. but i am almost sure for a tourist who is going to be far away from the city most likly into the country area of the tourist cities...no one is going to trouble him. cuz that's where i live now. I moved from kingston to Montego Bay ...but then again, montegonians make their own law. authority is very little here. no order. pssh
Can I remind people (or advise those who may not have realised) - but Alex is NOT the only EC poster from Kingston. Kibuki Kid is also from there (perhaps you guys should try and connect?). Anyway - stay safe both of you. Oh - and we have other posters from countries that are also much less accepting of homosexuality than the west - so this is for all of you...(*hug*)
Thanks for the advice alex. We will be in Ocho Rios, so it should be fine. Plus, the only people who will know there are my parents, and they havent brought up my sexuality since I came out in August. So, hopefully, it will be a non issue.
