Jamaica

LGBTI Rights in Jamaica


ADDED ON: 07/23/2020

Gay, black and fast: Olympic hopeful swims against tide of homophobia in Jamaica

Early in his budding career as a professional swimmer, Olympic hopeful Michael Gunning faced a regular putdown in the pool from snide schoolmates: “Black people don’t swim.” But rather than be bullied…

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ADDED ON: 07/01/2020

‘Work to do’ as coronavirus hits LGBT+ Jamaicans hard

Paris Lewinsky has been taking hormones for almost a year and is starting to grow breasts. But the transgender Jamaican’s long-held dream of physically transitioning is now under threat, because she cannot…

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ADDED ON: 04/07/2020

‘Social distancing’ is how LGBT people have always had to live

As news reports with dire predictions about Covid-19 began to multiply exponentially, I quickly realized that the inevitable physical distancing required and resulting social isolation was not as big a deal for…

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ADDED ON: 10/09/2019

Gay Jamaican asylum seekers find new life in US with LGBT task force

Maurice Newman was thriving in Jamaica, fulfilling his dreams. He was teaching the fifth grade and also traveling for the government, training fellow teachers. He was building his life, living in the…

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ADDED ON: 09/17/2019

Jamaica tops Caribbean countries for human rights violation, Guyana comes second

Jamaica has recorded the most incidents of human rights violation when compared to its Caribbean neighbours. According to the regional civil society-led human rights reporting mechanism, the Shared Incident Database (SID), of…

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ADDED ON: 08/27/2019

An Exploration of LGBTQ Jamaican Identity—and Lots of Food

A giant wall of Chinese takeout boxes was the background to an array of smiling, brown, queer faces — their hands darting to and from trays of tropical fruit and perfectly encrusted…

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ADDED ON: 08/13/2019

Lawsuits in Four Caribbean Countries Challenge Colonial-era Sodomy Laws

LGBTI people in four Caribbean countries over the last year have filed lawsuits against their nations’ colonial-era sodomy laws. Javin Johnson and Sean Macleish on July 26 filed a lawsuit against two…

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ADDED ON: 07/04/2019

Jamaica could see its first trans Member of Parliament

A 29-year-old activist in Jamaica is vying to become the first openly trans Member of Parliament (MP) to sit in the country’s House of Representatives. Rich Richards has said he will run…

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ADDED ON: 06/29/2019

Survivor of Jamaican hostility, I work to legalize our loves

Risk of imprisonment. Death threats. Blackmail. Contempt from police. AIDS. Jamaican/Canadian activist lawyer Maurice Tomlinson tells why he works to overturn Caribbean nations’ anti-gay laws. The first time I visited my now…

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ADDED ON: 05/07/2019

Jamaica: LGBTs Want Seat At National Table

Members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community are insisting that they be included in national campaigns that focus on the protection of the rights of the vulnerable in society.…

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ADDED ON: 04/24/2019

Condoms: A controversial idea for fighting HIV in Jamaican prisons

The doubling of HIV cases in Jamaica’s prisons has resurrected the debate on formally offering condoms to curb the spread of sexually transmitted infections, with a clergyman being the loudest advocate that…

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