I spent most of Saturday in Bristol. In the afternoon I was at the Arnolfini for a screening of a film called The Abominable Crime. This follows the lives of two gay Jamaicans. Simone is a young lesbian and single mother. When the film opens she has just survived an attempt on her life by homophobic gunmen. Maurice is a lawyer and gay rights activist. When he is outed in the Jamaican press he is determined to return to the island to carry on the fight, even though his husband in Toronto fears for his life.
Simone and Maurice are real people. In Jamaica, being gay can be deadly.
The film was followed by a panel discussion chaired by Roger Griffith, one of the directors of Ujima Radio. Also on the panel was a Jamaican writer, Prof. Thomas Glave, who has won two Lammy Awards. Thomas and Maurice are two of the founders of J-FLAG, the current LGBT rights organization for Jamaica. Thomas and I did a brief slot on the radio last week, and on Saturday I bagged a slightly longer interview that I’ll air on Women’s Outlook when I get a free slot.
From my point of view, the most interesting part of the discussion was the discovery of the Dwayne’s House charity project. Dwayne Jones was a young trans girl from Jamaica. When she was 14 she was thrown out of the family home by her parents. Two years later she was chased through the streets by a mob and beaten to death. The Dwayne’s House project seeks to purchase a building where homeless LGBT kids like Dwayne can have a safe place to sleep. The project also hopes to provide medical care, counseling and education. Details of how to donate can be found here.
By the way, the panel was keen to make clear that while the situation for LGBT Jamaicans is not good, it is not always as bad as you might think from the film and news reports. Just like anywhere else, class makes a huge difference. Also things have got a lot worse over the past few decades. As with Africa, much of that is due to heavy lobbying by rich American religious fundamentalists. Of course the people behind Dwayne’s House are also Christians. Nothing in life is simple.
Rich American religious fundamentalists are the kind of dangerous mental defectives that make me want to spit and throw sharp things. As a practicing Christian, their offensive behavior casts an ugly cloud on the work and lives of people who are led to caring for others BECAUSE of their faith. I’m certain Caroline Symcox often feels the same way.
Regardless of who funds and runs Dwayne’s House, I’m glad such a thing exists in Jamaica for those kids that need it.