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May 28, 2013
Residents angry as homeless gays take over house in posh Jamaican area

Homeless gay men are living close to Cuban ambassador. Neighbors say they ‘gyrate’ in public, fight, and are prostitutes

Residents are complaining after a group of gay homeless men took over an empty house in Jamaica, almost opposite an ambassador’s official residence.

The Jamaica Observer says ‘dozens’ of gay men are living there ‘behaving in a manner that churns their [the neighbors] collective stomachs’ and adding the neighborhood is ‘going to the dogs’.

The property is on Millsborough Avenue in St Andrew, Kingston, the capital of Jamaica.

March 21, 2013
Jamaican transgender women speak-out

Brave transgender women in Jamaica record YouTube videos expressing their inner thoughts and feelings

Two transgender women in Jamaica have added their voices to the We Are Jamaicans campaign to encourage respect and understanding for LGBT people and increase their visibility in the Caribbean nation.

'I am not a threat to society,' says Whitney in her video.

'I don't want to spend most of my life hiding who I am from the world. I want you to see how beautiful I am. I want you to see how human I am.'

January 18, 2013
Gay Jamaicans go on video to show the world who they are

Gay rights organisation J-FLAG launches We Are Jamaicans campaign to show diversity in LGBT community

Gay Jamaicans have taken to the internet to show the world who they are in a hope to raise awareness of their situation.

J-FLAG, the LGBT rights advocacy organization, have launched a campaign featuring prominent Jamaicans speaking about gay issues on camera.

The campaign, titled We Are Jamaicans, hopes to raise awareness about the diversity among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Jamaicans.

January 6, 2013
Jamaica hints a law banning gay discrimination may be passed

Jamaican Minister of Justice hints a law banning anti-gay discrimination may be introduced due to pressures to accept  ‘Western’ human rights

In response to a report by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) criticizing Jamaica for its abuse of its LGBT citizens, the country's Minister of Justice hinted that an anti-discrimination legislation, inclusive of sexual orientation, maybe introduced.

December 24, 2012
Sizzla snubs peace offering telling fans to 'set fire to gays'

Homophobic Jamaican reggae star snubs J-FLAG's offer of help in dealing with international 'murder music' protests

Homophobic Jamaican reggae star Sizzla has snubbed a peace offering by LGBT rights campaigners, instead calling for gays to be set on fire.

Sizzla's lyrics are notorious for inciting violence against gays and LGBT groups around the world have mobilized to protest and boycott his and other homophobic dancehall artists' concerts.

But the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG) is now offering 'reformed' performers help in dealing with campaigns which 'demonize' them and their music.

December 4, 2012
Jamaica Health Minister: Anti-gay laws must change for ‘greater good’

Health Minister Dr Fenton Ferguson says Jamaica must keep pace with international opinion and backs ‘buggery law’ review

Jamaica’s Health Minister has indicated anti-gay laws in the country should change ‘for the greater good’ whatever people’s personal opinions.

Dr Fenton Ferguson particularly singled out comments by Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller who said, during her election campaign a year ago, she would allow her politicians a free vote on scrapping the ‘buggery laws’ that criminalize gay sex on the Caribbean island.

November 25, 2012
UK lawyer urges Jamaica to keep buggery laws

Paul Diamond believes Jamaica should resist pressure from the US or UK to remove buggery laws
 

A UK lawyer says Jamaica shouldn't give into UK or US pressure to review its buggery laws.

British barrister Paul Diamond accuses the United Kingdom of failing 'to find a balance between religious rights and the secular modern human-rights agenda'.

Diamond's website reveals he specializes in the law of religious liberty.

According to Jamaican newspaper the Sunday Gleaner, Diamond also accuses the UK of 'failing to honor the rights of its own citizens' and 'discrimination against Christians'.

November 20, 2012
New York protests against Jamaican anti-gay hate

LGBT rights campaigners protested against homophobia and called for a repeal of anti-sodomy law in front of the Jamaican consulate in New York 

Gay rights campaigners demanded an end to Jamaican ant-gay hate in protest held in front of the country's consulate in New York.

They also demanded the goverment of Jamaica tackles growing homophobia and repeal the country's anti-gay laws.

The protest was held yesterday (19 November 19) and was precipitated by a brutal attack against a gay student by security guards of the University of Technology, Jamaica.

November 3, 2012
Jamaica guards sacked for brutally beating student allegedly having gay sex

Two security guards who were savagely beating a Jamaican university student after he was allegedly caught having gay sex were sacked, rights group call upon the government to tackle the country's high levels of homophobia

Two of the guards involved in the beating of a student who was caught allegedly having gay sex in Jamaica’s University of Technology (U-Tech) were fired yesterday (2 October).

In a incident revealed by Gay Star News, two male students were chased by a group of persons on the U-Tech Campus after they were allegedly found in having gay sex in a toilet on site.

October 1, 2012
Anti-gay hate forces closure of Jamaica gay homeless center

Jamaica's only drop-in center for homeless LGBT youth was closed due to anti-gay sentiments by local authorities and media

The Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-sexuals & Gays (J-FLAG) – a charity organisation, was forced to close down the Caribbean island state’s only drop-in centre for homeless gays which it managed with the Jamaica Aids Support (JAS) organization.

The announcement was made by a J-FLAG representative at a recent meeting in Jamaica's capital, Kingston.

July 13, 2012
Jamaica police chief blames gays for hate violence

Outgoing former Scotland Yard officer Les Green says Jamaican gays are too flamboyant and that most gay murders are domestic violence

Jamaica’s out-going assistant police commissioner Les Green has denied the existence of widespread homophobia in the country and blamed the gay community for the violence it faces.

The former Scotland Yard officer told the Jamaica Observer the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community were too flamboyant and public about their sexuality.

LGBT campaigners in the country have condemned his comments.

December 28, 2011
Jamaica election descends to homophobia

Labor Party plays anti-gay card in last minute struggle for votes ahead of Jamaican election

Homophobic insults have marred the final days of Jamaica’s national election campaign according to the country’s one gay rights group.

Ruling-party candidates have courted anti-gay voters before tomorrow’s vote the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG) has claimed.