Lesbianism in Jamaica
February 7, 2005 | 
News Reports
The Jamaica Observer features a weekly column by Mark Wignall and his girlfriend Sharna Lynch (whom the paper points out is 30 years younger than Wignall). Their most recent column is entitled Emergency! My girlfriend/wife is a lesbian. The authors discuss how lesbians destroy the family, make passes at uninterested women, ruin marriages, and so forth. I’d be outraged, but I can’t because I’m just not surprised. Jamaica is well-known to be homophobic; when I first started planning for a Caribbean vacation a couple of years ago (we ended up going to Grenada) I checked out Jamaica and discovered it is one of the most homophobic islands in the area. (For the curious, Grand Cayman is almost as bad.) Jamaica is also the home of rapper Beenie Man, who uses violent lyrics to encourage listeners to kill gays. All in all, Jamaica isn’t a good place for gays and lesbians to visit and be open about their sexuality…and regrettably, the situation is just as intolerant for queer residents.
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