Gays Rights Protest Set For Jamaica Consulate In New York
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The demonstration, organized by Amnesty International local Group 133 from Somerville, Massachusetts, comes less than five months after Human Rights Watch released its report, ‘Hated to Death,' which claimed that many homosexuals in Jamaica are victims of violence.
Yesterday, Kevin Mouchantaf, a spokesperson for the tenth annual ‘Get on the Bus Protest,' insisted to HBN that the April 15 demonstration is all about focusing attention on human rights abuses and not one aimed at forcing Caribbeans to be more accepting of the gay lifestyle.
The group, according to Mouchantaf, has secured a meeting with the Jamaican Consul General to New York, Dr. Basil Bryan and will be encouraging him and the Jamaican government to acknowledge the cases documented by Human Rights groups and institute legal reforms.
Additionally, they will call for a debate on the repeal of legislation criminalizing consensual same sex contact and urge reform and other steps to protect homosexuals individuals from violence and discrimination.
While the group meets with the CG, protestors are slated to demonstrate outside between 3-4 p.m. to chants of “One Love, One Heart, Let's get together and repeal sodomy laws!” and “Get up stand up, Stand against homophobia,” among others.
They will be addressed by Larry Chang, founding member of the Jamaica Forum of Lesbians, All-Sexuals & Gays, (J-FLAG), among others. Chang, a Chinese-Jamaican gay man and political organizer who was granted political asylum in the U.S. last year, is also expected to attend the meeting with CG Bryan, according to Mouchantaf.
Protestors will also carry posters with the face of prominent Jamaican gay activist and founder of J-FLAG, Brian Williamson, who was murdered in June 2004 and sign petitions supporting the repeal.
Those petitions, according to Mouchantaf, will be submitted to Jamaican government officials.
The Jamaican Consulate promised yesterday to provide an official reaction to the planned protest but HBN did not receive it by press time last night.
Instead, a 2004 statement by Burchell Whiteman, the island's minister of information, was emailed to HBN. In it he states that the government “welcomes dialogue in these circumstances rather than public confrontation” and stressed that government also is “opposed to violence against all persons and will continue to protect the rights of all citizens.”
But added, Whiteman, “We also as the duly elected representatives of the people feel that it is the people who must set our agenda in respect of the legislation which we pass or the repeal of any existing laws. We are certainly not about to respond to any organization, external to this country, which may want to dictate to us how and when to deal with the laws of our land.”
The response was issued just days after the HRW report was released, on November 19, 2004.
Meanwhile, the Amnesty group also plans to hold a similar demonstration outside of the Jamaica Embassy on April 14. Rights protests are also planned for outside of the Indian and Chinese consulates, to bring attention to perceived human rights abuses there. – Hardbeatnews.com