Jamaica's LGBTQ policies in int'l limelight
July 21, 2023
Jamaica’s reported refusal to accredit the same-sex spouse of a U.S. diplomat — granting the person diplomatic immunity — could spark a spat between the two countries, according to a number of media pieces.
Radio Jamaica News reports a senior Jamaican official said the request to recognize the same-sex spouse of a U.S. diplomat issue put Jamaica’s government in a bind, accreditation would would be akin to recognizing recognize a same-sex marriage, which is illegal in the country.
The U.S. request for diplomatic recognition has forced Jamaica’s foreign ministry to balance between international conventions, and the government’s recognition “that acting against the wishes of the majority of the Jamaican electorate could come with disastrous consequences,” argues a Jamaica Observer editorial.
Several Jamaican media reports, including the Jamaica Gleaner, indicate the U.S. retaliated by refusing to extend the visas of Jamaican diplomats — though both countries said the diplomats in question were ending their scheduled postings and sought to downplay reports of a row.
Regardless, the case has put a spotlight on Jamaica’s hostile stance towards LGBTQ rights — earlier this year the Associated Press reported it is considered the Caribbean nation most hostile toward gay people.
A Rainbow Railroad report this year found the LGBTQ community in Jamaica faces “horrific violence, discrimination and persecution and lack(s) the most basic protections under the law.” (Associated Press)
Equaldex reports that in addition to same-sex marriage being illegal, homosexuality among men remains outlawed in Jamaica and can be punished with up to seven years in prison. (LGBTQ Nation)
The island’s archaic anti-sodomy laws remain on the books despite a 2020 report by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights calling for the repeal of the island's Offences Against the Persons Act. The Jamaican government has not yet responded to that report, writes Emma Lewis in Global Voices.
In March of this year, LGBTQ activist Maurice Tomlinson’s long-running efforts in a constitutional case challenging the anti-sodomy law were put on hold, pending a separate trial date that will determine whether the Supreme Court can adjudicate the matter.
LGTBQ Rights
A new Human Rights Watch report focuses on St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ colonial era gay sex ban, and highlights how LGBT individuals are subjected to bullying and various forms of violence and harassment, reports the Miami Herald. The report notes that while it’s unusual for the organization to focus such attention on a small country like St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the level of homophobia in the country and continued effect of its archaic law on rights of LGBT individuals warranted scrutiny.
Economics, Finance and Debt
Many Caribbean leaders and financial experts say that international safeguards against money laundering and tax evasion unfairly afflict Caribbean countries “creating a possible double standard that causes them to suffer disproportionate harm to their economies and reputations,” reports Americas Quarterly.
United Nations Secretary General António Guterres warned that half the world is sinking into a development disaster, fuelled by a crushing debt crisis, noting that some 3.3 billion people – almost half of humanity live in countries that spend more on debt interest payments than on education or health. (United Nations)
Land Rights
A group of Black Brits have written to Jamaica’s Prime Minister calling for beach access to be protected for locals. The group called, Jamaicans and Friends of Jamaica of the Diaspora in the North of England, say there is a “growing concern” that some Jamaicans are being denied entry to the country’s beaches, reports The Voice. The letter follows Jamaican activists’ efforts to protect access to the country’s beaches, see post for April 12.
Indigenous Rights
Environmental activist Janette Bulkan has pushed back against the statements made by Guyanese Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo that the government held consultations with the Amerindians over the sale of carbon credits earned for the forests in their communities. (Kaieteur News)
A Grenadian film about Dominica’s Indigenous people, the Kalinagos, has been winning international awards and positive reviews. (Repeating Islands)
Climate and Environmental Justice
Ongoing investigations into illegal building and destruction of the ecosystem in La Parguera Nature Reserve, in Lajas, Puerto Rico seek to uncover how these constructions have services including electricity, running water, and telephone lines on land that has been denominated is a Nature Reserve, reports El Vocero. (Via Repeating Islands)
The United States will not pay reparations to developing countries hit by climate-fueled disasters, John Kerry, the U.S. special envoy on climate change, told a congressional hearing, last week. (Reuters)
The new oil law proposed by Guyana’s government to grant extensive powers to the Minister of Natural Resources fails to address the pressing transparency concerns raised by civil society and the media over the last seven years, according to Kaieteur News.
The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative has highlighted Guyana’s failure to disclose how revenues from the extractive industry are utilized in a new report. (Kaieteur News)
Bahamas journalist Deandre Williamson discusses climate justice journalism on Climate Justice Calabash.
View the recording of Climate Tracker’s webinar: COP28 Caribbean Perspectives: Loss and Damage, with Adelle Thomas, Senior Fellow, University of The Bahamas & Climate Analytics; Sasha Jattansingh, Loss and Damage Expert, Climate Analytics Caribbean; Kishan Kumarsingh, Lead Climate Negotiator, Trinidad and Tobago.
Human Rights
CAPRI Research Fellow Alexander Causwell rejects the narrative that Jamaica has a ‘culture of violence’, arguing that the country’s high rates of violence, particularly homicides, are related to ‘the enabling environment produced by specific policy decisions of the Jamaican government since at least the early 1970s’. (CAPRI Caribbean)
Migration
Trinidad and Tobago will integrate migrant children into primary schools by the start of the school year in September. (T&T Guardian)
Children’s Rights
Jamaica’s Registrar General celebrated a significant increase in the number of birth certificates that are now being processed with the names of both parents.
Culture
Hurricanes and blackness are two themes that are repeated and intertwined in Rafael Rodríguez Cruz’s El huracán y la subjetividad antillana, according to Repeating Islands.
“Caribbean Children’s Literature, Volume 2: Critical Approaches offers analyses of the works of writers of the Anglophone Caribbean and its diaspora … The volume addresses the four language regions, early children’s literature of conquest—in particular, the US colonization of Puerto Rico—and the fine line between children’s and adult literature.” — Repeating Islands
Henry Lesperance speaks to about Puerto Rican filmmaker Alexis García about her 2022 short film, Daughter of the Sea, which represents the often-marginalized beliefs and sacred practices of traditional Afro-Caribbean culture. — Repeating Islands
Development
Tianyu Fang discusses citizenship by investment in the Caribbean on the Caribbean Progress podcast. The conversation ranges from philosophizing on the ideological limits of selling citizenship to the practicality of fiscal policy constraints from reductions in passport demand.
Critter Corner
The Puerto Rican euphonia (previously known as an Antillean euphonia) recently received the designation of endemic bird of Puerto Rico, reports El Nuevo Día. (Via Repeating Islands)
Opportunities
Join Jamaicans for Justice youth membership initiative for young people who want to become advocates for human rights. Register.
The Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition is seeking an experienced Consultant to conduct a comprehensive data analysis to improve the relevance and use of data collected through the Shared Incident Database on human rights violations in the Caribbean. More information.
Consultancy: Advancing Child-Friendly Justice for Children in Trinidad and Tobago — The International Legal Foundation