Jamaica told: Repeal buggery laws

One Caribbean Nation.

Jamaica told: Repeal buggery laws

KINGSTON – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has ruled that the Government of Jamaica should immediately repeal the country’s buggery laws.

The ruling that has been deemed historic also said that the Andrew Holnessled administration is responsible for violating the rights of two gay people.

The ruling, that was handed down in September 2019, but had to be kept confidential until Wednesday – sets a precedent for lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender (LGBT) rights across the Caribbean and is the commission’s first finding that laws that criminalise LGBT people violate international law.

While decisions from the IACHR are not binding, it is widely believed that the recommendations will give hope to LGBT communities in the nine Caribbean countries that still have colonial-era laws criminalising same-sex intimacy on their books.

The two Jamaicans who brought the case – Gareth Henry and Simone Edwards – convinced the IACHR that Jamaica’s laws against buggery and gross indecency violates their rights and legitimises violence towards the LGBT community in Jamaica.

These laws were originally imposed by the British colonial administration in Jamaica and still remain on the law books.

Both Henry and Edwards told the IACHR that they were forced to flee Jamaica following violent attacks because of their sexuality.

Among the human rights violations cited against the Jamaican government are the rights to humane treatment, equal protection before the law, privacy and freedom of movement and residence.

The two Jamaicans were represented before the IACHR by Téa Braun, director of the Human Dignity Trust, who hailed the ruling as a major victory.

“It is a highly significant step forward that must now accelerate the repeal of these stigmatising and discriminatory laws.”

Henry, who sought asylum in Canada after he was reportedly beaten up by a policeman in front of a crowd of 200 people, said he hoped the commission’s “bold and principled” decision signalled the beginning of meaningful change in Jamaica.

“All my life people have told me that who I am and who I love is wrong. Now, for the first time ever, I finally feel I am right,” Henry was quoted as saying.

In response, the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays said the ruling was reflective of the positive wave within local and regional judicial bodies to affirm and protect the human rights of those Caribbean people.

(CMC)

The MCG welcomes this development. We will continue to defend the rights of the Gay community. We reproduce an article, published by MCG on 4-16-2018:

The Mahogany Coconut GroupThe Mahogany Coconut Group

The decision by the government of Trinidad and Tobago, to make buggery a crime of the past, should be welcomed by all progressive Caribbean thinkers.

Human sexuality and preferences, are difficult actions, to be controlled by the state. The fundamental right of adult and consenting citizens, to engage in the sexual acts of their choice, should never be the business of the state, unless they directly affect the lives of others.

We note, that as was expected, the Christian and other religious communities, are opposing the debunking of the buggery law. As always, we respect the positions of our Christian and other religious groups. However, they would do well, to look inward at their organizations and deal with the many acts of immorality, such as the sexual abuse of children, in their assemblies.

The Mahogany Coconut Group (MCG), has long maintained, that the opposition to the male homosexual act, is the result, not only of biblical beliefs but the very physical act itself, which is often described as “nasty” because of the organs involved. Ironically, the same act of buggery when done during male and female intercourse, is widely practiced band accepted.

Perhaps a more direct response, to those who oppose the legalization of buggery and the homosexual act should be: Get Over It !