Stephen Lewis and Julia Greenberg, AIDS-Free World’s Co-Director and Associate Director, traveled to Barbados and Jamaica from February 16-20, 2009.

On February 12th, Ernie Smith, a Jamaican Minister of Parliament, went on a homophobic diatribe before his colleagues in Parliament, declaring that gay men are the most violent element of Jamaican society, they should not be allowed to bear arms, and that JFLAG (Jamaica Forum for Lesbians All-sexuals and Gays), Jamaica’s only lesbian, gay and transgender organization, should be banned. See Smith’s antics for yourself, right here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yt50Gfccmnw

With his absurd words ringing in our ears,  and the troubling statistic that adult HIV prevalence among Jamaica’s  gay men is 31.8% heavy on our minds, we departed  for Jamaica for several days of meetings with government ministers, health officials and the gay and AIDS activists and the communities they serve.

The atmosphere at the office of Jamaica AIDS Support for Life (JAS) is reminiscent of NGOS around the world run by communities under threat. As we walked through the dusty courtyard, we crossed a line-up for services that stretched out onto the front veranda; plates of food emerged from the kitchen at regular intervals; and sporadic bursts of laughter erupted from the throats of men and women whose lives outside this space are defined by silence and fear. It was in this environment, suggesting that a world of free of bigotry and hatred is possible, that we heard the brutal stories of what happens every day and night on the Kingston streets surrounding the office.

Sitting in a circle in the common room, we met with victims of homophobic violence, each of their horror stories worst than the next. A brother and sister, both gay, both shot several times in the chest in their home in front of their children; a transgendered female to male, unable to walk the streets of Kingston without constant physical and verbal harassment, so much that he sits on his front porch with a knife in his hand, tempting fate rather than living with fear. Several activists recounted the humiliating experience of gathering to mourn the loss of a close friend, only to be met by an angry stone-throwing mob at his funeral, protesting the burial of a homosexual in their community.

This meeting was preceded by a discussion with a support group for HIV-positive women organized by JAS. These women had access to drugs (Jamaica has a successful national treatment program), and yet they seemed to be physically fading before our eyes. One had stopped her treatment because she was instructed never to take her ARVs without food, and her drug supply was far more reliable than her food supply. Another had found herself homeless because she could no longer tolerate the cruel behavior of her family and neighbors in the wake of the news of her diagnosis.  All but one had given up their children because they felt they could no longer raise them safely or happily. This could have been a support group in Swaziland or Lesotho during the early, dark days of the AIDS crisis.

We echoed these discussions in our meetings with the Minister of Justice, during our interviews with the homophobic radio hosts on whose shows we appeared, and with the leadership of the National AIDS response. We urged the Minister of Justice to demonstrate to  the world that Jamaica’s leadership is not defined by the ignorant words of Minister Ernie Smith (her old schoolmate, in fact), and that she should take the lead in repealing the nation’s oppressive sodomy law in the name of human rights and public health. We attempted to convince the vitriolic radio hosts that we had not come to Jamaica to “promote homosexuality” but to support the efforts of the gay community so devastatingly affected by HIV to claim their rights to health care and non-discrimination. We urged health officials, who fully acknowledge the fact that HIV/AIDS in Jamaica is concentrated among vulnerable populations, to release their stronghold on the funds flowing to their country to fight the epidemic and ensure that it reaches groups like JFLAG, JAS and other community groups whose participation in the fight is essential.

It was the beginning of a conversation that AIDS-Free World plans to continue in the region. It is conversation that is necessarily defined by an inconvenient and messy reality.  The virus is being spread among communities that are reviled by the population, whose hatred is being inflamed by bigoted and irresponsible politicians. Men are having sex with men, and because of the fierce stigma and discrimination they face, they are going home, and sleeping with and sometimes infecting their female partners and wives. These women go on to face insurmountable levels of discrimination due to their HIV status, and suffer the burdens of poverty in the same way that HIV-positive women suffer around the globe.

A few days after we returned home, Jamaica’s Prime Minister Golding stood before Parliament and made the following statement: "We are not going to yield to the pressure, whether that pressure comes from individual organisations, individuals, whether that pressure comes from foreign governments or groups of countries, to liberalise the laws as it relates to buggery."  Interestingly, in the same speech, he distanced himself from Minister Smith’s comments, and affirmed that JFLAG had every right, to exist and advocate for changes in any laws they would like.  These two statements have in fact emboldened Jamaica’s civil society to fight even harder against the very law to which the Prime Minister so regrettably clings. Immediately following the Prime Minister’s statement, AIDS-Free World issued a press release condemning it: Jamaican Prime Minister Supports Outdated Laws

The extreme and dangerous statements made by Smith and Golding have provoked a negative reaction in the Jamaican and regional press. They have unwittingly sparked the beginnings of a productive dialogue on an issue that is commonly thought to be too sensitive to touch.  In the next several months, AIDS-Free World will work with a range of Caribbean organizations and activists to build on this momentum. Together we will explore every opportunity:  international and local advocacy, creative legal strategies, and behind-the-scenes lobbying. 

Thank you, Minister Smith. Sometimes inspiration comes from the most unlikely sources.

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