Jamaica

Global News

Added on: 05/21/2023

Jamaica’s break from British monarchy must bring about queer liberation, activists say

05/20/2023

King Charles III’s coronation has accelerated plans for Jamaica to become a republic, and activists say it’s time for the country to take a big step forward…

Global News

Added on: 05/05/2023

The Caribbean is shaking off the monarchy – but ‘imported’ Christianity still fuelling homophobia

05/04/2023

As King Charles’ coronation approaches, many Caribbean countries are considering a future without the monarchy. Charles will be anointed king during his coronation on Saturday (8 May), not…

Alturi Blog

Added on: 04/26/2023

The Status of LGBTI Rights in Barbados and Neighboring Regions

Margerita Afom

Alturi Contributor

The Caribbean has thirteen sovereign states, each with distinct rights and protections for the LGBTI community. However, like many nations with a history of colonization, the views…

Global News

Added on: 08/29/2022

Jamaica: Lesbian minister in training reaches out to anti-LGBTQ Christians

08/28/2022

I pursued ordained ministry for many reasons. By my presence, I want to say “yes, I am a person of faith, I am a lesbian, and I…

Global News

Added on: 05/25/2022

Jamaica man sentenced to half-decade behind bars for threatening to shoot transgender woman on his street: DA.

05/24/2022

Jamaica resident Quame Truitt was sentenced to five years in prison Monday after pleading guilty earlier this month to threatening a transgender woman with an illegal firearm…

Global News

Added on: 02/08/2022

Jamaica: Tiny victory in 7-year quest to make a kiss legal

02/05/2022

An 1864 British colonially imposed law makes acts of intimacy between men illegal, and my partner and I could be imprisoned for up to ten years at…

Global News

Added on: 01/22/2022

We Can No Longer Ignore the Murders of LGBTQ+ People in Jamaica

1/21/22

Jasmyne Cannick, the journalist who brought national attention to the killings committed by Ed Buck in West Hollywood, is releasing a new podcast series exploring the many…

Global News

Added on: 11/27/2021

Jamaican health minister calls for an end to anti-LGBT discrimination

11/26/21

Jamaica’s minister of health and wellness told a recent public forum organized by the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper that LGBT Jamaicans should not face discrimination in accessing mental…

Global News

Added on: 07/01/2021

Anti-LGBT+ laws cost Caribbean billions in lost business – report

06/30/2021

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Businessman Richard Branson on Wednesday urged Caribbean countries to be more LGBT-friendly as a report said anti-gay laws cost the region’s 12…

Global News

Added on: 03/07/2021

Confronting Jamaica’s hydra of deadly religious homophobia

3/7/21

Research by Jamaica’s most respected university found that religious homophobia is a major reason the country lags the rest of the western hemisphere in recognizing LGBT human…

Global News

Added on: 02/19/2021

Inter-American rights body finds Jamaica violated LGBT rights

02/19/2021

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) found in a landmark decision released Wednesday that the Jamaican government is responsible for violating the human rights of two…

Global News

Added on: 02/18/2021

Jamaica should repeal gay sex ban, says Americas top rights body

02/17/2021

KINGSTON, Feb 17 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Jamaica should repeal its colonial-era gay sex ban, the top rights body of the Americas said on Wednesday, in a…

Global News

Added on: 01/09/2021

First-ever Jamaica transgender strategy looks beyond health

1/8/2021

Imagine using a health-care system that has no concept of you as a person, or of your unique needs. Nurses might not ask important questions. Doctors might…

Global News

Added on: 12/04/2020

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Censures Jamaica for Violating the Rights of LGBTI Citizens

12/01/2020

DECEMBER 1, 2020: The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has issued a scathing report declaring that Jamaica’s Offences Against the Person Act violates several of the…

Global News

Added on: 07/23/2020

Gay, black and fast: Olympic hopeful swims against tide of homophobia in Jamaica

07/22/2020

Early in his budding career as a professional swimmer, Olympic hopeful Michael Gunning faced a regular putdown in the pool from snide schoolmates: “Black people don’t swim.”…

Global News

Added on: 07/01/2020

‘Work to do’ as coronavirus hits LGBT+ Jamaicans hard

06/30/2020

Paris Lewinsky has been taking hormones for almost a year and is starting to grow breasts. But the transgender Jamaican’s long-held dream of physically transitioning is now…

Global News

Added on: 04/07/2020

‘Social distancing’ is how LGBT people have always had to live

04/06/2020

As news reports with dire predictions about Covid-19 began to multiply exponentially, I quickly realized that the inevitable physical distancing required and resulting social isolation was not…

Global News

Added on: 12/21/2019

Anti-gay laws in 2019: You win some, you lose some

12/20/2019

2019 has been a mixed year for opponents of the anti-gay laws that still oppress LGBTQ people in dozens of countries worldwide. During 2019, millions fewer people…

Global News

Added on: 10/09/2019

Gay Jamaican asylum seekers find new life in US with LGBT task force

10/08/2019

Maurice Newman was thriving in Jamaica, fulfilling his dreams. He was teaching the fifth grade and also traveling for the government, training fellow teachers. He was building…

Global News

Added on: 09/17/2019

Jamaica tops Caribbean countries for human rights violation, Guyana comes second

09/16/2019

Jamaica has recorded the most incidents of human rights violation when compared to its Caribbean neighbours. According to the regional civil society-led human rights reporting mechanism, the…

Global News

Added on: 08/27/2019

An Exploration of LGBTQ Jamaican Identity—and Lots of Food

08/26/2019

A giant wall of Chinese takeout boxes was the background to an array of smiling, brown, queer faces — their hands darting to and from trays of…

Global News

Added on: 08/13/2019

Lawsuits in Four Caribbean Countries Challenge Colonial-era Sodomy Laws

08/08/2019

LGBTI people in four Caribbean countries over the last year have filed lawsuits against their nations’ colonial-era sodomy laws. Javin Johnson and Sean Macleish on July 26…

Global News

Added on: 07/04/2019

Jamaica could see its first trans Member of Parliament

07/03/2019

A 29-year-old activist in Jamaica is vying to become the first openly trans Member of Parliament (MP) to sit in the country’s House of Representatives. Rich Richards…

Global News

Added on: 06/29/2019

Survivor of Jamaican hostility, I work to legalize our loves

06/27/2019

Risk of imprisonment. Death threats. Blackmail. Contempt from police. AIDS. Jamaican/Canadian activist lawyer Maurice Tomlinson tells why he works to overturn Caribbean nations’ anti-gay laws. The first…

Global News

Added on: 05/07/2019

Jamaica: LGBTs Want Seat At National Table

05/05/2019

Members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community are insisting that they be included in national campaigns that focus on the protection of the rights…

Global News

Added on: 04/24/2019

Condoms: A controversial idea for fighting HIV in Jamaican prisons

04/23/2019

The doubling of HIV cases in Jamaica’s prisons has resurrected the debate on formally offering condoms to curb the spread of sexually transmitted infections, with a clergyman…

Global News

Added on: 04/20/2019

Jamaica: Gay panic defense in killing of Pride icon

04/17/2019

The man who killed fashion designer Dexter Pottinger had his murder charge reduced to manslaughter after he told Jamaican authorities that he stabbed Pottinger 25 times after…

Global News

Added on: 01/23/2019

Jamaican LGBTI Group Crowdfunding to Rebuild Rainbow House

01/22/2019

Describing itself as Jamaica’s oldest LGBT group, the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexual and Gays (J-Flag) has established a crowdfunding page as it seeks funds to rebuild its…

Global News

Added on: 01/05/2019

After a fire destroys Jamaica’s LGBT headquarters, 2019 deemed ‘year of rebuilding’

01/05/2019

On the night of December 30, 2018, a fire “of yet unknown origin” leveled the Kingston offices of the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays, which goes by its…

Global News

Added on: 01/02/2019

J-FLAG’s Headquarters Destroyed By Fire

12/31/2018

The fire department is now probing the cause of a blaze that destroyed the headquarters of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) lobby group, J-FLAG. The department…