text: Comment: With all eyes on anti-gay Russia, there are three countries with a shocking need for coverage, 2013/Sep/03
  The city held its very first LGBTI march over the weekend amid harsh criticism Three years after the first Pride festival ever took place in Kingston, Jamaica, an LGBTI parade moved through the streets of Montego Bay for the first time this weekend. The northern coastal town hosted its very first LGBTI march on Sunday… Read more »
  in ManAboutWorld gay travel magazine An Interview with Jamaica’s tourism minister Edmund Bartlett, MP Next month, Jamaica will host a tourism conference on jobs and inclusive growth. Tourism jobs and training have been an important source of economic empowerment for LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) people all over the world, and Jamaica’s focus… Read more »
  A gay LGBT activist has been found dead in his home in Jamaica. Dexter Pottinger’s body was found with multiple stab wounds earlier this week on Thursday. It is not yet known when Pottinger was killed because he was found decomposing. The death of the activist, who was also a fashion designer and model, has… Read more »
  Sometimes it is the stories you hear of people who you know the least about, who you are furthest connected to, that touch you the most deeply; suffering or tragedy of another that makes you pause momentarily- and alters your sense of perspective thereon. This handful of little stories shared by LGBT+ Jamaicans exposes their… Read more »
  On an island where everything from pop music to the church demonises your sexuality, you police your every move It is a strange thing growing up in an island called “Little England”. You inherit the legal system, the educational system and even the old English mannerisms and words. But you also inherit something far more… Read more »
  …Ask yourself: What would Christ do? The important matters of individual and public health are seldom discussed from the perspective of culture, society’s history, or religious norms. Yet, the social determinants of health include all these factors, in addition to matters such as disease vectors and the social issues surrounding communicable and non-communicable diseases. When… Read more »
  In April 2006, Time magazine branded Jamaica with an epithet it has yet to shake: “The Most Homophobic Place on Earth.” The article mentioned the murders of two of the island’s leading gay activists and detailed acts of mob violence, including the brutal bludgeoning of a gay man at the hands of assailants who included… Read more »
  The number of people in Jamaica who “hate or reject” homosexual relationships has risen over 20% since 2011, a new survey has revealed. The 2015 Awareness, Attitude and Perception Survey asked employers, politicians and members of the public a number of questions in regards to same-sex relationships between June and July last year. Commissioned for… Read more »
  Gay rights campaigner and attorney Maurice Tomlinson brings rare legal challenge to the Caribbean island’s anti-sodomy laws A Jamaican gay rights activist has brought a rare legal challenge to the Caribbean island’s anti-sodomy laws that criminalize consensual sex between men, according to the Canadian advocacy group he works for. Gay rights campaigner and attorney Maurice… Read more »
  LGBTI rights activist Maurice Tomlinson is back in Jamaica this week, preparing for a hearing at the Caribbean Court of Justice in connection with his case challenging the ban against gays entering Belize and Trinidad & Tobago. That case is just one instance of his work combating anti-gay laws and homophobia in the Caribbean, particularly… Read more »
  Tallahassee, Fla. — “Listen. Dead people never stop talking.” So begins Marlon James’s novel “A Brief History of Seven Killings,” which last month won the Man Booker Prize. The statement has a particular resonance both in the book and outside it. In March, Mr. James, who was raised in Jamaica but now lives in the… Read more »
  Writing for PinkNews, David Lowis shares his experiences of last week’s Jamaican Gay Pride celebrations and how the tide is changing for the country’s LGBT community. Emancipation Park in Kingston, Jamaica, August 1. A crowd of around 40 LGBT people, activists and allies has gathered, still on a high from the Pride pre-launch party the… Read more »
  Weeklong event that was previously almost unthinkable in a Caribbean country long described as the one of the globe’s most hostile places to homosexuality Jamaica’s LGBT community is holding its first gay pride celebration in the island’s capital, a weeklong event that was previously almost unthinkable in a Caribbean country long described as the one… Read more »
  The mayor of the Jamaican capital on Friday said she has “a responsibility” to represent all of her city’s residents, including those who are LGBT. “I come from the point of view that I, as mayor, have a responsibility to all the individuals of Kingston,” Angela Brown-Burke told the Washington Blade during a telephone interview.… Read more »
  Jamaican lesbian activist Angeline Jackson, executive director of Quality Citizenship Jamaica (QCJ), sees signs of progress in the fight against homophobia in Jamaica, as she explained in a commentary for Time magazine. See below for excerpts from the commentary, titled “Is ‘The Most Homophobic Place on Earth’ Turning Around?” Attitudes toward civil rights in Jamaica… Read more »
  Why I sued Belize and Trinidad and Tobago for banning gays from entering those countries (Editor’s note: Maurice Tomlinson is one of the best-known LGBT rights advocates from Jamaica. His activism over the years have brought him death threats, so he now lives in Toronto with his Canadian husband. He continues to fight for LGBT… Read more »
  The Jamaican Parliament is set to review the country’s Sexual Offences Act – which stipulates penalties against same-sex sexual activity. A joint select committee will begin the task of scrutinising the law on Wednesday 17 September. The Jamaican criminal code has long prohibited sex between men through the colonial era buggery law, but the 2009… Read more »
  Last Sunday, 25,000 Jamaicans rallied in support of their country’s explicitly homophobic anti-sodomy law, comparing homosexuality to rape and murder and arguing that anti-gay laws are “righteous and Godly.” Jamaica’s anti-sodomy law, as many Western news sources are eager to remind us, is a “colonial leftover,” a “holdover” from Britain’s bygone rule over the island.… Read more »
  San Diego, California – Angeline Jackson wishes she could bottle up Hillcrest and The San Diego LGBT Community Center, then uncork them in Jamaica. Her homeland is noted for its laid-back spirit … and its rampant homophobia. The U.S. State Department noted in a 2012 report regarding Jamaica that “homophobia was widespread in the country.”… Read more »
  Our research shows dancehall is a strong predictor of homophobia – but at last some Jamaicans are saying boom bye bye to bigotry Jamaica has a bad reputation for anti-gay prejudice. This small island in the Caribbean has become notorious not only for its anti-gay laws, political rhetoric and murders, but also for its broad… Read more »
  In honor of International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, Human Rights First unveiled a new campaign. Human Rights First is embarking on a major endeavor in Jamaica, trying to make the Caribbean island a safer place for LGBT people. Last month, the organization announced a new campaign to combat homophobia and anti-LGBT discrimination in the… Read more »
  “It is unassailable logic” that a ban on same-sex couples marrying “represents an assault on the principle of equality of people,” via the Jamaica Gleaner. One of Jamaica’s leading daily newspapers called for the elimination of the country’s ban on marriage equality and its law criminalizing sodomy in an editorial published Thursday. The Jamaica Gleaner… Read more »
  Former Prime Minister PJ Patterson is urging that the debate over Jamaica’s buggery law be framed within the context of current world trends and the realities that various differences exist in the society. Patterson, addressing a Rotary Club of Spanish Town meeting at the Police Officers’ Club in St Andrew Tuesday night, said both sides… Read more »
  Kingston, Jamaica (AP) — A handful of sex workers sit on discarded cardboard along a filthy sewer channel, sharing food and razors to shave their legs and faces as they prepare for the night’s labor on the streets of Jamaica’s capital. Gay sex and prostitution is illegal in Jamaica, and LGBT people who sell sex… Read more »
  Prince Jones says he will never go back to Jamaica, not even to visit. The 25-year-old, who is gay and uses a pseudonym to protect himself and his family, grew up in Kingston and recalls how he was repeatedly harassed over his sexuality before moving to the United States in 2012. The plight of gays… Read more »
  United Nations – Two years ago, a gay couple and their friend vacationing in St. Lucia were tied up, beaten, threatened with knives and guns, and told that they would be killed if they tried to escape. The men later freed themselves, climbed out a window and hiked down the mountain to a friend’s house.… Read more »
  Young LGBT Jamaicans are chased out of their communities by family and neighbors using vigilante justice to enforce the country’s laws against homosexual conduct. Now police are trying to push them out of their shelter of last resort. Kingston, Jamaica — Around 11 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 1, police officers led by Cmdr. Christopher Murdock… Read more »
  Jamaican police on Dec. 1 seized and burned food and clothing that concerned citizens had donated to LGBT youths who have been living in the sewers of New Kingston, activists say. The youths moved into the sewers after being evicted first from their families’ homes and then from abandoned buildings. The donations were part of… Read more »
  Panos Caribbean — A publication documenting the stories of 32 Jamaican men who have sex with men (MSM) will be released today, Monday, September 30 at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston. The publication, titled Speaking Out! Voices of Jamaican MSM, highlights the issues that affect MSM, including high levels of stigma, discrimination and homophobia,… Read more »
  At around 11 p.m. on the evening of September 21, 2013, a young gay Jamaican man was walking home after visiting a friend in the community of Newlands, Portmore, St. Catherine. Without warning he was set upon and stoned by a mob of men shouting “Ketch di battyboy” [catch the faggot], “Kill the battyman,” “Hol’… Read more »
  Comment: With all eyes on anti-gay Russia, there are three countries with a shocking need for coverage
  Paul Canning looks critically at media coverage of the LGBT situation in Russia, highlighting other areas around the globe where hate crimes and violence have also soared, yet where media coverage is still minimal. It’s Russia, Russia, Russia when it comes to ‘foreign gay news’ these days. But it’s a much bigger and badder gay… Read more »
  Outside of this country’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community, few might be familiar with the name of Maurice Tomlinson, a gay Jamaican activist and attorney who is fighting regionally for LGBT people. But if Tomlinson’s lawyer, Lord Anthony Gifford QC, who won the case against the anti-sodomy law in Northern Ireland, gets leave… Read more »
  A landmark case has begun in Jamaica with gay activist Maurice Tomlinson demanding the constitutional right to screen an ad promoting ‘love and respect’ Banning a gay campaign advert from being televised in Jamaica breaches the constitution, judges have been told. Gay activist Maurice Tomlinson is taking action against three Jamaican TV stations who refused… Read more »
  Unprecedented case deals with constitutional right to freedom of expression, addresses systemic homophobia Kingston, Jamaica — Freedom of expression is at the core of a major constitutional challenge using Jamaica’s new Charter of Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. From May 27-31, AIDS-Free World’s Maurice Tomlinson will put those rights to the test against three of Jamaica’s… Read more »
  A gay Jamaican man is planning to “aggressively agitate for change” to his country’s anti-sodomy law after allegedly being kicked out of his home because of his sexual orientation. As the Washington Blade is reporting, AIDS-Free World filed a Feb. 7 complaint with the Jamaica Supreme Court on behalf of local lesbian, gay, bisexual and… Read more »
  A gay student from Jamaica is set to challenge the legality of the country’s anti-sodomy law Javed Jaghai, a student and Jamaican gay rights activist has initiated a challenge to the country’s anti-sodomy law. AIDS-Free World, a Jamaican advocacy charity, filed a complaint against the law with Jamaica’s Supreme Court on behalf of Jaghai on… Read more »
  2012 was another challenging year but there are a number of noteworthy achievements. Jamaicans—government and citizens—continue to show we are able to recognize and respect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, regardless of our differences. The 2012 Boxill Survey on Homophobia showed that one in five Jamaicans respects LGBT people. Additionally, one in five… Read more »
  Male homosexuality and female prostitution were decriminalized in 1951 by the new Criminal Code adopted in 1950 and male prostitution has been legal since May 2006. Lesbians are not mentioned or acknowledged in the Greek Criminal Code. LGBT rights in Greece lag behind those of its Western European counterparts. Greece lacks many laws, provisions and basic rights that gay people enjoy in most developed countries of Western Europe and North America and LGBT issues are a particularly rare subject of public debate. Homosexuality is however becoming less a taboo and gays are enjoying growing visibility through the media, from print to cinematography. Legislation against discrimination in the workplace on the grounds of sexual orientation was adopted in early 2005 in accordance with the European Union Directive. Although there is no official recognition of same-sex couples, a 1982 law that legalized civil marriage between "persons", without specifying gender, allows in theory for same sex marriages; this issue is very contested within the government. Athens has a number of LGBT associations and a developing gay village in the Gazi, Athens neighborhood. A gay pride event, the 'Athens Pride' (see below) and an international Gay and Lesbian film festival, the 'Outview', are held annually. The gay scene in the island of Myconos and the lesbian scene in Eressos, Lesbos are famous internationally.
  Greece to send gay Syrian asylum seeker back to Turkey under controversial migrant deal, 2016/Jun/03
  People are divided about the circumstances The LGBTI community in Greece — and beyond — are demanding justice for the death of gay activist Zak Kostopoulos. Video evidence allegedly shows a group of men attacking and kicking Kostopoulos on Saturday (22 September). According to a report by PinkNews, authorities are still investigating the circumstances of… Read more »
  Gay couples will now be able to foster children in Greece. The groundbreaking legislation was passed by 161 votes to 103 on May 9. ? It will enable same-sex partners who are in civil partnerships to become foster parents – though adoption is still off-limits for gay people. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras welcomed the result… Read more »
  Greece’s Supreme Court has upheld a decision to void a gay couple’s marriage, nearly ten years after they tied the knot. Themis Katsagiannis and Dimitris Tsambrounis tied the knot on the island of Tilos nearly a decade ago, in June 2008. ? Greece does not permit same-sex marriages, but the couple were permitted to wed… Read more »
  Intro: Disgraced and Ashamed in Greece I visited Greece (Mykonos) last October, stayed in an seaside villa, ate plentiful meals, drove around the island in a rented car and basked in the sunshine. That’s how most foreign tourists experience Greece. They arrive and depart in a bubble of affluence and comfort and do not see… Read more »
  The Greek Parliament passed the controversial bill despite an absence of 73 MPs from across different parties in a house of 300. The bill will expand the rights of same sex couples in Greece, as well as ensuring equality in the workplace regardless of sexual orientation, gender or religion. The bill was approved by 201… Read more »
  Ruinous beauty, optimistic charm, a blazing hot gay scene – find out why Athens is still a top LGBTI hotspot I’ve pondered the progress of the Greek economic crisis with interest and confusion. Much of the xenophobic rhetoric around the crisis made me side with the Greeks long before I’d grasped the finer details of… Read more »
  The first civil union was conducted by Athens’ Mayor Giorgos Kaminis yesterday. Same-sex couples in Greece began entering into civil unions on Monday (January 25) after legislation passed in December came into effect. The first civil union ceremony conducted was by Mayor Kaminis and was between an unnamed male couple – a doctor and a… Read more »
  Greece’s parliament has approved a bill that allows gay and lesbian couples to enter a civil union. According to the AFP, 193 lawmakers backed the law, while 56 rejected it. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said that the bill would end a practice of “backwardness and shame” for Greece. The new law does not provide for… Read more »
  Greece’s new government has announced it will grant legal recognition to same-sex couples. Greece lags behind most of Western Europe on gay rights, banning same-sex adoption and refusing to recognise same-sex relationships. However, the radical left-wing Syriza party – which swept to power earlier this month – has confirmed it will seek recognition for same-sex… Read more »
  An archaeologist in Greece has uncovered ancient inscriptions celebrating gay sex, in what is believed to be some of the oldest erotic graffiti in the world. Dr Andreas Vlachopoulos of the University of Ioannina, has been working on the Aegean island of Astypalaia for four years. He reports finding inscriptions describing gay male sex alongside… Read more »
  The Greek Government has dumped plans to provide civil unions for same-sex couples after a backlash from conservative MPs in its coalition but will attach anti-discrimination protections for sexual minorities to an anti-racism bill Greece’s Government will not comply with a European Court of Human Rights ruling to open its heterosexual civil unions scheme to… Read more »
  Gay marriage sounds like an ultra-contemporary idea. But almost twenty years ago, a Catholic scholar at Yale shocked the world by publishing a book packed with evidence that same-sex marriages were sanctioned by the early Christian Church during an era commonly called the Dark Ages. John Boswell was a historian and religious Catholic who dedicated… Read more »
  Greece’s health minister has reinstated a draconian measure that allows mandatory HIV testing, detention, and even eviction. Health minister Adonis Georgladis has reinstated Public Health Decree 39A, a 2012 measure that allows police to detain people suspected of being HIV positive and force them to be tested, according the Greek news outlet ENET. The measure… Read more »
  Members of the European Parliament are worried by reports Greek police have started to systematically harass transgender women in Athens and Thessaloniki. Police have made numerous arrests in recent weeks, and detained a lawyer defending the women. Officers in Thessaloniki have been operating sweeping arrests, often with policemen behaving aggressively, under the pretext of ID… Read more »
  In February 1936 the young Patrick Leigh Fermor walked along the peninsula that we know as Mount Athos. It was there he celebrated his twenty-first birthday with Russian Orthodox monks. In 2011 the CBS ’60 Minutes’ programme gained access to the Holy Mountain, the first television since 1981. Here is a unique opportunity to take… Read more »
  What was supposed to be a fun evening for Stamatis Peramatzis, turned out to be a nightmare. As the 39-year-old was walking out of a parking lot together with his partner in an Athens mall, a man out of nowhere appeared and screamed: “Faggots, we will kick you out of Greece and you will never… Read more »
  ‘Gays are the new Jews’ in Greece, claim campaigners amid escalating violence against the LGBT community in Athens Campaigners are warning of escalating violence against gays in Athens, after knife-wielding neo-Nazis attacked a group of LGBT activists. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups in the Greek capital are ‘extremely alarmed’ about the escalating number of… Read more »
  Athens, Greece — Police say about 50 people threw eggs and plastic bottles of water at about 400 people holding a gay pride parade in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki. Police moved in to restrict the attackers on Saturday, but no injuries were reported. In recent days, Anthimos, the senior Greek Orthodox cleric in… Read more »
  A student who used legal loophole to marry partner on the island of Tilos in 2008 says legal battle has put gay rights back on the Greek political agenda A Greek student who took part in the country’s first gay wedding may take lawmakers to the European Court of Human Rights after they declared the… Read more »
  1 Greek TV fined over male kissing 11/03 February 13, 2011 – UK Gay News 1 Gay Youth in Athens to Stage Public Valentine’s ‘Kiss-In’ – Move follows self censorship of gay kisses in Kate Perry and Pink videos by MTV Greece and MAD TV Athens – Greek youngsters are getting fed up that a… Read more »
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