“The Most Homophobic Place in the World”
The legacy of DEAN MORIAH and DWAYNE JONES.
On July 21st a group of individuals attacked gender-nonconforming Dwayne Jones. He was shot, stabbed, and left for dead on a road near the party he had earlier attended. He was only 17. On August 23rd another group attacked two men they perceived as gay following a car accident. Five days later, yet another mob repeatedly stabbed and set aflame a man they alleged to be gay, called Dean Moriah. He was 41. All of these hate crimes involving homosexuality occurred in Jamaica. These unlawful acts occur so often it leads one to believe without a doubt that their authorities are doing nothing to end it. Perhaps they truly aren’t trying. It is not my place to decided that though. This is simply the kind of madness that becomes too much for me. To dislike someone’s lifestyle is one thing, to hate it enough to brutally torture and kill them is another.
On many levels these unforgivable and heartbreaking instances seem to quickly be becoming a way of [some of] the Jamaican people. This disgust…this homophobia…this untarnished hatred. They’ve been branded as “simply being this way”. It is fine to have a negative feeling toward someone’s way of life – people will always judge you and hold different values, but killing someone else just because you detest their life choices is wrong.
As sad as it is to say…love and equality are two strangers to Jamaica. Darkness and rage consume them and it is then spread to their children. I wonder how anyone can survive in a place where the light rarely shines…
Note: In accordance with Anti-Gay Violence, Time Magazine coined Jamaica “The Most Homophobic Place in the World”.
