Jamaican Prime Minister Says No to Gays in His Cabinet

As a child growing up in Jamaica, homosexuality was never talked about. It was actually taboo back then and is still not tolerated today. Actually, people rarely talked about premarital sex and teenage pregnancy, though they were occurring. Though many may have reservations against the homosexual orientation, I believe people have a right to their own sexual orientation and should not be harassed if they choose to lead such a life. Jamaica has always looked down about that and they certainly will not bow to international pressure to be more accepting of the orientation. Actually, I remember back in the day that Rastafarianism was no so widely accepted either and today that is more or less, not the case. As much as Bob Marley was a musical legend in death, he was not that legend in his early life in Jamaica because of his lifestyle.

According to Caribbean 360, Jamaica’s Prime Minister Bruce Golding is standing by his decision not to make any room for gays in his Cabinet and insisted that his country would not bow to international pressure for the recognition of gay rights. The sad reality is that many people share his sentiments and applaud him for his resolve. “A Prime Minister must decide what he feels would represent to the Jamaican people, a Cabinet of ministers who would be able to discharge their functions without fear, without favour and without intimidation. That’s a choice that I had and I made that choice,” Golding said on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) ‘Hard Talk’ television programme aired on Tuesday.

“Jamaica is not going to allow values to be imposed on it from outside,” he added.”We’re going to have to determine that ourselves and we’re going to have to determine to what extent those values will adapt over time to change, to changing perceptions and to changing understandings as to how people live, but it can’t be on the basis that lobby groups, far away from Jamaica, are going to start to define for Jamaica how it must establish its own standards and its own morals.”

The news article said that Golding made it clear that the State respects the right of homosexuals to privacy and suggested that despite the country’s long-standing culture that is very opposed to homosexuality, there is greater acceptance now that people have different lifestyles and their privacy must therefore be respected. He said that the authorities were also very clear that crimes against persons because of their sexual orientation must be pursued with the same vigor as any other crime.

Jamaica is not the only country that frowns about homosexuality and I suspect that trend is not likely to change in the near future. For example, the Gambian president Yahya Jammeh has threatened to behead gays unless they left the country, according to reports yesterday. The subject is a very tricky one to navigate, but yet, like race, it is a very necessary one to have constructive dialogue about. I have a few homosexual friends who I see no different from a heterosexual. So, whatever reservations one may have, we are not the judge and jury of anyone’s choice of lifestyle. We must be accepting and inclusive. We must accept people for who they are within legal parameters, of course. While I don’t condone the Jamaican government’s position, I respect it, having been born there and immersed in the culture.

I would like to say, however, that homosexuality is the least of the island’s problems. This should not overshadow the need for a drastic crack-down on the high crime rate that continued to rock the island, as well as high unemployment rates. Jamaica has lost its soul, in many regards, as it was ravaged by the previous administration headed by Portia Simpson-Miller and Percival Patterson. Jamaica was the premier tourist destination in the Caribbean, but much of the country has fallen into disrepair and a total disregard for law and order. I returned home two years ago and was appalled to see how Montego Bay had changed from a tony city into a mad, bustling locale with the cemetery in disrepair and taken over by thick brush. A two lane thoroughfare had suddenly become a four lane road, landmarks in abject conditions, among other things.

So, Jamaica has more to worry about than homosexuality and the government should not lose sight of its mission to put Jamaica back in the No. 1 destination of tourists. It is grappling with the fallout from mismanagement and possible criminal activity by the previous administration, among other things. There is no reason why Jamaica could not capitalize on some of the outsourcing from the United States, but who will invest when there are problems with the high crime rate, for example? The island is ideally located to capitalize on such programs and I believe the the current Prime Minister is savvy enough to see that.

I think Bruce Golding is wrong in stating that he does not want homosexuals in his cabinet. My position is this–if you have a really good worker, who is knowledgeable and is an obvious asset, why would you turn him or her away because of the choice of sexual orientation? What he is stating is that he would rather employ an idiot or someone less qualified to be in his cabinet based on sexual orientation. Isn’t that discrimination? But again, the Jamaican culture is like many others that frown upon the lifestyle and refuse to budge. Jamaica does not need to be in the spotlight over this problem when it has bigger and more pressing issues to deal with. Surely Bruce Golding would not like to be discriminated against because of the color of his skin. I guess the flip side of this issue is that many Jamaicans feel the same way the Prime Minister does, so they will not budge one iota. So, the human rights organizations’ choice to focus on the island may not do much good, if any, unless it impacts what the government gives to the island in terms of financial assistance, exports and trade agreements. I seriously doubt the American government will get involved and I really don’t think tourists will boycott the island for this reason only. Just my thoughts, you be the judge…..

Filed under: Bruce Golding, Homosexuality, Human Rights, Jamaica