Chastised for being homophobic and condemned for their zero tolerance attitude toward gays. Jamaican artistes have suffered, their earnings taken a battering. What have they done? Some yield under the pressure and apologize, others go ‘mum’ and some though vowed to refrain from performing or singing slanderous or “hate” music, refuse to apologize . But can these issues be resolved? Recently in the local Jamaica Observer newspaper, Betty Ann Blaine, Founder at Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) and New Nation Coalition (NNC), published “The Big Gay Lie” Tuesday July 10, 2012 where she summarized the perceptive and deceptive views of the issue, highlighting statements made in another article titled, “Jamaicans Tolerant of Gays” published days before in that same newspaper where outgoing Assistant Commissioner of Police, Les Green spoke openly about “Gay-on Gay Crime in Jamaica.” Ms. Betty Ann Blaine wrote:-
Dear Reader,
Dear Reader,
The report in the July 8 Sunday Observer in which outgoing Assistant Commissioner of Police Les Green spoke openly about gay-on-gay crime in Jamaica, is not only timely but also important, given the orchestrated campaign against Jamaica. And when Les Green speaks people listen.
If there is a single police officer whose name has become publicly synonymous with integrity and truth-speaking, that police officer is Les Green. That is not to say that there aren’t many more like Les Green in the Force. The fact is, however, that Les Green became the face of anti-corruption within the JCF, earning him the respect and admiration inside and outside of the police force.
In addressing the concern of the murder of gay men in Jamaica, ACP Les Green is quoted as saying, “All of those murders that I have investigated have been in relationships and are victims of gay attacks, domestic situations.” The Sunday Observer report stated that Green flatly rejected the line of reasoning being promulgated by JFLAG (Jamaica Forum For Lesbians All-Sexuals and Gays) about the violence and discrimination levelled against gays in Jamaica, admitting that all the murders of gay men he had investigated, only one was not committed by a member of the gay community. “That was Steve Harvey and that case was a robbery,” Green said.
What Les Green has divulged is what most Jamaicans already know to be a fact. Jamaicans are not violent homophobes as JFLAG and the international gay community have been advertising. What Jamaicans do not accept is the open, “in your face” displays of homosexuality in its various modalities.
For far too long the homosexual lobby has been perpetuating the big lie about Jamaica’s violent homophobia with little evidence to substantiate the claim. What the gay lobby refuses to talk about is gay-on-gay crime, especially murders, and the levels of sexual violence perpetrated against the most vulnerable in the society, including children.
The international gay lobby must be made to understand that for Jamaicans homosexuality is both a deeply cultural and a deeply spiritual matter. Jamaica is not a country where sex and sexually explicit behaviour are openly displayed or tolerated, whether it involves heterosexuals or homosexuals. You don’t see, for example, couples kissing or caressing openly in Jamaica. That is just not our culture.
Open displays of homosexuality are even more unacceptable to Jamaicans, not only because people are unaccustomed to seeing that type of public display, but Jamaicans are a Bible-believing people, and are clear about what the Good Book says about homosexuality. For most Jamaicans, God’s word is paramount, even while they admit that sin abounds in the lives of all men – whether heterosexuals or homosexuals.
From what I see and understand, and contrary to what JFLAG is promulgating, gays in Jamaica have a tremendous amount of power and latitude. I am aware that many sit in very high and powerful places and wield a lot of influence both inside and outside of the country.
But JFLAG is not satisfied with the collective and financial power that the homosexual community possesses and the advancements it has made in Jamaica in recent times. What it appears determined to achieve is the wholesale societal acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle, even if it goes against the country’s cultural norms and Christian beliefs. In order to achieve the goal of “homosexualising” the Jamaican society, the strategy, it appears, is to affect legislative change as well as to marshal powerful external governmental forces to pressure Jamaica into compliance. It is important for the homosexual community to know that as far as Jamaicans are concerned, God is more powerful than governments, even when the majority of the governed are poor and dependent as is the case of Jamaica.
It’s interesting how selective and strategic the homosexual lobby is in its information and communication campaign. One of the issues not talked about are the levels of HIV/AIDS within the MSM (Men who have sex with Men) community. Are those cases increasing, and what does that mean for the wider society? As the homosexual community expands to include not just gays and lesbians, but bisexuals, transgender, transsexual, transvestite and intersex groupings, the question must be asked, is the lifestyle good and healthy for society? It seems to me that that conversation is not only imperative, it is urgent.
For me personally, I want to reiterate my deep love for all of God’s creation regardless of sexual orientation, and it is the Word of that same God on which I stand. What I find unacceptable, however, are the dishonest and exaggerated stories that are being bandied about to support claims of the wanton murder of homosexuals by Jamaican homophobes. It is time for Jamaicans to fully debunk the big lie, and the factual information coming from ACP Les Green should be duly noted and documented.
With love,
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