A few days ago PM Golding declared to the world, via the BBC in England, that he would never allow a gay person to sit in his Cabinet. This opinion was widely hailed in Jamaica as a true show of strength and leadership by the PM. He was lauded for sticking to it the cultural imperialist who want to impose their views on Jamaica. Of course Jamaica, being a God fearing country, would have none of this.
My Opinion? I disagree. Bruce Golding represents the people of Jamaica and should encourage legislation and government that represents the interest of all its citizens. The laws in Jamaica prohibit discrimination. Golding by these words has just expressed a disregard for the law of the land even while touting the law that says that buggery is illegal. True it is illegal, but like so many other politically inconvenient issues the law being used as an excuse for inertia. Former PM Patterson infamously stated that the law is not a shackle, and then went on to declare an impromptu National Holiday to celebrate the Reggae Boyz success in their World Cup march. Patterson is right. The law is not a shackle it is a tool to be judiciously and justly to the benefit of the citizens of a country, and if the Reggae Boyz and Jamaica could enjoy the fluidity of the law so too can this segment of the population. From where I sit gay rights are human rights as surely as women, children and black people have rights. I always hasten to remind people that not too long the law allowed slavery, treated women and children as property and denied the vote to everyone including white people unless you were a white male of a certain amount of property value. The law changed. These anti-gay laws can change too. The law is not a shackle.
However, in order to change laws politicians must be able to take unpopular positions and demonstrate leadership. It also requires the expense of some political capital. In these days of political pandering no politician is going to show such leadership or expend such capital, and causes that that are definitely unpopular will go nowhere. I would hope that we could have more politicians in Jamaica that are willing to buck the populist trend and institute reforms that gives more protection to their gay and lesbian citizens. These men and women work as hard as anyone else and their money is just as green. They contribute to the economy, their families and the country. They should have some protection and equality under the law. I find it strange that in Jamaica’s bible thumping society, so bent upholding the ways of the bible, that criminals can murder people in front of large crowds and walk away without being fingered, but a gay man can’t walk down the street without fear of being beaten to death by a mob. I find it strange that the music glorifies gunmen, dons and bad boys but denigrates gay individuals with threats against their lives and property. The masses sing and dance and extol the bad man tunes, lifting their figurative guns to the air as they big up the scourges most often identified as the biggest sources of problem in Jamaica, the bad man. They also do the same when the selector asks them to voice their disapproval of gays. No, they must never be allowed to walk in the dance, and you should never associate with people of that kind. But I wonder when the schools are closed down from violence, and mothers hold their head and cry from losing a son or daughter to crime, when people run in the night from their burning houses in the midst of rival gang warfare, when grandmothers are killed on their doorstep and children cower under their beds hiding from men running through the backyard who the culprits are. I’ve never heard of any gay going on a crime rampage. Still we big up the gunman and denigrate the gays. I find this incompatible with my religious views about the sanctity of life.
When I had this discussion with my friend in Barbados she said I had been living in the US for too long. Funny. I worked in DuPont circle for a while and that is one of the gayest places you could ever set foot in. During my lunch breaks on warm spring days I would eat lunch in the park. There, milling about openly and unashamedly, were all kinds of gay couples - Men, Women, Transsexuals, Black, White and Asians. At first it was a shock to sit on a park bench and see too men holding hands and sharing a salad but after awhile I didn’t even notice. In Tallahassee, there were many female cross dressers who I couldn’t even tell until after careful consideration that they were women. I was the target of some of their pick up attempts and I know people who cry bloody murder for this kind of thing but after the shock of it I just didn’t care. I know I’m not gay and they could never turn me gay so who cares. It’s just someone else to turn down. I don’t think my friend was right though, it’s not that I’ve become desensitized, it’s just that their lifestyle doesn’t affect me. I think my energies are better spent on things that matter and those who would do real harm to society.
Now here in the US California has legalized gay marriage and America continues to discuss where they want to go on the issue. I don’t support gay marriage. Marriage is an institution between a man and a woman. I support civil unions and the rights of gays in those relationships. That's not US desensitization, it’s just my view of human rights.
Additionally, I am one of those of the opinion that being gay is not uniformly a lifestyle choice. I understand the biology of how gender and sexual preference is determined and understand from science that people occupy a wide spectrum along this path. People may have fully functional and developed male genitalia but have genetic codes mixing male and female. Hormones released during pregnancy could cause an excessive amount of exposure to a biological female that makes her more like man in personality and sexual preference. It’s a fact of life, these things happen. I could no more discriminate against someone because of their skin colour, or their sickle cell condition, both caused by genes, than I could someone who is gay.
My mom, little sister and I had a discussion on these very same issues and she told me of her recent visit to a department store. MY little sis pointed out a male cross dresser to her. Uncertain but curious they trailed this man around the store so they could get a good look. When the man turned and they got their look they ran off bewildered. My sister, she fell on the floor laughing. My mom, a very conservative woman who has never before witnessed any of this kind of thing, was bewildered. She ended bent over laughing and crying at the same time. She felt pity for someone who would make himself look so appalling to go out in public. We both asked why anyone would choose a life of such suffering if they could help it. She supports Bruce Golding and his Cabinet policy. However, after our discussion of the legal, human rights, biblical and cultural aspects and biological science of the matter she acknowledged her agreement with me that most of these people need sympathy and understanding.
A Pastor friend of mine discussed the apparent biological and biblical conflict of gayness. I asked him why God would allow anyone to be made/ born gay and then have to spend their whole lives as condemned beings, fighting their biological natures. He reminded me that God gives us all challenges to bear and overcome in our lives, being gay is one of them. He says that not because you are gay (and God gave you these genetic predispositions) means you have to succumb to these impulses. He says we have freedom of choice and can exercise control over these desires through prayer and a relationship with God. My relationship with God is complicated right now, so I still am thinking about that one.
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