Jamaica prime minister responds to lgbt flag

One day, Mr Lewis hopes to be able to campaign for issues like same-sex marriage but says 'that's light years away'. 'There's no sign at the gate, just because we don't know.' 'We do have a security system just in case - a panic system - if we need to call and they're just about two minutes' away for them to respond,' he says. He says relations with police have improved but his office is still unmarked and doors remain locked at all times. He only started using his real name in media interviews in 2013.ДЇor five years he avoided going on television and told radio and newspaper reporters he was Jason McFarlane. Mr Lewis heads the LGBT rights group J-FLAG but even he struggled with coming out publicly. 'As one colleague framed it, it makes us all un-apprehended criminals.'Д®mancipation Park in Kingston, Jamaica symbolises a triumphant rise from the horrors of slavery. 'The law really hangs over our heads just as a big shadow,' gay activist Dane Lewis says. Any gay man reporting a hate crime to police risks finding himself arrested. Even today, it's punishable by 10 years in prison with hard labour. While Jamaica threw off colonial rule it retained the British prohibition on sodomy.

Within that pride is a deep certainty real men are heterosexual. It's a reflection of how many Jamaicans see themselves - strong, proud and unashamedly sexual. The most striking feature is a giant statue of a naked man and woman at the main entrance. Strong, proud and unashamedly sexualД®mancipation Park in the capital Kingston commemorates the end of slavery as well as Jamaica's independence from Britain in 1962. 'The only thing that I can say that I've done is to openly say that every man has a right to his own destiny, and to openly say that I have no objection with somebody's choice of how they want to live their lives.'Д«ut that can still be a controversial message in parts of the Jamaican community, where a heady mix of aggressive male sexuality and strict religious conservatism has been a dangerous recipe for intolerance. 'If you look at Bob Marley festivals, it was everyone. One of her most popular songs, Do You Still Care? was a direct call for tolerance, with the refrain: 'Why can't you accept me as I am?'Д®tana believes they're taking reggae back to its roots.Д«ob Marley's son Julian live on stage at his Dad's 72nd birthday celebration in Jamaica. 'The people who spread homophobic messages don't represent all of Jamaica,' Stephens said. We caught up with them in a crowded studio in Montego Bay where Etana was recording Stephens' new song, Queen of the Concrete Jungle. Stephens and Etana are at the forefront of a push to turn the image of reggae around. 'So, this conversation needed to grow and I wanted to be a part of the growth of it.' How are you going to teach them if you cut them off? 'A part of the message is bad, a big part is good and you lose everything.

It made me boycott certain artists, some of whom have good messages too. 'I've had to reshape the way I book, I've had to refuse shows with certain artists. 'I've had one show cancelled because another artist was on it and he wasn't allowed to play,' Tanya Stephens, a close friend and collaborator of Etana, said. US promoters often ask them to submit song lyrics for approval before sponsoring their visits. Today, reggae artists still suffer from the stigma of that period. Jamaica's proudest cultural export had become associated with something shameful.

In 2006, Time magazine asked if the island was 'the most homophobic nation on Earth'. Some of Jamaica's biggest stars were banned from touring the United States. LGBT rights groups began an international boycott of 'murder music'. They were a small minority but they tainted the industry. Translated, that means: 'Boom, bye-bye, in a faggot's head, the tough young guys don't accept fags, they have to die.' Notorious lyrics in the Jamaican patois included:Д«oom bye-bye Inna batty bwoy head Rude bwoy no promote no nasty man Dem haffi dead Stars like Buju Banton and Beenie Man performed and popularised songs that were blatantly homophobic. ( ABC News: Matt Davis)Д«ut in the 1990s, a darker side of the island's culture came to the fore, particularly from a louder, more aggressive sub-genre of reggae called dancehall. A young girl stands in front graffiti in Trench Town Jamaica.

Jamaica prime minister responds to lgbt flag