-------------------
If you all travel on the TTC during the day then you would most likely pick up the Metro Newspaper. This publication is usually hit and miss, sometimes having great eye catching (but short) articles. Other times however you just skim through to the entertainment section, which is usually filled with juicy gossip. On Monday though a certain article did catch my eye, about a man named Michael Hayden. The article was good but scarce so i went online and find a better version of it through the Toronto Star news service.
A Jamaican police officer says he's living in fear after coming out as a Gay Man, and hopes to come to Canada where he can safely speak up on behalf of other Gay Jamaicans. Michael Hayden, who has been on the police force for four years, said other officers routinely attacked, and abused him after becoming suspicious of his sexual orientation. After speaking out publicly about the problem, in The Jamaica Star newspaper this month, the 24-year-old Hayden said he began receiving death threats."I want to stay here and fight," Hayden said, in a telephone interview from Jamaica yesterday. "But it's not safe for me. My life is in great, great jeopardy." Human rights groups say Hayden's case is the latest in a series of disturbing anti-Gay incidents in the Caribbean tourist destination. The Jamaican police force declined to comment on Hayden's situation. Sodomy is a criminal offence in Jamaica, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years."We have no comment at this time," Karl Angell, a spokesperson for the Jamaican Constabulary Police Force said in a telephone interview from Jamaica yesterday.Hayden is not the first Gay Jamaican to seek asylum out of fear for his life, said Rebecca Schleifer, a researcher with Human Rights Watch in New York, and author of Hated to Death, a report on gay bashing and its impact on the fight against HIV/AIDS in Jamaica. Jamaica lost a key leader in the HIV/AIDS battle, she said, when gay activist Gareth Henry fled the country last month and sought refugee status in Canada. Henry had been co-chair of the Jamaican Forum for Lesbians and Gays and also a volunteer with Jamaican AIDS Support for Life .Henry, 30 told the Star yesterday that he started thinking about leaving Jamaica after being beaten by police a year ago on February 14th at a drugstore in Kingston, Jamaica. He says police deny beating him, and has said he's lost 13 gay friends since 2004, yet police refuse to acknowledge there's a problem, often blaming the dead victim's lover or other Gay Men."The situation for Gays and Lesbians in Jamaica is getting worse," Henry said in his telephone interview in Toronto, where he's now living. Henry said he feels for Hayden. "He's unsafe. They're hunting him daily. It's one of those very sad cases. For him coming out, he didn't want to be another person who died before he got to tell his story." Hayden is now on a leave of absence from his job and is in hiding while his allegations against his fellow officers are being investigated. Violence against Men who have sex with Men, ranging from verbal harassment to beatings, armed attacks, and murder, is pervasive in Jamaica, according to Schleifer's report for Human Rights Watch.The church denounces gay sex, popular music reinforces prejudices against gays and lesbians and police do little to stop violence against them, she noted.
My first reaction to this was " I really hope an organization here in Canada will make the effort in trying to protect him. Also "I hope the Canadian government grants him refugee status so he can come up here." Then I starting thinking was it the right time for him to come out and go public about his sexuality? I think what he was trying to do was very admirable, wanting to fight for the good of all Gay Jamaicans, but he must have known that right now his country doesn't want to hear it.
Its good to point out that Jamaica isn't the only place on earth that has these human rights issues. In fact in some places its even worse. Places like Iraq, where two young men where sentenced to death for being homosexual, and hung. This sentence was given by the Ayatollah, a strong Iraqi spiritual leader who states "Gays should be killed in the worst Way Possible."
Q: What is the judgment on sodomy and lesbianism?
A: "Forbidden. Those involved in the act should be punished. In fact, sodomites should be killed in the worst manner possible."
A quote taken from an Iranian cleric who was nominated by Iraqis for the 2005 Nobel Peace prize. Contradiction or what? I did find a reaction, and an opinion to these statements. I would like to first point out that this opinion doesn't directly reflect my own but I did find it something worth showcasing.
And I quote "Muslims in the West, and Homosexuals are both minority groups. So what? Muslims are violent, hate-filled killers who prey on Homosexuals. That is almost without exception.Christians often do not have any higher opinion of homosexuals than do Muslims. There is a fundamental difference: Christians generally don't kill homosexuals. Individual people might bash gays, and when they do we all press till the criminal is captured and prosecuted. It is the law that saves homosexuals from the few who would harm them; in Islam it is the law that kills homosexuals. Now, some homosexuals are too stupid to understand the difference, and they side with Muslims in their stupidity, thinking that one minority is the same as the next so long as both hate America and share a number of the same cliches." quite a mouthful!
In my opinion what seems to be the issue in these countries is how much religion plays a big part in government. Religion in most cases is law, inforced by people who twist those beliefs to fit their own goals and to place fear on others. For example Asama Ben Ladin, who took the muslim religion and twisted it, making it seem terrifying and making the western world think that's what being muslim is all about. Religion to me has no place in goverment. Goverment should be a democracy representing all peoples living in those borders, and peoples who's beliefs maybe different from the majority. "The church denounces gay sex, popular music reinforces prejudices against Gays and Lesbians and police do little to stop violence against them." This just proves that for those of us who want to fight its going to be a very tough battle. Sometimes staying quiet, and working behind the scenes is a better option. Regardless, some places in the world still have "alot of growing up to do."
-----------
So there it is. I'd like to point out that this was written in 2008, and if it was written today I have written it a little different..but there it is..hope you enjoyed
The two men hung in Iraq
No comments:
Post a Comment