Homophobia Made AIDS a Caribbean Crisis

categories: HIV/AIDS, International Gay Rights

Published October 02, 2009 @ 04:40AM PT

HIV ribbon

Just how bad is the HIV/AIDS crisis in the Caribbean? If statistics tell the truth, then the answer is pretty damn bleak. AIDS is now the leading cause of death among adults in the Caribbean, and as a region the Caribbean has the second highest rate of new infections in the world, just behind Sub-Saharan Africa. And while people of all sexual orientations are affected, one thing clearly exacerbates the public health crisis of AIDS in the Caribbean: widespread homophobia.

The Atlantic takes a particularly close look at Jamaica this week, pointing out that homophobic policies -- Jamaica criminalizes homosexuality and has one of the most violent reputations when it comes to discriminating against LGBT people -- complicate efforts to educate around AIDS in the country. It's hard to talk to people about AIDS, especially gay men, when they're too damn afraid to come out for fear of being beaten or killed.

And it's hard to blame them. As one person told The Atlantic, he saw his boyfriend stabbed to death on the street, and also told the story of how another friend was locked inside a house and burned alive for being gay.

Homophobia has become so ramped up that people are starting to nix certain vocabulary words from their language for fear that the words sound too gay. As The Atlantic points out, many folks in Jamaica are refraining from saying the words "fish," "2," or "come back here," because the words are associated with being gay.

Earlier this year, when the United Nations debated a statement calling for the world decriminalization of homosexuality, one of the biggest reasons put forward for supporting the statement was that decriminalizing homosexuality allowed public health advocates to reach marginalized groups -- like LGBT people in many parts of the world -- with messages about how to prevent HIV/AIDS. That's not happening in Jamaica because of a fear of being sent to jail, a fear of being stabbed on the streets, or a fear of being wrapped up in rubber tires and set on fire. That's unacceptable, both from a public health standpoint and a human rights standpoint.

The Caribbean is failing on HIV/AIDS. Specifically, Jamaica is leading the way.

Share this Post

Comments (3)

That is sad that people in those countries don't care about those who have aids.I would ask them if someone you didn't get along with was having a heart attack wouldn't you call the ambulance? Of course anyone would. Why can't they have the same compassion towards someone with Aids? Lack of compassion kills people as much as physical ailments. Kindness and compassion shouldn't die out because you don't agree with their lifestyle.That is cold blooded.

Posted by Martin Martinez on 10/02/2009 @ 08:10AM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Reply
- 1 person likes this comment. Like
For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

reply to thread started by by Martin
Check Spelling
- Email me when there are new posts to this thread
- Comment Policy
Cancel Reply
This is just further proof how prejudice and intollerance does more to promote stupidity and death than anything else.

Posted by Thomas McHugh on 10/02/2009 @ 04:58PM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Reply
- Like
For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

reply to thread started by by Thomas
Check Spelling
- Email me when there are new posts to this thread
- Comment Policy
Cancel Reply
The situation regarding Jamaica's LGBT community is unjustified and an improvement is obligated to educate and prevent HIV/AIDS in that country. It's unfortunate that the Caribbean is second in region with the highest HIV/AIDS rate and that LGBT people have been burned alive and murdered in Jamaica. However, violence against LGBT people on the basis of sexual orientation is unjustified. For Jamaica to improve, there must be massive reforms in government and culture.

Posted by Edwin Bonilla on 10/02/2009 @ 05:17PM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Reply
- 1 person likes this comment. Like
For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

reply to thread started by by Edwin
Check Spelling
- Email me when there are new posts to this thread
- Comment Policy
Cancel Reply

Add a Comment

For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

Comment

Check Spelling

Email me when there are new posts to this thread
Comment Policy

Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the ideas covered in the posts. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; that contain ad hominem attacks; or that are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion.

Author

Michael is the Communications Director for the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School, and previously was Communications Director for Pax Christi USA, a progressive Catholic human rights organization.