EDITORIAL: Gay-baiting at state events

If she has not done so as yet, Lisa Hanna, the minister with responsibility for culture, must establish clear protocols for artistes who accept invitations, or are paid, to perform at state-sponsored national events.

Among these we list the show known as the Grand Gala, usually held at the National Stadium as part of Jamaica's annual celebration of the anniversary of its Independence. We make this proposal in the context of what reasonable people can only conclude to be the gay-baiting that has recently become the trend at these shows.

On Tuesday, it was the turn of the Rastafarian reggae singer who calls herself Queen Ifrica. She not only felt it her duty to declare her own heterosexuality, but to presume, seemingly, an absence of space for gays.

Among her remarks: "No gays round here!"

At last year's show, the main event in Jamaica's celebration of its golden jubilee, the respected dancehall artiste called Tony Rebel did the same thing. He lectured, in verse, on the merits of heterosexual relationships and called on the prime minister to ensure that marriage remains between a man and a woman. Incidentally, Section 18 (2) of the Jamaican Constitution already guarantees marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

The calls for the repeal of the anachronistic buggery law and for the protection of the rights of gays and transgender people are matters of current debate in Jamaica. There has emerged in this argument an alliance between the fundamentalist Christians and other social conservatives, including Rastafarians.

In the context of the debate, Queen Ifrica and Tony Rebel will claim that they only exercised their free-speech rights. Any such claim, however, misses the point, or is perversely disingenuous.

First, a show like the Grand Gala is not a private event to which the audience pays to go and, therefore, makes a specific choice about the artistes it wants to see perform and, by extension, the message it is willing to consume.

State events, paid for by taxpayers, including gays, are just that. They are expected to be inclusive affairs; they are not the circumstances in which people are expected to mount soapboxes to promote partisan political and social causes.

If that is to be the case, Ms Hanna, or whoever succeeds her, may well advise segments of audiences who may be the subject of an artiste's harangue to stay away from such shows.

BALANCE RIGHTS WITH RESPONSIBILITY

Further, those who claim on these occasions to be exercising free speech, a principle to which this newspaper subscribes, ought to be aware that this right is underpinned and balanced by responsibility. It is no exercise of a right, but public mischief, in the absence of real danger, to, in a crowded room, shout, "Fire!"

It is a fact, and notoriously so, that gays in Jamaica, and particularly male homosexuals, are often victims of violence. Gay men at a carnival parade may be set upon and stoned. A male university student accused of having a sexual liaison with another male might be attacked by security guards. A 17-year-old cross-dresser at a dance is likely to be beaten, stabbed, shot and, when he is dead, have his body dumped in bushes.

The larger point is that, in certain circumstances, there can be a thin line between free speech and incitement, which, hopefully, Minister Hanna understands.

The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.