It’s an elected leader’s duty to protect all citizens

THE EDITOR, Madam:

In light of the recent situation where a particular politician called for a homophobic song to be played at a political rally, I must add my voice to the fray. It is entirely distasteful for an elected leader of the people to promote homophobia in such a moment. Our elected leaders were voted in to represent all people, including queer individuals. Queer people are, in and of themselves, people, and, moreover, they are citizens of the country.

Many may argue this to be a matter of the right to “freedom of speech,” but it is more clearly a matter of the leadership we have, the people they represent, and how much they value those who they represent. While it is true that we have the constitutional right to freedom of speech, this right is bounded by the rights of other citizens. One of the most pertinent of these is the safety of our citizens. Although we may not have hate speech laws, we, as citizens, are bound by the constitutional protections that currently exist. To an even greater extent, as an elected leader, it is their duty to protect all citizens.

The whole rhetoric of “You know what to do” is entirely troubling. This open-ended remark by a leader of the people, not a random citizen, is quite telling and works to undo the progress of the nation. While many may intentionally overlook it, we have made significant progress as a country. To revert to the same homophobic rhetoric of the ‘90s seems to be an attempt to drag us back to the days when queer people feared to be themselves. It is time that we, as a people, ask ourselves, “Do we really want this to be the Jamaica that we live, work, and play in? CONCERNED