Golding's doublespeak

The Editor, Sir:

During his Emancipation Day Message, Prime Minister Bruce Golding said some pretty remarkable things for a man some accuse of leading a stubborn and intolerant administration (remem-ber the BBC HardTalk interview in which he refused to entertain the prospect of gays in his Cabinet, and the more recent lashing of the Government by the Supreme Court for its 'disrespectful' treatment of the Island Special Constabulary Force?).

The prime minister said: "Until bigotry and prejudice and malicious and inhuman self-interest have been replaced by understanding and tolerance and goodwill, until that day, the world will not know peace.

"In the final analysis, Emancipation goes beyond the unshackling of the chains of slavery and the inscribing of equal rights in constitutions and universal declarations. It comes down to a question of respect for each other and the dignity with which we treat each other. That, ultimately, is what emancipation is all about."

For Jamaica's gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans and intersex population. Emancipation has not yet come. In the meantime, the group cowers out of the reach of effective HIV and AIDS treatment care and support, contributing to the spread of the disease among the general population. The question is, will the prime minister follow up his nice-sounding words with action by including sexual orientation and gender identity as grounds for non-discrimination in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms now before the Jamaican Parliament? Or will the peace these communities (and, by extension, all Jamaica) so desperately seek continue to be elusive? Will cock mouth kill cock? Or is the PM finally learning that tolerance (even without acceptance) is the only way to peace in the war against HIV and AIDS?

I am, etc.,

MAURICE TOMLINSON

maurice_tomlinson@yahoo.com

Montego Bay, St James