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Jamaican church leaders have rejected mounting international pressure over homophobic hate crimes and murders, claiming the attitudes of Caribbean islanders would not be swayed by gay activists.
The Rev Dr Merrick ‘Al’ Miller, pastor of Jamaica’s Fellowship Tabernacle, said most islanders believed homosexuality was wrong.
“Homosexuality is wrong from every possible angle,” Miller told the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper. “It’s immoral from a physical, social and spiritual standpoint.”
Miller’s comments come in response to a scathing Human Rights Watch report on homophobic hate crimes in Jamaica and a series of Valentine’s Day protests led by the gay-friendly Metropolitan Community Church outside Jamaican consulates in Miami, New York, Toronto and Philadelphia.
MCC leader Rev Nancy Wilson said the church would not stop protesting until the country addressed hate crimes with a public education campaign and police sensitivity training on gay and lesbian issues.
She said MCC was “on the verge” of calling for a global boycott of Jamaican tourism.
However, the Rev Lloyd Maxwell of Jamaica’s AGAPE Christian Fellowship said a public education campaign on homophobia was ludicrous.
The MCC demonstrations were organised in response to a machete mob attack on three gay men in Mandeville on January 29. Two of the men were seriously injured and the third is missing, presumed murdered, after several men stormed their house.
At the Valentine’s Day protest in Miami, Wilson and a group of MCC leaders met with Jamaican Consul-General Richard Allicock for over an hour.
Wilson told the Washington Blade the meeting was encouraging. We had a frank honest discussion. We’re engaged in a long-term discussion and we’re not going to stop until gays and lesbians are protected in Jamaica,” she said.
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