British Consul murdered in Homophobic attack

[CurtCB]

"A British honourary consul has been found murdered at his home in Jamaica, in what police believe is a homophobic attack.
John Terry, 65, was found lying in his bed with severe head injuries and a cord and piece of clothing around his neck. He is thought to have been beaten around the head and upper body with a lamp. Post-mortem examination results released today showed he died of strangulation.
A note found on the bed called him a "batty man" - a homophobic term of abuse. It added: "This is what will happen to ALL gays" and was signed "Gay-Man".
Although Mr Terry's wallet and phone were stolen, police do not believe robbery was a motive for the killing.
According to various reports, a detective working on the case said: "It might be that someone took exception to Mr Terry.
"We do have reports that he has been seen with another man. It is likely he could have known his killer.”
Mr Terry's body was discovered on Wednesday afternoon after a neighbour raised concerns that a light had been left on all night. There was no sign of forced entry to the property.
He was the British honorary consul to the Montenegro Bay area and had worked for the past 12 years helping tourists who had gotten into difficulties.
He is thought to have separated from his wife three years ago. She and his two children live in Kingston, Jamaica's capital.
Jamaica is known to be one of the most homophobic countries in the world. Gay sex between two men can carry a ten-year jail sentence or hard labour. Sex between two women is currently legal but many lesbians face persecution.
Foreign secretary David Miliband offered his sympathies to Mr Terry's family: "John Terry was a key member of our team in Jamaica and had been an honorary consul for 13 years, but with many years of other service to the British community in Jamaica before then.
"Honorary consuls like John play a valuable role in our work overseas and this was especially true of John who helped many, many British visitors to Jamaica over the years.
"My thoughts are with his wife and children. He will be greatly missed too by colleagues and all those who knew him."
British consul killed in - from Pink News - all the latest gay news from the gay community - Pink News


("Jamaica is known to be one of the most homophobic countries in the world. Gay sex between two men can carry a ten-year jail sentence or hard labour. Sex between two women is currently legal but many lesbians face persecution.")

Curt says:
Jamaica is a democracy these are laws they have chosen and an honorable man is dead because of their blatantly homophobic culture. .


I say boycott Jamaica till they have to eat their own feces to survive!

[marshlander]

Jamaica has a very unsavoury reputation and it is not on my list of places to visit, although I daresay there are individuals who are horrified at what is happening in their country. I heard about the killing on the news yesterday, but I wasn't aware of the link with homophobia till I read this.

Sadly change is going to be a long time coming. The "Stop Murder Music" campaign of a few years ago saw many of their disgustingly homophobic perfomers squealing about loss of earnings when shows and then whole tours were cancelled unless the performers involved signed up to the "Reggae Compassionate Act" and promised not to perform their offensive songs and to retract the messages contained within them. Some, like Buju Banton, apparently signed the Act and subsequently denied doing so. Thankfully, he has just had several performances cancelled in the USA. While I am generally in favour of freedom and openness of speech and expression, that right stops when people are advocating the likes of:

"... Anytime Buju Banton come
Batty bwoy get up an run
At gunshot me head back
Hear I tell him now crew

(Its like) Boom bye bye
Inna batty bwoy head
Rude bwoy no promote no nasty man
Dem haffi dead ...

Send fi di matic an
Di Uzi instead
Shoot dem no come if we shot dem--
Don't want Jackie
Give dem Paul instead ...

(Caw me say) Dis is not an bargain (Me say)
Dis is not a deal
Guy come near we
Then his skin must peel
Burn him up bad like an old tire wheel
gwaan buju banton yuh tough ..."

Obviously I have selected which bits of the lyric to copy and reproduce. If you can stomach it the whole song is here

Amnesty International has long been running a campaign to raise awareness of homophobic violence in Jamaica.

[boxerdc]

I'm always stunned by this sort of violence. I have family in Martinique and can tell you that, while homosexuality isn't openly discussed, it's fairly well tolerated there. Jamaica seems to be the only island that openly advocates discrimination and violence against gays and lesbians. I wish I knew the why behind the disparity, but I don't. By and large, the Caribbean is a beautiful and tolerant part of the world, with the exception of this one island.

[fredv3b]

I say boycott Jamaica till they have to eat their own feces to survive!

I am in two minds about boycotting Jamaica. On the one hand it is tangible, not merely symbolic, and relatively easy to do. On the other hand, although the governing class will be able to see the link between the country's laws and economic hardship, would the average Jamaican voter see the link between the countries laws and their own personal economic hardship? Also would attempts by global powers and former colonial and slave-owning powers to force Jamaica to change its domestic policies encourage a counter-productive nationalist backlash? Discuss please....

[marshlander]

A determined and powerful leader will always find ways of circumventing a boycott. Concerning the effectiveness of boycotts I heard Mugabe speaking to a radio journalist yesterday and he sounded so smooth, so reasonable. It made my skin crawl.

I'd like to think that the citizens of Jamaica deserve better, but I'm not sure what I really mean by that. The pack carnage that follows a "view halloo" is sickening and I can only try to imagine what a terrifying experience it must be for any victim of this expression of homophobia.

While, for instance, the interest of Amnesty International raises an issue to greater consciousness outside the country under the spotlight it doesn't affect many people day to day. How many were affected by Amnesty's interest in the UK treatment of detainees in Northern Ireland? A boycott would inevitably bring increased pressure on the poorest and on those less able to defend themselves.

Jamaica's economy has seen steady growth over the years, but this growth has been hampered by social policy and crime. One might have thought that the government would be more keen to tackle these issues, but that's clearly not happening quickly. What would a boycott mean anyway? Wiki gives us these figures:
Exports: (1999) 1,238 billion $ (Natural resources: 55.7%, Food 19.1%, Bananas 4%, Chemicals 3.6%, Machinery 2.2%). The main export countries: United States 33.4%, Canada 14.1%, United Kingdom 13.4%, Netherlands 10.2%, Norway 5.8%, France 5%, Germany 4%, and Japan 2.3%. It is the second largest exporter of bauxite (after Australia) in the world. Does this mean we stop using aluminium?

I already choose my bananas and sugar with care, don't drink rum, would not dream of buying "murder music" and have no wish to visit the country. What kind of a boycott did you have in mind, Curt?

[marshlander]

I guess it's only fair to point out today's news on this affair i.e. that it may not have been a homophobic hate crime after all.

[princealbertofb]

The mere fact that this crime may have been camouflaged as a homophobic crime is hateful and scary.
What I mean by that is that if homophobia weren't so rife in Jamaica (if it didn't occur at all even), it would not be possible to use it as an excuse for covering up another type of crime.
Are we sure, though, that the authorities are not hiding this under a pile of convenient administrative (political?) lies?

[CurtCB]

After reading the article you posted Marsh to me it's quite clear that Jamaica is feeling the pressure. It has been rated the most homophobic place in the western hemisphere and the government is scared of losing tourist cash.
However it is the government's responsibility to educate the populace and they aren't inclined to do. They would rather cover the whole affair up.
I will give you an example in what my idea is:
In the US gay friendly corporations are constantly threatened with boycotts from the rightwing. They seldom bend to those threats because they know the power of the gay dollar. Miller beer is a South African company today because they supported a racist homophobic Senator and a boycott ensued.
for my part I have prepared a stack of letters to take to the National Equality March ready to be signed by different individuals and sent to American companies operating in Jamaica. Maybe that will make a difference or at least educate the American gay community to the perils of traveling to Jamaica.
Of course I can't be sure of the outcome, but at least I stood up.
Before Fred chimes in, yes it may amount to nothing but at least I tried.

[fredv3b]

After reading the article you posted Marsh to me it's quite clear that Jamaica is feeling the pressure. It has been rated the most homophobic place in the western hemisphere and the government is scared of losing tourist cash.

I agree, but is that reality appreciated by the average Jamaican voter?

In the US gay friendly corporations are constantly threatened with boycotts from the rightwing. They seldom bend to those threats because they know the power of the gay dollar.

Also few of these threatened boycotts have real teeth, often, in reality, sales are reduced by not that much for not that long. But the gay dollar is powerful, all the same. As is the liberal straight dollar, they may not buy products because of gay-friendly corporate policies, the they may well boycott companies that kowtow to the right-wing.

for my part I have prepared a stack of letters to take to the National Equality March ready to be signed by different individuals and sent to American companies operating in Jamaica. Maybe that will make a difference or at least educate the American gay community to the perils of traveling to Jamaica.

Out of interest are many American (or non-American) gays so ignorant of the situation in Jamaica that they travel there?

Of course I can't be sure of the outcome, but at least I stood up.
Before Fred chimes in, yes it may amount to nothing but at least I tried.

My concern, in my usual pessimistic way, is not that it will amount to nothing but that it will be counter-productive. My fear is that the Jamaican government will follow the economic carrot and stick and try to make a few pro-gay (or, probably, less anti-gay) reforms, but that the Jamaican political opposition will decry the sell out of the 'Jamaican democratic will' to foreign and colonial powers and an 'international gay conspiracy', thwarting the reforms and stirring up more anti-gay bigotry. However being realistic, so long as a boycott doesn't become too formally organised or becomes too high profile, and sticks with individuals voting with their wallets and persudadng their friends to do likewise then, on reflection, I think my disaster scenario is unlikely. Particularly, if we can persuade our straight friends to join us.

[marshlander]

... In the US gay friendly corporations are constantly threatened with boycotts from the rightwing. They seldom bend to those threats because they know the power of the gay dollar ...

for my part I have prepared a stack of letters to take to the National Equality March ready to be signed by different individuals and sent to American companies operating in Jamaica ...

Unfortunately Heinz did bend :mad: ... not that I ever bought many of their products before I stopped altogether.