According to Human Rights Watch, “attacks on homosexual people or people perceived as being homosexual or transgender” are commonplace in Jamaica.

LGBTI people live in constant fear of physical and psychological abuse. It is recurrent for gay men to be beaten, lesbians to be raped, and for gay-rights activists to be threatened or even murdered. In response to these attacks, the state usually does not take action. In fact, law enforcement officers have been known to encourage the attackers.

LGBTI activists in Jamaica are trying to appeal the anti-gay laws. In February 2012, The Guardian published an article stating that change may be coming for Jamaican gay communities because Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller proclaimed during her election campaign that she would allow politicians to vote against the ‘buggery law’. Dr Fenton Ferguson, Jamaica Health Minister supports the eradication of anti-gay laws as he believes the country needs to move forward and it would be for the “greater good.”

Reports from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International USA, the Asylum Research Consultancy, OHCHR, as well as from the United Kingdom Border Agency, all indicate a hostile environment for LGBTI people in Jamaica.

Evictions are also a reality for LGBTI Jamaicans. The Jamaica Star reported on July 16, 2010, that Kenneth Parchment, a man accused of being gay, had been beaten and chased out of his community, and threatened to be killed if he tried to return. Indeed, evictions organized by entire communities through events like the “Gay Eradication Day” are a serious threat to LGBTI people, often leaving them homeless and injured if not dead.

The threat for Jamaican LBT women includes corrective rape. There have been many reports of women being physically, verbally but also sexually abused due to rumors about their sexual orientation. Fearful of the authorities, LGBTI victims of rape often do not report the crimes, making them even more vulnerable to further abuse.

Some popular reggae music has been explicitly homophobic, sometimes suggesting violence against gays and lesbians.  Gay rights campaigns have been specifically targeting reggae stars with homophobic songs to “stop murder music”. Several reggae artists have already signed “the reggae compassionate act”, including Banton, Beenie Man, and Sizzla.  

Despite such victories, the violent discrimination of LGBTI people in Jamaica is still very real. Gay rights activists are at particular risk. On December 6, 2005, The Guardian reported a homophobic attack on a leading Jamaican Aids activist, Steve Harvey who was abducted and murdered. Brian Williamson was also murdered due to his activism. The director of J-Flag, Dane Lewis, is said to have “one of the country’s most dangerous jobs” precisely because of the violence faced by those who fight for LGBTI rights.

The Court of Appeal has handed down judgment on 12 June 2013 in a test case R (JB) Jamaica v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2013] EWCA Civ 666.

The claimant was a Jamaican national who came to the United Kingdom and claimed asylum on the grounds of his risk of persecution in Jamaica on account of him being a homosexual. The claimant was detained under the non-suspensive appeals process and his application for asylum refused. The claimant applied for judicial review of the defendant Secretary of State’s decision to include Jamaica in the designated list of countries contained in §94(4) of theNationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 and the decision to detain him. The judge dismissed the claimant’s application.

The Court of Appeal, Civil Division held (2:1) that it was unlawful of the Secretary of State for the Home Department to continue to designate Jamaica, under section 94 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, as a state where “there is in general no serious risk of persecution”, given the high level of persecution in Jamaica of persons known or suspected of being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.

The Court further held (3:0) that JB’s detention under the detained non-suspensive appeal (DNSA) and detained fast track (DFT) schemes was unlawful because the Secretary of State had failed to carefully assess whether his case could be processed fairly and sustainably in about two weeks as required by section 2 of the DFT/DNSA policy.

Summary by Garden Court Chambers.

SW (lesbians – HJ and HT applied) Jamaica v. Secretary of State for the Home Department
The asylum appeal was allowed after the original Tribunal was found to have made a material error of law. The appellant’s sexual orientation was accepted, it was affirmed that openly homosexual people are liable to persecution in Jamaica.
(London, Jun 2011)

NR (Jamaica) v. Secretary of State for the Home Department
The asylum appeal was allowed after the original Tribunal was found to have made an error of law. The case is to be remitted for consideration to establish the appellant’s sexual orientation.
(London, Aug 2009)

DW (Homosexual Men – Persecution – Sufficiency of Protection) Jamaica v. Secretary of State for the Home Department
The appeal is allowed on asylum grounds and Article 3 ECHR human rights grounds following a material error of law made by the original Tribunal that did not believe the appellant to be homosexual or that he had been assaulted.
(London, Nov 2005).