(Kingston) Students at University of the
West Indies rioted as police attempted to protect a gay student and escort him
from the campus.
The Daily Gleaner reports that the student had
been chased across the Mona campus by another student who claimed the gay man
had attempted to proposition him in a washroom.
Dozens of students joined in the case and the
student sought protection in a university building.
The mob demanded that campus security turn the
student over. With security guards badly outnumbered college authorities called
in police fearing the gay man would be killed.
The Gleaner reports that a contingent of police
in full riot gear battled with students in an effort to protect the gay man.
Students threw objects from all directions at the
officers. At one point the gay man was stabbed by another student, although the
injuries are reportedly superficial.
The crowd only began to disperse when one officer
drew his gun and fired a shot in the air.
Violence against gays is all too common in
Jamaica.
In January a young man plunged to his death off a
pier in Kingston after reportedly being chased through the streets by a mob
yelling homophobic epithets. (story)
Earlier this month four people were charged with
the killing of Lenford "Steve" Harvey a gay man who ran Jamaica AIDS
Support for Life. (story)
Harvey was shot to death on the eve of World AIDS Day last December. (story)
Support for Life provides support to gay men and sex workers.
In 2004, Brian Williamson Jamaica's most vocal
advocate of LGBT rights was murdered. (story)
Gay sex is illegal in Jamaica, punishable by ten
years in jail, with the possibility of hard labor.
Reggae, or Jamaican dancehall music, is blamed
for fueling homophobia. Reggae star BujuBanton's hit song Boom Boom Bye Bye
which threatens gay men with a "gunshot in ah head".
The gay man rescued by police at the university
was taken to a police station where the claims he had propositioned another
student are being investigated. If the claim is substantiated he could face
charges.
©365Gay.com 2006
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