I have a sign on my gate, a replica from an old English train station that forbade entry to, among others, “females of doubtful reputation.” This seems quaint and amusing, until you realize that there are still countries in the world that arbitrarily forbid entry to prostitutes, alcoholics, “feeble-minded persons,” and homosexuals. This last archaic and discriminatory list belongs to Trinidad & Tobago, which along with Belize, has been taken to court by noted Jamaican gay rights and AIDS campaigner, Maurice Tomlinson, in an effort to try to lift the immigration ban against homosexuals in both countries. According to the Human Rights Campaign, they appear to be the only remaining countries that have such a ban written into law. The Trinidad law most famously hit the headlines in 2007 when singer Elton John, who is gay and from Britain, was forced to get a special immigration permit to perform in a concert there. Tomlinson brought the case as legal advisor to AIDS-Free World, a New York-based international non-profit organization that advocates for and with people affected by HIV and AIDS.Eleven Caribbean countries, as well as many around the world, have anti-sodomy laws but no immigration ban, including Jamaica, from which Tomlinson was forced into exile in fear for his life. Jamaica ranked seventh in the world in a 2013
Newsweek poll of “most homophobic countries.”Just last week, President Obama was in Jamaica on a state visit during which many equality groups had hoped he would speak out on LGBT rights. He duly obliged, participating in a town hall meeting where he publicly recognized Angeline Jackson, the executive director of Quality of Citizenship Jamaica, an organization that works to meet the needs of lesbian and bisexual women. Obama’s actions prompted U.S. National Security Advisor, Susan Rice, to tweet: “Anti-LGBT discrimination and violence is unacceptable everywhere.”Jackson had endured a kidnapping and sexual assault before creating her support group. Obama praised her courage and her work to make Jamaica “a place where everybody, no matter their color, or their class, or their sexual orientation, can live in equality and opportunity.”Immigration officials from Belize and Trinidad and Tobago have been eager to downplay their homophobic laws by insisting the gay ban is never enforced as long as those entering come from member countries of the Caribbean Community Secretariat or CARICOM. But AIDS-Free World would like to see the law removed altogether.“Homophobic laws like these, even if not enforced, entrench stigma and foster discrimination against LGBT persons, and violate their human rights,” said Janet Burak, a lawyer and Deputy Director of AIDS-Free World who attended the hearings.
The five-judge court will decide the Tomlinson case some time in the coming months. If the suit is successful, it will only lift the immigration ban for LGBT individuals who are CARICOM nationals.
Given the clear correlation between high HIV rates and homophobic laws and societal behaviors, AIDS-Free World sees the need for more than just changes in the law. “HIV rates are high when homophobia is entrenched not only in the laws, but in the behavior of the general population,” Burak told the Agenda. “The level of violence drives people underground where they cannot see counselors, get testing or treatment.”
That’s one reason why AIDS-Free World is trying to change the anti-sodomy laws as well, starting in Jamaica. But it is proving to be a challenging assignment.
“We did have a domestic suit there,” continued Burak, “but the claimant was compelled to withdraw because of threats to his safety and security.” The organization will try again, if they can find a plaintiff courageous enough to take on the risks for the cause.
