Polar Opposite Pride
Alex Parsons
What is culture? Typically, we think of race, nationality, and religion as things that form culture; but there is a lot more than that. Culture is also community, fashion, social justice, music, food, and anything of value to the specific group of people it applies to. Queer culture around the world follows some remarkably similar but also quite different customs. We need to learn about how the same culture can change around the world to grow our empathy to become better people and allies. In America, being queer is generally accepted and seen as valid, there’s festivals and organizations to celebrate and help queer people. In Jamaica, that is not the case. Being queer is not only not accepted but is punishable. Pride in America and Jamaica are vastly different because of the destination and history, let me tell you why.
Pride in America is a celebration of gay liberation and gay rights. It is where all community members can be truly and fully themselves safely and free of judgment. The first Pride has been argued for years, many say it is as early as the Stonewall riots, and others say it was the first American Pride parade that happened on June 28th, 1970. Pride has evolved from fighting for gay liberation and basic rights to family-friendly parades with costumes and toys being sold, it is crazy how things can evolve so drastically. Anyone and everyone can celebrate Pride! Although it is focused and centered around queer people; allies are always welcome to any queer event, we of all people know how important inclusion is. Queer American social systems have structures and organizations like PFLAG and the Trevor Project! There are social events like drag shows and clubs, and of course, online spaces. Support groups and advocacy efforts are needed for specific issues and promoting equal rights within the community. To the American queer community, Pride means safety, Pride means love, Pride means Joy, Pride means art. But it also means determination. We are told every day that our existence is a sin and that our lives are dirty. That we are a disgrace. Pride helps us forget about the cruel way we are depicted in the media.
Some examples of negative depictions in the media are transphobic laws. These people have the idea that we are predators, groomers, and only transition to do better in sports. I am going to tell you two quotes from two different articles, and I want you to think about how similar they are, and then think about the difference in time. “Armed with a warrant, police officers entered the club, roughed up patrons, and, finding bootlegged alcohol, arrested 13 people, including employees and people violating the state’s gender-appropriate clothing statute (female officers would take suspected cross-dressing patrons into the bathroom to check their sex).”(history.com editors) That is the first quote, let it sink in before you read the second one. “Invasive practices such as the forced examination of transgender athletes’ reproductive organs, as Idaho lawmakers signed into law last year, have no place in sports. Such “examinations” are embarrassing and an infringement on anyone’s right to privacy.” (Donovan Dooley) These articles both discuss checking the genitals of transgender individuals, 54 years apart. We are still facing these problems current day. This is why Pride is so important, trans and gay people need a space to be safe and be able to express themselves. Pride is important to me because I get to be surrounded by people like me who have experienced the same things as me, it helps me remember that I am not alone and that I will overcome. I chose to write about pride because of how it has saved my life. I feel so alone because of being transgender and gay, and being in a place where it is encouraged and loved, makes it all feel better. It makes me feel like I can keep going, that I am worth it, and that I must keep fighting.
Pride in Jamaica is a celebration of queer life, love, and liberation. It is a large parade held in Kingston with lots of food, face paint and fashion. The first Queer event legally held in Jamaica was on August 1st, 2015. It was late in relation to everywhere else in the world, but Jamaica only got its independence from the United Kingdom 62 years ago. Because it has been less than a decade since this annual event started, it has not had lots of time to evolve, that is not to say that barriers have not been broken within the Jamaican community. There are countless examples of homophobia in Jamaica that are thankfully becoming less common thanks to the exposure Pride gave that Jamaica needed. Many people celebrate Pride in Jamaica, it is not limited to just LGBTQ+ people, friends, family, and allies attend Pride. Activists and tourists also attend Pride along with institutions like J-FLAG. “J-FLAG” stands for Jamaica, Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals, and Gays. J-FLAG helps the queer community by advocating for queer rights in Jamaica where being queer is not explicitly illegal, but having gay sex is according to the “Offences Against the Person Act of 1864”, section 76 of the act criminalizes “acts of gross indecency” between men, whether it be in public or private. The punishment for this offense can mean imprisonment with hard labor, and some sentences ranging from several years to life imprisonment. P-FLAG is working hard to get this law changed for the safety of all queer people in Jamaica. This is one of the reasons why Pride in Jamaica is so significant, queer Jamaicans need a break. They need a space to safely live their lives amongst others, they need to be able to actually live their life. Pride is not only important but necessary for the people of Jamaica because of the trauma that is inflicted on all queer people from living in Jamaica.
There have been countless hate crimes and lynches on queer people living there, some I think must be mentioned: “In 2004, a crowd of Jamaicans cheered over the mutilated body of Brian Williamson, one of Jamaica’s first openly- gay men (Human rights Watch, 2004). That same year, police in Montego Bay encouraged a mob which stabbed and stoned a man to death simply because he was gay. In 2006, a man named Nokia Cowan drowned after a crowd which was shouting homosexual epithets chased him off of a pier (Padgett, 2006). And in 2007, a Kingston community launched a ‘gay eradication’ day. residents of the small community told a Jamaican newspaper that they would do whatever it took to make their community gay-free (McLeod, 2007). Clearly, in Jamaica the sentiment against same-sex relations runs deep, and Jamaican law is both reflective and a reinforcement of this hostility, treating homosexual conduct as akin to bestiality and punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment with hard labor (Human rights Watch, 2004).”- (Lovell, page 87.) This is why Pride is important. This is why Queer Jamaicans need a safe space. This is why Pride matters. Pride makes people feel safe, Pride makes people feel like they are not a monster, that they are an important human being deserving of love and human rights.
Pride in America and Jamaica are similar but different in many ways. They both celebrate the love and life of queer people and the process of overcoming oppression and discrimination. They are both full of rainbows and smiles, and both have a “FLAG” foundation supporting them. They both have an underlying tone of grief for those we have lost to hate crimes and lynches, whether it be decades ago or even a few weeks ago. Grief and Pride go hand and hand, balancing the pain of existing as a queer person with the joy that comes with having a community full of other people like you. There are a few staggering differences when it comes to how American Pride and Jamaican Pride differ from each other, the main one being government support. In America, Pride is not only recognized as an annual event but there is a whole month dedicated to celebrating in June. In Jamaica, there is no annual event, not an official one at least. The queer people of Jamaica have for years tried to make an annual Pride event, but they face a huge obstacle, security. Because it is still (to put it lightly) frowned upon to be queer in public, you can imagine how big a target an event with all sorts of queer people would be. That is not to say that the events in America are not targeted, but it is to say you are almost guaranteed to not be safe at a Jamaican queer event. Being openly queer in Jamaica can be the difference between life and death. In America, you can most certainly get bullied, thrown out of the house, be banned from your church, and in extreme cases, killed. These are all very valid and painful experiences all queer Americans will experience at some point in their lifetime. In Jamaica, these experiences are all taken to the extreme, with it being a hate crime waiting to happen. Queer Jamaicans and Queer Americans both face oppression and discrimination in similar ways. There will always be a connection between queer people all around the world, knowing we have all been through the same thing, in one form or another. It is this commonality that keeps the community together.
Pride is something that all queer people need in their life, whether it be a fond memory of when they did attend, or the hope of having it in the future, we need to have an environment where we can be authentically ourselves without repercussions. Queer people have been through Hell and back for simply existing, regardless of where you live. In America, Pride is something all queer folks look forward to, knowing that there is a whole community of people just like them. In Jamaica, Pride is something queer people pray and hope for to have in the future. There will always be people who try to silence us or put us down, but we will not be silenced simply because you are uncomfortable. We are strong, in your face, and will not back down without a fight. It is our job to learn about different queer people around the world to make sure they feel seen, and know they have a community that loves and accepts them, even if its halfway across the globe.
Works cited
Dooley, Donovon, “Laws requiring genital examinations for transgender youth have no place in sports or society” deadspin.com, 2021
https://deadspin.com/laws-requiring-genital-examinations-for-transgender-you- 1846283294
History.com Editors, “1969 Stonewall Riots – Origins, Timeline & Leaders” history.com, 2023 https://www.history.com/topics/gay-rights/the-stonewall-riots
Lovell, Jarret S. “‘We Are Jamaicans:’ Living with and Challenging the Criminalization of
Homosexuality in Jamaica.” EBSCOhost, 2016
https://doi-org.vwlmcproxy01.lwtech.edu/10.1080/10282580.2015.1101687.
Wharton, Dexter “Jamaicans Stage Milestone LGBT Pride Celebration” globalvoices.org, 2015
