Taylor should reject lazy, anti-gay populism

THE EDITOR, Sir: “LOOK, I just ate a patty, so there is no hunger in Jamaica” seems to be Orville Taylor’s logic. In his tortured reasoning (‘Playing the ass over homophobia’), Jamaica is not homophobic because there have been signs of increased tolerance towards the LGBT community.

Yet, your newspaper’s most recent poll on homophobia in Jamaica identified that nearly 90 per cent of citizens supported the anti-sodomy law. Within the last month, your sister paper, THE STAR, reported on a gay man being brutalised by relatives at a funeral in Westmoreland, and three police officers were found extorting two gay men who were sleeping in a car in Montego Bay.

A young pastor who was barbarically killed at a church in Kingston was savaged on social media for daring to wear lip balm for a professional photo shoot, thus ‘proving ’his homosexuality.

As the coordinator of the recently concluded Montego Bay Pride, I documented multiple death threats that were made against the organisers and attendees. These graphic threats are available for viewing on the Montego Bay Pride Facebook page, where many Jamaicans have not been shy about expressing their disgust for the LGBT community.

As a social scientist, Dr Taylor understands the need for representative samples before drawing conclusions. I also expect that he appreciates that he should consult with the subjects of his research to ensure an accurate representation.

I therefore trust that in the future, he will uphold the highest standards of academic rigour and reject lazy populism passed off as research.

MAURICE TOMLINSON Montego Bay, St James