viaThe Guardian by Sarah Boseley They are one of the world’s most beleaguered gay communities, brutalised by violence, hounded by a law that makes homosexual acts a crime and driven into the shadows in a country where four in five people admit they are homophobic. But now gay people in Jamaica are cautiously optimistic that change may Read More >>

via Open Society, by David Scamell A few weeks ago, civil society groups and human rights activists from across the Caribbean met with officials from UNAIDS, UNDP, and various national governments to talk about the impact that laws have on the HIV epidemic in the region. The meeting was the second regional dialogue of the UNDP Global Read More >>

via Jamaica Observer ONE of the world’s leading bioethics publications, Developing World Bioethics Journal, says Jamaicans are making it difficult for men who have sex with men (MSM) to be monogamous. The publication also suggested that Health Minister Rudyard Spencer is unhappy with the fact that his government “continues to support legislation that contributes significantly to the Read More >>

From Culture, Health and Sexuality, by Andrinopoulos, Figueroa, Derrigan and Ellen From the Abstract: Success in addressing HIV and AIDS among men who have sex with men, a key population in the global epidemic, is impeded by homophobia. Homophobia as a barrier to HIV prevention and AIDS treatment is a particularly acute problem in the prison setting. Read More >>

via Jamaica BSERVER, by Patricia Watson “The threats of criminal indictment and socio-religious discrimination against man-to-man sexual relationships have contributed to the increased vulnerability of MSMs to HIV,” said Cruickshank.  “Consequent to such discrimination, many MSMs are afraid of going to a pharmacy to purchase condoms and personal lubricant which are sometimes so precariously placed close to Read More >>

Remarks by Stephen Lewis, Co-Director of AIDS-Free World delivered at the Commonwealth People’s Forum on the eve of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) Tuesday, November 24, 2009, 10:00 a.m., Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago: It’s one thing to talk about the promotion of the ‘traditional family’ as the author of the Bill does ad Read More >>

via Worldfocus Violence and anti-gay attitudes tarnish Jamaican beauty There are no gay pride parades in Jamaica Ida’s story: Reversing the stigma of HIV in Jamaica Gay men in Jamaica must lead two separate lives Jamaica’s AIDS epidemic, by the numbers Pascal and Vestine are alive in Congo, but still not home Fighting the stigma and treating Read More >>

How AIDS became a Caribbean Crisisvia Atlantic Online, by Micah Fink “If it were AIDS that were killing us,” he said, “I would use a condom. But it’s people, not AIDS, that is killing us. AIDS has nothing to do with it.” We may be accustomed to thinking of AIDS as most rampant in distant parts of Read More >>

[Excerpt from Stephen Lewis’ speech at the IAS Conference, Cape Town, South Africa, July 19, 2009. Read the full speech.] When the Government of Senegal jails eight gay AIDS activists for no reason except homophobia, setting back the fight against AIDS, where are the scientific voices of condemnation? Right now, in the Caribbean, every country save the Read More >>

via Worldfocus Lisa Biagiotti is working on signature stories for Worldfocus on HIV/AIDS and homophobia in Jamaica. She reported with Producer Micah Fink and Director of Photography Gabrielle Weiss, both from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. Their reports will air on Worldfocus later this summer. Lisa gave the below interview to Thirteen.org. Q: Gay pride is Read More >>