Homophobia In The Caribbean

Last December, my friends and I went to a party called  Soca Frenzy Fete in London. The DJ started to play dancehall, (which had us all confused because it was a SOCA Fete and it had an entire dancehall room), we all moved side to side to rhythm that have touched our hearts from young. The fusion of old school dancehall, being with your friends, and having a good time filled the air until I heard a line that threw me off a bit.
I don’t remember the exact line but I know it had to deal with killing a “battyman.” 

In the middle of the Fete, I turned to my friends and we mumbled to each other ,“Uhhhh I don’t like this”, then continued to move to the next song the DJ started to play. 
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But that situation got me thinking, why are we so homophobic in the Caribbean? Why do majority of our regional hits contains such homophobic slurs? Why is this such a big thing in our communities?

About a year ago, I watched a clip on Facebook which addressed slavery in Jamaica. This particular section on clip, spoke on how homophobia is so prominent on the island. The lady mentioned that during slavery, if the slave master or the overseer thought the slave didn’t do their job at the right speed or they rebelled and disrespected them, they would anally rape the men in front of their peers, wives and children. It’s that psychological impact that has been passed down from generation to generation , which causes the fear of homosexuals. Does this make their discrimination towards them right? Of course not, but it isn’t easy breaking such stubbornness as well. 


Another big influence is Religion. The major religions in the Caribbean,Christianity and Islam, both heavily opposed the idea of homosexuality. When I mean heavily.... I mean heavily.... 
There are many cases where young men are killed or stoned because of their sexual preference. If God told us to love everyone just the way they are, why do we show so much hate to those who are different. The church bashes them on a daily basis and terms such as batty boy, faggit/faggot /chichi man, are used as derogatory terms from the mouths of the “holiest of holy”. Yet they want us to believe that they are preaching the truth and gospel but are bringing down an entire section of God’s people. 

Unfortunately, these type of ideologies are passed down from generations to generations. Sayings like “well at least we know he like girls, Thank God” or “Yes he is on the right side” even to “Boy you better like girls” can be harmful to those who are not heterosexual. The consistent  effort for making sure a guy ends up with a girl is one of the many reasons why persons aren’t comfortable with their sexuality. 


Now to those who would say “Buh meen fraid no faggot dawg, ion just want then near me” 

Yes, you are afraid of them. You have a PHOBIA of gay males. Why? You are afraid that they will hit on you and that they will inappropriately touch you. You know, the same actions that heterosexual males tend do to women on a daily basis. Normal stuff, well if it is happening from a male to a woman, definitely not male to male, that is when they must die. Right?

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Sadly, homophobia thrives through the Caribbean culture. It’s is ingrained in us through religious teachings and our pop culture. Chi Chi Man was such a big hit, but why are we burning humans who did absolutely nothing to us? 

This post only highlights a few points when it comes to the discussion of homosexuality in our community. Addressing the hatred towards the LGBT community in the region is another post itself. Now I'm not saying that these people are perfect, but they are human. They should be given the same human rights at the heterosexual human being.

​The question is, would you take the stand to change the narrative in the Caribbean community? 

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