"If the police are against you, to whom can you turn for aide and protection?"...

photo source: transgriotblog

"If the police are against you, to whom can you turn for aide and protection?"

...Gay Jamaican cop eyes asylum in Canada

(source: UPI)

OP-ED to the BLOG

by MW Savant, CEO

"Well, as the gay/bi Constable says "If the police can be against you, what about the civilians?"

It begs the followup: "If the police are against you, to whom can you turn for aide and protection?"

Evidently, upholding the law above all else doesn't apply in Jamaica. Especially if you're a GLBTI person. The mobs seem permitted, nee, encouraged to commit these hate attacks and the victim is to blame and out of luck. "Dem only batty boys, dey!"

From the BLOG of the ever-insightful Monica Roberts (TRANSGRIOT), comes a poem on the subject.

The latest is that a Jamaican constable is reporting harassment and is in fear of his life after coming out as bisexual and/or gay. He has had his belongings thrown out of his station house, presumably by fellow cops. He is seeking asylum in Canada in order to preserve his life.

This is the most pathetic and blatant hate and discrimination on its face. No one can deny it. It says that the law can only protect you if you're just like the lawmakers (read: heterosexual)? You're not allowed to be who you are and receive the protection to which you are entitled as a citizen? This is yet another seething wound on the hands of that country.

However, it seems clear that they couldn't care less about world opinion or who is watching. It appears that the government endorse and condone this savagery. This island is rumored to have the highest murder rate in the world and, therefore, not a place I feel comfortable in recommending or supporting.

Even though savvyplanners.com has now launched an official GLBT travel agency called savvyTravel™, I refuse, despite any loss of sales, to encourage, guide or facilitate any of our clients making visits to Jamaica. It is abhorrent and horrifying to me to even consider enabling a client's injury, harassment or death as a result of facilitating and coordinating their trip.

I have gone on record as abstaining from booking anything in Jamaica for clients unless, and until, the government move to protect their own GLBTI citizens and the well-being of GLBTI visitors. I have made this a company policy for the good of our clientele. What's right is right.

In fairness, it isn't only Jamaica that permits this zeitgeist against GLBTI persons and the accompanying violence. It is pervasive, broadly, in the Caribbean. I'm furious at this complete disregard for humanity and civility. People know that I am no 'activist' but I am certainly an "equalist".

Shouldn't someone stand up? Shouldn't the world be outraged? I'm reminded of the statement by the Pastor Martin Niemoeller, Dachau, Germany, 1941.

"In Germany they came first for the Communists and I didn't speak up
because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me-- and by that time no one was left to speak up."

To be clear, at no time will savvyplanners.com, savvyTravel™ ---or any of our other subsidiaries--- ever willingly participate in encouraging or helping clients to travel to homophobic places in the (extremely appealing, beautiful and popular) Caribbean for weddings and honeymoons or vacations in which their safety and lives may be in danger simply for being GLBTI people. Profit, in this case, is clearly irrelevant.

There is no gray area in Equality. Therefore, I am unable to ignore the obvious maltreatment of gays and lesbians, bisexuals and transgender men and women in destinations throughout a very large part of the Caribbean. The entire raison d'etre for opening savvyplanners.com, nearly four years ago, was rooted in the obligation and opportunity to assure that GLBTI couples are not maltreated in any forum. Our stated mission is to protect the interests and well-being, dignity and honor of GLBTI ceremonies and events. This has not, nor will it, change.

Business and profits must take a back seat to human injustice wherever and whenever it can. Profitability and social responsibility--- the two entities are not impossible to reconcile.

-Just a friendly neighborhood "Equalist",

Mr. MW Savant, CEO"

Editor's Note: The preceding opinion is a statement by savvyplanners.com CEO MW Savant. It is his opinion on the matter and is entirely supported by savvyplanners.com, its principals, staff and affiliates.

Related:

Gay Jamaican Cop Eyes Asylum in Canada(UPI)

The Most Homophobic Place on Earth (TIME Magazine)

Jamaican mob attacked two gay men, putting one in the hospital with serious injuries, while the other is missing.