Page 5 - My Scrapbook project 2 Citizenship

Letter to the EDITOR

END MARGINALIZATION OF THE LGBT

COMMUNITY

THE EDITOR, Madam:

The Lesbians, Gays, Bisexual and Transsexuals (LGBT) community has been frowned upon over
the years and especially in a homophobic country has Jamaica, these minority groups do not
stand a chance. It’s time for a change.
There are numerous articles that have been published as a cry for help for the LGBT community.
Their human rights have been infringed on in so many ways and as a result; they’re not allowed
to marry, to benefit from social security and to have freedom of thought just to name a few. This
marginalized section of the society does not get proper opportunity of socio-economic
development.

Which leads me to my next point the groups human rights have been / are being violated
continuously, for instance in an article written by LGBT activist and attorney-at-law Maurice
Tomlinson he stated that the constitution prevents his husband from acquiring citizenship
through marriage, as this is only available to heterosexual couples. I also have read numerous
posts on Facebook, of couples who say they are so madly in love but, they cannot go to the next
chapter of their lives due to the barriers faced by the laws of the land.

Second, the LGBT human rights have been / are being violated when it comes to their social
security, a number of LGBT members have made reports to various communication groups ,the
main ones being news channels to raise concerns about being physical and sexual abuse both by
the officers who are supposedly to be protecting them and members of society on a hold. They
are in constant state of fear for their lives because of the repercussions of giving identities of
their perpetrators, so they ask the news reports to keep such information confidential.

Third, their freedom of thought has also been violated, where they are unable to express
themselves freely without being discriminated against one way or the other. In most professions
if not all, a number of LGBT groups have been hiding in the shadows of heterosexual groups,
why? This is because if they dare to come out as being queer, they are likely to be fired by their
bosses or shunned by their colleagues because of their sexual orientation. Sometimes the way
they dress, look or talk is a problem for people, so they constantly have to be looking over their
shoulders.

My recommendations on strategies that could be implemented to improve the inclusion of this
minority group is for the government to implement regular sensitization workshops to be held in
every institution, so as to educate society to be better to understand the LGBT community. The