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Jamaican LGBT advocates condemn murder of cross-dressing teenager

17-year-old reportedly stabbed to death during party near Montego Bay

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Montigo Bay, Jamaica, gay news, Washington Blade

A street in Montego Bay, Jamaica. (Photo by D. Ramey Logan via Wikimedia Commons)

Jamaican LGBT rights advocates have expressed outrage over the reported murder of a cross-dressing teenager near the resort city of Montego Bay.

The radio station Irie FM reported the 17-year-old was dancing with a man at a party on July 21 while dressed as a woman when someone realized the teen was cross-dressing. A second man reportedly discovered the teenager was actually male.

Irie FM said a group of party-goers stabbed the 17-year-old to death either late on July 21 or early Monday morning before dumping the teenā€™s body in bushes on the side of a road.

The Jamaica-Gleaner reported earlier today that police officers found the teen, whom they identified as Dwayne Jones, with what it described as ā€œmultiple stab wounds and a gunshot wound.ā€

ā€œWe send our sincere condolences to the family and friends of the teenager who was slain,ā€ the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians All-Sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG,) a Jamaican LGBT rights group, said in a statement it issued on Tuesday. ā€œWe call for a thorough investigation into the murder of the teenager in Montego Bay and hope that the family and loved ones of the slained teen will find the justice they deserve.ā€

Jonesā€™ murder comes against the backdrop of pervasive anti-LGBT violence in the Caribbean nation.

A J-FLAG report said the organization knows of at least 30 gay men who have been murdered in Jamaica between 1997 and 2004.

A man stabbed J-FLAG co-founder Brian Williamson to death inside his home in Kingston, the countryā€™s capital in 2004. Former J-FLAG executive director Gareth Henry sought asylum in Canada in 2008 after he received death threats.

Authorities found honorary British consul John Terry strangled to death inside his home near Montego Bay in 2009. They found a note left next to his body that referred to him as ā€œbatty boy,ā€ a derogatory term used against gay men in Jamaica.

Maurice Tomlinson, a Jamaican lawyer with the group AIDS-Free World who fled his homeland in 2012 after he received death threats after local media reported he had married a Canadian man, told the Washington Blade from his home in upstate New York that there have been nine reported anti-gay murders on the island so far this year. He added there has been a 400 percent increase in the number of reported attacks against LGBT Jamaicans since 2009.

Tomlinson said this spike in the number of reported incidents could be the result of the work advocates have done to document human rights abuses against LGBT Jamaicans.

The Jamaica Supreme Court last month heard a lawsuit that challenges the islandā€™s anti-sodomy law under which those who are convicted face up to 10 years in prison with hard labor.

ā€œThe rhetoric is getting much more toxic,ā€ Tomlinson said, noting brutal attacks against gay Jamaicans has become more common. He said they are no longer confined to just Kingston and a handful of other areas. ā€œWeā€™re not sure if the increase in attacks is a function of that or the reporting.ā€

The State Department, Amnesty International and other groups have criticized the Jamaican government for not doing enough to curb anti-LGBT violence in the country.

AIDS-Free world has challenged Jamaicaā€™s anti-sodomy law before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in D.C. It has also asked the group that is housed within the Organization for American States to formally respond to the ongoing persecution that homeless men who have sex with men and other vulnerable groups of gay Jamaicans face.

Tomlinsonā€™s group also plans to ask the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to formally condemn discrimination and violence against LGBT Jamaicans.

The Organization of American States, of which Jamaica is a member, last month adopted an anti-discrimination resolution that includes sexual orientation and gender identity and expression during its annual meeting that took place in Guatemala. Jamaica declined to accept the protocolā€™s LGBT-specific recommendations.

Tomlinson, who appeared on the National Public Radio program ā€œTell Me Moreā€ with Michel Martin on Monday to discuss the documentary ā€œThe Abominable Crimeā€ that examines anti-LGBT violence in Jamaica, told the Blade the government has been ā€œabsolutely silentā€ on the issue.

Former J-FLAG staffer Nico Tyndaleā€™s cousin was murdered in Jamaica earlier this year because his assailants thought he was gay.

Tyndale told the Blade earlier on Tuesday that many people continue argue the country is not homophobic ā€“ and gay Jamaicans are actually ā€œthe ones killing ourselves.ā€

ā€œWe canā€™t even be who we are,ā€ Tyndale said. ā€œBeing who we are only leads to a mob and a slaughter.ā€

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World

Trump election sparks concern among activists around the world

Brazilian organization: Grassroots advocacy crucial to defending LGBTQ rights

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A poster in Santiago, Chile, in 2017 mocked then-President Donald Trump. Activists around the world with whom the Washington Blade has spoken this week expressed concern over a second Trump administration and its impact on LGBTQ rights around the world. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

LGBTQ activists and advocacy groups around the world have expressed concern over President-elect Donald Trump’s election.

“I worry that Trump’s win means no protection for global LGBTQ+ human rights,” Sexual Minorities Uganda Executive Director Frank Mugisha told the Washington Blade.

Mugisha added Trump “won’t or step in to support us” when “we are under attack with extreme anti-gay legislations.” (The Biden-Harris administration last year imposed visa restrictions on Ugandan officials and removed the country from a program that allows sub-Saharan African countries to trade duty-free with the U.S. after President Yoweri Museveni signed the Anti-Homosexuality Act.)

Esteban PaulĆ³n, a long-time LGBTQ activist in Argentina who won a seat in the country’s Congress in 2022, echoed this concern and Mugisha.

“My first reaction (to Trump’s election) is concern over how it is going to impact (LGBTQ) rights in the international sphere,” PaulĆ³n told the Blade.

Biden in 2021 signed a memo that committed the U.S. to promoting LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad as part of his administrationā€™s overall foreign policy. The White House in the same year named Jessica Stern, who was previously the executive director of Outright International, as the next special U.S. envoy for the promotion of LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad.

Then-State Department spokesperson Ned Price during a 2021 interview with the Blade noted the decriminalization of consensual same-sex sexual relations was one of the Biden-Harris administrationā€™s priorities in its efforts to promote LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad. Stern in 2022 told the Blade that support of marriage equality in countries where activists say such a thing is possible through legislation or the judicial process is ā€œamong a wider set of priorities.ā€

Trump during his first administration tapped then-U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell to lead an initiative that encouraged countries to decriminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations. Activists with whom the Blade has previously spoken questioned whether this effort had any tangible results.

Axios on Thursday reported Grenell is Trump’s top candidate to succeed Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Bru Pereira and Gui Mohallem are co-directors of VoteLGBT, a Brazilian organization established in 2014 with a mission to increase LGBTQ representation their country’s politics.

Pereira and Mohallem in a statement they sent to the Blade on Wednesday said the U.S. election outcomes, “especially as they reflect a divided political landscape, underscore an international trend we are observing ā€” a growing divide between progressive movements and the resurgence of conservative, often authoritarian, political forces.”

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was in office from 2018-2022. He faced sharp criticism because of his rhetoric against LGBTQ Brazilians, women, people of African and Indigenous descent and other groups. Thousands of Bolsonaro supporters on Jan. 8, 2023, stormed the Brazilian Congress, presidential palace, and Supreme Court.

President Luiz InƔcio Lula da Silva took office a week earlier.

Pereira and Mohallem in their statement said they are “witnessing how grassroots efforts, particularly from marginalized communities, are crucial in defending LGBTQ+ rights under right-wing governments.”

“For us, advancing and protecting LGBTQ+ rights in such a context involves fostering local leadership, as well as strengthening community resilience and alliances,” they said. “Itā€™s about creating spaces where voices traditionally sidelined ā€” especially those of trans, Black, and Indigenous LGBTQ+ individuals ā€” can lead democratic change. Here, we see our role not just in advocacy but in shaping an intersectional approach to political transformation, one that insists on the inclusion and visibility of diverse identities.”

“Ultimately, we believe that the democratic health of any nation depends on its most vulnerable communities being empowered to speak up and lead,” added Pereira and Mohallem. “Weā€™re committed to supporting this journey, even in times of political setbacks, through community solidarity and international collaboration.”

Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice Executive Director Joy Chia in an email to supporters on Wednesday largely echoed Pereira and Mohallem.

“As a funder of LGBTQI+ communities in all regions of the world, the Astraea Foundation is keenly aware of the far-reaching impacts that this election will have and has already had,” wrote Chia. “I also recognize that political repression is not new to LGBTQI+ activists and our communities. This isnā€™t our first time working in hostility and chaos, and we are ready to resist.”

“The Astraea Foundation will continue to work alongside grantees to build power and create sustainable change so that our communities can thrive. We will continue to push liberation forward, support our grantee partners, and hold true to our intersectional feminist values at every turn,” added Chia. “The work we do every day is vital, and this difficult moment only strengthens our resolve to keep the fight moving forward.”

Outright International Executive Director Maria Sjƶdin in an email to their group’s supporters said the U.S. election results “have raised deep concerns for many of us who care about fundamental human rights, freedoms, and democratic norms for LGBTIQ people and everyone else around the world.”

“As Outright International unites with you, our global community, we know that this outcome impacts not only the U.S. but also the global momentum toward justice and equality. Nationalism, authoritarianism, white supremacy, xenophobia, anti-queer, and anti-transness have been on stark display throughout the election campaign,” they wrote. “Such narratives risk eroding years of progress and scapegoat marginalized communities. Resulting policies could deny gender recognition, defund LGBTIQ-supportive programs internationally, and be a threat to international cooperation and multilateralism.” 

Sjƶdin added “moments like this also reveal the strength of our global solidarity.”

“The spirit of connection that fuels our shared movements is needed now more than ever,” they said. “From Argentina to Poland, Uganda to Ukraine, LGBTIQ communities are rising to this challenge. Together, we can and must resist discriminatory forces and protect and continue to advance the progress made. This isnā€™t just about policies ā€” itā€™s about our lives and those of our global community.”

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News

LGBTQ groups offer support, advice in response to Trump election

Messages stress resilience, ways to keep anxiety in check

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President-elect Donald Trump /strong>'s election has prompted anxiety among many LGBTQ people. (Public domain photo)

In the wake of Donald Trumpā€™s victory in the presidential election, several advocacy groups have sent out messages of support to the LGBTQ community, outlining next steps as well as advice on how to keep anxiety in check.

In a message sent on Wednesday, Erin Whelan, the executive director of SMYAL, a nonprofit serving LGBTQ youth in the D.C. area, acknowledged the ā€œsadness, anger, and disappointmentā€ of the results of the election, but struck a defiant tone. 

ā€œRemember this: No decision, no law, no societal judgment can change who you are or the incredible strength you carry within you,ā€ she said in the message. 

When Whelan addressed LGBTQ youth specifically, she asked for them to keep hope, emphasizing the communityā€™s resilience.

ā€œWe come from a long line of organizers and activists who have fought for generations to protect our community. We are, and will continue, to do this work with you,ā€ she said.

On the eve of election day, Narissa Rahaman, the executive director of Equality Virginia, a Virginia-based LGBTQ advocacy group, sent out a message titled ā€œNo matter the outcome ā€” weā€™ve got us.ā€Ā 

In the message, she said the organization had heard from many community members ā€œwho are experiencing fear, anxiety, and even panic in anticipation of the election results, including some who are having trouble living with family members or around neighbors with whom they disagree politically.ā€ 

She advised patience when waiting for results to come in due to more Americans voting by mail, and said Equality Virginia would always fight for the community and demand accountability and transparency from political leaders, no matter the outcome of the election. 

The Human Rights Campaign released a statement from President Kelley Robinson on Wednesday.

She said she was ā€œheartbrokenā€ by the result of the presidential election and the loss of other ā€œpro-equalityā€ champions in races across the country.

ā€œWe see you ā€” thereā€™s no question that we will face more challenges in the years to come as part of our fight for full LGBTQ+ equality,ā€ she said. ā€œBut our ancestors taught us that resilience is our superpower. Make no mistake ā€” we are not backing down.ā€

The HRC statement also highlighted key wins for the community, including Sarah McBride, who will become the first transgender member of Congress, and voters approving marriage equality and reproductive freedom ballot referendums in several states.

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Maryland

Delivery driver found not guilty of murder in fatal shooting of Bel Air trans woman

Meghan Lewis shot two days after Christmas

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Meghan Lewis of Bel Air was shot and killed Dec. 27, 2023, outside her home. (Baltimore Banner photo)

By CLARA LONGO DE FREITAS | A food delivery driver who fatally shot a trans woman in the parking lot of her Bel Air apartment community last year was found not guilty on Wednesday of first- and second-degree murder.

Brian Delen, 48, of Bel Air, was convicted in Harford County Circuit Court of second-degree assault and use of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence following a trial during which his attorneys argued he acted out of fear and in self-defense when he shot Meghan Lewis.

The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

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