Being Trans in Jamaica Sounds Even Worse Than Being Gay in Jamaica
In Jamaica, it's 95% a possibility that a Trans Woman can be shot, beaten, tortured, and stabbed multiple times for turning up in public and being Trans. The situation is so bad that Trans folks are forced to hide and live homeless in gullies, and abandoned houses. Thus putting their lives at more risk.
Last week, in Montego Bay, Jamaica, 16-year-old Dwayne Jones was shot and stabbed multiple times for turning up to a party and being trans. Jones was reportedly transgender and the murder has once again highlighted the awful reality of life for Jamaica's Trans community. And it really is fucking awful, scary and hateful.
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TIME magazine called Jamaica "the most Transphobic place on Earth," and the anti-gay sentiment prevalent in the country's media and most popular musical genre, dancehall, has been well-documented.
The Jamaica Gleaner, one of the country's largest newspapers, regularly publishes stories about the gay community with a homophobic slant. Last month, it referred to a group of Trans women & men who were evicted from an abandoned house as a "trans clan" and ran an op-ed that rubbished the idea of being born trans gay, saying people who are trans decide to do so, in much the same way that they decide to "eat snails (like the French)" or "like the taste of jackfruit."
It's actually illegal to be Trans in Jamaica and is punishable by 10 years in prison. As such, Trans women live in fear every day of being outed as transgender; because at any point they can be prosecuted and sent to prison.
There have been a few high-profile cases of police brutality toward Trans people in Jamaica. Homeless trans folks are at high risk, and the police—who should be their protectors—have literally violated their human rights by beating them, and in some cases murdering them. When Trans folk is mauled in public because of their lifestyle there is literally no justice; as homophobia/ transphobia is sanctioned by the
the law in Jamaica and the public is encouraged to carry out acts of violence against Trans folks.
We need your help to protect the lives of Trans folks in jamaica, by providing safe and discreet housing, transportation, and other necessities that allow them to avoid being murdered or harass by the police and the public.