I am writing in response to two of your articles 'Will same-sex marriages ever be accepted in Jamaica?' and Singular Subjects - 'The Jamaican gay issue'.

I realise that a lot of dialogue has been generated concerning homosexuality in Jamaica. I am a Jamaican man, living in St Andrew and I can readily spot gay male couples on populated streets like Half-Way Tree Road. While many persons may not even realise that these couples walk among them, I certainly do, and having a few gay friends - some couples included - I pick up on them.

One of the most flawed and widely held views, from the prime minister in his BBC HardTalk interview, right down to the author of that second article mentioned above, is that somehow foreign interests are attempting to force 'foreign values' on Jamaica.

Reminder needed

The prime minister, as well as many other Jamaicans, perhaps need to be reminded that we were just as vocal about Africa's apartheid, and perhaps also need to be reminded that homosexuals existed long before the construct of Christianity and its related text, the Bible, ever existed. Most of the arguments against homosexuality are hinged on the Bible, in much the same way as both the forced enslavement of Africans and apartheid.

The government has no business legislating Christianity, when the society comprises many and varied communities; from the gay/lesbian/bisexual community, to other diverse social and religious communities. It is a given that, in the current social climate, it would certainly be politically suicidal to not publicly declare they have a right to exist and enjoy the freedoms and privileges that their heterosexual counterparts take for granted. They should instead, eliminate or rectify the enshrined prejudicial, inflammatory, and antiquated pieces of legislation that remain on our books.

No respect

It is no wonder that the average man has no respect for the independence and dignity that gays and lesbians deserve, when the government has neither the spine nor the political will to tell them that they also matter and are worthy citizens of Jamaica.

It is all well and good to take their tax dollars and votes, but where is the government when it really counts? When will an administration put the needs of all Jamaican people ahead of its own political longevity? The Charter of Rights, as it now exists, is a travesty and a slap in the face to all Jamaicans.

It was not so long ago that dark-skinned Jamaicans within this very country were not eligible to apply for certain jobs. It was also not so long ago that our ancestors were bound in the shackles of slavery; shackles, which we now know, were biblically justifiable in the minds of their oppressors. Having these ridiculous laws on the books is a slap in the face of all Jamaicans for, as was once said by a very wise individual, "None is free until all are free."