By Garwin Davis
& Pat Roxborough
Staff Reporters
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE GOVERNMENT has not ruled Jamaica out as a destination for gay cruises, despite the country's laws against homosexual practices.
Consequentially, operators of the island's largest port feel they have the go-ahead to do business in the event that such an offer comes up.
"The Government has not declared its position on homosexuality, so if we were approached and nobody protested then we wouldn't object. We wouldn't allow personal feelings to interrupt the country's ability to make money or revenue to our company," said Harry Maragh, general manager of Lannaman and Morris, a shipping company that manages the Ocho Rios Pier.
The Offences Against the Person Act makes it illegal for men to have sex with each other or engage in any other sexual act that amounts to indecency. Conviction of buggery carries a 10-year prison sentence, while gross indecency carries a maximum two-year sentence.
Prime Minister P. J. Patterson told delegates and observers at the recent People's National Party's 62nd annual conference that, despite pressures and condemnation, laws making homosexuality illegal would be upheld.
"Under my watch, and under the People's National Party, we have no intention whatsoever of changing those laws that make homosexuality illegal," he said.
While conceding that Jamaica's predominantly anti-gay population is not ready to welcome homosexuals, Mr. Maragh said economic considerations could not be ignored in the event that such a cruise expressed the desire to dock here.
"Usually when a ship wants to make a stop here, we would give permission, but if a gay ship wanted to stop, it wouldn't be a technical issue anymore, it would be a moral issue and it would be for the Government to decide," he said last week.
Government officials, however, did not clear up the issue of allowing gay cruise ships to stop here, last week. "We have nothing to say," said a spokeswoman for Dr. Wykeham McNeill, State Minister in the Tourism Ministry.
Douglas Leys, Deputy Solicitor-General, didn't have much to say either.
"I think the matter is deserving of careful research and I would decline commenting based on emotion rather than mature deliberation," he said.
However, attorney Keste Miller said his personal interpretation of the issue was that a gay cruise would not have a legal basis on which to land.
"I don't think they should be allowed to land because our laws do not sanction homosexual activities. If you allow a ship full of homosexuals to dock in your port what you would really be doing is giving them the go-ahead to breach the law," he said.
Steve Alexanders, a 25-five-year old administrative manager, said "there is nothing that I know of in the law that says because you are openly gay you cannot come to the shores of Jamaica."
