EDITORIAL - Discrimination against gays: a great folly

WE WONDER what background checks, if any, Prime Minister Bruce Golding caused to be conducted on the members of his new Cabinet, and whether prospective ministers were required to provide the PM with any assurances about their lifestyles.

Or, perhaps it is that Mr Golding has changed his mind since his May 2008 "not in my Cabinet" remark to a BBC interviewer about the capacity of homosexuals to serve in Jamaican governments.

Mr Golding's homophobic bigotry, of course, was largely a populist play to the political gallery - a cheap and easy grab for votes that would tax neither leadership nor the imagination.

By now, however, Mr Golding, and the administration more broadly, must be aware that such declarations as the prime minister's, giving legitimacy to anti-gay discrimination, not only fly in the face of the respect for human rights, but have negative social and economic impact on communities and run counter to the direction of progressive societies.

Division with New york

New York, the city and the state, are places to which many Jamaicans would like to emigrate, as several thousands do every year. Indeed, tens of thousands of Jamaicans live in the state. Last month, the New York state legislature, with the backing of the governor, Andrew Cuomo, who is married with two daughters, passed a bill approving same-sex marriage in the state.

New York, in the process, joined six other states - Iowa, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont and Washington, DC - that allow same-sex marriages. Significantly, with New York's population of 19 million, its law more than doubled to 35 million the number of Americans who live in states that recognise such marriages. Additionally, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois and Rhode Island recognise civil unions between gay couples.

Such moves not only expand the right of individuals, but have other benefits, such as the estimate by many informed observers that New York's decision will lead to the inflow of upwards of US$400 million of business to that state.

Ja losing out

It is attracting this kind of economic activity that Jamaica has limited, if not proscribed by the global projection of its homophobic stance. For instance, in the United States the buying power of the gay community is estimated at US$743 billion. And gays tend to have a greater capacity of discretionary spending. Few, for instance, have children to support, which means, calculating based on a singular child, around US$20,000 a year of discretionary cash.

In that regard, gays are in a better position than heterosexual couples to spend on leisure, including on travel, which can benefit tourist economies such as our own. It is not surprising that American businesses are now openly targeting the gay community, such as the the wealth-management podcasts and symposiums promoted by the investment bankers Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.

For Jamaica to attract some of this wealth, people have to be assured of a greater level of tolerance, especially from the Jamaican state. In that context, archaic laws, like the one against buggery, have to be repealed.

But as we noted before, this is not purely an economic issue, but respect for individuals' rights, which is what the Obama administration recognises with its repeal of the 'Don't ask, don't tell' stipulation for gays entering the military, and in ending its defence at the federal level of the Defence of Marriage Act.

The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.