JAMAICAN LESBIAN ALLOWED TO STAY IN US

A Jamaican lesbian who feared becoming the victim of violence in her home country has been allowed to stay in the US, reports the Miami Herald.

The 29 year old woman named only as Nichole, who lives in Florida, was ordered to be deported following two drug convictions.

A judge however stopped the deportation because homosexuality is illegal in Jamaica.

“Being gay “is the worst thing you can be stricken with [in Jamaica]… You basically have to live undercover,” Nichole told the newspaper.

Last week, activists at the International AIDS Society (IAS) XVII AIDS conference in Mexico City called on Caribbean countries to repeal laws criminalising gays and lesbians.

It was announced that the Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) will present proposed legislation to legalise homosexuality to the Caribbean Parliamentary Council.

PANCAP said that the criminalisation of homosexuality is a barrier to effectively tacking the AIDS pandemic in the region.

Homosexual sex can lead to imprisonment for up to ten year with hard labour in Jamaica.

Gays and lesbians have been the victims of a number of violent attacks because of their sexuality in recent years, leading Time magazine to ask in 2006 if the island nation is “The Most Homophobic Place on Earth.”