Jamaica, Jersey and Justice
April’s poll on the Hard Candy Calendar’s website asked if the boycott of Jamaica was necessary. Very few people answered but those that did said yes. When I initially started the poll I agreed. Sure I’ll boycott Jamaica. All one had to do was not go. Avoid some products that included beers and rum. These days, yours truly doesn’t have much money so traveling was out of the question and I don’t drink much alcohol. Easy. I can just be me and still make a stand. How fuckin lazy is that? Shame on me. That’s not activism. That’s fake and I’m willing to wager the same goes for many others. I bet there are people boycotting Jamaica that don’t even know it. We’ve all heard how terrible it is for gays over there and we respond with a disappointed head shake and go about our day. The end. But it’s not the end. The gays still suffer.
I thought about it and discussed and meditated on it. I don’t believe a boycott will help. Especially after reading about the gay Jamaican’s point of view. The governement doesn’t care about them. Attacking the governement won’t make things better. It will make things worse. We need to find another way. Cuz this isn’t it. The injustice they experience, the attacks, the threats aren’t going to stop just cuz business gets slow. So please visit http://www.jflag.org/ and join the fight. A fight that starts right here. Right here where we have our own injustices heaped upon gays.
What of the New Jersey Four? Has anyone heard that story?
Four of seven womyn were convicted of an assault of a man who made advances to one of them in August of 2006 were given prison terms ranging from 3 1/2 to 11 years. The media reported the story with headlines that read: Attack of the Killer Lesbians. Told solely from the perspective of the “victim”. They were called a gang by some sources and portrayed as sinister. Even Bill O’Reilly mentioned it. And you can guess what his opinion was. But with all of that, what was I doing? Nothing. Reading the articles and shaking my head while getting distracted by Madonna’s next baby adoption and Kanye’s latest rant. Shame on me. I have to thank an internet buddy of mine for sending out an update on these womyn and letting me know their current fate as well as challenge me to do something about it.
Two of the four had their sentences over turned. Wonderful. But two still remain in jail. And for what? Cuz some ig’nant asshole wanted a date and couldn’t get one. So I guess we are supposed to just shut the fuck up and take it when a man disrespects us. *sigh* So some work still needs to be done. I have found a couple of places that discuss the case and offer ways in which we can support these young ladies. I will definitely go there and look into it and I encourage anyone reading this to do the same. You can start here: freenj4.wordpress.com. Let’s help these young lesbians get the justice they deserve. Helping them will help us all. No matter what city, state or country we’re in. We need justice to catch fire and spread. From Jersey to Jamaica and back again.
You know, I felt the same about the boycott situation until I read the glbt community’s response and its implications. That changed my mindset completely and makes a lot of sense.
I hadn’t heard of the NJ4 but I’m going to research some more into this. Thanks for the heads up.
