An Isle of Beauty -- Unless You're Gay

Look, I already know dozens of you are going to try to tear me a new one for this post, so I'm ready for the negative backlash, the accusations, the curses and the declarations that I'm going to hell.

That's cool. Not the first time, won't be the last.

Anyway, this wire story about gays in Jamaica coming under attack freaks me out. I mean, it is 2008, right? Not that I'm dissing Jamaica, but since when does a modern republic turn a blind eye to an egregious hate crime, like the murder of a human being for being a homosexual.

In fact, since when does a modern republic keep a law on its books that says it is illegal to be gay?

But we're looking at a culture where some of the most popular dancehall artists, like Buju Banton and Elephant Man write vehemently anti-gay lyrics, where gay activists are murdered for speaking their minds, and where even police will join a gay hate crime.

So the call has gone out for Jamaican authorities to protect gays and lesbians from such violence, but activists and the gay community itself on the island fear that their call will not be heard because of an overwhelming homophobic sentiment. In fact, despite 68 percent of all HIV/AIDS transmissions occurring between straight sex partners in Jamaica, a majority still blame the disease on homosexuals.

The activist group Human Rights Watch in late January released a report called "Jamaica: Hated to Death" which categorizes the violence and discrimination that has traditionally victimized gay people there. It's really unimaginable to think that you live in a country where at the whim of a a self-righteous mob you can be killed, like the victims in the report, just on suspicion. It's not really that far a throw from the Salem Witch Trials.

In fact, to tell you the truth, violent homophobia is more extreme in some places than others depending on where you go, but throughout the black world, it's pretty safe to say it is a norm, and a pointless one at that. People use the Bible to justify hatred for gays and lesbians, calling it an "abomination" (Leviticus 18:22).

However, at the same time, so is eating any seafood that doesn't have scales (Leviticus 11:10); and apparently God also doesn't dig getting tattoed (Leviticus. 19:28); shaving (Leviticus. 19:27); or vegetable gardens (Leviticus 19:19). The Holy Scriptures even tell you to kill yourself for overeating (Proverbs 23:2).

And if you want to be really literal about it, the verse from the Bible says: "You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination." So technically speaking, lesbians should be off the hook.

Okay, listen ... I know about half of you reading this are pissed off, and the other half are praying that lightning struck me the second I finished writing this. But this isn't about offending the religious. It's just that personally I'm big on another Biblical passage which I think is far more important:

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another (John 13:34).

No I'm not a Bible thumper by any stretch, but if I would ever cite the Bible as philosophy, then a commandment of love for my fellow human beings would trump anything referring to gay sex, getting tatted up, or eating at Red Lobster.

So Jamaica, where we Bob Marley taught us "One Love," where Peter Tosh called for "Equal Rights" and where we understand we must utilize "all de herbs of de herth," show the rest of the world that you practice what you preach.