Jamaican gay rights advocate Maurice Tomlinson is calling on the Jamaica Observer newspaper to desist from printing "further homophobic imagery." Tomlinson, an attorney-at-law and homosexual, is also currently challenging the immigration laws of both T&T and Belize in the Caribbean Court of Justice. The immigration acts in both countries ban homosexuals from entry.
On Christmas day last week, the Observer published a cartoon that activists say was "designed to inflame hate" and is "anti-gay." In the cartoon, which can be found on the paper's Web site Jamaicaobserver.com, a young boy is shown running away from a man wearing women's clothes, lipstick and carrying a purse. In the cartoon the boy tells his mother, "Is dat mi fraid of."
In an interview on the Web site Gaystarnews.com, Tomlinson said: "Such cartoons contribute to the virulent hate Jamaicans have towards LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) citizens." He added: "This cartoon is the latest in a series by the Observer meant to vilify and further stigmatise gay Jamaicans. This kind of negative imagery makes it harder for gays to be seen as equals in society and deserving of health care and other essential services.
"In the face of the extremely high level of homophobia in Jamaica (measured at 82 per cent in a 2011 University of the West Indies, Mona study) these actions by the Observer are extremely irresponsible and do not accord with ethical standards for reporting the news." According to the article the newspaper has come under fire for stereotyping the Jamaican gay community in the past. The Observer also came under fire from local politicians this month when an editorial accused the People's Partnership government of ethnic stocking.
In the comments section of the Observer site, responses to the cartoon were mixed. One reader called the cartoon "gratuitously offensive," while another said it was "tasteless and immature." On the other hand some readers wrote "LOL (laughing out loud)" below the image. Another reader wrote: "When people alter their role in life to be what they were never design(ed) to be then they are fair game to be ridicule(d)."
Tomlinson is also an advisory member of the NGO Aids Free World.