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Homosexuality: Its coming! |
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Sunday, 28 September 2008 |
ST GEORGE'S A university lecturer is predicting that homosexuality could soon be accepted as a way of life in the Caribbean.
Claude Douglas, a sociologist, has just released a new book titled, Homosexuality in the Caribbean: Crawling Out Of the Closet, which examines the rise of homosexuality in the region. The 60-page book covers issues ranging from biological origins and the gay tourist phenomenon, to the campaign to decriminalize homosexuality in the region.
"If we look at the evolutionary process of the society and see how the society evolves, we would see that yesterday's deviants become today's and tomorrow's norms," Douglas told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).
"Let us take, for example, the wearing of earrings by men. This was actually tabooed in Grenada many years ago. Today, there are men who appear almost feminine, based on their attire, and this is a growing acceptance now."
The book examines the liberalism in Europe as it relates to homosexuality and how dependent territories in the Caribbean, such as Suriname, Martinique and Guadeloupe, have been affected as a result of the stance adopted by their former colonial masters.
More tolerant
For example, the author notes that in 2001, the United Kingdom was in the forefront of repealing laws in its overseas dependent territories, such as Turks and Caicos, Cayman Islands, Montserrat and Anguilla.
"As the society evolves, people become more tolerant of certain behavior that was sanctioned in the past; people become more accepting of certain behavior. But it's a reality that we would all have to deal with, whether we like it or not," said Douglas, a lecturer at the St George's University here. "It is coming. It is really coming and we have to brace ourselves to deal with this upsurge in homosexuality in the Caribbean, and Grenada, in particular.
"There is a whole tide of this rights movement throughout the world and it's really taking hold in the Caribbean as well," he added.
Decriminalization of homosexuality has become a hotly debated topic in the English-speaking Caribbean and the issue of whether homosexual cruises should be allowed into Port St George was a major talking point for months in Grenada late last year.
Advocates include St Kitts and Nevis prime minister, Dr Denzil Douglas, and Guyana's Health Minister Leslie Ramsammy who both suggested that decriminalization could help curb the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Attorneys general in the Eastern Caribbean are due to meet in Guyana in November to review the laws on homosexuality.
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