Harry’s Place

What has happened here?

In short, someone in the street decided the man beng attacked was gay, made a fuss, a crowd gathered and joined in, and the unfortunate man was punched, kicked and beaten in the street. This is not an uncommon occurance.

Where did this take place?

Can you post the full account, Brett?

“Where did this take place?”

I’m going way out on a limb here, but I’d say Africa.

Alternatively Jamaica (the file name).

If this sort of thing of happening to any other group of people (other than fat people maybe) people the world over would be outraged. If the perpetrators of these attacks were themselves not past victims of prejudicial violence (unless they were Jews of course) people would be outraged. It’s that simple and that ugly.

“Can you post the full account, Brett?”

I don’t now much more about the details. The pictures were sent to me by a human rights campaigner in Jamaica. The incident took place in Falmouth, Jamaica last year.

This sort of thing is quite common, I’m told. For example, here is a report and photo of another such event. Usually the victim doesn’t report the attack and the police don’t investigate. Very often, the police collude in such beatings.

The Jamaica Observer appears to have the story:

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20070428T020000-0500_122324_OBS_MOB_BEATS_CROSS_DRESSER.asp

Via the wonderful “Republic of T”

http://www.republicoft.com/2007/04/

If Jamaica isn’t more strident in denouncing these attacks, it could end up damaging their lucrative tourist industry.

In the photos it appears that most of the physical attacks are being done by women, with the men just standing around jeering and laughing.

What a vulgar, disgusting mentality.

Thanks for the detective work, Graham. The videos on the blog where stomach-turning.

What immediately leaps out is that the crowd’s cry of “battyman fi dead” is echoed in many of the dancehall songs we’re complaining about.

(Incidentally, the title of this post is a line from a Bounty Killer song.)

F**king savages.

This is also interesting:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080623.wlhannon23/BNStory/robAtWork/

Sounds to me like our government should be doing more to take action against Jamaica for this.

Also all right on “Liberal-Leftists” will surely be looking to boycott the Jamaican tourism industry. Err…

What does the UCU think ?

BTW Jeremy, love The Philosophers Magazine. Good to see you on here.

As if the attack itself wasn’t enough of an outrage, the Jamaica Observer report carried this chilling para:

“The man was admitted to hospital. However, a police spokesman said last night that a group of people, who wanted to beat the man on his release, were waiting outside the hospital, which, he said, could delay his release from the health facility.”

You won’t find that on the Jamaica Tourist Board’s website. Absolutely obscene.

You won’t find that on the Jamaica Tourist Board’s website.

Come to sunny Jamaica and enjoy our laidback atmosphere, golden sandy beaches, rum, reggae and frenzied lynch mobs.

At what point exactly do you switch from lynching gays to having white hair and playing dominoes? It’s quite an adjustment to come to terms with.

As with all mobs there is a tipping point. Young males obviously feel they have to “prove” themselves not gay and young females probably feel they need to prove they are female. When people feel comfortable enough to say this is wrong (and if you watch the videos you will see there ARE some people making half-hearted efforts to stop the beating or at least to stop their own friends or relatives participating) then half the battle will be won. Jamaican culture may be rather backward in these matters at the moment but there is no need for it to be : the biggest Jamacain population in the UK is in Brixton and even 30-odd years ago obviously gay men could walk past the dominoes players in Railton Road (on their way to a pub, the Railway, run by a couple of transvestite entertainers) and feel much more comfortable than they would in the suburbs.

There is hope but it will be a long slog and Brett should be supported all the way with his campaign.

It’s a modern form of a witch hunt. Men go around in fear they’ll be fingered as gay.

This is the kind of thing that Sarah Palin’s church financed in Kenya, with that odious witch hunter “Rev.” Muthee. Same shit, different pot.

Admit Bounty Killer to Britain. It’s more convenient than having to travel to Jamaica to hang him.

Disgusting behaviour. Poor man - I hope he survived this conscienceless attack.

Desmond Dekker looked pretty gay to me by the way.

As a resident of Falmouth and the mother of a gay son, I was horrified by this incident. There is more to the story: The man in question was posing as a female prostitute and soliciting men for oral sex.