Numerous islands in the Caribbean are part of the British Commonwealth. Many were settled in the early seventeenth century. Others were acquired later through treaty or conquest.

The Cayman Islands and Jamaica lie south of Cuba. Commonwealth islands in the Lesser Antilles include the British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua, Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada. The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, north of Cuba and Hispaniola, respectively, Barbados, east of the Windward Islands, and Trinidad and Tobago, north of Venezuela, are generally considered part of the Caribbean group because of their geographical proximity.

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The islands of the British Commonwealth are among the least hospitable to glbtq people. The cultural climate is particularly hostile in Jamaica. (Ironically, Jamaica was a place where gay playwright and actor Sir Noël Coward was able to find a peaceful haven from the 1940s until his death at his home, Firefly, in 1973. The house, donated by his life partner, Graham Payn, to the Jamaica National Heritage Trust, is now a museum.)

Homophobic violence has caused some Jamaicans, especially men, to flee to other countries for asylum. Hundreds have been attacked and beaten, sometimes fatally. Amnesty International reported in 2001 that Jamaican police were party to the harassment, participating in or permitting beatings of gay men and effecting "arrests and malicious detentions."

In a 2002 interview Michael Wynter, the head of the Jamaican Constabulary's Office of Professional Responsibility, claimed to have received no complaints from gay men about police conduct but admitted that Jamaica's law against sodomy may have discouraged them from coming forward.

The Offenses of the Person Act criminalizes same-sex relations. Being in a "compromising position" can be enough to bring about arrest. Those convicted face up to ten years in prison at hard labor.

Virulent expressions of homophobia can be found in Jamaican reggae songs, some of which suggest that "batty boys" and "chi chi men"--two pejorative terms for gay men--be killed by various means. Activist Peter Tatchell protested the homphobic lyrics at the Mobo (Music of Black Origin) awards shows in London in 2002 and 2003 and was set upon by angry reggae fans. Subsequently three reggae singers defended their lyrics, claiming that "homophobia is part of Jamaican culture." The Jamaican glbtq rights group J-Flag reported that "there has been a wave of homophobic assaults and murders coinciding with the release of anti-gay records."

J-Flag (The Jamaican Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays), founded in 1998, has been working to improve the lives of glbtq Jamaicans by providing counseling, advocating constitutional revisions to eliminate discrimination, and helping to document the cases of people seeking asylum in other countries.

Discrimination remains alive and well in Jamaica, however. The island's popular Sandals resort chain (which also has hotels in St. Lucia, Antigua, the Turks and Caicos, and the Bahamas) unapologetically accepts only heterosexual couples as guests.

The Cayman Islands, too, have discriminated against glbtq travelers, in 1998 refusing a cruise ship carrying some 900 gay passengers permission to dock. Thomas C. Jefferson, the Cayman Islands Minister of Tourism, defended the action, saying, "Careful research and prior experience has [sic] led us to conclude that we cannot count on this group to uphold the standards of appropriate behavior expected of our visitors." The "prior experience" proved to be a 1987 visit by gay men from a charter cruise, some of whom publicly displayed affection, which, according to Jefferson, "offended" and "disturbed" local residents.

The scheduled arrival in 1998 of a cruise ship carrying gay tourists to the Bahamas also engendered protests led by Pentecostal Bishop Harcourt Pindar. Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham condemned the homophobic statements and said, "Homosexuality is not a contagious disease, and it is not a crime in the Bahamas"--neatly parsing his words because while consensual relations in private are legal, public activity might bring jail time.

The British government, after a decade of unsuccessful efforts to persuade Caribbean commonwealth members to abolish laws against same-sex relations, took the unilateral step of repealing local laws in Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Montserrat, and the Turks and Caicos, effective January 1, 2001, since the statutes were in violation of human rights agreements to which Britain subscribed. Clerics in the Cayman Islands Ministers Association denounced the action.

The consecration of Canon Gene Robinson as Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire also met with opposition from Anglican bishops in the Caribbean, who condemned his ordination at their 2003 synod. Patrick Manning, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, also announced his opposition to Robinson's elevation.

It is clear that progress on glbtq rights in the British Caribbean will have to overcome serious obstacles before equality is achieved.

Conclusion

The history of the islands of the Caribbean has generally not been favorable for glbtq citizens, nor is the current situation among the best. Nevertheless, some strides have been made, permitting hope that with the work of committed activists and people of goodwill more will be to come.

The Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church in the U. S. A. is a part, has dealt with issues of sexuality in complex ways, not all of them favorable to its glbtq membership.

Although one cannot speak of a gay community in Cuba, one can speak of a homoerotic environment for meeting and socializing in Havana that is constantly moving and reshaping itself.

Evangelical Christians, who tend to be fundamentalists and socially conservative, have not been welcoming to glbtq people.

Same-sex sexual practices among the indigenous peoples of Latin America were seen by their Spanish and Portuguese conquerors as evidence of their cultural inferiority and were repressed through both religious and civil means.

Latina/o glbtq communities in the U.S. pursue multiple visions, diverse politics, and a variety of struggles for identity and liberation; their efforts have helped shape the meaning of what it means to be queer and Latina and Latino in the U.S. and transnationally.

Historically, the Roman Catholic Church may be the institution most responsible for the suffering of individuals involved in same-sex sexual relationships.

Santería, Vodou, and related belief systems comprise a complex of religious ideas, practices, and imagery whose origins can be traced to West African traditions.

Sodomy laws, which provided the legal basis for police harassment of sexual minorities, were conclusively overturned by the United States Supreme Court in 2003, after more than half a century of efforts at reform.

Jamaican-born writer Michelle Cliff explores issues of race, class, and sexuality in her prose and poetry.

Accomplished playwright, actor, composer, and lyricist, Sir Noël Coward was also a singer and cabaret performer; he dominated the British stage between the world wars, then reoriented his career in the direction of America.

British activist Peter Tatchell, a vocal proponent of glbtq rights since the early 1970s, is controversial figure even within the glbtq community.