On most Wednesday nights, my radio is stuck on Irie FM for Mutabaruka's interesting programme, The Cutting Edge. Recently, he posed a question and I was glad he did. Are Jamaicans really homophobic?

Homophobia for many represents an extreme fear of homosexuals. How many Jamaican men and women do you know who are afraid of a gay man or woman? This thought has plagued me ever since I learnt what the word meant. We may 'bun dem' and 'slew dem' and 'hot dem up', however, personally I don't think we fear them.

It is upsetting, that the misconception about Jamaicans' relation to homosexuality is a worldwide thought. I even heard an American reporter on CNN say that Jamaicans (myself included) are homophobic. I know I am not.
In fact, won't you agree that it is usually the other way around? Most homosexuals are usually afraid of the Jamaican public. If they aren't, why is it that the JFLAG representatives never show their faces when they talk? Because they fear for their lives. I would think.

However, let me be more specific about the youth. Some girls like to dress masculine, sporting oversized T-shirts and baggy jeans but are heterosexual. Many of these girls are the future generation of lesbians. These girls are scary because they are not what nature deems as 'normal' and I have seen where they bully other girls maybe to quench their own insecurities. The fear that these girls foster is the only time that I have seen homophobia in Jamaica and it is not necessarily a fear of 'gayness'. It may be that one just does not want to associate with people of that kind.

My older male friends who visit strip clubs often tell me that many lesbians come there. While it is understood that adult entertainment is for adults,it should never be that ladies are filling the seats of men.

Now to the double standard. Recording artistes Leftside and Esco, the duo that stated "I'm tryin to find a reason, why should a next man lie wid a guy whose name is Steven" also say "last night I had a crazy threesome", through the same character of Dr Evil. The treatment of male homosexuality in the dancehall should be the same for females. Though this 'girl on girl' view is popular in the US and is gaining popularity in Jamaica, it should not be embraced.

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