Gay marriages being done in Jamaica claims lawyer
Same-sex ‘marriages’ are being performed in Jamaica regardless of their illegality, says attorney-at-law Janet Nosworthy.
“These incidents do take place…I know of at least two same-sex couples who got married,” said Janet Nosworthy who has over 30 years experience practising criminal and civil law.
She told All Woman that a homosexual couple had had a ceremony performed in upper St Andrew and a lesbian couple had gotten married in Negril, Westmoreland.
“At least one of the ceremonies I know was performed by an official minister of religion, who also is a part of that community,” said Nosworthy. “I did not go to the ceremonies but I know one of the couples well.”
She would not divulge the names of the couples nor would she divulge the name of the official that performed the ceremony.
According to her, while these ceremonies had taken place during the last few years, she expected that more were being done now.
However, she said that these ceremonies were performed in very low-key settings since the Jamaican law and society deeply frowns on such acts.
“The marriage act and the matrimonial causes act would have to be changed to remove the definition of marriage that limits the union to person of the opposite sex and to remove the provision that declares a same sex marriage as a nullity,” she added. “Also the definition of spouse, wife, husband, widow and widower in other relevant legislation would have to be amended to realise a construction which includes same sex partners.”
A similar point was made by Nicole Robinson of the Registrar General’s Department, who said that she had never heard of same sex marriages being performed in the island. She also said that the RGD had ‘never been approached’ by a same sex couple applying for marital status.
At the same time, at least one hotel on the island’s north coast said that they had no knowledge of the same sex ceremonies being performed.
“We do not perform same sex union,” Magonnia Frater, guest manager of the nudist hotel, Hedonism II in Negril, told All Woman.
The concept of gay marriages is however being defended by the local gay lobby group–Jamaica Forum for Lesbians All Sexuals and Gays (JFLAG).
“Gay people in Jamaica have the same desires for relationships that heterosexuals have (even if) these commitment ceremonies are not recognised by the state, couples still want to show their (union) before friends and even family members as a mark of their commitment to each other,” said a member of JFLAG, who did not want to give his name.
He argued that the current law discriminates as it makes same sex unions exempt from “basic property or inheritance rites as heterosexual couples ú even visitation rites for loved ones in hospitals we do not have.”
Jamaica has a culture of extreme dislike for homosexuals and is strongly condemned by the religious community.
Chairman of the Board of the Family Life Ministries, Major Neil Lewis was quick to state the sinfulness of the act and argued that no Christian minister should be involved in such ceremonies.
“It is the first I am hearing anything like that. But I would take a stand against it ú not only is it against the law but it is unnatural,” Lewis, a Christian for over twenty years and a leader in the Christian community, told All Woman. “It is a learned behaviour. No one is born that way and it is a sin.”
Two years ago Parliament rejected the recommendations of a Joint Select Committee to repeal laws that criminalise homosexual acts. Under the law, consensual buggery and public displays of affection are prohibited. The law does not prohibit homosexual acts between females.
