Colin Stewart is a 45-year journalism veteran living in Southern…
“[Gays] are now forcing society to accept their dictates or they will kill you.”
— Richard “Dickie” Crawford
Richard “Dickie” Crawford
Popular Jamaican journalist and university lecturer, Richard “Dickie” Crawford, has been a very vocal supporter of the anti-gay moral panic sweeping the country. This phenomenon is largely the handiwork of the island’s fundamentalist evangelical churches. Among other things, these religious groups have mounted massive anti-gay demonstrations, launched island wide petitions aimed at keeping the colonially imposed anti-sodomy law, and embarked on an enumeration exercise with the threat of using the polls to punish any political party that supports the right to private intimacy of consenting same-gender adults.
A member of the local LGBTI community, Matthew Thomas, posted a question on Mr. Crawford’s Facebook page challenging his support for clerics who have largely failed to assist homeless LGBTI youth that are forced to live in the sewers of Kingston. These youngsters, some as young as 10 years old, were evicted by their parents because of their sexual orientation and gender expression. In this very religious society, many evangelical churches regularly preach that homosexuality is an abomination and human rights for LGBTI people will usher in a disastrous national calamity.
In response to Matthew’s inquiry, Mr. Crawford went on a homophobic Facebook rant. I have reproduced his Facebook post below as it is this sort of baseless “reasoning” by supposedly educated, and influential persons in Jamaica that explains the intractable nature and source of our anti-gay paranoia. Here is the Facebook post — with several inserted comments: Homeless LGBTI youths sleeping in Jamaican sewers. (Photo courtesy of Micheal Forbes)
“Let me see if I can help Matthew Thomas who is apparently trying to be damn rude and has limited knowledge of the issue. First the church is the second greatest supporter (financially) of education in Jamaica not to mention quality, from Campion, Peter & Paul, Calabar, KC., St. Georges, Ardenne, Alpha, Bishops, St. Hilda’s, St. Hugh’s, UWI, UCC, EXED, MICO, Shortwood Teachers’ College and I could go on. [Editor’s note: But not for homeless LGBTI youths.]
The church has outreach and feeding programmes all over for the elderly, bed-ridden, handicapped, homeless – Brothers of the Poor, Missionaries for the Poor, Stella Maris Foundation, Food for the Poor and I could go on. [Editor’s note: But not for homeless LGBTI youths.] Logo of Dwayne’s House, a group raising money for a shelter for LGBTI youths that has attracted little support from Jamaican religious leaders.
The church has the second-largest contribution to health care, Nuttall Hospital, St. Joseph’s Hospital, Andrews Memorial Hospital and hospital equipment from Food for the Poor and I could go on. Someone recently said the church in Jamaica should pay taxes — sure why not — they would probably get a refund as their charitable expenses far outweigh their income.
Secondly, it is the church that does prison work and cares for cancer and HIV patients more than any other group in Jamaica that I know of. [Editor’s note: But it does not help homeless LGBTI youths.]
In fact what makes me so cynical of people like Matthew Thomas is that it is the Missionaries of the Poor who take in deformed children abandoned by their parents and the salvation army that cares for the blind — where the hell have you been, Mr. Arrogant SOB Know Nothing at All?
Thirdly, the church itself has been populated with pedophiles who sodomised young boys and we never stopped exposing this until the Roman Catholic Church has now been forced to de-frock and expel them from the church. [Editor’s note: The argument is that because some priests are pedophiles the church should not help homeless LGBTI youths?]
The church ministers to homosexuals as creatures of God but can no longer tolerate them in their midst to discredit the church. [Editor’s note: In other words, the church simultaneously ministers to LGBTI people and expels them?] Former Jamaican Trade Ambassador Peter King
Sadly, in Jamaica some church “ministers” rape young girls but get off when brought to trial and other famous homosexuals like the late Peter King raped and perhaps many still do buy and rape young boys, a homosexual delicacy and that it exactly what started the hostility against them as poor people’s children from the ghetto were routinely raped – not consensual sex between two adults at all. [Maurice Tomlinson’s note: There is no evidence that murdered Jamaican ambassador Peter King was a pedophile. In any event, there is no evidence that homosexuals are more likely than heterosexuals to be pedophiles. By his own admission, Mr. Crawford points out that Jamaican (male) pastors have been involved with the rape of underage girls. Finally, the statement that pedophilia is a homosexual delicacy is both vulgar and baseless.]
The most telling issue is that the church recommends that people worship God. It does not force you to do so.
Homosexuals are now forcing society to accept their dictates or they will kill you, blacklist you or prevent you from earning an income. [Maurice Tomlinson’s note: There is no evidence that gays are seeking to kill anyone who disagrees with them. Neither is there any evidence that gays are seeking to blacklist and prevent anyone from earning an income. Members of the LGBTI community have only condemned and demanded accountability for hate speech.]
Who the hell do you think most human beings are — mindless people who want homosexual degenerates to tell us how to live or else? Or else what??????” [Maurice Tomlinson’s note: There is no evidence that homosexuals are trying to tell anyone how to live. LGBTI people have only asked for respect for their human rights.]
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