Colin Stewart is a 45-year journalism veteran living in Southern…
Marlon James (Photo courtesy of mspmag.com)“I knew I had to leave my home country — whether in a coffin or on a plane.”
— Jamaica native Marlon James, winner of the 2015 Man Booker Prize for the best novel in English published in the U.K.
Tens of thousands of Jamaicans turned out for the anti-homosexuality rally on Sept. 27, 2015. (Michael Gordon photo courtesy of the Jamaica Observer)
By Maurice Tomlinson
On Sept. 27, nearly 20,000 Jamaicans massed in Kingston to condemn Marlon James, and all other Jamaicans like him because of who we love.
On Oct. 13, Marlon won the world’s second most prestigious prize for literature. Marlon is yet another Jamaican who has been forced to flee his homeland because of unchecked homophobia that the government does little to stop.
“I was so convinced that my voice outed me as a fag that I had stopped speaking to people I didn’t know. … I bought myself protection by cursing, locking my lisp behind gritted teeth, folding away my limp wrist and drawing 36-double-D girls for art class. I took a copy of Penthouse to school to score cool points, but the other boys called me ‘batty boy’ anyway — every day, five days a week.”
“However, while the island celebrates with James on his historic day, the author says he was forced to leave the country because, as a gay man, he felt deeply out of place on an island that Time magazine once labelled ‘The most homophobic place on Earth’. “
Marlon James celebrates receiving the Man Booker Prize (Photo courtesy of Pink News)
“It was very important to me that there were gay characters in the book – to reflect the gayness and hypocrisy in Jamaica. …”Simple things – you might want to walk down the street and hold somebody’s hand one day.
“When you grow up in a homophobic country, you’re sitting on a time bomb.”
Quit quit , those people are right . There isn’t any such thing as homophobia. Heterosexua ls aren’t the ones with the problem. So could we have phobia . These people are disgusting. Trying to say something is wrong with what intended, made and ordained. once again QUIT !
Harold Atilee, you illiterate idiot…or perhaps you are not an idiot, but your schooling and development were cut short because your country threatens the lives of many of its talented sons and daughters, leaving you in the dark.
Your post makes no sense. Are you truly suggesting that so many of Jamaica educators and educated people are gay that those of them that have left Jamaica have left an educational vacuum? Lol. Surely you recognise that is ridiculous?
Jamaica loses bright, articulate, educated, ambitious people daily due to a stagnant economy and a lack of economic opportunities. Very few of those people are gay. And from what I have read from subsequent Marlon James’ interviews, the lack of creative and income-earning opportunities as a writer was the primary reason he left Jamaica. Writers don’t have many prospects here. And many of them leave – most heterosexual.
What part of this quote don’t you understand? “Jamaicans were jubilant on Tuesday as news broke that one of their own, novelist Marlon James won the prestigious Man Booker Prize.
“However, while the island celebrates with James on his historic day, the author says he was forced to leave the country because, as a gay man, he felt deeply out of place on an island that Time magazine once labelled ‘The most homophobic place on Earth’. “
Quit quit , those people are right . There isn’t any such thing as homophobia. Heterosexua ls aren’t the ones with the problem. So could we have phobia . These people are disgusting. Trying to say something is wrong with what intended, made and ordained. once again QUIT !
Harold Atilee, you illiterate idiot…or perhaps you are not an idiot, but your schooling and development were cut short because your country threatens the lives of many of its talented sons and daughters, leaving you in the dark.
Your post makes no sense. Are you truly suggesting that so many of Jamaica educators and educated people are gay that those of them that have left Jamaica have left an educational vacuum? Lol. Surely you recognise that is ridiculous?
Reblogged this on Fairy JerBear's Queer/Trans News, Views & More From The City Different – Santa Fe, NM and commented:
Losing bright, articulate people because of homophobia.
Jamaica loses bright, articulate, educated, ambitious people daily due to a stagnant economy and a lack of economic opportunities. Very few of those people are gay. And from what I have read from subsequent Marlon James’ interviews, the lack of creative and income-earning opportunities as a writer was the primary reason he left Jamaica. Writers don’t have many prospects here. And many of them leave – most heterosexual.
How do you know the sexuality of these people that have left? Please do yourself and everyone else a favour and only speak for yourself.
What part of this quote don’t you understand? “Jamaicans were jubilant on Tuesday as news broke that one of their own, novelist Marlon James won the prestigious Man Booker Prize.
“However, while the island celebrates with James on his historic day, the author says he was forced to leave the country because, as a gay man, he felt deeply out of place on an island that Time magazine once labelled ‘The most homophobic place on Earth’. “