I should have added my fellow blogger Susan’s comments to my quick overview of this issue, which you can now find on globalvoices.org. One very important point that Susan makes: This is the Attorney General’s area of expertise, and we are still waiting to hear what aspects of Jamaican law the rainbow flag was disrespecting. So far as I know, there is NO law against homosexuality or displaying a rainbow flag. There is a law criminalizing the act of buggery. I am extraordinarily disappointed and feel that this one tweet has caused considerable damage to Ms. Malahoo Forte’s reputation. I am very sad about this!
Yesterday, in the wake of the killings of 49 people at a gay bar in Orlando – a horrendous targeted attack on LGBT people – the US Embassy in Jamaica flew its flag at half mast (as instructed by its President) and flew a rainbow flag also. It tweeted the following:
Last night, Marlene Malahoo Forte, Jamaica’s Attorney General (AG), posted this tweet, which has become the subject of much discussion online and off:
I do not understand what the AG’s reasoning is for finding the US Embassy’s action “disrespectful of Jamaica’s laws” and am genuinely interested in finding out. I asked last night:
By way of a hashtag in her tweet, AG Malahoo Forte indicated that she was giving her personal opinion. However, for a number of reasons, I think that the AG should share the thinking behind her opinion.
Malahoo Forte in her public and professional role as…
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