Poll finds 91% of Jamaicans don’t want gay sex laws repealed
By Ryan Love
A new poll has found that 91 per cent of Jamaicans believe the country’s sodomy laws criminalising gay sex between men should not be repealed.
Just five per cent of people surveyed felt that the tough laws should be abolished, while four per cent said that they did know.
The poll, which was commissioned by Jamaican news outlet the Jamaica Gleaner, also found that 82 per cent of Jamaicans believe that gay men are not treated fairly by the country’s policing and legal system, with just 10 per cent stating that they are treated the same as straight people.
68 per cent of the 1,208 Jamaicans polled said that gay men should not have the same rights as others compared to 26 per cent who said that they should. Six per cent of respondents said that they did not know.
Gay sex between men is illegal in Jamaica, where those found guilty face sentences of up to 10 years hard labour.
Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller indicated that she wanted to review the country’s sodomy laws prior to her election in 2011, but three years later her government is yet to bring the issue before parliament.
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