Launched June 29, 2009
Jamaica has the reputation of being one of the most violently anti-gay countries on earth.
Male homosexual acts are criminalized – and can be punished with up to 10 years of hard time in prison. While this law is not actively enforced, it is widely seen as a bulwark against immorality.
Jamaica’s anti-buggery law, which refers to homosexuality as “an abominable crime,” is a legacy of the island’s British colonial past.
It is also deeply ingrained into the social fabric of modern Jamaican society.
The Abominable Crime Trailer from Common Good Productions on Vimeo.
Violent anti-gay song lyrics are standard fare in Jamaica’s popular dance hall music and pastors and church leaders denounce homosexuality across the country.
These anti-gay sentiments are widely echoed across Jamaican society. A recent public opinion poll reported that most Jamaicans (85%) believe homosexuality should be illegal and many view it as “morally wrong” (82%). This study, the first of its kind ever conducted in Jamaica, concluded that strong negative perceptions and attitudes towards homosexuality cut across all social classes, gender and social groups.
This convergence of legal, religious and moral sentiment makes life profoundly difficult for the men and women who make up Jamaica’s native-born gay community. The anti-sodomy law, according to activists, makes gay people “unindicted criminals” in the eyes of the police and the local population, and legitimizes spontaneous acts of anti-gay violence.
In real terms, this means that Jamaica’s gay community lives under the constant threat of harassment and violence, with victims holding little hope of seeking protection or redress from the police.
Glass Closet is an exploration of the long-term impact of this violence – and the threat of violence—on the lives of Jamaica’s gay community.
The first installment of Glass Closet, produced in collaboration with the PBS series World Focus, explored the connection between homophobia, stigma, and HIV, and showed how these social factors have led to a devastating increase in the AIDS rate in Jamaica’s gay community.
Glass Closet was made possible thanks to support from the MAC AIDS Fund.
Editor's note: This description was updated on March 28, 2012 to reflect the ongoing reporting in progress.
Grantee
Micah Fink, the founder of Common Good Productions, is an award-winning producer, director and writer specializing in international affairs, public health, and environmental issues. He is also on the...
Grantee
Lisa Biagiotti is an independent multimedia journalist. She recently produced a documentary on toilets and open defecation in India and Indonesia for Current TV’s Vanguard documentary series.
Lisa...
Grantee
Gabrielle's film making career in documentary has brought her to many places including Thailand, Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Mexico and throughout the United States. She has worked...
Region
Country
Topics
Gateways
What do you know about Jamaica beyond it's reputation as a famed island paradise? Filmmaker Micah Fink, along with Maurice Tomlinson and Tom Decker, visited St. Louis classrooms last week to discuss.
Join us for two documentaries focusing on the Caribbean — Micah Fink's documentary which details homophobia in Jamaica and Steve Sapienza's short film about statelessness.
Micah Fink's award-winning documentary co-presented by the Human Rights Campaign as part of week-long film festival.
TakePart Live features director Micah Fink and clips from his award-winning documentary "The Abominable Crime."
New York premiere for documentary shedding light on homophobic Jamaican society, individuals in danger if they remain in their homeland.
Award-winning directors Micah Fink and Fiona Lloyd-Davies participate in the St. Louis premieres of their documentaries as well as a post-screening reception.
Grantee journalists, in town for the Pulitzer Center's first film festival, visited nine D.C. high schools Sept. 19-24 to talk about their work with students.
Please join us for the Pulitzer Center's first week-long film festival, showcasing feature-length documentary films and shorts by award-winning Pulitzer Center journalists.
DC premiere of "The Abominable Crime" coincides with Pulitzer Center's first week-long film festival, showcasing feature-length films and shorts. Join us for one or several screenings.
The effort to decriminalize the anti-sodomy law in Belize faces organized resistance from religious groups.
Interview with director Micah Fink about the making of "The Abominable Crime", a film about Jamaica's violent homophobia and the brave people who stand up to it.
Listen to Micah Fink on the making of The Abominable Crime.
A documentary by Chicago students working with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and Free Spirit Media.
Three Jamaican gay men reveal their experiences living in secrecy, under the shadow of discrimination and threats of violence against the LGBT community.
Ida Northover is a volunteer community leader battling stigma and discrimination in one of the poorest inner city communities on the outskirts of Kingston, Jamaica.
The Reverend Robert Griffin leads a secret church that is welcoming to gay men and women in Jamaica.
Jamaica may be one of the most violently homophobic societies in the world.
UNAIDS official expresses her belief that the only way Jamaica can contain HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country is to openly discuss about HIV/AIDS and the LGBT community.
Executive Director of the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition explains how violence against the LGBT community in Jamaica impacts the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country.
Every weekend, an American minister flies to Jamaica to lead an underground congregation for the under-served population: the LGBT community.
The effort to decriminalize the anti-sodomy law in Belize faces organized resistance from religious groups.
While the U.S. Supreme Court this week ruled in support of gay marriage, Jamaica’s Supreme Court heard arguments in the case of a gay man evicted from his home on the basis of his sexual orientation.
As the world absorbs the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark rulings on gay rights Jamaican activists fight their own battle, challenging anti-sodomy laws and homophobia.
The story isn't over for Jamaica's LBGT community: Sodomy is still a crime and homophobia continues to be socially acceptable.
Documentary producer Micah Fink is running a Kickstarter campaign to raise $35,000 to finish a film on the stories of gay people in one of the most violently homophobic countries: Jamaica.
After years of singing and producing anti-gay music, Beenie Man publicly apologized to Jamaica's gay community in a video.
AIDS-Free World is challenging the criminalization of homosexuality in Jamaica.
Jamaican LGBT rights groups strive for acceptance and equality in the face of societal oppression and increasing hostility. More than 60 cases of anti-gay violence were reported in 2011.
It is widely believed that being openly gay in Jamaica is essentially a death sentence. That if you put your face on camera and admit you are gay, someone will come along and kill you.
What does it mean when we report that a recent Jamaican government study found that nearly one-third of gay men in Jamaica are HIV positive?