Dear Editor,
Our learned Attorney General (AG) Marlene Malahoo Forte, QC, has managed once again to say something befitting US presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Her now infamous tweet has caused quite a stir. In it she gave her “personal view” that, while she condemned the Orlando massacre, she thought that the decision of the US Embassy in Kingston to fly the rainbow flag at half-mast on Monday was disrespectful to Jamaican laws.
Twitter was not very kind, and four problematic issues have arisen; two of them legal.
The role of the attorney general is to advise the Government on legal matters and offer representation in court, and so it was quite troubling that the Government’s lawyer demonstrated a clear lack of understanding of Jamaican law as well as public international law. There is no law which prevents the embassy, or ordinary Jamaicans for that matter, from flying the rainbow flag. This is common knowledge for most first-year law students.
Furthermore, the AG has not yet identified the law that the flag has supposedly ‘disrespected’ despite the mounting requests for her to do so. The ‘buggery law’ only criminalises anal sex, and section 79 of the Offences Against the Person Act criminalises male-to-male intimacy, but the rainbow flag, as a symbol of LGBT pride represents the right of LGBT people to exist and to love. Homosexuality and transgender identities are not criminalised in Jamaica; therefore, the learned AG grossly exaggerated — as would Trump — the legal realities of Jamaica and has possibly misled others. This is disconcerting.
Further, the timing of her tweet was unfortunate. It was only Saturday that the Orlando shooting occurred sending shockwaves not just in Florida but through the LGBT community worldwide. Gay clubs are safe spaces for many LGBT people, and the ability to freely express themselves is denied many LGBT daily. To have that safe space turned into a bloodbath is both demoralising and scary. Many innocent lives were lost, and for that to be swept aside by the attorney general in deference to Jamaican laws — or the sovereignty of the nation in deciding laws — is both insensitive and inappropriate. By propping Jamaican laws as more important than a display of solidarity for community that has just been rocked by tragedy, the AG has demonstrated how little she is concerned with the lives of LGBT people.
Finally, the issue of her “personal view” must be interrogated. It is rather doubtful that an individual who takes to a public platform, who has a public office, and speaks on matters within the purview of her office can rightfully separate that opinion from her office. Whatever personal, private opinions the AGl may have on LGBT individuals and Jamaican laws must be allowed to contend. However, those opinions should not find their way into the public discourse by her if she wishes to keep them private and personal. Public officials do not have the excuse of personal opinion in public spaces because of the influence they possess. Any suggestion to the contrary, or reference to freedom of speech (whether made by a recently popular journalist or not) displays ignorance of that fact.
Ask Trump, he’s learnt this.
Glenroy Murray
gmintern.bhc@gmail.com
Our learned Attorney General (AG) Marlene Malahoo Forte, QC, has managed once again to say something befitting US presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Her now infamous tweet has caused quite a stir. In it she gave her “personal view” that, while she condemned the Orlando massacre, she thought that the decision of the US Embassy in Kingston to fly the rainbow flag at half-mast on Monday was disrespectful to Jamaican laws.
Twitter was not very kind, and four problematic issues have arisen; two of them legal.
The role of the attorney general is to advise the Government on legal matters and offer representation in court, and so it was quite troubling that the Government’s lawyer demonstrated a clear lack of understanding of Jamaican law as well as public international law. There is no law which prevents the embassy, or ordinary Jamaicans for that matter, from flying the rainbow flag. This is common knowledge for most first-year law students.
Furthermore, the AG has not yet identified the law that the flag has supposedly ‘disrespected’ despite the mounting requests for her to do so. The ‘buggery law’ only criminalises anal sex, and section 79 of the Offences Against the Person Act criminalises male-to-male intimacy, but the rainbow flag, as a symbol of LGBT pride represents the right of LGBT people to exist and to love. Homosexuality and transgender identities are not criminalised in Jamaica; therefore, the learned AG grossly exaggerated — as would Trump — the legal realities of Jamaica and has possibly misled others. This is disconcerting.
Further, the timing of her tweet was unfortunate. It was only Saturday that the Orlando shooting occurred sending shockwaves not just in Florida but through the LGBT community worldwide. Gay clubs are safe spaces for many LGBT people, and the ability to freely express themselves is denied many LGBT daily. To have that safe space turned into a bloodbath is both demoralising and scary. Many innocent lives were lost, and for that to be swept aside by the attorney general in deference to Jamaican laws — or the sovereignty of the nation in deciding laws — is both insensitive and inappropriate. By propping Jamaican laws as more important than a display of solidarity for community that has just been rocked by tragedy, the AG has demonstrated how little she is concerned with the lives of LGBT people.
Finally, the issue of her “personal view” must be interrogated. It is rather doubtful that an individual who takes to a public platform, who has a public office, and speaks on matters within the purview of her office can rightfully separate that opinion from her office. Whatever personal, private opinions the AGl may have on LGBT individuals and Jamaican laws must be allowed to contend. However, those opinions should not find their way into the public discourse by her if she wishes to keep them private and personal. Public officials do not have the excuse of personal opinion in public spaces because of the influence they possess. Any suggestion to the contrary, or reference to freedom of speech (whether made by a recently popular journalist or not) displays ignorance of that fact.
Ask Trump, he’s learnt this.
Glenroy Murray
gmintern.bhc@gmail.com