Gay Murders in Nassau, Bahamas

Four gay men have been murdered in Nassau in the past 8 months. Two were last November, two more recently. There have been no arrests in any of these cases. At least three of the men seem to have been prominent, out gay men (one was a famous handbag designer, another a leading AIDS activist). In the November murders (which happened the same night), speculation became that this was gay-on-gay violence. However, it now seems that it could be possible that someone is intentionally targeting prominent, out gay men.

Here is a fairly good summary from the Nassau Guardian after the fourth murder. And here is an earlier story after the third murder. And here is an article focusing on the LGBT community's reaction -- below are a few quotes from those stories that hit home for me, mainly quotes from Erin Greene from the Rainbow Alliance (the Bahamian LGBT activist group):

"The Rainbow Alliance of the Bahamas is very concerned that we have had the deaths of three prominent gay men within the last year and we are hoping to continue discussions with the police to foster a relationship that includes a level of community policing with the government," she said. Ms Greene does not think police are ignoring the crimes, but she is concerned about the lack of communication between them and the community.

"We don't expect the police to solve the murders overnight, but we would appreciate and require for our general sense of safety an open line of communication. You know, let us know that you are still working on it, but these things take time," she said, acknowledging that authorities may be waiting on the results of DNA evidence to be processed in the McDonald/Taylor killings.

Ms Greene said of the lack of closure on the cases: "The truth is - the problem is - that there is no way to tell whether the murders are not solved because of a conspiracy by the authorities just to ignore them, or whether the level of homophobia that exists in our community creates an environment where people are just unwilling to assist the police."

----

In the meantime, Greene said the gay community is extremely concerned about the rise in violence in general, but as an ostracized and vulnerable community within the country, the community is even more concerned about the murders of gays.

"These four murders are only four of what seem to be a trend of unsolved murders of gays," Greene said. And she urged Bahamians to think about the ways homophobia and intolerance generally have an affect on violence in the country at large.

The Rainbow Alliance's website actually has a pretty good run down of the anti-gay activities in the Bahamas over the past several years, which includes a hysterical reaction over a request that Logo be available on cable there, the arrival of a Rosie cruise which was greeted by picketers, the stripping of a teen beauty queen of her crown when it was revealed she was a lesbian, and more. Read it all here (page down to find the chronology).

For a flavor of the rhetoric that flies by the anti-gay forces, here is an excerpt of a several thousand word opinion piece that ran in one of the national papers just last fall, before the first murders (in reaction to the Logo flap, I think), it a response to a letter printed earlier by queer advocates:

Furthermore, the Christian community is a better friend to the
homosexual than you could ever be! Your lives are lives of painful
desperation filled with pain, abuse, violence, jealousy, betrayal,
shame, drugs and alcohol addiction and disease. Homosexuals corrupt,
abuse and discard young innocents, leaving shattered souls in their
wake that the church has to come along to redeem and restore, and
sometimes house, feed and pay their medical bills!

...

Tell me Ms. Klonaris, who is the one who truly hates homosexuals?
Homosexuals themselves or the Church? Who is the real homophobic, you
or me? Homosexuals traffic in self-centred, soul destroying
activities, gratifying their lewd appetites on the vulnerable and
hurting! The Church is about helping such individuals find dignity and
soul peace in their lives. As a pastor, my heart weeps for the young
men who have had to bend over for a job, or job security /
advancement. They have no clue as to the sordid lifestyle ahead of
them.
These cries of intolerance and "homophobia" are nothing but dishonest
spin-doctoring designed to keep persons from looking too closely at
the transparent lies and fabrications of the homosexual agenda! In
fact, every gain made by the homosexual movement has been made by
deception, beguilement or the harassment or silencing of the
opposition.

I must ponder, in an atmosphere of repression, will gays and lesbians who might know something about the murders come forward to testify? Would their admitted knowledge immediately implicate them, and they would risk losing their jobs, their families, their housing, their friends? How does the silence reinforce itself? How do the actions of what I take to be a relatively few vocal opponents to the rights of gays and lesbians manage to keep a more tolerant majority from allowing Bahamian gays and lesbians to live open lives? Can verbal intolerance lead to violence, and death?

It certainly casts a large shadow. I know that I now feel less safe. I find myself wondering what our neighbors really thought of us (no one ever asked if we were gay, but I'm sure it was super obvious... we were two men sharing a studio apt for 5 months!). What do you start to do to yourself if you feel that your personal safety, your life maybe, is at stake? What sort of courageous march out of the closet is possible under those circumstances?

I keep thinking about this sign, which my partner and I passed every day that we dropped our niece off at preschool, and which is on a very major road in Nassau which I'm sure a majority of Bahamians see on a weekly basis at least. It's been up for at least nearly a year now.

I mean, what's it like to see this every day, if you are LGBT? If you are straight but a supporter of LGBT people? If you agree with the sentiments?

The real message of this sign is that "we can say this if we want, and no one will challenge us. Even if most people think we are extreme, they are afraid to challenge us. We will use our tiny bit of power to keep those without any power from ever getting any."

Our niece is just learning to read. I wonder what she will make of this sign when she can read it.

Comments

[Prince Machiavelli]

That sign always shock me when I pass down shirley street - I could never get used to seeing it. Wow !

[Matthew]

I didn't know all this was happening in Bahamas. I though Jamaica was the only brutal and intolerant place. *sigh* I CANNOT believe such a sign exists in 21st century Bahamas.

Whether it's Bahamas, Barbados or Jamaica it's sad and uneccessary.

Are there any underground parties clubs, groups that cater to the needs of Bahamian gays and lesbians?

[Doda]

Thanks for writing this.