Natalie Campbell-Rodriques gave a state of the nation presentation in Jamaica’s Senate on Friday (9 September). During the speech ,she pointed to data produced by Jamaica Forums for Lesbians, All-Sexual and Gays (J-FLAG) on discrimination, ill-treatment and stigma against members of the LGBTQ+ community. J-FLAG’s survey, which polled 1,043 people, showed showed 50 per cent of those sampled had positive attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community on issues such as education. Sadly, the same poll found 67 per cent of respondents didn’t support amending laws to decimalise same-sex intimacy.
The Jamaica Observer noted that a RJRGleaner Group-commissioned Don Anderson poll that found 80 per cent of Jamaicans surveyed are against rolling back the country’s anti-LGBTQ+ laws. Anti-LGBTQ+ laws cost the country around $11billion per year, according to the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CAPRI). In 2018, prime minister of Jamaica, Andrew Holness, said he would not object to a gay person serving in his cabinet.