YEAH MAN

J’can youth tells of struggles with homosexuality
BY CANDIESE LEVERIDGE Online reporter [email protected]
Saturday, May 19, 2012
CORBIN, a 21-year-old homosexual who resides in the Jamaican capital, Kingston, says he has been a victim of discrimination and has decided to speak out openly against homophobia, which he claims is rampant in the country.
Corbin, a human rights advocate, said he felt more confident about championing the cause of gays because of the decision by some countries to mark Thursday as the ‘International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia’.
The tall, introverted young man said he had been fortunate not to have been exposed to violence because of his sexual preference, but the torture of not being able to be his true self was ‘horrendous’.
“There was this time (when) my best friend and I were seeking to rent a place together since it is cheaper for two persons to share utility bills, (but) the landlady refused to take our information because she was adamant that we needed her place for more than renting as we were a homosexual couple,” Corbin shared.
“It is just disheartening how we jump to conclusions as a people and have such myopic views about lesbian, gays and bisexual people,” he added.
Corbin, who knew from an early age that he was attracted to men, said growing up he was teased by his peers who called him ‘Sharon’ and other female names, and was referred to as his mother’s ‘big daughter’ while he attended a prominent co-educational school in Clarendon, a rural parish in South Central Jamaica.
“I was seen as different from boys my age, and despite my efforts on my tenth birthday in the fourth grade to ‘man up’ and appear more masculine, I was in a world by myself,” he said. About that time Corbin also realised that he had an overwhelming sexual attraction to boys, but he was taught that this was wrong.
An ardent churchgoer who believed in the Bible, the teachings of Christ and the Church, Corbin said this unending aspiration for “worldly things” made him feel even more guilty.
“I had nowhere to go but church, which was hardly a place of refuge given my situation; I had no one to turn to either,” he said.
Confused and ashamed of himself as he tried to fit in socially, Corbin, who was in denial, said he began bashing other suspected homosexuals in an attempt to fit in with what he called ‘the accepted homophobic culture’.
Said he: “I am very saddened by my subscription to this expectation, but the truth is most young people my age are guilty of this. It’s an almost innate thing for you to do as a homosexual or questioning young man.” He said that denial worked to an extent, so much so that when he finally ‘came out’ while attending university, people were surprised.
However, his challenges with discrimination never ended. “I remember one evening, about three male friends and I went to a restaurant in Liguanea. We were hungry and decided to meet up; the waiter (a male) refused to serve us because ‘him nah serve no fish’. This was about 2008 and my first contact with expressed homophobia. I was livid. We got up and left and one of my friends spoke to the manager who said he would deal with the issue,” said Corbin.
It was after this that he began to fight discrimination, arguing that it is in this sort of environment that diseases such as HIV/AIDS are able to engulf a society. He said that he began to read on issues surrounding human rights and homosexuality, asking people questions and filling the gaps. He later went on to study human rights at the post-graduate level “because I thought I needed a broad understanding around the theories of rights and processes of change”.
However, even without the academic qualifications, Corbin insisted that he would have chosen the human rights field in which to work. “My aim is to ensure Jamaica is a place I can live in, that my friends, family and everyone can feel secure regardless of their sexual orientation. I also want to know that other people (heterosexuals) can feel safe and are encouraged to love lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender persons around them.
He blamed the Jamaican Government for what he said has been its failure to remove punitive laws, such as the Buggery Act, which continue to “create an enabling context for human rights abuses”.
Corbin charged that laws criminalising same-sex intimacy fuelled counterproductive behaviour, as gays have been afraid to visit health care centres and pharmacies to purchase products to protect themselves.
“After 30 years, the stigma and discrimination continue to hinder prevention efforts by increasing the vulnerability of people living with and affected by these diseases. Gay and bisexual persons are at high risk of HIV transmission,” he declared.
According to Corbin, his contribution, through academic research and his professional work, has been a critical component to create a sense of freedom within the gay community.
“I wish to dig deeper in the issues about sexuality… and the law, and how they impact on human social and economic development to explore potential opportunities for the necessary changes,” he said.