04/18/2006
St. Maarten Gay Bash Update
Two suspects are reportedly being held in connection with the gay bashing of CBS News producer Dick Jefferson and his friend Ryan Smith on the island of St. Maarten.
"First reports that two men had been arrested Thursday in connection with the incident reached The Daily Herald Friday night. Dutch press agency ANP reported over the weekend that two arrests had been made at Bamboo Bernie’s and that a third suspect, apparently the main suspect, was still at large."
Said Chief Prosecutor Taco Stein: "I say to you as I said to all other reporters, I cannot deny nor confirm the arrests." Stein also told the Herald that "the investigation was 'very touchy' and 'delicate' and that he would give a statement 'as soon as this is possible.'"
The recent gay bashings have thrust St. Maarten and the Caribbean in general into the limelight, prompting Time to ask, in an article published this week, if the region is the most homophobic place on earth?
The Time article focuses mainly on Jamaica, punctuated with a description of hate crimes that have happened there recently:
"In 2004, a teen was almost killed when his father learned his son was gay and invited a group to lynch the boy at his school. Months later, witnesses say, police egged on another mob that stabbed and stoned a gay man to death in Montego Bay. And this year a Kingston man, Nokia Cowan, drowned after a crowd shouting "batty boy" (a Jamaican epithet for homosexual) chased him off a pier."
An editorial in St. Maarten's Daily Herald expressed concern about the consequences for the travel industry and urged people to see the gay bashing as an "isolated" incident, saying "The islands to a great extent depend on Americans visitors for their survival, but that does not mean they should be blackmailed. What happened to the two badly beaten visitors is horrible, but it’s obviously an isolated incident involving a handful of people and presenting it any other way simply misleading the public."
However, with attitudes like the one expressed in a second editorial that a reader scanned and sent in to me (allegedly from the Herald as well and not, as of now, available online), folks may agree with Time. The writer of this opinion piece blames the victim and longs for the days when gay bashing wasn't such a "no-no." It's pretty damn sickening. Here you go:
UPDATE: As I suspected, the editorial may not be from The Herald. As you'll see in the comments below, a reader seems to think it was from another, smaller paper called Today. In either case, the editorial is still illustrative of much of the homophobic thinking that pervades the Caribbean today.
Previously
St. Maarten Gay Bash update [tr]
St. Maarten Gay Bash Victim Speaks Out [tr]
Brutal Gay Bashing on St. Maarten [tr]
Posted 1:35 PM EST by Andy Towle in Caribbean, Crime, Travel | Permalink
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Yes, gay people should take our homophobia fighting resources away from our struggles here in the US and divert them to....the Carribean so we can clean it up before we vacation there.
Posted by: Chad Hanging | Apr 19, 2006 12:55:31 AM
While what the bashers did was truly reprehensible, we as gay people need to be more careful in how we express ourselves in public in foreign countries.
Yes, a woman might think that women shouldn't be veiled up, but her strolling through Saudi Arabia in a midriff-baring tank top and jeans is only going to get her into trouble--regardless of what her views are about gender equality etc.
Nothing wrong with visiting other countries, just bear in mind not every country shares the same values. Surely it'd be good if countries became more open about things, but culture is such that you can't have foreigners imposing new values (however good) on locals, unless the locals themselves see some point in adopting those values. Cultural change needs other, more long term means.
Posted by: Nestow | Apr 19, 2006 6:39:04 AM
I think this incident is horrible and the editorial makes it worse, but I think I agree with Nestow that sometimes people need to be a bit careful about how to behave.
Before I get yelled at for 'blaming the victim' or being insufficiently supportive of gay rights, let me give you a case from my own experience here in Bombay, India, where I live as a fairly out gay person and face almost no problems on that account. Life isn't ideal for homosexuals in India (well, its still criminal so what do you expect), but its very far from impossible or even particularly bad if you're in a large city like Bombay.
Ironically one of the few homophobic experiences I've faced was thanks to two young American guys who were living here. I'd helped introduce them to each other and they were all over each other. This was sweet when it was at one of the Gaybombay parties - but they wouldn't stop, even outside.
It did make me feel uncomfortable, but I felt stupid and prudish telling them to stop. I figured it was their business and after all, wasn't this the sort of queer empowerment we wanted someday? But I did feel they were stepping over some line that, for better or worse, gay people here weren't crossing.
One day I took them to a private club where I'm a member, a fairly sporty, yuppie kind of place. It was a big night and the bar was packed and things were going well until I noticed several members looking at me and a few muttering to themselves. I looked over my shoulder and there were these two, making out as usual. This could have got unpleasant, and very certainly was affecting my status as a member, so I told them to stop it and reluctantly they did, but giving me stuff about how they felt it was important to assert their right to do make out where they wanted.
I felt bad about this until another friend who's lived in the US told me they were telling me a crock of shit. There were plenty of places in the US where they wouldn't dare make out as publicly as they were doing here, and to do that here, using their foreign status as an excuse to get away with it here was simply not to respect local sensitivities, not to mention my status as their host in the club.
None of this should be seen as justifying what happened in St.Maarten's. There's a huge difference between people being embarrassed by what they see, and going out and bashing up people as a result. But I do think some travellers can forget the need to respect local customs, and the fact that you are bringing in much needed tourist dollars doesn't excuse that.
Posted by: Vikram | Apr 19, 2006 7:33:22 AM
Nothing can justify the violent attack against these men. So what if four guys were "offended" because they allegedly saw the gay guys making out in public. I see heterosexuals ("breeders") doing this ALL THE TIME. It offends me - heterosexual sex is sickening to me - but I don't take a baseball bat and beat the hell out of them!
I agree that the main focus of American gays and lesbians should be the fight here at home. We are closer now than ever before to winning everything we have fought for over the many decades. Yes, we still have those annoying moonbat religious conservatives who are hell-bent on denying us the right to marry, but overall things are much better for gays in the US today than at any other time in history.
That being said, I also think that we should leverage our economic power (both that of the gay community and of the American economy) to encourage change in places with backward social views. Yes, I said backwards and I meant it. I know that these islands are populated with the descendants of slaves, and yes it is usually taboo to make any comment that smacks of racism, but the whole idea of "cultural homophobia" is ridiculous. That is like excusing the pervasive discrimination and violence against blacks in the US as "cultural racism" that should be coddled. If the sons and daughters of slaves cannot understand what it means to be a despised minority then who can?
I have zero tolerance for anti-gay bigotry, be it here at home in the US or anywhere else. It cannot and should not be tolerated. I would rather see St. Maartens fall into the sea and disappear forever than for this violent incident to be just one of a series of such attacks. I strongly support a gay boycott of all Carribean nations to which we are not safe to travel.
As for the people living there who aren't homophobic, I do sympathize with the negative impact a successful boycott would bring, but putting an end to homophobia merits such actions. If we don't vote with our dollars, how else will they hear us?
I say again: just how profitable would the tourist trade be if the only people who came to the islands were the "Focus on Your Family" crowd who don't drink, don't gamble and don't party late into the night?
Posted by: Jonathon | Apr 19, 2006 9:22:36 AM
Y'know what?
Stay away. Stay far far away. There are other places to visit.
Vote with your American dollars - highly coveted through the Caribbean. When your travel agent suggests the Caribbean, tell them that you don't support homophobic regimes. Get your straight friends and family to do the same.
Many of these places depend on tourist money. Don't give them yours.
Posted by: karashi | Apr 19, 2006 10:03:59 AM
Enough with the cultural relativism -- assault is assault, attempted murder is attempted murder. Backward societies deserve our contempt, not our "understanding." There are no doubt many people in the Caribbean who are appalled by homophobia. Let's grow a few spines, shall we?
And I agree -- a boycott, a nice public one, is in order, if only for a few months, just so that people get the message and start changing their societies from within.
Posted by: Dan | Apr 19, 2006 1:13:58 PM
I'm a former resident of St. Martin (which is the proper spelling on the French side) and I have to say that there is a lot of misonformation being passed around here. While I agree that there is a growing problem with homophobia in the Antilles, I think that it is important to have a bit of background.
First, St. Martin is one of the most open, liberal places I've ever lived. There is a pretty active gay beach there, and I know that there are many gay people who live on the tiny speck of land or visit frequently. This attack is atrocious, and the response of the police, who have long been tinged by corruption on the island, inexcusable, but most people on the island are unremittingly friendly.
Keep in mind that St. Martin is a crossroads island, a duty-free tourist destination, and that most of the people who live there are not natives, but people who come from other parts of the region. There are large populations of Jamacians, Hatians, Americans, and people from all over the West Indies. The idea that St. Martin is more homophobic then anyplace else in the Caribbean is false. If anything, people bring their bigotry with them to the island.
Which gets to the real culprit behind this trend. In the Caribbean in the last twenty years, the traditional churches, be they Catholic, Anglican, or other traditional mainstream Protestant denominations, have been replaced by agressive evangelical fundamentalist churches from the U.S. All kinds of right-wing preachers and missionaries have toured the Caribbean, and their most effective tool has been satellite programming from the U.S. Yes, they get the "700 Club" in St. Martin.
This hard-sell evangilism has had a price. In a region where poverty and isolation have given way to rich tourists and easy drug money and violence, there is a lot of social turmoil. Many have turned to Christian Fundamentalism for explanations and security, just as they have in the U.S. as the middle class disappears. This has opened the door to the political agenda of the American Religious Right. For many people in the Caribbean these days, their main source of imformation about the world is the propoganda of these conservative churches, for whom gays are the scapegoat of modernity.
West Indians are a traditionally friendly, but socially conservative people. I used to be embarrased by American tourists who would walk around in the downtown business district of a city like, say, Fort-de-France, wearing sports bras and muscle shirts, oblivious to the fact that most of the locals were sporting ties and modest dresses. It's not that I have a problem with sports bras and muscle shirts, but that this obliviousness of local custom and mores can be very insulting. Generally, I've got no problem with freaking out the breeders, but when you combine the anti-gay uninformed reactions of many straight people, with the resentment many folks in a tourist-dependent economy often feel, and add a large dollop of U.S. exported religious homophobia, it can be a recipe for disaster.
That said, a boycott is exactly the wrong idea. A boycott is a retreat, a way of saying to the homophobes "you win". St. Martin, and the entire Caribbean, is a magical place, and to pull back in the face of homophobic violence would be to abandon the place and its people to the worst elements found there. We should be pressuring the government to act, and demanding justice. But you build bridges one person at a time. Studies always show that folks who know openly gay people are less homophobic. This is the principle that we should follow in confronting anti-gay hate. Have the gay cruises go there. When the folks of St. Martin see that we are not the demons or charactures that the American preachers describe over the satellite, then things will change for the better.
To do otherwise would be to give up on St. Martin, and all the places like St. Martin, including giving up on the gay people who live there. We can't retreat to the ghetto. We have to demand our place in the world.
Don't be afraid to go to St. Martin or the Caribbean. It's no more dangerous then Chelsea of Silverlake or SoMa. Which is to say, like everywhere else, it's a place to be careful and build bridges.
As for the editorial, I've read stuff just as bad many, many times here in the U.S. And I'm not going to emigrate.
Posted by: Spence | Apr 19, 2006 2:01:38 PM
My partner and I just returned from a St. Maarten/ St.Martin vacation a week or so before these attacks, and even spent some time at Bamboo Bernie’s (which does indeed have a gaggle of gay locals comfortable enough to sit through a free-drink sunset happy hour, though none of them were “all over each other” at the time—just a bunch of nice looking guys in nice trim clothes – and their women friends—hanging out at a bar where the sunset over the ocean is a rare thing on an east-west island), and I would disagree/ support the opinions of some of the comments posted here.
We never felt threatened on the island (especially since the nicer beaches are on the French side—the Dutch-side “gay” beach, when it isn’t washed away, is overpopulated by crotch-scratching lookie-loos interfering with a nice day on any beach), but I would add that we never felt comfortable either. We stayed in a gay guesthouse, so sharing the same bed or lounging around in the “compound” at breakfast or late evening wasn’t an issue, but like some places in the US where we have been (Key West springs to mind), there is an unspoken preference for preference for family-focused, “respectable” behavior that makes the intolerance palpable, but not overt.
If you choose to spend time (and money) in St. Maarten/ St. Martin, your time (and money) would be better spent in the restaurants and bars on the French side, where adhering to the same standards of behavior that make visits to European cities and many American cities “apprehensive” but still enjoyable; avoid believing that you have arrived on the over-marketed “Friendly Island” in the Caribbean. In my opinion, you will have a much better time in Puerto Rico.
Posted by: Vince | Apr 19, 2006 8:41:02 PM
There is, in fact, a Caribbean island that embraces gays, and that island is Saba.
I first visited Saba a year and a half ago on a gay scuba trip. I signed up for the trip 5 months in advance, had a car accident 3 weeks prior to the trip, and was unable to dive. I went on the trip anyway, but spent my time hiking and getting to know the locals. I was truly embraced by the locals. I was very candid about my sexual orientation and it was made clear by everyone, in word and in deed, that it was not an issue. The minister of tourism is openly gay. The locals routinely speak of "Malcolm and Rodney," a local couple, as they would John and Mary. I was told that "Anita and Janine" will be moving back to New York, where Anita will do AIDS research. Anita was the island doctor and Janine is her partner. No one said, "Anita and Janine are a lesbian couple." They just matter-of-factly referred to them as Anita and Janine.
During my most recent trip to Saba, I stayed at Juliana's hotel as part of a gay diving group. The owners, Wim and Johanna, threw several parties for us. Wim threatened to revoke my gay card because I had never seen "Sordid Lives," which he was playing on Juliana's big outdoor screen for our group. He even attended a wild gay luau (He is definitely straight, BTW).
During my first Saba trip, I walked into Jo Bean Glass Studio, owned by Jo Bean Chambers, a former Bostonian. She and I hit it off, and before I knew it, I had moved from my hotel into her guest room. She and her husband, Frank (retired dean of the local medical school), took me in and treated me like family.
The locals have e-mailed and called me, asking "When are you coming back? We miss you."
Michael (straight), owner of the Brigadoon restaurant, invited me to go hiking with him. We went hiking several times. When I went back to the states, he asked me if I would deposit money for him in the B of A. He handed me $3000 cash in an act of trust.
I have never felt so included or so embraced (Dare I say loved?) by any community, gay or straight, so I bought a home on Saba. I will live there part time starting Sunday and can't wait.
All of this is only to say that you cannot make a blanket statement that "The Caribbean islands are not gay friendly." Saba is gay embracing. It is as close to Utopia as it gets and I can't recommend a visit highly enough. Go to www.sabatourism.com for a look-see. The Saba web sites all mention gay and lesbian tourism, too. Lynn and John of Sea Saba (www.seasaba.com) are kick-ass dive trip operators who host many gay dive groups.
I hope you will consider visiting "my" little Caribbean island.
Dan Guida, La Mesa, California, also
Dan Guida, Windwardside, Saba, Dutch Antilles
Posted by: Dan | May 10, 2006 10:16:05 PM
I am from St. Maarten and yes I am female. Let me be the first to say that I do not condone gay bashing. I am a Christian and part of my Christianity Demands that I love all people no matter what their orientation is. I have several gay friends and a lot of my friends who are local people (born and breed St. Maarteners) have gay friends too. Some of my fiancee's best friends are gay and we love them.
In writing your article, you must realize that St. Maarten is made up of every nation in the world. This means that people of all different walks of life are in St. Maarten. So for every Caribbean Island that you visit, for every Country that you visit and for every Continent that you visit you will find at least five representatives here. With that said, assuming that St. Maarteners hate gay people is a general statement that is a bit foolish to say the least. It's like saying that all men cannot commit and I KNOW that that is not a fact at all. Do we have a problem with gay bashing in St Maarten? Well my question is "where do we not have a problem in the world with gay bashing?
Gay Bashing is not a St. Maarten thing, not a Jamaican thing and not a Caribbean thing. Gay bashing is an earth thing and needs to be dealt with in the world. Do you want to make a difference, becaues I want you to make a difference. As a Christian, as a woman and as a St. Maartener I want you to walk down the street and hold hands and declare to the world that you are here and you have a right just like anyone else to be here.
Is this a wake up call. Hell yes for everyone. Good morning. Your coffee has been served. Now do what you have to do today. Much love, much courage, much strength and much fun and sun from St. Maarten.
Posted by: TheLadyP | Jul 2, 2006 8:12:39 PM
I've lived in the Antilles for over 2 and half years and have visited St Maarten on several occasions; it can be a frightening place for heterosexuals too! I know of at least one person who ended up in a wheel chair after being dragged down a road attached to a car.
The world isn't such a nice place; unfortunately there are no trips on the horizon to Shangri La or Utopia...
With reference to island people being backward... Isolated perhaps but they all generally have MTV & Fox News so of course you are going to find some whose brains have been washed on a spin cycle.
Regardless of sexuality you have to keep your wits about you when you travel.
Posted by: Jumbie | Jul 13, 2006 6:21:15 AM
i'm looking for Mike Cunningham. I was his sister's bf and am looking for her (also him). HARD TO FIND!!! If you know Micheal from Kalispell please let me know. I would love to hear from them. Ronda Kirkpatrick. I lived with their family. People are looking for his sister. HELP!!!.
Posted by: Ronda Kirkpatrick | Sep 5, 2006 5:29:02 AM
Never got to comment on the Gay bashing issue on my island, feels embarrased, does not agree with your life style, you are human and enjoys equal right as any other citizens on the island. In terms of boycotting the island with your cruises it is a great idea, we take offense in the lifestyle, visit the island as ordinary citizens you are most welcome, keep your lyfestyle to your self and do not try to enforce it upon others either in society, that also constitutes disrespect for other fellow citizens. The the greater mayority on the island we are offended with such lifestyle in public, it sends very repulsive signals to our youngsters / children. Mutual respect for others a two lane street Love you.
Posted by: Francisco | Apr 14, 2008 9:46:41 AM
That is not justice for the gay.Since St. Martin is a marvelous place for everyone,We need to respect people not just for what they are but in spite of what they are.
-Sarah
Posted by: Sint Maarten | Feb 2, 2009 7:24:58 PM
i am so glad to read this. i am behind you all the way.
Posted by: aruba wedding | May 3, 2009 12:55:14 AM