Adrian Frater, News Editor

western bureau

Closet gays in Montego Bay could be in for a rude awakening soon as their openly gay colleagues, who have been garnering unfavourable media attention within recent weeks, are threatening to blow their cover.

"Some of them (the closet gays) are taking sides against us and it is not fair," said a gay man who identified himself to The STAR but asked that his name not be published. "We are standing up for what we believe in and they are hiding behind a lie."

In a story published in The Gleaner last Wednesday under the headline 'Witter Warns Gays', Public Defender Earl Witter advised the gay men to 'hold their corner' and avoid unwanted backlash from the public.

But the gays say they will not be retreating but, instead, will be fighting back.

One such move, the gays claim, is to open the closet and expose their companions.

"We were hoping that local gays in prominent positions would have come out in our defence but they too have turned against us," complained the gay man. "That is why we want Jamaica to know who they are."

No cheap panties

In a bold move, last Monday, several gay men stormed the offices of the Western Mirror, raising objection to a story under the headline 'Panty Shortage in Montego Bay', which implied that gays, who are said to be wearing panties, were the cause of the shortage.

"We don't wear the cheap panties that you find in stores in Montego Bay," one of the gays reportedly told the staff at the Western Mirror. "You guys must do proper investigative journalism before you publish these things."

out and bad

Much to the chagrin of those who despise the gay lifestyle, within recent months, prominent young gay men have been openly displaying their homosexuality on the Montego Bay social circuit, drawing much attention to themselves.

However, they have been coming under sustained pressure since the release and wide circulation of a DVD showing them at a party dressed in female apparel performing various sexual acts.

The anger against them boiled over at the Montego Bay Carnival on April 2, where they were attacked and stoned by irate revellers.

Living in fear

"We are now living in fear as the public has turned against us," the gay man told The STAR. "Even the police who should be protecting us are against us."

Superintendent Steve McGreggor, the commanding officer of the St. James Police Division, said gays who feel they are not being treated properly by the police should feel free to discuss the matter with him.

"I am extending an open invitation to members of that community to discuss any form of abuse or complaints they have as it relates to my officers treating them in any untoward ways," said Supt. McGreggor. "Any report they have will be dealt with in the same manner as any other complaints."