By the design of the laws found in Section 13 of the Sexual Offences Act, homosexuality is illegal. Supporting immigration laws also debar homosexuals from entering this country. Add to that the plethora of religious laws which denounce homosexuality and the odds of it being widely accepted in Trinidad and Tobago are stacked pretty high

Despite all this, however, homosexuals have managed to exist here without being hauled before the courts and prosecuted. There are also several non-governmental organizations dedicated to supporting the gay community and protecting their interests.

The Student Press does not want to use this forum to start a debate on whether the laws ought to be changed or enforced. Neither will we address the morality of homosexuality here. That is a topic often tackled by lobbyists on both sides of the great divide. One that has no end in sight.

With all our attention focused on crime and its reduction, there has been an emphasis on negating violence in all it forms. Why then are wiling to accept and condone violence against homosexuals as some type of retribution for their choice? There appears to be a simmering disdain for homosexuals which translates into a sort of nonchalant attitude towards their isolation, discrimination and in extreme cases physical abuse.

Most of us have heard of, or have witnessed homosexuals being ridiculed, threatened or even beaten. Are you angered by these incidents? At best most of us are indifferent, at worst, we are part of the group who love to antagonize and mistreat those who are even suspected of being homosexual. 

We are not asking you to accept homosexuality, we are asking you however to remember that homosexuals are human beings, just like heterosexuals, but for their sexual preference.

For those having difficulty with this, it might be instructive to consider that it is perfectly possible to have a stoic hatred for someone’s actions without actually hating the person. Perhaps this might aid in not only the way we view homosexuality but people who we believe commit unforgivable sins.

The teenager who started the group, kill out dem batty man, filled with his own brand of righteous indignation, saw nothing wrong with promoting, in the most public of forums, murder. His madness, even more maddening, in light of the following he was able to attract. Hundreds of people with enough venom in their veins to use their mouse to click in support of killing homosexuals.

Let us all hope, for their sakes and ours, that we do not wake-up tomorrow to a world that has decided the only way to treat with our differences is through violence.

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