04th
February 2012
The
Caribbean: Not so gay
 On
the Caribbean island of Barbados with a population
of about 250,000 people, approximately 3,426
persons are living with HIV, and the Minister
of Health, Stephen Lashley, has warned “that
is not likely the exact figure”.
The HIV/AIDS pandemic is particularly worrying
for small countries because most of the infected
people are in what the Minister described as
“their productive years, between the ages
of 15 and 49”. Obviously, the economic
consequences for small countries of losing their
most productive people are very grave.
Barbados is not unique. Many other Caribbean
countries are in a similar situation and some
of them are worse.
While on a per capita basis, the problem of
persons infected with HIV/AIDS is serious in
the Caribbean, it is even more so in Africa.
Increasingly, the issue is becoming not only
one of health but also of human rights. This
is because, in part, HIV/AIDS is linked to homosexuality,
even though homosexuality is not the sole contributor
to the contraction and spread of HIV/AIDS.
In many countries where homosexuality is criminalized,
as is buggery, it is claimed that homosexuals
requiring treatment for the disease fear seeking
such treatment lest they expose themselves to
imprisonment for criminal activity.
Recently, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon told
African leaders at an African Union Summit that
they should respect the rights of homosexuals,
and stop treating gays as second class citizens
or even criminals. In many African countries,
homosexuality is illegal, and there have been
many reports of discrimination and violence
against homosexuals. The response to Ban Ki-Moon
from some African governments has been dismissive
if not angry.
Late last year, representatives of Caribbean
and African governments had also reacted heatedly
to the repetition by British Prime Minister,
David Cameron, of a policy position put out
last July that the UK government would review
“budgetary support” to governments
that discriminated against vulnerable groups
such as young girls, women and homosexuals.
The hostile response came even from governments
that do not receive “budgetary aid”
and would not be affected by the British position.
Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister John
Baird also stepped into the debate in January.
Addressing the Royal Commonwealth Society in
London, Baird urged Commonwealth countries to
protect the rights of homosexuals. He singled
out African and Caribbean countries in particular.
Stressing the human rights aspect of the issue,
Baird said: “The criminalization of homosexuality
is incompatible with the fundamental Commonwealth
value of human rights.” And, he declared
that the Canadian government “will continue
to press countries in the Commonwealth to live
up to their international obligations, and uphold
the basic contract any government should have
with its people.”
The stance of the Canadian government is entirely
consistent with the position adopted by eleven
persons from the Commonwealth (of whom I was
one) who were convened as an Eminent Persons
Group (EPG) to provide Heads of Government with
recommendations on reform of the 54-nation Commonwealth
to make it relevant to its times and its people.
The Report pointed out that of the 33.3 million
people in the world now living with the HIV
virus, over 60% of them live in Commonwealth
countries, making it a very specific Commonwealth
problem.
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