{"id":16350,"date":"2017-11-17T09:54:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-17T14:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aidslaw.ca\/site\/?p=16350"},"modified":"2022-10-04T22:42:53","modified_gmt":"2022-10-05T02:42:53","slug":"one-week-in-jamaica-celebrating-lgbtqi-lives-and-local-leadership","status":"publish","type":"blog22","link":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/one-week-in-jamaica-celebrating-lgbtqi-lives-and-local-leadership\/","title":{"rendered":"One Week in Jamaica: Celebrating LGBTQI lives and local leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hg3EOYyVU_4\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><span lang=\"EN-CA\">Maurice Tomlinson\u2019s 2017 Montego Bay Pride video diary<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-CA\">In October, the <b>Canadian HIV\/AIDS Legal Network<\/b> helped launch Intimate Conviction, a two-day international conference examining the Church and anti-gay laws across the Commonwealth, and supported a new generation of local LGBTQI leaders to organize the third successful Montego Bay Pride, with more than 850 people participating.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-CA\">The Intimate Conviction Conference held in Kingston, Jamaica brought together ecumenical leaders from around the world to strategize about how to end the targeted discrimination against LGBTQI people codified in outdated laws criminalizing gay men (and sometimes lesbians as well). The conference plays a critical role in counterbalancing the growth of fundamentalism and provides tools for dialogue and progressive change. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-CA\">Most Rev. Dr. John Holder, Archbishop of the West Indies delivered the opening keynote address followed by panel discussions focused on northern and southern approaches by different faith traditions. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-CA\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/Aidslaw\/videos\">You can find a recording of the conference on our YouTube channel.<\/a><\/span><span lang=\"EN-CA\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-CA\">Days later, the third annual Montego Bay Pride brought visibility to Jamaica\u2019s LGBTQI community with a safe space for celebrations, pop-up street protests and Jamaica\u2019s first LGBTQI film festival. Thanks to our donors, the Legal Network was able to provide financial and logistical support to local leadership \u2013 in keeping with our commitment to mobilizing and supporting communities in defending and advancing their rights.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-CA\">One attendee wrote: \u201cPride means to me: Accepting who I am, being comfortable with my lifestyle, sharing that with my fellow rainbow family members and slowly making strides to educate the average Jamaican and the world that we are here to stay and mean them no harm, we just want to be free and not be judged or harmed!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-CA\"><a href=\"..\/montego-bay-pride-2017-pride-is-where-i-can-be-free-and-truly-express-myself-without-fear\/?lang=en\">Read more about the event on our website.<\/a><\/span><span lang=\"EN-CA\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-CA\">Plans are already underway for Montego Bay Pride 2018. For more information contact Maurice Tomlinson at mtomlinson@aidslaw.ca.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b><span lang=\"EN-CA\">Like our work?<\/span><\/b><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span lang=\"EN-CA\"><a href=\"..\/donate\/\">Visit our donation page<\/a> to <\/span><span lang=\"EN-CA\">make a secure online one-time or monthly donation and take advantage of our <b>Charlie\u2019s Challenge matching gift fund<\/b> to double the impact of your gift.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"..\/donate\/?lang=en\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"..\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Donate.jpg\" alt=\"Donate\" width=\"127\" height=\"53\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16355\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","publication_topics":[153,160],"publication_language":[184],"class_list":["post-16350","blog22","type-blog22","status-publish","hentry","publication_topics-lgbtq-rights","publication_topics-the-caribbean","publication_language-english"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog22\/16350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog22"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/blog22"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"publication_topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication_topics?post=16350"},{"taxonomy":"publication_language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication_language?post=16350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}