Jamaica Plans First LGBT Pride Festival

While security issues have made a traditional LGBT parade impossible, the island country of Jamaica announced this week that it will hold a week-long pride festival. According to The Advocate,

Running concurrent with Jamaica’s Emancipation and Independence celebrations, Pride Jamaica will take place from August 1-8 in the capital city of Kingston. Festivities will kick off with a flash mob, followed by an opening ceremony. Then, over the next few days, there will be an art exhibition, open mic night, flag raising ceremony, and coming out symposium. Gay Star News reports that the symposium will “also feature allies, who will share their experiences of what it is like to publicly support the LGBT community in Jamaica, as well as an acoustic concert for women and a pride party.”

The news of the festival is groundbreaking given Jamaica’s sad reputation for countrywide violent homophobia. Event organizers are working to keep the event safe. Latoya Nugent, the associate director of the Jamaica Forum of Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays said, “We will pause the negative vibrations from anti-gay lobby groups and focus on the strides we have made as a community. More importantly, we will recommit to initiatives that see us moving forward as one community.”