Both the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society (JCHS) and the Lawyer’s Christian Fellowship have been listed as faith-based barriers to the advancement of the LGBTQI agenda in the Caribbean.
The two Jamaican organisations were flagged in a study looking at faith-based efforts in the region to combat discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI). The study was carried out by the international LGBTQI funding agency, the Arcus Foundation and lists several other Christian organisations in the region.
According to the study which was done in 2020, the Lawyers Christian Fellowship is “A network of Christian lawyers who lobby against LGBTQI rights, sexual and reproductive health education, and the rights of women and marginalized populations.” Meanwhile, the JCHS, was described as a, “a group of Christians who envision a Jamaican society in which social, spiritual, physical, emotional, and mental health of society are driven by Judeo-Christian values.”
Researchers found that the groups are powerful lobbies that advocates for anti-LGBTQI legislation and influences local and regional governments to maintain sodomy laws.
Chairman of the JCHS, Dr Wayne West told the Freedom Come Rain newspaper that the organisation will continue to stand against the gay lobby.
“Our focus is always that the biblical worldview is the best for law and public policy. So any organization or anything that stands against that, we will resist it. And not only that, we will also actively support any endeavor and also initiatives necessary to advocate [and] to push the biblical worldview,” he said.
“The biblical worldview is that all human beings from conception to death have natural value because we are made in the image of God. That marriage is between a man and a woman. That the world was made by God,” he insisted.
The researchers said that several methods were used to identify local and
regional faith allies, as well as to locate and document faith-based initiatives that may threaten the socio-political advancement of members of the LGBTQI community. Several pastors were listed as allies of the LGBTQI expansion in the region. Dr. West is not at all surprised.
“There are always tares in the church, in fact, Christ himself tells us that. And they will go together until the harvest when the angels will separate the tares.”
The impact of the Christian lobby groups on socio-political issues, especially those addressing sexual and reproductive health rights came up during interviews for the research.
“Most participants said that politicians will not change their stance until faith leaders change their dialogue. Some respondents said this requires elected officials and their
religious allies to work together more closely. Conversely, it was also noted that faith community allies are not equipped to advance policy and legislative strategies.”
Some Recommendations made to advance SOGI in the Caribbean:
Strategize to promote a clear separation between church
and state.
- Capacity training for faith leaders to enhance their abilities to work on issues like LGBTQI homelessness and partner- and gender-based violence.
- Sessions to develop advocacy skills for faith leaders who have already demonstrated a readiness to engage in LGBTQI human rights advancement.
- Support and train faith leaders (who are advocates) to deliver rights-centered pastoral care to queer congregants and their families.
- A strategic intervention to introduce human rights and gender perspective into religious studies at theological colleges and religious study programmes.
- Develop strategies to amplify the voices and works of religious leaders who are human rights and LGBTQI advocates.
- Develop initiatives that support religious leaders who take the risk of being allies.
- Create safe spaces where religious leaders can safely and confidentially address their sentiments, beliefs, biases, and experiences around issues of sexuality.
- Create structured, continual psychosocial support for faith leaders who are active and visible allies.
- Develop pathways and protocols where clerics and community cross-refer individuals or families who need psycho-social support or pastoral care.
- Develop LGBTQI capacity to provide technical support to faith-based organizations and assist them in building mandates and ministries that support inclusion.
- Train LGBTQI advocates and activists in theology so they can articulate religious teachings and rebut theories that religion supports homophobia.
- Developing awareness campaigns that recognize that many LGBTQI people believe in God and want to participate in faith traditions.
- Promotional media campaigns addressing LGBTQI issues and feel-good stories around acceptance and inclusion coming from faith communities.
- Implementing visible, monumental campaigns that show harmony between FBOs and the LGBTQI community; for example, human peace chain link between LGBTQI and faith communities and allies.
- Using trained faith leaders, develop initiatives to assist politicians to separate religious dogma from their obligations to uphold the human rights of all citizens.