Jamaica, Three Years Later: Effects of Intensified Pro-Gay Activism on Severe Prejudice Against Lesbians and Gay Men

Abstract

Jamaica has developed an international reputation for severe anti-gay prejudice. However, in the past few years, between 2012 and 2015, intensified waves of activism have increased the visibility of LGBT Jamaicans and fought for their social and legal inclusion in Jamaican society. This research investigated the effects of that activism by taking advantage of two large, representative surveys of Jamaicans' attitudes toward lesbians and gay men: one in 2012 and one in 2015. Over the 3-year period there were significant reductions in desire for social distance and opposition to gay rights. However, there was no significant change in antigay attitudes, and evidence of an increase in anti-gay behaviours. There was also no evidence of polarisation of responses to gay men and lesbians; rather, the most prejudiced Jamaicans showed the largest reductions in bias. Implications of these findings for activism in Jamaica and other anti-gay countries are discussed.

Does Contact Matter?: The Relative Importance of Contact in Predicting Anti-Gay Prejudice in Jamaica

“…To manage this, each measured construct was clearly defined, similarities between the present scales and scales that are more widely used were outlined, and evidence was provided to indicated that the scales were reasonably internally reliable. Also, wherever possible, the items used were similar to (or the same as) those used in prior research in the same context (e.g., West, 2017;West & Cowell, 2015). Contact and anti-gay prejudice in Jamaica 10 = Every year, 3 = 2 to 3 times a year, 4 = Every month, 5 = Every Week) and their monthly income in Jamaican dollars 1 (1 = Under $20,000, 2 = $20, 001 to $35,000, 3 = $35,001 to $75,000, 4 = $75,001 to $125,000, 5 = $125,001 to $175,000, 6 = $175,001 to $225,000, 7 = $225,001 to $275,000, 8 = $275,001 to $325,000, 9 = $325,001 to $375,000, 10 = $375,001 to $425,001, 11 = $425,001 to $475,000, 12 = $475,000 and above).…”

“…One potentially important solution, however, has thus far been absent from these representative and comparative investigations of prejudice reducing strategies in Jamaicaintergroup contact. Some research has identified contact, and related contact-based interventions, as potential solutions (West & Hewstone, 2012a;, and positive contact has been suggested as a crucial addition to other strategies currently in use, such as collective action (West, 2017). However, it is important to investigate the relative potential utility of contact by comparing it to other variables that predict levels of sexual prejudice in Jamaica.…”

“…Anti-gay attitudes were assessed with four items (α = .67) used in similar previous research (West, 2017;West & Cowell, 2015). Three of these items assessed emotional reactions toward gay people similar to the widely-used semantic differential scale developed by Wright, Aron, McLaughlin-Volpe andRopp (1997 also used by West &Hewstone, 2012a to measure attitudes toward gay men in Jamaica); "I feel you can trust a person who is gay/lesbian."…”

“…Self-reported negative behaviour toward gays was assessed with five items (α = .68) used in prior research (West, 2017;West & Cowell, 2015) with which participants indicated whether they generally behaved in specific negative ways toward lesbians and gay men.…”

“…Jamaica is arguably one of the most anti-gay countries in the world, presenting a very challenging, sometimes dangerous, society for the gay men and lesbians who live there (Carroll & Itaborahy, 2015;Ottosson, 2009;West, 2018). Some recent empirical research has investigated predictors of Jamaican anti-gay prejudice and ways of potentially reducing this prejudice (West, 2017;West & Cowell, 2015;West & Hewstone, 2012a;West, Husnu, & Lipps, 2015). However, this work is still relatively scarce and much more research is necessary to identify optimal prejudice-reducing strategies in this context.…”