by Danae Hyman

Although still facing backlash from the majority of churches in Jamaica, Jaevion Nelson, executive director of Equality for All Jamaica Foundation, said some church leaders are currently standing out in support of people belonging to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, and welcoming them in their churches.

Speaking recently at a weekly community meeting on the Zoom videoconferencing platform about challenges and hope for LGBT rights in developing countries, Nelson shared that the Jamaica Council of Churches have on several occasions done different activities with the community, has been a part of the Pan Caribbean HIV work, and has established a human rights committee in Jamaica.

According to him, the council have also issued a statement stating that pastoral care has to include providing support to LGBT people, and that the church has to be a welcoming space to LGBT people.

“Where the LGBT community is concerned, the churches play a huge role. We have seen where a number of church leaders have participated in different types of protests, some of them mass rallies, some of them just petitions to the prime minister, some of them meetings and, of course, sermons are often littered with anti-LGBT sentiments, which makes it difficult for a number of different people who might be LGBT in different churches.

“However, while that is the general consensus, there are some church leaders who have stood and say LGBT people should be protected, they should be respected, and they have rights like anyone else. For example people from the Baptist Union have been very supportive. About two years ago, we had done a meeting with the president of the Jamaica Baptist Union and he then invited members of the community to come to church and to worship with them,” Nelson shared. Read more via Jamaica Gleaner