Jamaican Ends Legal Challenge to Anti-Sodomy Law

A young Jamaican gay rights activist who brought an unprecedented legal challenge to the Caribbean island's anti-sodomy law has withdrawn the claim after growing fearful about violent backlashes, advocacy groups and colleagues said Friday.

Last year, Javed Jaghai made headlines after initiating a constitutional court challenge to Jamaica's 1864 law that bans sex between men. He argued that the anti-sodomy law fuels homophobia and violates a charter of human rights adopted in 2011 that guarantees people the right to privacy.

But in an affidavit, Jaghai said he has been "threatened enough times to know that I am vulnerable." The 25-year-old man believes his "loved ones are under threat" by intolerant people and the drawn-out court challenge is causing too much stress and anxiety.

"Though the cause and the case are noble, I am no longer willing to gamble with my life or the lives of my parents and siblings," Jaghai wrote in a statement withdrawing his Supreme Court claim.

Jamaica's rarely used anti-sodomy law bans anal sex and sets a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment and hard labor. Anything interpreted as "gross indecency" between men can be punished by two years in prison.

Janet Burak of New York-based advocacy group AIDS-Free World said the fear that pushed Jaghai to end his court challenge is an all-too familiar fear among the LGBT community in Jamaica. It's "the same fear that keeps gay men in Jamaica underground, away from effective HIV testing, prevention treatment, care and support interventions," she said in a statement.

When Jaghai initiated the legal challenge last year, several church pastors led crowded revival meetings in Jamaica's two biggest cities to oppose overturning the anti-sodomy law.

Many Jamaicans consider homosexuality to be wrong, but insist violence against gays is blown out of proportion by activists. But anti-gay epithets are heard frequently and attacks on LGBT Jamaicans or people perceived to be gay do occur from time to time. Last year, a transgender teen named Dwayne Jones was murdered by a mob at a crowded street dance and his slaying remains unsolved.

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller vowed to put the anti-sodomy law to a "conscience vote" in Parliament during the leadup to 2011 elections but nothing has been accomplished.

J-FLAG, Jamaica's biggest gay rights group, says Jaghai's courage has inspired other young homosexuals in Jamaica who are not willing to live in the shadows.

"Javed has made history and will forever remain a hero to the Jamaican LGBT community," said activist Brian-Paul Welsh.