Although lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender and intersex people have won greater rights in recent years, the struggle for equality continues in the United States and around the world. Pulitzer Center grantee stories tagged with “LGBTI Rights” cover the continuing efforts of LGBTI activists and their allies to achieve full legal and social equality with heterosexual and cisgender peers. Use the Pulitzer Center Lesson Builder to find and create lesson plans on LGBTI rights.
The Reverend Robert Griffin leads a secret church that is welcoming to gay men and women in Jamaica. He believes that religion is at the heart of Jamaica culture of homophobia and the time has come to reinterpret the Bible for modern times.
Jamaica may be one of the most violently homophobic societies in the world. This piece explores the dark side of Jamaica's culture of anti-gay violence and attitudes and explores the ideological beliefs that perpetuate it.
UNAIDS official expresses her belief that the only way Jamaica can contain HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country is to openly discuss about HIV/AIDS and the LGBT community.
Executive Director of the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition explains how violence against the LGBT community in Jamaica impacts the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country.
Every weekend, an American minister flies to Jamaica to lead an underground congregation for the under-served population: the LGBT community.
Leader of the only gay activist group in Jamaica shares her analysis and opinion on the scope and impact of homophobia in the Caribbean country.
For more than 25 years, Dr. Peter Figueroa fought an exhausting battle against HIV/AIDS epidemic in Jamaica. Now retired, he describes the challenges that have prevented him from reaching the goal.
What does it mean when we report that a recent Jamaican government study found that nearly one-third of gay men in Jamaica are HIV positive?
A public debate erupted earlier this year when graphic Dancehall music lyrics and images were banned from Jamaica's airwaves. The public responses reveal the legacy of two Jamaica's.
Jamaica, to me, is a land of deep contradictions.
On one hand, it's a lovely, lush tropical country, blessed with sandy beaches, fantastic flowering shrubs, ripe mango and coconut trees, and inhabited by a strong, proud people who clearly share a basic sense of personal dignity and a deep-seated hospitality towards strangers. I found this to be true regardless of whom I was speaking with, be they rich or poor, educated or illiterate, straight or gay.
It takes just 15 minutes to set up an underground church.
Two boxes and a white sheet make up the pulpit. The altar is a card table. Folding chairs constitute the pews. Then Rev. Robert Griffin, a solidly built gay American minister in his mid-40s, unpacks a battered cardboard box; inside is a wooden chalice, two candle holders, a communion plate and a dog-eared copy of the King James Bible. Add a pianist warming up on an electric keyboard and suddenly an empty meeting room is transformed into the Kingston branch of the Sunshine Cathedral, Jamaica's only gay church.
We may be accustomed to thinking of AIDS as most rampant in distant parts of the world like Africa, India, and South Asia. But these days the epidemic is flaring up a bit closer to home, in the Caribbean. Indeed, AIDS is now the leading cause of death among adults there, and the Caribbean's rate of new infections is the second highest in the world, following just behind Sub-Saharan Africa.
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