Man flees business after firebomb threat

A thirty year old man had to quickly resign from his restaurant business in deep rural St. Catherine earlier in February of this year following threats leveled directly at him but not his business partner but after a loud outing incident by a female relative of his business partner took place at the address before things took a dramatic turn for the worse. The man who also received word of the impending doom from concerned customers of his now closed establishment learned of the plot that persons in the area who declared they wanted no battyman around the community were about to strike. He said he also noticed a significant drop in his clientele over the days following the nasty outing incident. Grateful for the heads up he quickly made arrangements to move on a rainy weekend under the cover of evening shadows as some curious neighbours looked on urging him to hurry. Fortunately he got the warning early and took evasive action however sometimes we as gay men are the cause of some of our own homophobic problems. His business partner according to the man who gave an exclusive interview said the hounding partner was the reason why events had reached to this stage.

The partner reportedly wanted more than just a business relationship and demanded the man commit to a long term romantic union with several conditions attached to which the man refused to comply to. Several other details that cannot be disclosed here were disturbing and the zealous partner allegedly complained to his own relatives that the man was cheating him of his share of profits from the partnership among other things. The partner's mother who lives outside of St. Catherine visited the establishment on a busy weekday afternoon with two other relatives and proceeded to accuse the man who was busy serving customers of being gay and that he lured her son into homosexual activity and that he was performing obeah or vodoo to keep her son in line which is not the case as the partner is already suspected by community members as being such, one resident afterwards was reported as suggesting that they knew he was a "fish" all along as he always had strange males at the shop, this was of course prior to the partnership agreement with the fleeing man, the few onlookers who witnessed the removal process by the frightened businessman verbally expressed their disappointment of the impromptu closure and that the residing partner who is a lifelong resident of the community was causing the fleeing man to suffer because of lies being told on him, the businessman had developed a loyal clientele and a good rapport with most persons who despite him being an outsider and the suspicions of the men's orientation patronized the business non the less as the eatery was a hit with taxis and passers-by alike who spread the word around to neighbouring communities. Knowing how tightly knit rural communities are the grapevine culture works very quickly.

Men were reportedly seen some days before milling around the facility and reportedly suggesting anti gay sentiments including lines of the the infamous Buju Banton music track Boom Bye Bye. Just some months before a woman in the same community who was accused of being a lesbian because of her style of dress (she wears mostly men clothes) and butch mystique had an ongoing argument with several men from in and around the community she still resides there and has said she does not intend to leave her family home because of foolishness. Her family in the meantime have been somewhat supportive of her in as far as her safety is concerned. The "born and grow" acceptance in communities may offer her some protection for now as well but we hope she doesn't overstay her welcome there as threats in whatever forms must not be taken lightly.

Thankfully this case was resolved quickly with proactive action by the man involved and also by the kindness of concerned citizens who didn't want to see anything bad happen to the businessman. If all other similar cases in small communities and villages had those variables at work then we could have avoided fire bombings, forced evictions at gunpoint in some instances or worse. The man is now contemplating how to recoup as he made large financial investments and burrowed loans to support the business now he has no address at this time from which to recommence, some of the other items were taken by the partner without his knowledge and it was at the time of the move that he realized what had taken place.

Some history

The last major firebombing incident on record in respect to this blog was in August 10, 2008 as seen in photo below and posted here under the original name of SCJ.

the story was also carried in the Star News then

also see

Photos from August 10th firebombing incident in Clarendon(1)

This is also a testimony that not all Jamaicans are vicious and some are becoming more tolerant though very slow is the spread of it.

I am hoping the businessman is able to rebuild fast or as we say sometime a man haffi build back or wheel and come again, thank God his life was speared.

Peace and tolerance.

H

UPDATE March 23rd

The man went to dispose of his garbage at a skip some yards away from his home where he was confronted by several males playing dominoes nearby who hurled insults and anti homosexual slangs also sang loudly Buju Banton's anti gay ode "Boom Bye Bye inna battyboi head" they proceeded to stone the man as well with one stone making contact on his back from which he has been feeling pain.

He has since temporarily relocated to a friend's house in another Parish but fear for his belongings left at the previous address is a concern as he attempts to rebuild his life. JFLAG has intervened as well upon his behest but the new funding arrangements restricts him from getting any serious assistance persons who now want any financial help through the J have to be already employed I was reliably informed, this is a far cry from what obtained before which makes one ask again so what are the social interventions for displaced and homeless persons who cannot gain meaningful employment ??

We will continue to track this situation as best as we can.

Be vigilant be safe