JAMAICA: Cross-Dressing Teen ‘Chopped And Stabbed’ To Death By Mob

[26 July 2013] - 

A cross-dressing teenager was allegedly “chopped and stabbed” to death by an angry mob in Jamaica earlier this week.

Dwayne Jones was attending a river party in St. James on July 21 when he was brutally murdered. The gender-nonconforming 17-year-old was dressed as a woman and was dancing with a male when a female partygoer pointed out that he was really a man. A male partier groped Jones and discovered that he was, in fact, a male.

Jones was then chased down and “chopped and stabbed” to death. Multiple explosions were heard and police were called to the scene. Authorities later found the teenager’s body on a nearby road “with multiple stab wounds and a gunshot wound,” according to the Jamaica Gleaner.

The Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays (JFLAG) condemned the murder in a statement to the Huffington Post.

“J-FLAG notes with deep concern the recent mob killing of Dwayne Jones, a teenager in St James who is gender non-conforming,” the group said. “We encourage persons in the Irwin community of St. James to support the police with any information that could lead to the arrest of the perpetrators.” The organization also said that it was seeking further information from police, and Jones’ friends and family.

LGBT activist Maurice Tomlinson said no one tried to defend Jones, who occasionally dressed in drag and called himself “Gully Queen.” He also said that Jamaican officials refuse to deal with hate crimes against gay individuals, instead suggesting that they are “bringing it onto themselves” by flaunting their sexuality.

“This level of self-deception borders on the criminal,” Tomlinson said.

According to Gay Star News, there have been at least nine homophobia- and transphobia-related murders in Jamaica in the past year. An anti-sodomy law in Jamaica makes gay sex illegal and punishable by up to 10 years in prison.


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