Global Voices Online

In response to a statement that the arrival of Haitian refugees in Jamaica could be seen as a threat to public health, Long Bench republishes a Letter to the Editor that he wrote: “Haitian refugees are not criminals, and should not be treated by citizens or represented in the media as such”; Barbados Free Press is also critical of its country's response to helping Haiti: “It didn’t take long to cut through the Bajan veneer of sincerity about Haiti, did it?”

BelarusDigest quotes from a chapter on Belarus that was included in the Greenwood Encyclopedia of LGBT Issues Worldwide earlier this year.

Responses to Homophobia in Africa by Sokari: “I’m writing this post in response to number of articles on the prevalence of homophobia in Africa and to try and give some perspective and historical context.”

Sokari posts a YouTube video showing Ugandan President distancing himself from Anti-Homosexuality Bill: “Nonetheless it is not clear how much of the Bill he is distancing himself from so the pressure needs to be kept up as clearly it working.”

The Bakla Review lists the ten most important gay films of the past ten years in the Philippines

Trinidad and Tobago's gspottt thinks that “2010 is off to a promising start” thanks to sociologist Linden Lewis' addressing of the issue of homophobia in the Caribbean.

Gukira discusses an intellectual project on Queer Africa: “The kind of queer history I am envisioning might trace the history of the “unattached” in African ethno-histories.”

After Jamaican dancehall artist Bounty Killer goes on a tirade against homosexuals at an upscale charity concert, Stunner says: “Dancehall artistes need to wake up and learn how to conduct themselves appropriately based on the given environment.”

Trinidadian diaspora blogger Afrobella blogs about reggae superstar Buju Banton at his best and worst, prompting Jamaican Annie Paul to respond: “Just as you…have pointed out the good and bad sides of Buju…it's necessary also to nuance what homosexuality represents in cultures such as Jamaica, that homosexuality too has its good and bad sides, to differentiate between predatory homosexuality and just being a homosexual…because its the latter that we want to defend not the former.”