The following is a reprint of an editorial published in the New York Times newspaper last Tuesday.
JAMAICA HAS a well-earned reputation for homophobia and murderous violence against gay people, most recently the murder of an internationally-known AIDS outreach worker, Steve Harvey, after he was abducted from his home at gunpoint.
The killing of Mr. Harvey has drawn condemnation from international organisations like UNAIDS and Human Rights Watch, and it should prod the Jamaican government to pay attention to the gay rights issue.
The country will never defeat its AIDS epidemic - and will continue to attract criticism from human rights organisations - unless it takes strong steps to combat homophobia, both among the police and in society as a whole.
As depicted in published accounts, the Harvey killing has the earmarks of a hate crime.
One of the armed gunmen who forced his way into Mr. Harvey's house and demanded money is said to have asked Mr. Harvey and two other men who were with him if they were gay.
The two other men are said to have denied being gay, and they were bound and left at the house. Mr. Harvey was driven away and shot.
His death comes a year after the high-profile murder of Brian Williamson, a well-known gay activist who was found in his home with his throat cut.
International human rights advocates have urged the Jamaican police, who have a spotty record in cases of anti-gay violence, to bring Mr. Harvey's killers to justice. But the country must go beyond this case to take a firm stance against all kinds of homophobic violence.
A good first step would be to repeal the archaic laws that implicitly sanction anti-gay violence - and drive the AIDS epidemic - by making sexual activities between consenting adults of the same sex illegal.
