A leading human rights organisation and a church supporting the rights of gays and lesbians in Canada have issued a May 12 ultimatum on the Jamaican Government with regard to protecting the human rights of these individuals.

If the ultimatum is not met, the groups promise to make a public announcement on May 17, the International Day Against Homophobia, calling for, among other things, a Canadian tourism boycott on Jamaica and a boycott of goods and services from here.

In an open letter to Anne-Marie Bonner, Jamaica's consul general in Toronto, spokespersons for the organisation Egale Canada and a senior pastor from the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) of Toronto, listed their concerns. The representatives - Helen Kennedy and Akim Ade Larcher of Egale Canada and the Reverend Brent Hawkes of MCC Toronto, also met with the consul general last week.

They want the Government of Jamaica to produce public service announcements denouncing homophobic/transphobic violence. They are also calling for a national homophobia/transphobia education cam-paign, and the repeal of the buggery laws and other legislation that further stigmatise, discriminate and criminalise consensual same-sex acts.

The groups further state that they also want to see a public education campaign aimed at sensitising members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force to deal with the victims of violence around lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans-identified people and their families across Jamaica. They are also calling for government policy to protect human rights and the inclusion of sexual orientation as a ground for non-discrimination in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Additionally, they want to see a focus at the Canada-CARICOM 2008 Summit to include human rights for lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and trans-identified people.

The groups are planning to make an international call for the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transsexual community to support the boycott and the suspension of Jamaica from the Commonwealth for human rights abuses.

Their demands follow a recent public panel discussion in Toronto which focused on homophobia in the Caribbean, especially acts of violence against homosexuals in Jamaica.

When contacted, Bonner's response was: "I have communicated the information to headquarters (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade) and I'm awaiting a response."

Meanwhile, one individual who has been involved with Jamaica AIDS Support for Life and the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays since 1998 and is now in Canada seeking asylum along with his partner, said: "It's not just that we're singling out Jamaica, and it will only be about Jamaica, but as soon as the issues in Jamaica have been addressed, then we'll move on to another country. We're not only looking at Jamaica but also the region, the 11 other countries that have the sodomy laws on their books."

Nonetheless, he described Jamaica as the most homophobic of all the Caribbean countries.