'Gay' student beating sees university guards suspended
Sunday 04 November 2012
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EmailTwo Jamaican university security guards have been relieved from duty after YouTube footage emerged of a student being badly beaten in front of a baying mob, reportedly because he was gay.
The victim was allegedly discovered together with another man and had sought refuge from an angry homophobic crowd.
Instead he was attacked by guards goaded on by chanting students.
LGBT rights organistation J-Flag described the incident as evidence of a "malignant level of homophobia" in a country where gay sex is punishable by 10 years in jail.
The group, which is forced to operate in secret, demanded urgent action from politicians to "address the chronic demonstration of intolerance for LGBT Jamaicans."
Police rescued the student and are now investigating the circumstances of the beating.
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