I knew from the first couple minutes stepping foot onto Jamaican soil that it was a very religious country. Nearly every other block, there was a church. My uber driver even boasted that Jamaica had more churches per square mile than any other country!

Recognizing how prominent of a role Christianity played in Jamaican culture, I quickly realized how this may negatively impact those who identify as queer in Jamaica.

Despite the iconic Jamaican expression of “One Love” unity and inclusion only applies to racial harmony, not gender inclusivity. As told by our interviewee, they felt silenced by their community resulting in the need to disassociate themselves from who they truly feel they are, rejecting their identities of being Jamaican and the religion they were born into, Christian. As explained to us, many Jamaicans were taught that “life is unfair”, “if you want good, you have to sacrifice,” and thus, if you want to be accepted by the majority, you will have to fit into their mold of what men and women should be like, trapping those who are uniquely different. It was devastating to hear that people were losing family, friends, and their community just to have that opportunity to freely express who they are.

As a healthcare worker, it surprised me to also learn that queer Jamaicans were prevented from accessing healthcare, exacerbating queer jamaicans’ physical and mental health problems, creating a negative feedback loop. In Jamaica, HIV/AIDS is often conflated with homosexuality and with poor public health education, many believe that HIV/AIDs can be casually contracted by contact. Along with the prominent acts of violence against the queer community, it was actually unsafe for individuals to receive preventative and active treatment for HIV/AIDs because local authorities and the majority of Jamaicans often would target and threaten treatment centers and individuals providing care for this community. In fact, some healthcare providers would actively discriminate against queer individuals, disclose private health information, and physically segregate those with HIV/AIDs during treatment (Figueroa et al., 2020).

Although there were government initiatives taken to provide antiretroviral treatment for those who are affected by HIV/AIDs, I learned that discriminatory laws such as Jamaica’s sodomy laws and the stigma surrounding the queer community still remains a significant barrier to access of care. Not only will Jamaica have to increase their efforts by increasing public health education and addressing the stigma surrounding the community, they will also have to work on decriminalizing same-sex behavior to ensure accurate reporting of transmissible diseases for contact tracing and also to encourage those who may be affected to seek care.

This trip was an eye-opening and educational experience that will guide me towards being more holistic and attentive in my care for the patients I see at hospitals and bring to my awareness of these inequalities that many communities around me may possibly be facing. While I was in nursing school, I was drilled to always introduce myself with my pronouns and ask patients what their preferred pronouns and names are. We are taught that by acknowledging patients with what they prefer to be referred to as and called, they would not only feel respected, but this sense of acceptance will be beneficial to their recoveries by reducing the amount of internal stress that may occur if they were to feel shunned or ignored.

By participating in this trip, I had an amazing time exploring different parts of Jamaica, absorbed extreme amounts of vitamin D at beautiful beaches, and got closer with my Milken class of 2017. Aside from the fun I had, I also gained a better understanding of what’s going around the world for those in the queer community. It is heartbreaking to hear what many queer members in Jamaica had to go through in the past and in the present just to be who they are and find acceptance, but at the same time, the purpose of this trip holds hope that change will occur and it’s fulfilling to know that our Milken class is taking part in creating change in this movement. By working with local activists and collaborating with Equality Jamaica, the island’s most established LGBT human rights organization, our team will work on transcribing the intergenerational conversations we have with queer Jamaicans in the community and share their stories of events they have lived through. Our team will eventually conduct enough interviews to create an archive of queer voices and critical events for black queer Jamaicans that can be shared with others with the intention of dismantling the prevailing attitudes and prejudices that have marginalized the queer community. Not only are we looking into the past, but we are working with the community to transform the future.

While LGBTQ+ rights and acceptance is not entirely flawless in the United States, I am still grateful that there are visible efforts being made by various organizations, healthcare systems, and the educational system in addressing the needs of those who are part of the queer community. Just as the Milken Family Foundation mission statement of “the means most conducive to achieving these goals is through education,” our team aims to inform others how we can best protect and uplift the queer community and “help lead productive and satisfying lives'' for those in the queer community. I hope that our project will shine a light for those who feel unwelcomed, unheard, and unaccepted around the world and help them realize that there is a community actively working to help them achieve liberty of expression.