by Rex Wockner
Three Jamaican gay men were attacked by a mob at Montego Bay's MoBay Nite Out carnival event April 2, The Jamaica Observer reported.
The men, one of whom was hospitalized, angered other attendees when they took to a stage and gyrated on each other, the newspaper said.
The crowd threw rocks and bottles at the men and, when the men returned fire, the crowd lunged for them, chased them down and beat them.
The attack follows a Feb. 14 incident in which a mob surrounded a pharmacy in Kingston and demanded that four gay men inside come out and face punishment for being homosexuals. The crowd formed after another shopper took exception to the men's presence and began screaming that "battymen," or faggots, must be killed.
Police fired tear gas into that crowd of 200 and rescued the men, one of whom was hit in the head with a rock while being escorted to a police vehicle. But after removing the men from the scene, officers disparaged them en route to, and at, the police station, according to the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays.
One of the rescued men, J-FLAG leader Gareth Williams, said officers hit him in the head and struck him in the stomach with a rifle.
