So, the Latin Dance scene has been absolutely booming again in the last few months, with such events regularly occurring almost nightly at various locations of late.  I will be honest, despite all apparent evidence to the contrary, I can be quite the introvert.  However, as I have slowly, but steadily, been regaining my footing as an enthusiast of Latin Dancing, I have found myself restless some nights, and desirous of the intoxicating melodies and hemiolas of the music itself, as well as the company of friends and acquaintances with whom I can share those experiences, but more importantly, continue to learn and grow in the art.

Now, recently, I received a message from a very dear friend of mine, who no longer officially resides in Jamaica, but to whom another of our mutual friends from secondary school reached out to ask him to inform me of a matter that came to his attention and caused him some concern.  The mutual friend apparently overheard muttered threats from — once again, presumably male — attendees at a Latin Night I attended last week, directed at me.  It appears these threats may be summed up thus: I am allegedly "catfishing" attendees with my manner of dress, and should I attend that Latin Night again, they shall set upon me with violent intentions.  As you can imagine, my dear friend, the messenger, expressed great concern for my safety and made some suggestions intended to improve my safety.  I really am honoured to be able to call this person my friend — in fact, I have always called him my child, partly because of the somewhat insignificant and laughably miniscule age difference, and because of our history as sort of mentor and mentee.  I count myself quite fortunate to have people in my life who, even having been apart for years at a time, still think of me so fondly, and the feeling remains mutual.

Anyway, it was a rather short conversation, as my friend was about to go on the road to conduct business, but one silver lining was that it afforded us an opportunity to reconnect, albeit under such potentially dreadful circumstances.  I thanked him for passing along our mutual friend's concerns and for his own warm and dauntless support in the matter, as we resolved to make greater efforts to keep in touch going forward.

Life is strange like that; even in the midst of strife and evil intent, good can still flourish, hope still springs eternal.  Perhaps it is silly of me, but I suppose a part of me remains open and optimistic, despite there being many reasons not to do so.  It is one of the aspects of humanity, but one which I desperately wish I could sometimes better rein in, just to preserve a bit more sanity.  For is it not somewhat insane to expect a country such as this, so utterly mired in prejudice and bigotry, so hopelessly stuck in the past even as it attempts to force its way into the present, to truly live up to its ostensible ideals of being the place to live, work and raise families.  "Yes, there is equality, but not for everyone."

I found myself thinking a number of things.  First, how incredibly immature and puerile these persons are, whose sense of their own masculinity and personhood are so threatened by my self expression.  Second, that I needed to ensure that there was a record of this somewhere so that, should anything of that nature actually take place, persons will know just where to look — not that violence against LGBTQ2S persons in Jamaica has ever been taken seriously by our authorities, much less ensuring the protection of our vulnerable communities; but I digress somewhat.  Third, that these men, who I presume consider themselves "good, God-fearing Christians" can think of no other solution to their "dilemma" other than to threaten me with violence.  Although, to be fair, that is the Christian Way currently, is it not?  Of course, I want to be truly fair, and as such, I have to say that not all Christians think as they do.  In fact, I count a number of Christians among my friend and social circles who are quite open-minded and not only tolerant (Hello, Microaggression!), but truly accepting of others who differ from them and may not share their beliefs.  That is, after all, the mark of a truly democratic and equal society that prizes the freedom of all its citizens, and not just those of the majority.

One thought that has boomeranged through my mind ever since I received the message and the call from my friend, is that these "men", and I use the term quite loosely of course, apparently believe that Jamaica only exists for them.  They have so bought into the idea of their heterosexual male privilege, that they believe that any public space which they have claimed as their own is sovereign territory, and woe be unto any non-hegemonic person who should dare to enjoy the rights and privileges that, by law and international conventions, belong to all Jamaicans.  That they believe that my dressing in a way that is comfortable for, and authentic to, me, as an individual in my own right, is somehow about them.  Um... NARCISSISTIC MUCH?!  Kindly get over yourselves.  Then again, with the immense privilege that they enjoy, which goes unchallenged and remains imbalanced thanks to our authorities, who can blame them?

Never mind that I have been participating in Latin Dance events and Culture since I was a pre-teen.  My absence from the scene for a number of years may have rendered me somewhat rusty, but these upstarts are really of the opinion that it belongs only to them.  When I consider how Latin Dance culture has been used as a vehicle to unify people in a way that music and dance have done for millennia; that the queering of said culture began decades ago in the very places in which this culture was birthed, both as a means of claiming their rightful place in such spaces, but also to dispel the notion that those spaces were never theirs to begin with; that the claiming of such spaces by queer bodies served as a reminder of the oneness of those peoples and as a protest against their exclusion in the first place; among other things, how can anyone who claims to want to honour and respect said culture make such a faux-pas?  Let's call a spade a spade: to say and/or do otherwise would establish that they're not faithful students of, and adherents to, an art form and culture not indigenously their own, but rather appropriators.

If you think I am making this up, apart from my own lived and vicarious experiences within that culture and those of my peers, limited as they may be, how about research such as this: MORAD Moshe, « Queering the Macho Grip Transgressing and Subverting Gender in Latino Music and Dance », Ethnologie française, 2016/1 (Vol. 46), p. 103-114. DOI : 10.3917/ethn.161.0103. URL : https://www.cairn.info/revue-ethnologie-francaise-2016-1-page-103.htm; or those contained in this volume: https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv111jj6c?  These are but a few of the research that have been done on various aspects of this topic.

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