Jamaican Prime
Minister Criticized for Comment About Gays

Gay activists in Jamaica condemned the prime minister on Tuesday for saying he would not allow gays in his cabinet.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding told BBC television he has the right to make that decision and to form a cabinet that represents the Jamaican people.

Jamaica will not allow outside groups to impose their values, he said Monday while on an official visit to London.

Such statements incite more violence against gays, said Jason McFarlane, a spokesman for Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All Sexuals, and Gays.

Earlier this year a human rights group released a report that blasted the Caribbean country for its treatment of gays and urged it to do more to protect them. Several gay activists have been killed in recent years, and the island still has a colonial-era law that bans sex between men.

Several Jamaican singers have also been criticized for violent lyrics against gays and lesbians. (AP)