(Jamaica Gleaner) Seeking to reside in Jamaica with his Canadian husband, LGBT activist and attorney-at-law Maurice Tomlinson has taken his same-sex marriage case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
Tomlinson, who has been embroiled in another case with Montego Bay Mayor Homer Davis, regarding the use of the Montego Bay Cultural Centre, wants his husband to live with him in Jamaica.
According to him, the Jamaican Government has until November 19 to respond to a challenge to the country’s constitutional ban on the legal recognition of any form of same-sex unions, including marriage.
The IACHR has held that the American Convention on Human Rights, to which Jamaica is a signatory, guarantees the right to same-sex marriage.
In a media release on Monday, Tomlinson, who married Captain The Reverend Thomas Decker, a chaplain in the Canadian Armed Forces in 2011, said he must return to care for his ageing and ill parents.
However, Tomlinson’s husband would not be able to live and work freely in Jamaica because the Constitution prevents him from acquiring citizenship through marriage, as this is only available to heterosexual couples.
Tomlinson is the founder and development coordinator for Montego Bay Pride, which was barred from using the Montego Bay Cultural Centre after Mayor Davis and former mayor, Charles Sinclair, objected to a series of Pride events planned for the facility. These included a public forum on whether Jamaica is ready for same-sex marriage.
Tomlinson said: “Like every other human being, my family is very important to me. I do not want to choose between caring for my parents in Jamaica or staying with my husband in Canada. I love and depend on my husband and he is willing to join me in Jamaica while I look after my parents, but he must be able to freely come and go and seek employment on the island in order to do so. This ban is hurting me, my family, and many other Jamaicans who are in same-sex relationships or depend on people who are in such relationships.”
Tomlinson is being represented in this petition by Dr Emir Crowne.
