Global Journal of Human Social Science, G: Linguistics and Education, Volume 23 Issue 3

A Post-Intentional Phenomenological Study of a Queer Identified Youth in Jamaica Keitha-Gail Martin-Kerr Abstract- The paper provides an exploration of glimpses into the life of a Jamaican woman who loves women. The research question this paper examines is how societal homonegativity shapes the lived experiences of a young woman who loves women in Jamaica. Post-intentional phenomenology methodology was used to capture salient moments of the woman’s life through written memory, song lyrics, and artifacts. Results suggested that fear, hope, care, and being perceived as diseased are a daily part of a woman who loves women's life. There is a need to tell the stories of women who love in Jamaica to validate their lived experiences and to construct a body of knowledge on this topic. Implications for this study can be used to mobilize education research, community, and support for students with female same-sex caregivers. Keywords: same-sex, jamaica, women, lived experience, phenomenology. I. I ntroduction amaica's youth who choose to move against the grain of heterosexuality have been cast to the outskirts of society. They do not have a voice in public discourse. If they try to use their voices, they run the risk of being shut down or killed because of their sexual orientation or their non-gendered ways of being. Excluding these youths from society is a major problem that needs to be taken up because of the ill effects it leaves on the youths and also on society at large. As a practicing democratic country, all voices should be heard and respected whether society agrees with these opinions and ways of being. When non-heterosexual and non-gender conforming youths are ostracized from society, society stands to lose the intellect and knowledge that can be gained from these lost voices. No one benefits when non-gender-conforming youths are forced into silence and pushed to the fringes of society. The research shared in this chapter is taken from a larger body of work that I conducted in Jamaica between 2015 and 2016. Not much has changed in Jamaica since that time that has given any rights to youths who identified as non-heterosexual and non- gender conforming. Discrimination and hatred still permeate the culture as it relates to those who transgress from societal norms of choosing to live as male or female and deciding not to be with someone from the opposite sex. I was born in Jamaica in the 1970s. I did my schooling in Jamaica up to my first degree, which I got in education. Throughout my years of education in Jamaica, I never saw non-gender conforming people represented in the formal curriculum in school nor in the informal curriculum of life that people are engaged in daily. I migrated to the United States in the early 2000s and returned home to Jamaica in the latter part of 2015 and early 2016 to collect data for my research. In 2016, I was 40 years old. Being 40 years old did not give me the right to try to have a conversation with my family or friends about the lived experiences of people who are non-heterosexual. Being educated did not give me that right either. I state this simply to point out that conversations like these are not welcomed in the culture, irrespective of age, gender, or educational status. Jamaica is known as the land of milk and honey and is simultaneously known as one of the most homophobic countries in the world. With the juxtaposition of beautiful sun-kissed beaches, Jamaica also has a dark side of jungle justice, murder, criminalization, and discrimination of non-heterosexual people. It shows that something or someone is never all good, and on the flip side, something or someone is never all bad. Everything has a balance. Similarly, everyone has a balance. No one is all good or all evil. It would be reasonable to acknowledge that youths who identify as non-heterosexual or non-gender conforming are not bad nor evil. They are people whose sexual orientation is different from the cultural norm and people who do not have a voice in society. They are also people who have been discriminated against and are forced to live on the periphery of society. It is society that makes things like daily living horrific for non- heterosexual youths; it is not that these youths are horrific. Many LGBTQI people are forced to take their place in society not because that is the place they deserve or would choose but because that’s where society believes that they belong only because of their sexual orientation. How can we move toward engaging in tension- filled conversations around issues relating to LGBTQI? How might we open ourselves up to listen to and respect the lived experiences of people whose sexual orientations are different from ours? What might we learn when we hear the stories from non-gender-conforming individuals? Why is there a need to silence and other the J © 2023 Global Journals Volume XXIII Issue III Version I 39 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2023 G Author: e-mail: kmartink@umn.edu