Winsome Chunnu-Brayda will address homophobia in Jamaica at a lunch event.
Winsome Chunnu-Brayda, associate director of the Ohio University Multicultural Center, researched the topic of homophobia in Jamaica for a couple months in 2014, interviewing several Jamaicans who identify as LGBT.
However, all of her sources were anonymous, as they could be in danger if the Jamaican community identified them as LGBT.
The Women’s Center will host a brown bag event Thursday during which Chunnu-Brayda, who is also the strategic director for Diversity and Inclusion and multicultural programs and initiatives, will speak about homophobia in Jamaica.
“Brown bag lunches have traditionally been excellent opportunities for people to connect over the lunch hour and learn about a topic,” Geneva Murray, director of the Women’s Center, said. “Here at the Women’s Center, it’s important that we’re providing bag lunches that can serve to connect everyone on campus about gender-specific issues.”
Chunnu-Brayda said she is excited to present her research on homophobia in Jamaica.
“I’m presenting (the research) more as an opportunity to bring awareness,” Chunnu-Brayda said. “But more importantly for people to understand that what’s happening in Jamaica is not unique. There are challenges within the LGBT community across the world.”
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The Women’s Center holds a number of brown bag lunch events during which participants discuss LGBT, gender and global-related issues.
“We really like to have diverse topics,” Sarah Jenkins, program coordinator for the Women’s Center, said. “It’s important to me that we’re inclusive to LGBT experiences. I think it’s really good to cover a range of experiences of people in different parts of the world. I think we have a lot stereotypes of Jamaica that may or may not be very accurate.”
Murray said the brown bag lunch events help people to get to know themselves and what they can do to feel more empowered.
“I think it’s a great way to get to know our community at large,” Murray said. “So it’s an opportunity to meet other people who are attending the brown bag, but also to get to learn about the expertise of the leaders of the brown bag lunches.”
Chunnu-Brayda said she hopes people will come and learn about the experiences people who identify as LGBT face in Jamaica.
“We have to understand that this homophobia can result in issues in discrimination,” Chunnu-Brayda said. “And that when we live in a democracy, it is about all our citizens participating fully and equally within that democracy, and that’s what we should strive for as countries and citizens in a nation.”
@jess_hillyeah
