St. Maarten Private Eye

Much has been made of the homophobic anti-gay aspect of this assault, when in fact it IS actually the first of it's kind that I know of, after over 20 years living here. This is not to say there are not people who dislike it and rail against it, most noticebly so called 'Christians' and macho meatheads. But to say St. Maarten is anti-gay in any way like Jamaica is stretching this instance past the truth.

Yes, homophobia, ignorant intolerance and plain stupid attitudes and editorials like those published in the Today paper must be countered, but the gay community is poorly informed to think this is prevalent on the island.

What is far more important, to me and other residents, as well as visitors, is that the Police force gets a major makeover. It is possible that they didn't pay much attention to this crime at the time, but the same goes for dozens of other crimes on the island that have nothing to do with gays.

I want to see a recorded and managed 911 system put in place, proper supervision and better trained and equipped police so that when there is a crime, the victim can count on support and help, not indifference and a run around.

That really is the issue here and to make this attack into a generalisation of the attitude of people on the island is a great injustice, too. Focus on the lack of a reliable and effective police force please. It serves us ALL, gays too, far better than making this whole business a "gay " thing.

LH