Maurice Tomlinson || MONTEGO BAY PRIDE

Meet Maurice Tomlinson, one of the organizers of Montego Bay Pride.

On June 28th, 1969 the Stonewall Riots kicked off a larger gay rights movement in the USA.

In 1970, the first gay pride marches took place in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago – today pride parades are taking place all around the world.

In 2018, I wanted to know who the people organizing today’s pride parades are, what the marches mean to them, and met wonderfully powerful, loving and kind people from places, which might not be the first ones that come to mind, when we think of queer love.

See all Faces of Pride.

Are you ready to start your self-actualization journey?
FIND OUT

MAURICE TOMLINSON || MONTEGO BAY PRIDE

What’s your name and age? My name is Maurice Tomlinson. I’m 48.

Since when have you been involved with Montego Bay Pride? I am the founder and have been with Montego Bay Pride since 2015.

Why do you think Montego Bay Pride is important? Pride serves many important objectives in Jamaica. First, the latest survey found that over 90% of Jamaicans were homophobic.

Research has shown that, not surprisingly, much of this homophobia is driven by lack of knowledge about LGBT among the general population.

This ignorance is preyed upon by right-wing religious extremists with roots in the global north to create fear among Jamaicans towards LGBT citizens. Sadly, this fear has sometimes turned deadly.

Pride is therefore an attempt to safely showcase LGBT people to our society (e.g., through a film festival, fun pop-up protests, talent show and queer art expo) because we believe that “visibility is liberty.”

People fear what/who they don’t know. Montego Bay Pride also is an opportunity for the small LGBT community to share survival strategies, feel empowered knowing that we are not alone, and show solidarity for each other as we “gear up” to face another challenging year in a very hostile environment.

Montego Bay Pride is also a way for international LGBT people and allies to stand in solidarity with the local LGBT liberation struggle and learn how they can be most effective to help us.

Finally, Montego Bay Pride is a way to work with state agencies like police and health care workers to build alliances that will hopefully help to reduce the stigma and discrimination that we experience from those bodies.

What is one (or two) remarkable thing(s) that has/have happened at Montego Bay Pride? Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Montego Bay Pride is the exponential growth! We started with just over 150 persons in 2015 and in 2017 we had well over 850 attendees, the vast majority of whom are from all across Jamaica.

We are pleased that so many community members are feeling safe enough to participate in this annual celebration. We are also excited about the success of our LGBT film festival, which grew from one day to 5 and has seen some very fundamentalist Christians favourably comment that thanks to the event they are seeing LGBT people in a positive light for the first time!

What do you do when you are not organizing Montego Bay Pride? I am always working on organizing Montego Bay Pride as plans for the next Pride begin immediately after the last event! I am also a senior policy analyst with the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, which has been the major donor towards Montego Bay since its inception.

I lead the Legal Network’s Caribbean initiatives challenging homophobia and HIV in the Caribbean, and this involves legal challenges to anti-gay laws (e.g., on June 6 we launched challenge to the Barbadian anti-sodomy law, the worst in the western hemisphere-life imprisonment); organize public dialogues with faith leaders about LGBT human rights; conduct police LGBT sensitivity trainings; deliver capacity building exercises for local LGBT and HIV NGOs; prepare reports to local, regional and international bodies on the situation for LGBT people in the Caribbean; work with Caribbean diaspora groups and individuals to encourage them to support LGBT liberation in their home countries; work with international leaders so that they can effectively support local LGBT activists; and of course more visibility campaigns, such as Barbados Pride, which we organized in addition to Montego Bay Pride.

More about my work can be found here: http://www.aidslaw.ca/site/canadian-hivaids-legal-network-in-the-caribbean/?lang=en

What do you like to do in your free time? I like to work in the garden. Planting and patiently tending plants as they grow gives me a great sense of pride. It is also a sort of metaphor for my work. Liberation can’t be rushed if it is to be sustainable. But, it must be deliberately tended. Weeds must be stridently removed or they will choke and eventually kill the growing plant.

Is there something you would like to say to the rest of the LGBT+ community? This is a global struggle and until we are all free, then none of us are free. While acknowledging that there is still work to do in the global north, which must be attended to, we need to get involved in any way that we can to assist those countries who are still lagging far behind. This starts with contacting these groups and asking what help they need. We in the global south need support, not salvation, from our global north LGBT allies.

Follow Montego Bay Pride:
Facebook

Support Montego Bay Pride with your donation:
Gift Tool

DOWNLOAD FREE PRIDE ZINE

Not different, just love - Two pairs of feet, entangled with each other, on a bed

Not different, just love

How do you feel when it comes to dealing with our emotions, expectations and responsibilities, around coming out, living as a LGBTIQ+ person and when it comes to our families and love in general?

What does it mean to be a conscious creatrix of your life?

What does it mean to be a conscious creatrix of your life?

I wanted to write a little bit more about what it means to be a conscious creatrix of our lives, especially when it comes to saying goodbye to a pet, but this is also true for many other things. Like I said in my previous post, a couple of days before my dog Izabella...

read more
Sing, Soul, Sing

Sing, Soul, Sing

What is it that makes your soul sing? When are you happy, and when do you feel free? I feel most happy and free when I allow myself to be present. When I allow myself to forget about all plans or duties and just get in the flow of experiencing and becoming. Most of...

read more
How Can We Be Soft? Do you know?

How Can We Be Soft? Do you know?

Dear Future Self, how can we be soft? And sweet and loving and kind? Do you know yet? This is such an incredible journey, yet I know there is so much I still have to learn. I just listened to this wonderful compilation, what a perfect way to start the day!"Stretch...

read more

← back to BLOG

Get your unique wheel of colours, now!

Do you know what exactly you need for a smooth new beginning? Or what you need to enjoy making new connections? Do you know why you are attracted to some people and not to others?

Or what the main questions are that your life evolves around?

Or what you need to balance your life and be healthy? Or to feel safe and respected?

The Wheel of Colours can answer this and more by using a unique way of translating your subconscious knowledge into information you can work with – easily and joyfully.

All you have to do is write down the numbers of 1 to 13 in order that feels right to you, take a picture of it and send it to me, after your purchase. (You’ll get the full instructions with your purchase, and you can also watch the video below, to learn more).

Your Wheel of Colour is as unique as you are.

I create every Wheel of Colours individually.

Your Wheel of Colours comes as a 64-page PDF that guides you through all areas of your life, explains your unique gifts and lessons, and tells you what you need to thrive.

These aren’t complicated things – what makes life complicated is not knowing what you need in these situations.

For example, some need to activate their trust to thrive in new situations, others their intuition, others their senses, others need to feel the support of others. Once you hear it, you will know what is true for you.

And then, you can easily use this information.

Curious to discover the colours of your soul?

🌈 You have the power to create your reality.

Join the CREATRIX School

Are you a CREATRIX - yet? A CREATRIX masterfully directs their life, creates their life, instead of reacting to life's circumstances.
If you'd like to find out how - come and join us. Because you are a divine being, here on earth, and can have everything you wish for - all you have to do is clear your blockages, align with your soul and direct your thoughts to manifest what you wish for.

You can now get the first 3 lessons of this chapter for €1, to see how this works for yourself.

I AM CREATOR School - Join Now

Clarity - Confidence - Connection

In the CREATRIX School we bring clarity, confidence and connection into every area of our lives - and we look at a different topic in each moon phase - since June 25th, 2025, we are exploring how to live our life’s purpose, our personal vision, and our unique calling(s) with joy and ease and learn how to trust your inner guidance to find certainty, inspiration and belonging.

In this chapter of the CREATRIX School (or 4-week course) you can learn how to follow your soul’s calling (and how to get in touch with it) to live a happy, meaningful and successful life – according to your original and unique blueprint or the choices our highest self made for you, before you were born. Which might be much more spectacular than you may think now.

Ready to discover who you really are?