The Editor, Sir:

Your article about the plea by the bishop for tolerance towards homosexuals is very timely.

FYI, a couple of interesting developments around this issue: A Jamaican recently got refugee status in the U.S. because of homophobia in Jamaica. Also, a prominent researcher in Hamilton, Ontario (where I live) has done research and she has proved that without question sexual preferences is established in the womb due to testosterone.

Now, we all know about the significant lack of knowledge in Jamaica thanks to our failed education system. It is time for the leaders of the island to educate themselves around this issue and help the general public to understand that the bias against gays is not productive.

It isn't the place here to mention the vast contribution that gays have made to the world. To name one example: Marcel Proust in France. His great novel (actually seven novels in one and that taking 2,500 pages - in French) - A la Recherche du Temps Perdu (Remembrance of Things Past) - would not have been written if he wasn't homosexual. This book has been called one of the four greatest novels of the 20th century. Are Jamaicans aware of this book? I don't think so.

Maybe one of your readers will jump in and add to my perceptions.

I am, etc.,

ANTHONY MacFARLANE, MD

amacfarlane1@cogeco.ca

Hamilton, Ontario

Via Go-Jamaica