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U.S. embassy's rainbow flag draws fire from Jamaica's attorney general

Xinhua, June 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

The decision to fly the rainbow flag at the United States' embassy following the Orlando gay nightclub massacre has drawn huge fire from Jamaica's Attorney General Marlene Malahoo-Forte.

After the tragedy that left 49 dead and 53 injured on Sunday, the United States decided to let their embassies "across the globe" to fly rainbow flags "in solidarity with the victims who were targeted for being members of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community."

However, this motion was criticized by Malahoo-Forte.

"I strongly condemn Orlando nightclub shooting but find it disrespectful of Jamaica's laws to have rainbow flag flown here," the attorney general said in a twitter message on Monday.

In response, the United States' embassy in Jamaica, in a tweet posted on Tuesday, wrote: "@mmalahooforte we're listening. Explain the legal reasoning? It (the Orlando shooting) was an attack of terror and hate, targeting the LGBT community!"

So far, Malahoo-Forte has not yet made any further "legal reasoning."

Under Jamaican law, buggery is illegal, and men who have sex with men can face up to 10 years' imprisonment and hard labor.

According to Wikipedia, there are several independent rainbow flags in use today. The most widely known is the pride flag representing gay pride. Endi