Jamaican Transgender Teen, Murdered By Mob

Dwayne Jones has had a tough life that has tragically come to an end. In high school, he was teased without mercy for being effeminate, forcing him to drop out. Things didn’t get any better at the home front when his father booted him at 14 for not being manly enough.

At the age of 16, Jones attended a party in Montego Bay, Jamaica, and that would be the end of his life. He informed a friend that he would be attending the "straight" party as a woman for the first time in his life, and that was spread to the crowd. Jones was beaten, stabbed, shot, and then ran over by a car.

"When I saw Dwayne's body, I started shaking and crying," said Khloe, one of three transgender friends who shared a derelict house with the teenager in the hills above the north coast city of Montego Bay. Like many transgender and gay people in Jamaica, Khloe wouldn't give a full name out of fear.

"It was horrible. It was so, so painful to see him like that."

For years, Jamaica's gay community has lived so far underground that their parties and church services were held in secret locations. Many gays have stuck to a "don't ask, don't tell" policy of keeping their sexual orientation hidden to avoid scrutiny or protect loved ones.

It was a tragic case and hopefully those involved will be brought to justice.