By Howard Campbell—

 Audrey A Thomas—

A Jamaican lawyer and author who wrote a book to build bridges with the gay community, says she has experienced backlash since its release in August.

Audrey Thomas, a New York-based attorney, launched Does God Hate Homosexuals? No, God Cannot Hate, on August 20 at York College in Queens, New York.

The book was inspired by her evolving views on same-sex relations after years of scorning homosexual behavior. That change of heart has not gone down well with the Jamaican community.

“They have been surprisingly hostile. Many questioned my own ‘straightness’,” said 45-year-old Thomas. The third staging of her York College event was severely affected.

“Most of the usual supporters did not show up. We generally have an audience of 400-500 people; this year we were lucky to get 70. I was truly shocked at the level of hate I experienced,” said Thomas, who noted that 90 per cent of sponsors withdrew their support because the Jamaica Forum of Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG)’s logo was on her flyer. In an interview with the Jamaica Observer in August, Thomas admitted to once being ‘violently homophobic’. But after successfully representing an American lesbian couple in a civil case, her thoughts on same-sex partnerships changed.

Born in Kingston, Thomas migrated to Brooklyn, New York in 1981. She has practicd criminal and civil litigation in New York for over 20 years.

Does God Hate Homosexuals? No, God Cannot Hate, is her third book. Her previous book, White Men Aren’t Chumps: An Intellectual Discussion on Race Relations in America, was released in 2015.

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