A controversy has broken out in the Dominican Republic over a poem written by a lesbian woman.
The poem takes inspiration from the country’s national anthem, and now there are calls for the author of the work to be jailed.
The poem Dominican Lesbian, written by Yoseli Castillo Fuentes, was recently performed at an LGBTIQA+ event sparking outrage from conservative commentators and politicians because there are laws that protect the country’s national symbols from being altered.
In a social media post Castillo Fuentes said the poem was not written with the intention of replacing or modifying the Dominican National Anthem, rather it was a celebration of the values of the country, and how those values are also embraced by LGBTIQA+ people.
The poet is from the USA, but is a member of the Dominican diaspora.
“The intention of the poem is not to insult our national symbols, but rather to highlight them because those national symbols are also mine because I am Dominican,” she said.
The nation’s Culture Minister Roberto Ángel Salcedo has described the poem as an insult the nation’s symbols, and he’s vowed to investigate what legal actions can be deployed against the author.
The country’s laws suggest penalties of 15 to 30 days in prison and fines of one to five times the minimum public sector wage for those who commit acts of disrespect against the flag, coat of arms, or national anthem. There are also rules against dancing while it being played, changing the tempo of the music it’s played to, and making a dance-orientated version of the tune.
One local radio commentator however has suggested the poet should jailed for a decade over the publication and performance of the poem.
