Although retired professional footballer Kenwyne Jones is not an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, he is a believer in acceptance and respect.
So he was willing to be a part of Scotiabank TT’s multi-channel advertising campaign featuring Scotia employees and members of the LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/ questioning, and others) community.
In the audiovisual ad he said, “Inclusion begins with all of us. We all need to embrace and respect each other because when everyone can be their whole self, we all thrive.”
Jones, 36, told Sunday Newsday although he believes the LGBTQ+ lifestyle was “unnatural,” one of the reasons he agreed to be part of a few LGBTQ+ campaigns throughout his international career was because it was not for him or anyone else to judge others.
“It’s (being queer) not my personal belief. I made my choices in life and I believe in what I believe in.
"But I’m not out here saying this person should be demoralised or discriminated against for their choices. That is not my stand on it, because at the end of the day we are all human beings.
“Why I’m on the side of Scotiabank is because it’s based on rewarding people for what they were hired to do. I hired you for your creativity, your ability to do such and such, and you get promotions for doing your work. It has nothing to do with your personal choice.”
Jones believed a lack of professionalism in the work environment, including sports, was one of the reasons people in the LGBTQ+ community were concerned about “coming out” in the workplace. It was also one reason for the homophobia there.
He said the culture of “crossing boundaries” in the workplace was prevalent, so people fear being objectified or discriminated against. Heterosexual people may feel that the queer person would try to cross those boundaries, or the queer person may believe their co-workers would feel that way and treat them differently.
Either way, he said, a person’s sexuality or gender identity should not be a factor or a line of conversation because they were hired to do a job. Both the queer individual, and those who were not had the responsibility to act professionally.
“From my point of view (cisgender heterosexual male), you want to be able to go into your workspace – dressing room, locker room, office, whatever the case is – and know. on any level, that the things that happen there are going to be on a work level.”
For example, in the same way that someone who liked pineapples did not go around encouraging everyone to like pineapples, someone who preferred oranges could respect the talent of the person who liked pineapples.
He said everyone had their own beliefs, had to make their own decisions, stand by those decisions, and live with the consequences. People’s personal choices had nothing to do with anyone else. So while they may not become friends, no one should refuse to work with others because they live their lives a certain way.
He agreed that some queer
