Dr Keon West awarded for work bridging Jamaica's 'Gay Divide'

A Goldsmiths academic who has made it a life and career goal to combat prejudice against LGBT people has been honoured for his work.

Dr Keon West, a lecturer in the Department of Psychology, won the Michele Alexander Award in recognition of both his academic research and professional service.

Dr West’s work has significantly increased the psychological understanding of the predictors and reducers of anti-gay prejudice in challenging social situations – with the result being an improvement in the lives of LGBT people.

Much of Dr West’s work centres on Jamaica where male homosexuality is implicitly made illegal – a situation which contributes to several gay men and women being attacked, raped or murdered every year.

In addition to his research, Dr West has been deeply involved in activities that promote the equal treatment of gay people in Jamaica.

He has also done much to raise awareness of the situation: his work appears regularly in national and international media including Across Jamaica’s Gay Divide an hour-long documentary Dr West made for the BBC World Service.

The Michele Alexander Early Career Award is a global yearly prize recognising both scholarship as well as service – either professionally or in the community.

In the letter confirming Dr West’s achievement, the award’s Committee Co-Chairs Nicola Curtin PhD and Samuel Gaertner PhD wrote from their base in Washington DC: “Your record is impressive and much aligned with the intent of this award. In particular, the committee felt your strong publication record and work is applied and both deeply timely and important.

“The committee was significantly impressed by your international work and partnerships with organisations in Jamaica. They were impressed with your work to ensure that this research is read widely and by lay and professional audiences alike.”

Dr West said: “In terms of what it means to win the award - it means an awful lot. I started doing research on this topic because it thought it really mattered, not because I thought it'd be a good career move.

“It was not the kind of research that would easily get into the big journals. It was based on the other side of the Atlantic, challenged by difficult or obstructive infrastructures, and centred around people who (for completely understandable reasons) would much rather not be identified publicly or spend much of their time interacting with psychologists.

 

"I have paid some personal costs due to adopting an unusually pro-LGBT-equality political stance in an unusually anti-LGBT country. What pushed me forward was the knowledge of real human suffering and the sense that I could do something to improve the situation."

He added: “I was happy to do it without any recognition, but it's definitely brightens my day: it's nice to get the occasional reminder that the work has been noticed and appreciated.”

Dr West’s win follows the renewal of Goldsmiths’ Equality and Diversity Strategy earlier this term.

Goldsmiths is aiming to become a leader in Equality and Diversity in the Higher Education sector, weaving the vital strategy into our DNA and embedding it in everything we do.