Trinidad and Tobago’s Newsday has reported that Queen Latifah was robbed of $10,000 in jewelry from her villa while vacationing in the island of Tobago last Monday.   Latifah who reportedly checked in under the alias, “Cynthia Hadden” discovered the missing jewelry upon returning from a brunch held in her honor by the villa’s management.  Latifah (born Dana Owens) is particularly upset because the jewelry which included a bracelet, two gold rings, a gold chain and a silver ring apparently has sentimental value and has offered a reward for its return.   Authorities have no suspects but do suspect the crime was an inside job.

Although I sympathize with Latifah and hope she recovers her property, perhaps the real story here is her guest. According to Trinidad and Tobago’s Newsday, the rapper turned actress was vacationing at the $1000 bucks a night Stone Haven Villas in Black Rock with an unidentified “female friend.”  It has long since been speculated that Latifah is gay and perhaps even has been involved with her trainer Jeanette Jenkins.  It is unclear whether her friend on the trip was Jenkins however it does raise eyebrows for two reasons.

According to Concrete Loop, Queen Latifah and her rumored shorty actually broke it off early last month after three years of dating.  According to their sources,  Jeanette has been planning to come clean to the media about her relationship with Latifah.  So assuming the Loop’s reports are accurate, it raises many questions as to exactly who her vacation companion actually was.  Could she be seeing someone new or could the couple have settled their differences?  One thing IS clear however, not only did the robbery put her out ten G’s in jewels but it also blew up her spot big time.

The second curious detail about this story is that believe it or not Homosexuality is actually illegal in Trinidad and Tobago as it is in many Caribbean countries.  Section 13 of the Sexual Offenses Act of 1986 states that “buggery” (anal sex with a man OR a woman) is a crime and any person guilty of committing buggery is liable on conviction to imprisonment.

Also under Article 8 (18/1) of Trinidad and Tobago’s Immigration Act, homosexual men and women aren’t even permitted to enter the country!  Now while these laws are almost never enforced it does raise the question why Latifah, if she indeed is gay, would choose to vacation in a country not welcoming of her lifestyle (assuming that she’s aware of such laws.)  While American courts debate the legality of same sex marriage it is incredible to me that countries such as Trinidad and Tobago would still prescribe to such discriminatory legislation, enforced or not.