Why The Obsession with Gays Shirley Richards?

You may also want to check out posts from sisters blogs under the tabs:

Lawyers' Christian Fellowship HERE, HERE and HERE

JCHS HERE and HERE 

Buggery Law HERE Charter of Rights HERE 

Christianity & Homosexuality HERE

Religion as Divisive HERE and Jamaica CAUSE HERE to see some of the damage this woman has done or heavily influenced over these many years with her anti gay activism but tabs are being kept on her.

Shirley Richards takes part in a protest in front of the University of the West Indies, Mona, in support of Professor Brendan Bain, who was fired from his post after gay-rights and human-rights advocates pressured the administration. Richards is a strong critic of gay-rights activism. - Norman Grindley/Chief Photographer

Patrick White, Guest Columnist

In a major departure from the Dark Ages, superstition no longer has authority in modern jurisprudence, at least in democracies. Fact-based evidence has replaced superstition as the supreme authority. At least that is what I thought until I read attorney Shirley Richards' August 2, 2014 column, 'Can you stop the bolting horse, Mr Boyne?'

The column begins with an ill-advised defence of what nearly everyone would agree to be a nonsensical assertion from an earlier column: "Repeal of the [buggery] law will also effectively remove the philosophy that protects true marriage, making the institution of marriage, although thankfully currently protected, much more susceptible to challenge."

What "philosophy" could Ms Richards be talking about that protects marriage? I know that my marriage, like most, is a personal contract, a long-term expression of love and commitment between my wife and me. There is no philosophy that I know of that protects this commitment. If buggery was decriminalised, as it should be, I see no reason this will change my view of my wife or her view of me. What possible logic could support Ms Richards' reasoning, which seems so bizarre?

Alternatively, perhaps Ms Richards may be fantasising that nations could use the decriminalisation of buggery as the pretext to renege on marriage contracts. If that is the case, let me set her mind at ease. Contract law, as she must know, is at the core of all economic activity. And marriage contracts have a significant economic basis as well, especially in inheritance. Since economics trumps most considerations, it is difficult to see why any democracy would jeopardise marriage contracts, threatening their financial viability.

As to Ms Richards' concern over whether buggery should be taught as normal, what if it is true? After all, normality is the scientific consensus; being gay is not considered an illness. It is merely a variation in sexual behaviour across the continuum, typical of our species. We also know that individuals in many animal species, in addition to us, show durably gay behaviours; it is not 'abnormal' there either.

NO VALID REASON

If being gay is normal, what could be the societal benefit of pretending it is not? Other than upsetting misguided religious sensibilities, my guess is neither Ms Richards nor any of her supporters can cite any valid reason.

At the same time, it is easy to show that when we mischaracterise, mistreat and sequester otherwise normal LGBT individuals, we are effectively relegating a percentage of every generation to living on the fringes. And when we substitute religious mythology for a frank, evidence-based discussion of human sexuality, we may also inflict lifelong psychological damage, especially to gay children as they approach puberty, and for the first time realise they are different from most of their peers.

And who pays for this insanity? We do. We pay for the criminality, which inevitably follows ostracism and sequestration. We also pay for the medical care, particularly the expensive HIV treatment, which often accompanies life in the sex trade, one of the few economic avenues available to LGBT outcasts.

But, more important, this insanity deprives our nation of the contribution LGBT individuals could be making to our economic development. In this regard, I am reminded of Alan Turing, one of the most important mathematicians of the 20th century, and who is also credited with laying the theoretical foundations of computer science. A mug with his likeness, a gift from the Association of Computing Machinery, sits proudly in my cupboard. Dr Turing was a leader in the breaking of the Nazi Enigma encryption that was so central to Allied victory in WWII. He was a gay man.

How many Dr Turings have we damaged psychologically as children, rendering them incapable of contributing to society?

Is there no limit to the economic price that we, as a nation, will pay to indulge the religious fantasies of people like Shirley Richards?

Patrick White holds a doctorate in engineering and led research groups at Bell Laboratories and Bellcore (Telcordia). Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and rasta49@me.com. 

Also see in the Gleaner:
No threat to straight rights 

JFJ Interim Board has Full Authority 

more reads with the goodly Miss Shirley obsession:
Perception of Jamaican LGBTQ lobby bullying continues

"Keep it to Yuself mentality" on homosexuality part 3 .... stay in our bedrooms?

Lawyers' Christian Fellowship's Shirley Richards says lesbian sex should be criminalized as buggery

Shirley Richards & The Jamaican UK Foster Parents (The Johns) on Love 101 FM ............. on buggery

Lawyer's Christian Fellowship hypocrisy from Shirley Richards: "Charter Of Rights And The Moral Divide" read carefully

A Critical Response to Shirley Richards: Religious Freedoms Under Threat

No Same Sex Marriage says Prime Minister in Charter of Rights Bill Debate 2009

Shirley Richards spews more homophobic garbage (letter to the Gleaner 23.09.09)

Response to Shirley Richards' Letter - All's not well with sexual mores

Tolerance or acquiescence?

More gay marriage paranoia & hijacking of the homosexual debate by fanatics

Shirley Richards breaks silence on the Queen Ifrica fiasco

Gays' Threat To Free Speech ........... veteran journalist Ian Boyne ....

Anti Sodomy Decriminalization/Repulsion action intensifies from the Christian Community

Shirley Richards breaks silence .......... "Sustain Buggery Law!"

LCF's Shirley Richards at it again: Are Christians Second-Class? she asks

Shirley Richards at it again: 'No truth that repealing buggery law will help reduce HIV/AIDS

Making scapegoats of gays (Gleaner Letter)

2009, The Year that was

Check out a Shirley of a sensible kind that is Shirley Fletcher author of the book The Dance of Difference which emphasized tolerance, she was speaking on an interview this is an edited clip of one of the best parts:

I swear this woman has some unresolved bitterness

UPDATE 2015

Is Mark Golding Really Sincere? (Gleaner)

So after last night's TV documentary on Javed Jaghai's upcoming buggery challenge in November 2014 aired on CVM TV entitled Battle Lines Javed Jaghai versus the state comes a report on the anti gay pro buggery law group The Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society, JCHS and their continued fear mongering on future alleged persecution of Christians via restrictions of freedoms of speech and religion especially when pronounced against the homosexual lifestyle as the JCHS, Lawyers Christian Fellowship, LCF, The Love March and the Movement Jamaica (reparative therapy group).

'Don't Bow To Gay Pressure' - Crusaders Urge Jamaicans To Stand By Buggery Law

Jodi-Ann Gilpin, Gleaner Writer wrote:

Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality, speaks to the audience during a presentation at the Jamaica Conference Centre on Saturday. - Photo by Gladstone Taylor

Peter LaBarbera, president of the Americans For Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH), in the United States of America (US), has encouraged Jamaicans to be grounded in their Christian beliefs and not to be lured by other countries in repealing the buggery law.

"The United States has no business lecturing anybody about sexual morality. America has rampant abortions, rampant promiscuity, and I stand wholeheartedly with Jamaicans and encourage you all to hold to your beliefs, " LaBarbera told The Gleaner.

LaBarbera made the comments Saturday following The Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society International Human Rights conference at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston.

"We are all watching Jamaica to see what happens (buggery law), and I believe if Jamaica can stand up and not bow to the pressure, you can be an example to the world. There is no need to follow anybody," LaBarbera said.

Christian lobbyist

Similarly, Andrea Williams, a Christian lobbyist in the legal public policy arena in the United Kingdom, told The Gleaner that family values should be prioritised.

"When we begin to make normal something that is contrary to proper family standards, that is social engineering, and we are in serious trouble, " she said.

"What Jamaica needs to understand is that the homosexual activists have an incremental agenda; because this is where its starts, by them asking for rights, and then our society's morals become redefined," she continued.

Several US states have lifted the stay on gay marriage, including California earlier this year and Illinois in November.

Jamaica's Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has promised to have the Parliament engage in a conscience vote on whether or not to repeal the buggery act.

Minister with responsibility for information Sandrea Falconer said the debate "will certainly be within this parliamentary year".

During a leadership debate on the eve of the December 2011 general election, then Opposition Leader Simpson Miller said her administration was committed to the protection of human rights.

Simpson Miller declared that it was time for a review of the buggery law, saying she believed the issue should be put to a conscience vote in the Parliament.

ENDS

Sadly alot of the opposition that now comes was stoked by the very lobby I fell namely JFLAG voices who are also atheists so inflaming the discourse to more than just the repeal of decriminalization of the buggery law to conflations of paedophilic behaviour by persons legal to practice same sex intimacy in private and so on. In fairness JFLAG has changed their tune though oh so late in my view as to the repeal of buggery and instead wants an amendment to the act to include consent and privacy. But as we have a saying in Jamaica "the horse done gone through the gate" and so we have to contend if not carried along with the tide until there is some enlightenment I hope.

The other challenge to all this as was alluded to in last evening's CVM footage is the fear of gay marriage rights being demanded next at buggery's decriminalization and the supposed destruction of the family when said families are already being destroyed in more ways than one, take a look at the divorce rates to include church persons, take a look at the forced evictions of perceived gay youth from their homes, the numbers are frightening and this is not being alarmist in any way.

also see:

Church claims future victimization if buggery is decriminalized in Jamaica

Is praying for homosexual change bordering on blasphemy?

Jamaica Council of Churches still not clear on the buggery law but resolute in opposing gay marriage

Lawyers' Christian Fellowship's Shirley Richards says lesbian sex should be criminalized as buggery ...........

Betty Ann Blaine & foreign religious zealots continue their paranoia & misrepresentations of male homosexuality

The False Dichotomy of the religious right on the LGBT advocacy Godlessness

Maurice Tomlinson challenges the LCF's Shirley Richards for a public debate on the validity of Jamaica's anti buggery law

Dr Wayne West’s continued intellectual dishonesty on fisting felching & chariot racing by homosexuals in Jamaica

Lawyer's Christian Fellowship hypocrisy from Shirley Richards: "Charter Of Rights And The Moral Divide" (2011)

President of the Senate warns against discrimination based on language, sexual orientation (2011)

A word to the reverend (anti gay Al Miller) ...... 2010 

also of interest is this discussion on separation of church and state on local TV in November 2013

click here for more

December 9, 2013:
Pastor lashes out at 'injustices' faced by gays (Jamaica Observer) 

December 12th UPDATE: Buy no rings, you won’t wed; religious fear-mongering on gay marriage & the buggery law continues

There is so much more to discuss and understand on all sides involved.

Peace and tolerance

H

Rights And Write-Offs - Balancing Ethics And Human Rights

Joan Grant Cummings, Guest Columnist

It wasn't even a month ago that I was lamenting with a 'sistah-activist' about the lack of both movements and governments that had values and real agendas based on a people and/or rights-driven philosophy.

There used to be a real Left and a real Right. You knew where you stood. You had something to argue and reason about. We lamented that our land of mainly peaceful revolution in the 1970s, especially, that had inspired whole countries and actors in various global spaces, seemed to have lost its voice and appetite for leadership and human rights.

In 'those times', our country was a voice that was proclaimed 'leader of the global South', a voice that many countries endeavoured to follow, not for our music but for our political attitude as it pertained to dealing with social exclusion.

We sighed with nostalgia in remembrance about the fight and victory for the minimum wage; access to education for all; the right to maternity leave with pay; pay equity; the bauxite levy; the Agricultural Marketing Corporation; my personal favourite, the incomparable National Housing Trust; and the right of inheritance for children born out of wedlock or who were deemed 'illegitimate' or 'bastards'. We spontaneously broke into song, "... No bastard nuh deh again".

We wondered how many of the young female managers in the private sector knew that their beautiful locks and other natural hairdos were once against the corporate dress code - written or unwritten. In fact, they wouldn't be allowed to apply for a job, not even at entry level.

Or how many tertiary-level students understood the importance of and/or knew the history as to how they got there. Nowadays, female students steer far from being associated with women's rights or, heaven forbid, feminism! Amid the junk science that created the male marginalisation thesis and the call at student election time for "no panty government", I wonder how many of these young men and women, largely raised by 'single mothers', knew that not long ago, this would disqualify them from accessing and controlling many spaces.

They would have been deemed 'write-offs' by some elements in the society. 'Bastards!'

And then it happened! Amid the IMF distraction to the exclusion of everything else, a bold, young female minister put back the concept of human rights, specifically women's human rights, on the public agenda. She declared that she supports a woman's right to choose. The abortion debate was back. Even The Gleaner came out in support of her and adopted a pro-choice position!

The last joint select committee on abortion chaired by the then minister of health, Rudyard Spencer, evaporated into thin air. No report has been made public, and since that time, a shower of changes in the law has been made, making it even harder to 'win' a constitutional challenge, especially one related to sex and sexuality.

As if one jolt wasn't enough, we received another. A young gay activist decided that enough was enough. Rights are rights, and he would not be treated like a disposable write-off. He took a bold move to challenge being evicted because of his sexual orientation. He has filed a constitutional challenge of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, alleging that, among other things, his rights to privacy and equality have been infringed.

Shock and awe! Immediately, the 'anti-gay Opposition', to protect the "Jamaican way of life", lined up to rebut his argument. Would the owner of the house have been 'uncomfortable' with three women living there, one openly lesbian?

It is amazing how, as Jamaicans, we canturn up or down our barometer to measure when we break the law and need to act. We have a major problem with people assisting the police in solving crimes. Yet, a whole community will organise to 'inform' on a girl who has had an abortion or a man whom they 'think' is gay!

Additionally, J-FLAG is taking on our sit-on-the-fence politicians again, about the offensive buggery law. It's ironic that the same offensive law, the 1864 slavery-driven Offences Against the Person Act, in one fell swoop has managed to deny, block, deprive the rights of women; people of different sexual orientations; and married women who are raped by their husbands.

ETHICS, THE LAW AND PEOPLE'S RIGHTS

So why bother to have the charter if we are going to make provisions through using some fancy legal gymnastics called the savings law clause to write off our rights as invalid? This move gives the State the right to use some old law to defeat and undermine the provisions in the charter.

Yet there is something more sinister afoot here, and we need to discuss this as a nation - a nation that has decided that integrity, accountability, transparency, good governance and an anti-corruption environment are necessary to assure our development; fairness in our judiciary, especially, accountability and honesty among our politicians; and the protection of people's rights.

Unless we now live in a dictatorship or a theocracy, Jamaican society is based on democratic principles, and we are supportive of people's human rights in this struggle between pro-choice and anti-choice forces and anti-gay, pro-gay, sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Jamaica has already given its commitment to protecting the human, sexual and reproductive rights of all its citizens. It is at best a failure and betrayal, and an act of cowardice at the worst, that as a State, we have not moved to protect or enshrine these laws nationally.

Next year is the 20th anniversary of the signing of the International Covenant on Population and Development which seeks to guarantee citizens' sexual and reproductive rights and health. Do we intend, as a nation, to report to the United Nations that we're moving backward or forward on this issue? Or, that we have decided that Vision 2030 and the recently signed Partnership Agreement only applies to some Jamaicans?

Further, by any definition of ethical, it is grossly unethical for any of the State's lawyers and/or judges to be active members of the same groups seeking to deny rights to some citizens. In the case of abortion rights, it is denying 51 per cent of the population their full enjoyment of their human rights, the right to bodily integrity and the God-given right of choice!

BOUND BY RELIGION

How can the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship have standing in any case regarding sexual and reproductive rights and health issues, when the solicitor general and key members of the attorney general's offices belong to this group?

Where is the fairness in such a system that would make all Jamaicans confident to rely on our judiciary to mediate justice and fairness in our society?

The dictator Pinochet was set free as one of the law lords had made a donation to Amnesty International, a group with standing in the case against him! The minister of justice and, by extension, the State, must put in place the necessary countervailing measures to right this power imbalance and even the perception of a conflict of interest.

Jamaicans who are committed to human rights for all are pro-choice and pro-life. What we are not is anti-choice. Making available the appropriate information on sex, contraceptives, abortion and sexuality is not "coerced abortion or murder".

It is disingenuous and hypocritical for anyone to claim this when their anti-choice stance actively incites communities to violate, and even murder, members of the LGBT community and cause the social exclusion of girls and women who continue to risk their lives and die because they had to choose to terminate an unintended or an unwanted pregnancy. The latter, in particular, speaks to our high rate of gender-based violence through coerced/early initiation sex, rape, including marital rape, incest or sexual exploitation.

How come there's no back door dealing with politicians to write this in law, bearing in mind the high levels of impunity with which women and girls are violated.

All of us are born with the right to bodily integrity, the right to the expression and enjoyment of our sexuality, and the safeguarding of our health. In democratic societies, where human rights are practised and respected, a key ethical principle is that the social, political and economic inequalities that exist among some segments of the society which is a disadvantage, must be used to advantage them. In other words, we must protect our 'minorities and vulnerable' groups.

While there are no explicit laws separating Church from State in Jamaica, that is not a sound reason to extend the right to some church members to control how our laws are enacted and higher offices of the judiciary, as well as politicians. We do not need a church lobby among politiciansm, and with Politicians, and other state machinery such as the judiciary. This is theocracy by stealth.

It will result in greater social exclusion towards the realisation of Vision 2030. The State needs to act to reassure ALL Jamaicans that they can have confidence in their justice system and that the State is the people's human-rights champion.

Failure to do so will create even greater schisms in the social contract and subvert the goals of the new Partnership Agreement.

Joan Grant Cummings is a gender and environmental specialist. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.

Buggery law challenge: Hearing pushed back to October 4

Firstly what Javed's case seeks to do

countries that have sexual orientation protected in the constitutions

The Supreme Court has pushed back to October 4 the hearing of an application by gay rights activist Javed Jaghai who is seeking to challenge the buggery law. 

When the matter came up for mention in chambers this morning, Justice Carol Edwards gave the claimant until July 5 to amend his affidavit after it was found to contain hearsay.

It was also determined that aspects of the affidavit were not directly related to the claimant.

The Attorney General (AG), which was named as a defendant in the matter, has been given until September 16 to file and serve an affidavit response.

The AG is being represented by Solicitor General Nicole Foster Pusey and Attorney-at-Law Carlene Larmond.

Meanwhile, Justice Edwards has granted permission for several Christian denominations and advocacy group Hear the Children’s Cry to join the case as interested parties.

Jaghai, who is being represented by Maurice Tomlinson, wants the court to determine if the anti-sodomy law breaches rights guaranteed under the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms which he contends guarantees the right to privacy.

The gay rights activist is seeking a declaration that the private sexual activities between consenting males must be excluded from the Offences Against the Person Act.

He is also seeking an order that the Act will continue to govern non-consensual acts and those which take place with males under the age of 16.

If he is successful, it would mean that the right to privacy will include the right of two homosexual men to engage in intercourse in privacy without facing the risk of being charged with a criminal offence.

Jaghai is contending that to date the Government has not given an undertaking that it will repeal the sections of the Offences Against the Person Act under which homosexuals can be charged.

He argues that the Government continues to violate his right to privacy and equality before the law as guaranteed by the Charter of Rights.

The number now stands at eleven the number of parties joining the case in opposition to the continued constitutionality of the buggery law, 8 of which will be known as the churches and represented by Miss Coley Nicholson all the applicants were allowed in by the judge and the Marcus Garvey Movement is expected to join as well to make it twelve if successful; to make sure the matter proceeds smoothly all parties must file affidavits.

groups include:

Lawyers Christian Fellowship

Hear the Children's Cry (Betty-Ann Blaine)

Citizens for Truth and Justice (Catholics)

Love March Movement

Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society

Jamaica Association of Evangelicals

Ethiopian Orthodox Church

Independent Churches (Bishop Adegold)

Holiness Christian Church

Christian Brethren Assemblies of Jamaica

Church of God in Jamaica.

There is some concern that there maybe hearsay evidence in Mr Jaghai's affidavit which is against the rules of evidence, the judge rule that a further affidavit be done to remove the offending parts before the matter is heard again on October 4, 2013.

Javed said he is in no way swayed by today's outcome and glad the matter is progressing: 

"For me it was refreshing getting the matter in court and getting the scheduling rolled out, I am super excited to be part of a really progressive movement towards equability in Jamaica and I am actually proud to be here today to be representing countless LGBT Jamaicans who deserve recognition who deserve love and who need to know they have human rights they have constitutional rights that should be protected and hopefully this case is one step to that kind of outcome." 

Parents issues ultimatum for suspected gay man to relocate

So as expected and seen in my time in full time work in the LGBT lobby some years ago whenever there is a public campaign or discussion on homosexuality there is usually a spike of sorts in homo-negative and homophobic incidents and I have been getting some reports of same via email and otherwise and feeling kind of overwhelmed by some of this as there is not much ordinary LGBT people can do without the needed resources. Displacements usually inch up as the most visible evidence of ostracism; evidence of this is growing numbers of young men and youth teetering on homelessness and unemployed or unemployable. It is difficult as it is in this economy now as austerity measures take effect as part of the latest International Monetary Fund deal although the administration refrains from saying it outright and they continue to plant false hopes in the nation when they are partly to be blamed for the present set of circumstances when their eighteen year tenure in the nineties and the improperly managed liberalization of the economy led to all kinds of challenges some of which we still see today.

A young man in his early twenties in the Whitehall Avenue area is the latest to be added to the list of LGBT people who are facing homo-negative reactions from relatives fortunately for him he has a job and can probably bounce back with some ease. Upon returning home some days ago he was met with a written message that his mother left that she wanted to talk to him when she got home as she had gone out for the day. Upon her arrival even before entering the home she loudly went on a verbal blast accusing her son of the usual with the colourful Jamaican words “battyman” “fish” and so on were used; the man who was shocked at this response and tried to put in a word or two according to him when we spoke over the phone. He was also concerned that neighbours were hearing the exchange and nervously wondered how they’d react as he had never had such an experience before apart from possible profiling at work or school when he was younger since he does not aesthetically or behaviourally present the stereotypical effeminate traits used to size up persons.

Another youngster was not so lucky as unconfirmed reports suggest he was killed earlier this month with condolences being expressed on social media following his demise and accusations of his case being a homophobic killing, another man was thrown out of his home as well in St Catherine by a roommate in March of this year with whom he was sharing the space following an alleged argument over his perceived homosexuality as it was alleged he had no female companion visitors or spoke of any; an activity in the hegemonic masculinity scheme of things to determine or prove manhood by local standards. As indicated before as long as there is public discourse on homosexuality in general or buggery there is always some increase in scrutiny and nonsensical and unnecessary problems. Some of the displaced and homeless men in downtown have seen a sharp rise in public resistance to their presence and mini chasings have ensued. The fate of the problematic populations in the Millsborough Avenue area is still unsure even as JFLAG is more concerned about the upcoming buggery challenges more so than real social justice and welfare issues and its three day a week feeding program for a few of the growing numbers had not recommenced fully. Now that the buggery review has become an official promise despite some unease by some of the ruling administration’s stalwarts such as Chairman of the ruling PNP expressing the differing views as to the route to be taken to have it done (referendum instead of a parliamentarian only vote) what will happen after and indeed during this very active period especially for the displaced and homeless, who inside the leadership looks at creating some buffer system or crisis intervention catchment for expected fallouts when we know these happen once there is stepped up public agitations?

A lesbian couple also had to move from Portmore as well late in April as they too were warned by men to take action as other men in the area nearing Christian Pen were not pleased of how they were cohabiting as a couple. It is alleged that one of the ladies presents with some masculine aesthetics while the other the cisgender imperatives are clear of feminine or “soft” as the colloquial dictates it. They have since relocated but what is even more disturbing about that particular case is that while same gender loving females do not get the kind of harsh reactions as their male counterparts after the ladies left the empty home which is up for rental by the owners was stoned by a mob during a street dance nearby by the egging of an over enthused disc jock who selected anti gay songs at that event. What would drive such a reaction that after the women left persons would feel so moved to attack an inanimate object of unoccupied space is puzzling to me. This is not the first time though I have heard of rage expressed such as this after the intended targets have left the occupied space which tells me we have deeply rooted homo-negative and indeed homophobic feelings lying in wait for some stimuli to reawaken them.

So the proverbial unease with opposite gender traits presenting in persons is cause for negative responses and confirms to me something I have always suspected that the conditional or provisional tolerance that has been in vogue was only just that. The homophobic feelings are always in the subconscious waiting to be stoked by the right environmental circumstances and with more vocal and mobilized religious movement complete with a castigatory and combative tone what is there for that to transcend past secular wisdom to some homophobe who happens to be idle and finds exercising their hate a sport? Yet we were told by some convoluted study as supported by JFLAG and AIDSFREEWORLD that Jamaica is more tolerant by some far out percentages! Yet the reality on the ground has been and still is telling us otherwise.

How many more cases such as these that I am not aware of are out there, what are other LGBT folk and influentials are seeing from their vantage points?

Even though I am out of the system since 2010 I still get the thousand+ worded emails, lengthy late night phone calls, BlackBerry/Text messages and Facebook messages (some thousand worded too) of persons going through issues and feel so helpless at times. What is even more challenging is why is it that when I suggest persons make a formal report to the relevant agencies for if only tracking purposes they refuse to do so instead prefer to either absorb the particular interruption in their lives and try to move on or share with on a one on one basis for the most part. I and others have found ourselves becoming unofficial counsellors and we too have to seek professional help in unloading some of the heavy psycho social materials we are bombarded with at times. Yet the official systems and agencies such as JFLAG seem not caring to improve their social components and service delivery and we the community are left with the scars. In a bid to try and explain away responsibility for the homeless MSM challenges in recent years they have chosen to include in their public relations an excuse that JFLAG only has a small social support initiative and more so is an advocacy when those of us who have been around long enough we know that that is not true, JFLAG was formed among other things to address the immediate needs that of displacements which pre-dates the formation or agitation for any gay rights in this country.

What is next for this young twenty year old is unknown but he has been encouraged to press on as he at least has an income, a friend has offered some shelter for now as the community based shelter assistance chips in if only temporarily so and even as others struggle for maintaining a decent standard of living, a letter in one of our leading newspapers bemoans the fact that many qualified professionals are also having challenges finding meaningful employment; that too is cause for some concern as displacements also comes from lack of sustained income support and financial viability.

Why aren’t parents more sensitive to their children in this business of homosexuality and or sexual orientation?

Are we seeing the results of years of an education system that for generations has in essence taught sexual reproductive activity more so than sexuality in its purest form?

That is why the argument about procreation does not wash and the fallacy that homosexuals will end the human race and destroy marriage as we know it when it is heterosexuals who are having offspring that turn out to be LGBT as a percentage of births. But with the growing numbers of idle LGBT youth and unemployable persons isn’t this recipe for some social unrest of a different hue, are we seeing the early signs of this with the abandoned set in terms of the relevant responses becoming a part of the crime wave already in vogue? Lest we forget we have had reports of robberies of other LGBT people in the New Kingston area by the ATMs or after parties where persons deemed physically weaker being targeted by stronger thugs from this and other MSM sub groups who can easily over power their intended victims. The make, look and feel of the MSM populations is rapidly changing and if the powers that be do not pay attention we may find ourselves with a new set of circumstances never before seen; we are already seeing the consequences of the bizarre decisions at the leadership levels of ignoring and sidelining the same homeless groups who were a part of a residency program that was scrapped in the easy way out not to address the early anti social challenges now we are forced to reap the results of that initial institutional rejection of this group.

I am expecting more fallout as the constitutional challenge on buggery and the sexual offences act commences today in the Supreme Court.

Peace and tolerance

H

Shame On Church - Clergyman Charges Christians To Focus On Serious Crimes, Not Anti-Gay Protest

All I can say is HERE HERE!

Nedburn Thaffe, Gleaner Writer

On a day when segments of the local church community led protests against gay-rights activists seeking to challenge Jamaica's buggery law in the courts, one clergyman urged the Church to address its failure to make serious headway in fighting crime.

"The more churches we get is the more heinous the crimes that our people are committing. Somehow, there is a disconnect. The Church is not making any serious inroads into the nation," declared the Reverend Father Franklyn Jackson.

"There is a serious crisis in the Christian community because, up to 15 years ago, there were 366 different Christian denominations in Jamaica, and since then, I know of four more that have come," he said.

Jackson, during his sermon at St Luke's Church in Kingston yesterday, pointed to the stabbing death of a 13-year-old girl at the Anchovy High School in Montego Bay, St James, last week as testament that the country was in crisis and that the Church had lost its footing.

"From whence have we come to this place as a nation where our children turn on each other and start slaying one another? When we start slaying the mother of the nation, what are we saying about the future of Jamaica?"

He said: "Our land is under scourge, and it's not just economic plight. We would want to think it is economic plight, but if we bought all the gold and brought it to Jamaica, we'll have problems, because the white-collar person will find ways of embezzling the funds from the national purse."

Jackson pointed out that it was time the Church got rid of "our tribal Jesus, because our nation is in trouble and we need to witness to the power and the presence of Jesus in our lives".

Local gay lobbyists have long argued that the Church has been guilty of nitpicking in denouncing homosexuality. On several occasions, activists called on local clergymen to end the campaign against homosexuality and focus on issues such as crime and corruption.

Asked yesterday whether he supported the mass protests put on in Kingston and Montego Bay by the church group Prayer 2000, Jackson said: "I don't want to comment on that. [But] there is no sin that the Church needs to come out and campaign against.

"Sins that are committed, the Church should make a pastoral response. I would not support any demonstration against [any sin]; what I would ask the Church is to see people in communities that have problems of whatever kind and be there to minister to them and show them the way of God."

He used the occasion to call for the governor general to "lead the way and call us to prayer and let us ask God to lead us out of what we have fallen into".

ENDS

also from the Observer

Stop bullying non-believers

Dear Editor,

Given our obsession with policing the bodies of homosexuals, we are again debating how to regard and treat gay Jamaicans. Recently, one Christian leader proclaimed that he is willing to die for his conviction that gay Jamaicans do not deserve all the protections guaranteed by our constitution. That was when I decided that secular Christians need to speak up and be counted. It pains my heart that anti-gay Christian leaders speak as representatives of God, not because there aren't many Christians who share their limited view, but because the media insists on selling their opinion as the Christian perspective.

This offends me because my faith in God has never been predicated on my willingness to condemn other human beings as sinful, degenerate, disease vectors. Let's be clear, there is no one Christian perspective on homosexuality. Our views are as diverse and conflicting as our interpretations of the Bible.

This offends me because my faith in God has never been predicated on my willingness to condemn other human beings as sinful, degenerate, disease vectors. Let's be clear, there is no one Christian perspective on homosexuality. Our views are as diverse and conflicting as our interpretations of the Bible.

Many Jamaicans seem to have forgotten that Christianity was built on conquest and exploitation. The revered thinker Desmond Tutu once said: "When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said 'Let us pray.' We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land."

We must come to terms with this reprehensible history and stop bullying non-believers to conform to outdated and demonstrably problematic ideologies. The slippery slope, apocalyptic arguments against homosexuality — a phenomenon with us since time immemorial — have got old. Furthermore, our shameless attempts to validate our righteousness at the expense of others is absolutely unethical. 

Thankfully, more of us today believe in the notion of inherent dignity and recognise the need to protect the humanity of social groups long thought to be inherently inferior. We recognise that the citizenship of homosexuals will not hasten the second coming of Christ any more than liberating slaves accelerated his return. In our increasingly globalised world, our interactions should be guided by an abiding faith in the need for understanding, tolerance and inclusivity. Instead of promoting discrimination and strife, I believe the creator of the universe would much rather we encourage universal values of love, compassion, and charity. Jamaica's constitution places an obligation on the Government to recognise and promote the rights of every citizen, including the gay ones. Instead of honouring the theocratic ambitions of some Christians, it is time our social policies and criminal laws reflect the democratic ideals outlined in the Charter of Rights.

Benjamin Fletcher

benjie.fletcher@gmail.com

St James Ministers’ Fraternal says Buggery Law repeal/decrim will cause Jamaica’s destruction

As the June 25, 2013 deadline draws closer in the Javed Jaghai case versus the state and the possibility of an amendment or repeal of the buggery law that will be heard in the Supreme Court a religious group of Ministers in western Jamaica claims that if an amendment or removal takes place it will cause defeat and destruction of Jamaica as a God fearing nation, Chairman of the St James Ministers’ Fraternal Pastor Glendon Powell says the agenda of the LGBT lobby locally is based on a secular world view which will have serious repercussions for Jamaica:

also see: MoBay Church Fraternity Says No To Buggery Review from October 2012

“We believe that God’s word is true and infallible, it is the standard by which our nation Jamaica should build and continue to keep this law, the word has said that my people have perished for the lack of knowledge we know that on June 25 there is going to be a case concerning the amendment or removal of the buggery law that is going to be put before the Supreme Court, in amending or changing this law we believe that this is going to pose difficulty for our nation, the agenda of these people is on a secular world view which wants to remove God and his standard from our society; therefore removing this law we will definitely plunge into defeat and destruction.”

He continued that the Ministers’ Fraternal is supposedly not against individuals as homosexuals but rather what they are trying to promote he calls on gays to seek spiritual help for their problem:

“We want to be clear, we are not hating homosexuals because Jesus Christ died for all sinners we want them to understand that if they are having a difficulty or problem that they need to deal with the problem in terms of getting spiritual help because you see we hate the act but not the person; so we are not against homosexuals we are against just what they are trying to promote or what they do.”

So the fear mongering continues and I am saddened by this indeed he is right that the people perish for lack of knowledge in other words information and some of these religious voices sought to get full knowledge of homosexuality and not just limit themselves to how we have sex then a lot of the arrant nonsense we see today will disappear. The manipulation of skewing of data also by leading voices in the anti gay movement also is another avenue of deliberately misleading glib followers who also themselves do not check what they are being told and placing full trust in these modern day Sadducees. The destruction mantra I do not subscribe to simply because a law is only going to make legitimate practices that are already done in private, all the lobby now seeks as far as I understand it in terms of their change of posture is decriminalization to allow consent and privacy and not to touch other statues while maintaining the protections for children via carnal abuse of paedophilia but it seems these groups are just opposing blindly without listening and following carefully to the tone, narrative and direction agitation. The false dichotomy in my view that all the LGBT lobby locally is on some secularist agenda wholesale and no gay Christians exist or all of us are non believers is only serving to add a dimension to the debate that needn't be there. Also see on Gay Jamaica Watch: Church Defends Buggery Law

CVM TV carried this story on June 17, 2013

As for my counterparts in the lobby especially the loudest voices including Javed the presentation of a secularist/atheist mantra pegged with the LGBT struggle has only sought to cloud the whole issue notwithstanding the long standing religious intolerance lead by groups such of the Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship and the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society, JCHS. In a podcast entitled Atheism Secularism may cloud the struggle for lgbt rights in Jamaica recorded September 13, 2012 following my friend Javed’s appearance on CVM TV where the tolerance study – national Survey of Attitudes towards Homosexuals I expressed my concerns about the tone of the narratives and campaign in the struggle. Javed Jaghai that particular night went down the path of atheistic views despite the rest of the discussion for the most part went quite well but his dismissal of the Bible and so on was what the callers in the call-back section reacted to and the germane points of the study went through the window. It is instances such as that and the poor communication frothed with seeming anti-God tones is what has ignited the church’s fury.

The lobby therefore has in effect given the religious intolerant corner the ammunition and the cause/justification for their strong response action based on some moral imperative to mobilize themselves avoiding any round table discourse and all sides imputing all kinds of motives. While belief systems and personal subscriptions are of import those do not and should not be made to be reflective of the entire LGBT community hence we are labelled as having a Godless secular worldview. Maybe more LGBT Judea-Christian believers need to start speaking up as well to balance the image of the population and counteract this perception of us that is encroaching on the struggle’s objective. It is not about whether or not God exists while Jesus while on earth did not speak about homosexuality directly nor was there any known concepts in the gospels or writings from those times but how the word is interpreted and how under an inclusive message by him fear and bigotry are masked as a moral quest that ends up creating more outcasts. The Sodom and Gomorrah story with Lot’s departure to me is more about the abuse of females especially young virgins more so than homosexuality; notice that Lot offered his two daughters for sexual use to the soldiers when they came to the door suspecting the two (angels) strangers he was entertaining were spies yet when they escaped the destruction he ended up committing incest with them and producing children in the process, yet hardly any one speaks about the story in this context it is easier to use it to persecute homosexuals and justify the intolerance.

To paint God as a wicked evil being who just destroys anything that does not please him when in his own promise (post the flood and ascension of Jesus) as we are under grace is a misplaced belief by this Fraternal and other religious voices and to be selective about homosexuality as the catalyst for destruction while other obvious societal ills go un-rebutted or ignored by these same groups shows that there are other motives here it seems; maybe to fill collection plates as churches also struggle with dwindling tides and offerings and indeed attendance as persons become frugal with household budgets; also the fact that the end times were predicted and as espoused in Revelation to link that to present homosexual agitations is foolhardy in my view. What a way to rile up an audience in a service and get praise as well in the prosperity gospel game as well; when one listens to some of these sermons they are empty and have no spiritual depth.

The intellectual dishonesty interwoven into the mix is also very disturbing to watch as it is done egregiously in the name of God and some imperative to protect the nation from perceived infestation of gays when we are always here. The conflation of same gender sex with abuse also needs to go as abuse is abuse despite the orientation of the individual as sexual attraction to prepubescent persons or children is a diagnosable deviant sexual disorder homosexuality is not and is orientation that is innate as seen thus far by several studies though I will admit not all conclusive.

These things need to start happening now

1) Religious anti gay voices need to stop calling destruction unnecessarily

2) LGBT activists need to listen carefully and respond appropriately

3) The intellectual dishonesty on all fronts needs to go from this most sensitive national issue

4) Meeting of the minds on homosexuality

5) Stop the skewing and manipulation of date on HIV/AIDS (from other jurisdictions) on rates of infection for MSM and anal sexual practices in sub-groups

6) The legal issues properly communicated to not only the public but also the LGBT community in particular by all involved

7) End the confusion on same gender sex/homosexuality with paedophilia, abuse and deviant behaviour

8) Christian psychologists & psychotherapists (a) needs to recognise the Diagnostic Statistical Manual, DSM (version 5 released May 2013) as the official guide when dealing with homosexuality (b) stop seeing homosexuality as a disorder (c) stop referring persons for reparative therapy or suggesting same as orientation cannot be changed (d) stop seeing transgenderism as a disorder (gender dysmorphia) (e) Stop relying on faulty data and skewed research/studies by the discredited American anti gay group NARTH – National Association for Reparative Therapy for Homosexuality

9) Religious voices need to begin openly embracing persons despite their identified sexual orientation

10) Major press agencies need to force the anti gay voices in particular to verify their claims in the spurious articles published as of late and block or edit any such unsubstantiated materials before going to press

Seems like a tall order but we have to get back to basics and focus on the privacy and consent issue and avoid the smoke screens being used to distract and enthrall an unsuspecting and blind public opposing in ignorance for the most part.

Most cases of buggery involving consenting adults caught in the act whether penetration is properly proven or not via the all important doctor’s report I learnt years later following my own court experience hardly ever go to full trial or lead to a conviction as the precedent set is that of instances involving and older perpetrator and a younger victim in other words same sex paedohphilia which does not imply the sexual orientation of the alleged perpetrator. Another religious voice in the reintroduction of the flexi-work week and the declaration of every day a normal work day then gambling may benefit us financially but may damage the family structure eventually and the nation’s demise. Meanwhile several religious groups and voices have applied to be parties in the upcoming challenge in the Supreme Court, it is yet to be seen if they will be allowed to in the preliminary actions prior to full trial.

What would Jesus do?

UPDATE June 19, 2013

 

also see from 2010: Reactions to JFLAG's call for The Buggery Law's Removal by CARICOM

Peace and tolerance

H

Go Jamaica reported 

Buggery law conscience vote for parliament soon

Jerome Reynolds, Staff Reporter

The Minister with responsibility Information Senator Sandrea Falconer (photo above) says the government is to take the matter of the review of the Buggery Law to the parliament shortly.

Senator Falconer told reporters at today’s post-Cabinet press briefing that Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller remains committed to her promise on the issue.

In the lead up to the General Elections in 2011 Simpson Miller said she would support a conscience vote in the House of Representatives on reviewing the buggery law.

However, the matter was not a priority on the government’s agenda as it sought to secure a deal with the International Monetary Fund.

Senator Falconer said with the IMF deal out of the way effort is underway to address the matter of the buggery law.

Gay right lobby groups have complain that little action has been taken by the government since the prime minister made the announcement.

The Supreme Court is to begin hearing an application by gay rights activist Javed Jaghai on June 25 who is seeking the go ahead to the Constitutional Court to challenge the buggery law.

ENDS

A prominent anti gay attorney-at-law is urging that the conscience vote for the review of the law be done with the views of the members of the constituency taken into consideration, rather than the vote solely being made by the parliamentarians.

Shirley Richards of the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship wants the voting to be done with the views of the constituency and that these votes should be made public.

"They (parliamentarians) shouldn't be voting on their own conscience. They are representing the people. We want to know how the representatives in parliament vote on this issue. The people should know how their representatives vote," she said.

Referendum

Another legal luminary, Bert Samuels, explained that it certainly will be interesting to see how the parliamentarians vote on this issue. He also said that having a referendum on this matter would represent the highest form of democracy.

"I think there will be a toss-up between fundamentalist Christian values on one side and the liberals on another. Having a referendum on this matter would display the highest form of democracy," he said.

Previously I had done this audio as well at the time when Cabinet announced that buggery review was not a priority then in November. A quick turn around it seems, I do not trust these politicians especially when it comes to this most political football item.

Follow this post I had done on the conscience vote regarding the death penalty by another administration in 2008: Some MPs still battling with 'conscience'

Also let us remember when this present administration was in opposition: Opposition sides with Govt on No to same sex marriage on Facebook I commented that "....... interesting that it was not a priority in November all of a sudden now it's coming hmph .......... we need to be careful what we wish for, this conscience vote with an unprepared and uninformed nation as it is and a loud religious section can lead to a no and backfire on us then the same political directorate may feel justified in taking a hands off approach after that whenever the issue of homosexuality is raised again .............. politics!!!!!!!!!! ................. sure way to win the next election given the sluggish economy etc"

from the Charter of Rights debate under the JLP also see: Gay Marriage - An Invented Issue by the christian right movement

This could very well go against us if not properly handled and given the strength of the hand of our opponents chiefly the religious voices opposed blindly to homosexuality we need to work on enlightenment and education drives towards what really constitutes homosexuality, work that should have been done by the relevant agencies instead much time was wasted. The odds are against us but we must still have some hope.

let us backtrack a bit, here was the press release from the PNP clarifying the issue when persons thought the opposition leader Portia Simpson Miller said that buggery would be repealed:

More readings:
Promoting homosexuality? No, its about freedom of choice, privacy & tolerance (2009)

Reactions to JFLAG's call for The Buggery Law's Repeal (2010) (remember they now want it decriminalized)

Jamaica Observer online readers blast buggery law review

CVM TV @ Sunrise on the Buggery review & JFLAG's 100 day...

PNP: No election money from gay groups

Mark Wignall ....... Gay Lobby will wait in vain

The PNP's first 100 days ............. buggery review

PNP's Damion Crawford says it's highly unlikely buggery will be reviewed 

PNP's Damion Crawford on Homosexuality's legality ...

Buggery Law challenges & overlooked judicial solutions...

MoBay Church Fraternity Says No To Buggery Review

Did the talk of buggery turn persons off from the ...

PNP Wins ................Hope for LGBT People ???

On Buggery and gays in cabinets with politics .......

PNP 2006, No plans to Legalise Same Sex Union

LGBT History Month - Buggery law backward said Trevor Munroe

Legalizing buggery provision in the Sexual Offences Bill...

Buggery law backlash - Blair: The church has been sleeping Blair warns review could lead to same-sex marriages

Mark Wignall on Buggery law review promise was a political sham

Backing Down On Buggery? Some Personal Rights Can Be Sacrificed For General Morality ............

former justice Minister (now Foreign Affairs Minister) back in 2006 during the Charter of Rights Debate was captured in this cartoon by Lasmay of the Gleaner.

more from an old audiopost from :21.12.2011 at the time when the elections were in progress post the leadership debate where she made the review suggestion.

Then also bear in mind the CVM TV Don Anderson poll:

CVM's Don Anderson 2012 Poll on Buggery Review 07.03.12

here Mrs Simpson Miller sought to clarify her position during the leadership debate leading up to the December 2011 elections:

Finally:
Bear this in mind as well, after digging my archives I found the presentation by Mrs Simpson Miller in 2009 (poor audio though) where she sided wholeheartedly with the then Prime Minster Bruce Golding(his speech linked) on the banning of gay marriage, gay marriage rights by the way was never asked for by the LGBT advocacy structure at that time but it was dishonestly pushed on the agenda during the Charter of Rights debate then as a smoke screen to deny us recognition in the Charter. 

The clause that had discrimination as an infraction then was also removed from the draft prior to this speech after successful lobbying by none other than the Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship with support from none other than reverend Al Miller.

She said on October 20th 2009 - "Mr Speaker when we accepted the final report from the joint select committee that were looking at the bill we were completely satisfied with their recommendation of a provision to restrict marriage and like relationships to one man and one woman within Jamaica and that the provision should be specifically spelt out so that there could be no ambiguity ………. yes one man one woman (laughter in the house) and if you are Jamaican and go overseas the same applies ……….."
Has Prime Minister Simpson Miller changed her mind or is evolving as President Obama did and is moving towards having the review done or are there other factors here?

UPDATE June 10, 2013
JFLAG welcomes review of buggery law

The Jamaica Forum for Lesbians All-Sexuals and Gays, (J-FLAG) has welcomed the government’s announcement, that a conscience vote will be scheduled for the promised review of the buggery law.

J-FLAG says its position on the buggery law has evolved over the years, and it is no longer agitating for a repeal of the law. It says it is instead requesting an amendment to the law, to differentiate between acts which are consensual and those which are not.

The group has made some suggestions as to how section 76 of the Offences Against The Persons Act, could be amended and has also called for clarifications on aspects of section 79.

J-FLAG says, it's open and available to assist parliamentarians with information to act in good faith, in their review of the relevant sections of the statute.

see: JFLAG Position Statement on Upcoming Conscience Vote...

they also released these shots in trying to simplify the issue for persons to understand:

Peace and tolerance

H

more from the Gleaner HERE and A Senior Rastafarian Opposes the move 

also see: Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society, JCHS continued confusion of paedophilia & consenting homosexuality.

UPDATE JUNE 17, 2013
more fear  mongering comes as the Jamaica Observer reported today: Church group plans big anti-gay march next Sunday

Church claims future victimization if buggery is decriminalized in Jamaica