Lloyd D'Aguilar on The Church Preaching Itself Out Of Relevance in Jamaica

Radio host and rights advocate with his own style of advocacy Lloyd D'Agular's letter became the letter of the day and pleasantly surprisingly so seeing that the Gleaner in recent times had sunk to a low in terms of true journalism from walkouts by award winning staff from press conferences (CVCC) to the tabloid type writing on the JFJ CVCC funded sex education course.

I am not a big fan of his per say but give unto Ceasar what is due unto to Ceasar and he has been interviewing more LGBT spokespersons since his new stint at HOT102FM's Morning Edition.

With yesterday's mass rally by a hastily formed anti gay group Jamaica CAUSE and their threats to vote out any administration that repeals buggery (when that call has since changed by JFLAG though so late to decriminalization) the deceptive conflation of same gender sex with abuse is on twinned with reparative therapy and blocking any attempt to allow coverage under law for sexual discrimination.

video clip from "For The Bible Tells Me So" that made it clear that reparative therapy can be dangerous

Lloyd's letter:

LETTER OF THE DAY - Church Preaching Itself Out Of Relevance

THE EDITOR, Sir:

It appears that the last moral lynchpin of the Jamaican Church (the fundamentalist wing at least) is hatred of homosexuals.

The Church has been forced to accept human frailties - adultery, fornication, stealing, murder, covetousness - as things which secular laws either don't regard as crimes or which the State reserves the exclusive right to punish.

The clergy cannot use biblical admonitions to advocate stoning and murder for such transgressions. To do so, they themselves could be prosecuted for criminal conduct.

But now it seems as if the clerics believe that the last moral code on which they cannot concede is homosexuality.

They are gearing up to take their last stand against the 'gay agenda', which seems also to be a referendum on their own relevance. This gay agenda, which the clerics keep fuming against is, in fact, a human-rights agenda.

Morally speaking, the State does not have the right to be involved in the bedroom affairs of consenting adults - gay or straight. Nor can the Church realistically do anything about what people do in the privacy of their bedrooms.

Modern State

The premise of the modern State is that chattel slavery is over and the State, therefore, has no business regulating personal thoughts, beliefs, morality or sexual behaviour. The last bastion of this attempt to regulate personal behaviour seems to be drugs (marijuana and coke), abortion, prostitution, and homosexuality. It is, of course legal to drink, smoke and eat yourself to death.

The United States has moved decisively on the matter of homosexuality, going so far as to recognise gay marriage. Legalising marijuana may not be too far off.

The Jamaican clergy have a mortal fear that removing the buggery law will lead to legalisation of gay marriage à la the USA. The buggery law is unenforceable in any event, unless the participants engage publicly, which is a very rare occurrence, or the police decide to come kicking down your door based on evidence!

No gay agenda

There is no gay agenda in Jamaica other than that criminalisation of gay sex is a violation of the basic tenets of the Constitution. This criminalisation has led to murder, discrimination and social ridicule.

Having lost their thunder against fornication and adultery, which is considered normal human behaviour, buggery is now the Church's new clarion call.

The clerics never challenge the State over its terrorist methods against inner-city youths, such as the 2010 Tivoli Gardens massacre. They have nothing to say about institutional corruption - indeed, they have regular prayer breakfasts with state officials who are known kleptomaniacs.

Now is therefore not the time to flinch in front of clerical irrelevance. God is dead. He seems to have died a long time ago.

The buggery law must be repealed. LGBT Jamaicans must be protected against violence, stigma and bigotry. Clerical hysteria on the matter of gay rights sounds too eerily similar to the echoes of Fascism.

Jamaica either becomes a civilised state or it further descends into barbarism and proto-Fascism.

LLOYD D'AGUILAR

Campaign for Social and Economic Justice
lgdaguilar@gmail.com

ENDS

also see and hear podcasts:
Jamaica CAUSE issues Veiled threat to Govt to not Repeal The Buggery Law

(UWI) Vice-chancellor E. Nigel Harris - UWI Didn't Bow To Gays

The Hunt for Blood Continues ..... JFJ/CVCC Children’s Homes Sex-Ed Programme Under Police Investigation part 2

More Overreaction to the Jamaicans for Justice Sex Education Course & Media Senationalism

Why did CVCC & JFJ not Fund a Project/Home for Homeless LGBT Youth in New Kingston instead of the Children’s Home Fiasco that now obtains?

Professor's Bain's Testimony Threatened Foreign Funding (Gleaner letter)

Lessons to learn from The Professor Bain Matter?

Ian Boyne: Bain exercised terribly poor strategic judgement

Anti gay religious voices where are they? .... Pastor charged with sexual assault

'UWI had no choice but to dismiss Prof Bain' says Professor Rosemarie Bell Antoine (OAS Rapporteur)

Pro-Bain Protesters To Meet With UWI Today

Buggery the only thing that makes church butts sore?

The Hypocrisy of Jamaican Anti Gay Groups & Selective Actions of Societal Ills 

Buggery, Bain, Bullshit & Buffoonery in Jamaican LGBT Discourse by 

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

Father of gay son to religious groups: Focus on the real problem guys

In a letter to the Observer a self identified father of a non typical gay man penned the following letter, what caught my attention was the reference to one of the ridiculous causations of male homosexuality that is still used today by religious academics, anti gay groups, Christians Psychologists and theologians that an absentee father makes a boy want to be gay as he seeks to compensate for the loss through sex with men in some misplaced emotional lack.

The letter writer said:

Focus on the real problem 'guys'

Dear Editor,

I am father to a gay son. As an adult preparing to have children, I always dreaded the possibility that a child of mine might grow up to be gay. In my mind at the time, gay was the antithesis of "man", and I took solace in the belief that there was no way I could raise a sissy.

Despite overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary, many anti-gay crusaders claim that absentee fathers and overbearing mothers contribute to gender dysphoria in children and could make them weak to homosexual temptations. You can imagine my dismay then when I realised that my last born, the second male child in the family, had an affinity for toys and activities that are stereotypically feminine.

I felt inadequate as a father, because I believed my parenting style was harming his psychological and sexual development. My son loved to read and he eventually became a teacher of literature and philosophy at a college in the United States where he now lives. He is no longer an embarrassment to me because he is the most talented, caring and responsible person I know. My son is an ambitious Jamaican, a gifted teacher and the most trustworthy friend to those who know him. There is nothing anti-man about him. I like to think our society would be better off and our homes would be more empowering spaces with men and fathers with his attributes.

Instead of condemning homosexuals who are growing tired of life in the shadows, let us focus our attention on the men who have actually destroyed our society: The "bad man dem" who count babies with "gyal ina bungle" as trophies, despite being unemployed; the "tugz dem" who rape our women and girls; the "shotta dem" who steal and murder "fi eat a food"; and the "don dem" who use violence to inspire obedience in inner-city residents and offer handouts from money got through extortion and narcotics trafficking to demand loyalty.

Many gay people have distinguished themselves in every field, because many of them understand they must work twice as hard as their heterosexual colleagues to avoid harassment and decrease their vulnerability to violence. Their sexuality is considered a handicap, so they compensate for it with excellence. Many have left our shores to contribute to the development of already affluent societies. Others remain in Jamaica donating their talents to a society that refuses to recognise their humanity.

Sherman Wallacesherman.p.wallace@gmail.com

ENDS

This same causation line was used at a recent anti gay seminar as hosted by Reverend Clinton Chisholm and guest Psychologist Dr Joan Pickney held in April of this year as they drew on old and rejected data from the US based anti gay group 

NARTH - National Association of Research and Therapy of Homosexuality even in the face of damning criticisms and legal action taken by some of their own research fellows who claim their work was misused by the agency to promote their anti gay and dangerous reparative solutions in their eyes. In that lecture they attributed lesbianism's causation as a missing father in the home making the individual wanting to act the role of a man and persons sat in the audience absorbing this self righteous crap.

We have seen the apparent closure and apology from its leader just days ago from the EX-Gay Ministries formerly known as Exodus as well in the United States where it has been seen anecdotally and otherwise that reparative therapy does not work in a supposed bid to repair or change homosexual orientation and even some leaders themselves have been found in compromising positions with other secretively while publicly promoting change is possible in homosexuals. The APA issued a position statement on the issue in 2000: GO HERE while many US states have now raised to the level of state law proscriptions to ban such practices, New Jersey being the latest in the line doing so just days ago. All this happening while our church groups and some psychosocial professionals go in the opposite directions playing on the ignorance of a glib following.

There are some attempts to continue aspects of the defunct Exodus Ministries as we see despite the APA's statement and the obvious failing of this practice of RT: 

Five Outcomes of the Exodus Ex-Gay Reboot

Here is a clip from the documentary for the Bible Tells Me So where a leading Psychologist warns of the dangers of reparative therapy:

Good that this father is enlightened to some extent, I too always had a father and mother present physically and emotionally for the most part and that never stopped my natural feelings I had, I was not groomed into becoming gay or any older man fondling my parts and playing unto my curiosity or ignorance as is postured by anti gay religious and homophobic figures who like to claim so protection of the vulnerable imperative. Paedophilia and homosexuality are NOT one in the same and in fact the sexual orientation of a paedophile is immaterial as any adult that is sexual attracted to a child has a diagnosable disorder that can be addressed over time by psychological and pharmacological responses from the relevant experts the same cannot be said for homosexuality. We are born this way. It is not only LGBT body politic itself that has to come out on this but also allies and family members as well who have to speak in show of genuine support so as to make real tolerance evident.

Another such strong set of rebukes have been coming towards the anti gay religious establishment since their recent public agitation: (photo from June 23 march in Kingston's Heroes Circle)

Church's Priority Misplaced (Gleaner Letter)

Shame On Church - Clergyman Charges Christians to focus on real issues instead

and my posts: The False Dichotomy of the religious right .................. and Scenes from anti gay Lovemarch at Heroes Circle

Peace and tolerance

H

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

Tell Me Pastor: Struggling with homosexuality ..............

The Star News feature "Tell Me Pastor" carried this piece below and though I am not a psychologist the letter seems a little off to me but read and see what you make of it, on my other blogs I have long been suspicious of some of these letters too and their authenticity as sometimes they border on sensational. The young man here says he was sexually abused as a boy and that indeed is sad and shocking but what followed has been a rollercoaster ride it seems the pastor's rebuke however is disturbing to me. Read ...............

Dear Pastor,

I am writing to you for your help. I am a male who has never had a happy moment in my life from I was 11. I was sexually abused by a good friend of my family from St Catherine. At that time, I did not understand that if anyone was caught in the act of homosexuality, he would be beaten to death. This happened in the late 1980s. I got to like it so I used to visit the man's house often. It went on for several years because I didn't know homosexuality was wrong. I was innocent to everything around me. This man has messed up my life because homosexuality still affects my life today.

Over the years, I have been with several other men and have also gone to different counsellors but the problem is still starring me in the face. I became a Christian in 1993 but I am still struggling with this situation. I have prayed and fasted for these homosexual feelings to go away, but it has not helped.

In 2001, I met a man. He treated me well and took me to rural Jamaica. He was loving and caring and we became lovers. He told me he had homosexual fantasies, then I decided to stop having sex with him and to change my lifestyle. I stopped calling him and texting him but he continued to text me with sweet words. I prayed to God for a change and was getting there, but because I am weak towards him, I fell back into the devil's track. Sometimes I wonder where is God in my situation. I never thought I would be so unhappy.

One night in the early 90s, at a big tent at a crusade, the preacher called me to the altar and told me someone has tied me down in a bottle. I want to go back to school and start my own business, but I cannot because of lack of funds.

One day I went to Emancipation Park to clear my mind and my phone rang. It was one of my lovers. He was in the presence of some girls. He was touching me up and had an erection. This man was also having sex with one of the girls. I am wondering where God is in my situation.

One day I went to his house and we got into a fight in his van and I dropped out. I have tried many times to break up with this man and we are still having sexual intercourse without condoms. We have done freaky things. His girlfriend doesn't believe we are doing these things. He is bisexual. I know I have done many bad things to him and I am asking him for his forgiveness. His girlfriend told me disgraceful things that I should do to her.

This man has helped me and is very kind to me. I asked him to give me $10,000 and he wants to know if I will pay him back in sex. I am still attending church but Ifeel condemned. Friends have turned their backs on me, but I want to thank God because He has never left me. I am 34 and cannot break free from this disease for more than 23 years now. I have had deep depression and suicidal thoughts. My own brother told me I am dunce and worthless. Please, help me.

R.B.

Pastor responds:

Dear R.B.,

I regret hearing that an adult male, who was a family friend, introduced homosexual practices to you. Unfortunately, you didn't report him and kept going to his house. As you grew up, you became a practising homosexual. That is why most psychologists say homosexuality is something learned. I do not mean to imply this is true in every case.

You felt your sexual partners treated you well and found it difficult to walk away from them. Even after you decided to change, it wasn't for long. You have written a detailed letter and have mentioned the names of individuals. As you can see, I have deleted many of the things that you have said. They are not publishable. Your motive is not just to seek help, but to expose certain individuals with whom you have had affairs.

You claim in the letter that you are a very jealous man. So while you give the impression that you are seeking help, you are really looking for revenge. You are still very much in love with a particular man whose name you have mentioned many times in your letter. I do believe you are carrying a heavy burden and believe in the nonsense that the preacher told you at the crusade meeting that someone has tied you down in a bottle.

I would like to suggest you make an appointment to see a Christian psychologist and ask him/her to help you. If you continue to believe hope is lost and someone, not you, are responsible for your behavior, you will never experience deliverance.

Yes, you were abused as a child. When you became an adult, you knew better and should not blame others for the wrong things you have done. You are responsible for your actions. Nobody has put you in a bottle. The preacher who told you that is wrong and has contributed to messing up your mind.

Pastor

ENDS

In my continued look at this for the pastor Aaron Dumas who is a psychologist and also hosts a program on Power 106fFM at nights to scold the man where he said "Yes, you were abused as a child. When you became an adult, you knew better and should not blame others for the wrong things you have done. You are responsible for your actions. Nobody has put you in a bottle. The preacher who told you that is wrong and has contributed to messing up your mind." I am baffled at this response if abuse was the origin of his struggle taking into account the power differentials that may have existed (going by the letter) between the youth at the time and this adult perpetrator then how in adult life the writer could simply come to some realization without any professional help mentioned in the piece? In power differentials the victim sometimes does not have the opportunity to say no or tell someone else especially a child (going by the letter) he may run into a backlash as other circumstances may have been present to block seeking that kind of redress. It takes years sometimes never for persons to come forward or get comfortable to even talk about the issues involved or to rehash the abuse. Now that he has come forward this is the response from Pastor Dumas? To simply indirectly dismiss the man and he is to supposed change or come to some realization by his own recognizance is unprofessional to me and smacks as a kind of dismissal of this case yet he had no qualms to suggest a christian psychologist imputing a reparative therapy course.

The need for more forensic psychiatry or psychology is clear here too as we must now begin to understand the perpetrator's profiles as well in a bid to address situations like this, we have seen and heard from the Child Development Agency, CDA express this concern as well. The training of staff as well to help children express where abuse may be present. 

Indeed inappropriate initiation is a problem overall but how to properly address these cases on the part of the victim is called into question here via this case especially when the professional handling such a matter is using a Judaeo Christian base given the Diagnostic Statistical Manuals course in categorizing deviant diagnosable behaviour. I am sorry I was not near this individual (if he is real) as I would have suggested a book by a Jamaican man who was abused as well and who documented his travel to recovery:

"The Cries of Men" tell the candid and true personal accounts of rape and sexual abuse from the voices of young Jamaican men."The Cries of Men" shares the candid and true personal account of rape and sexual abuse from the voices of young Jamaican men. By providing an in-depth look into their secret lives, author O'Brien Dennis demonstrates how one act of sexual violence can have a devastating effect on adult survivors.

"The Cries of Men" takes a virgin journey of homophobia in the realm of Jamaica's social fabric. Dennis reveals the powerful and intriguing stories of Jamaican male sexual abuse survivors, but also divulges unknown facts about Jamaican society- including the concept that homosexuality is an evil act, punishable by imprisonment of up to ten years of hard labor. Yet each week in Jamaica, there are over fifteen reported cases of sexual abuse of young men and boys, many more cases go unreported because men fear for their lives if they disclose the abuse. Dennis also provides a list of resources to assist in recovering from sexual abuse.

The unofficial practice by churches in using marriage to cure homosexuality

Hello readers,

I held on to this post until today International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia, IDAHOT and also Children’s month to highlight another challenge and related social issue out there for LGBT people here in Jamaica. In a follow up discussion on LOVE 101FM’s Morning Watch hosted by theologian Reverend Clinton Chisholm dealt with the issue of supposed heterosexual spouses of homosexual partners known or unbeknownst to them on the strength of a letter to the Gleaner’s editors on May 13, 2013, the poll question of the day dealt with the issue as well and some of the answers were as expected espousing sheer ignorance and indifference:

“It should never even by thought of by anyone”

“There is no way to stop a person from being a gay, that’s not the church business”

“That only shows that they have no knowledge of the dark kingdom, being gay is caused by a spirit”

“The only treatment for sin is repentance”

“.......... Homosexuality cannot be cured by marriage it is a demonic force of darkness............”

“ ........... a scriptural biblical mockery ................”

“Marriage does not fix that behaviour it can worsen it .................... "

Guests on the show were (anti gay) Psychologist Dr Leachim Semaj (formerly known as Michael James) who seems not to follow the DSM’s guidelines on homosexuality, Dr Reverend Neil Walker – a Guyanese living in the states who also runs a reparative outfit, the letter writer a Jamaican living in Miami Florida nurse Mrs. Debbie Thomas Brown who also runs a faith based outreach and advocacy site South Florida Connect Inc for other wives or women who have found themselves in marriages or relationships with a down low man or vice versa.

The discussion for the most part seems level but what bothered me was there were no guests representing the MSM side of the equation but I shouldn’t be surprised supposed discourse like this tends to be one sided although the letter’s author made her position quite clear very early in the exchange which to be fair to her was respected as her tone did not come across as homophobic although she did hint to a possible cure without saying it in so many words, although she also used the word “orientation” as opposed to “lifestyle” as done by other anti gay voices.

“..................... my letter to the editor was to bring awareness .............. to open a dialogue that we never seem to have that we should have had a long time ago ................ people misunderstood what I was trying to say ............... as the men who are gay they seem to understand that they can do that to hide their orientation and to make themselves look stronger and appear more effective .......”

“....... because of our culture in Jamaica that treat homosexuals in a bad way ......”

She continued that the church is not paying attention to what has been happening and women are being hurt. Dr Semaj weighed that deception is the issue as persons use that reality to cover up their behaviour. He mentioned the married but just for the record bit as well that exists in social circles. He said persons deliberately or consciously set out to destroy another person’s life as persons present themselves as one entity he then made the disease connection where he said many wives were at risk at HIV/AIDS, I found that a bit problematic as it tacitly presents the disease as a homosexual one even after all these years although we must take into account the high rates of infection in the MSM population. My other concern was innate bisexuality was never brought up in the exchange even though the cross infection was hinted to.

What if the partner was innately bisexual but due to fear or recrimination did not or could not disclose his same gender attraction as well?

Would that be deception altogether on his part or the withholding of information with disastrous consequences? Many persons would fear that during courtship that might be the end of the formation of the union and other more far reaching consequences with family and social standing.

Dr Semaj continued that in the development of the relationship all the cards must be dealt face up, that is easy for him to say as a psychologist tell that to the man who has a decision to make knowing our own homophobia and indeed biphobia from within the gay community as well as they are also seen as disease carriers and misguided or confused, there are many other layers that this exchange never even came close to addressing. The denial or ambivalence upon learning the information was briefly examined where Dr Semaj juxtaposed the issue of incest as well where blame has to go somewhere in that case the child in a down low case however self blame or hate may set in and the feeling of competing with a man for another man or the acceptance or tolerance of another woman as the extra marital partner works to find out it is a man is too much in some case, it also raises self esteem concerns for the woman involved. “The purpose of the defence mechanism is to preserve ego, preserve the self ...... you have to put the blame somewhere else ...........” after a while the whole thing starts to crumble. He said women require a lot of work to put the blame where it really should be and move on to healing.

The other guest Rev Dr Walker spoke to his familiarity with the down low phenomenon in the United States as he runs an outfit that address such issues, the rift also between mega churches versus small churches where pastors are sometimes labelled as mumblers came through as he made the point that it is easier for a down low man to camouflage himself in larger populated congregations that his smaller outfit. After declaring his heterosexuality (with full support from Dr Semaj – “heterosexual body, mind & spirit” other guests laughing) as it were he continued on the point of his referral system where churches send him clients where he addresses the females who suffer from the fallout of the secret coming to light. He highlighted the emotional rollercoaster and the devastation the women feel. Reverend Chisholm brought the down low clergy ambit in the mix where Dr Walker again touched on the mega church versus small church issue and Bishop Eddie Long’s recent troubles, he lamented that pastors such as Bishop Long consider themselves superstars as they command mega churches and are immune to the issue of the down low phenomenon, he criticised Bishop Long saying he had an opportunity to come clean instead resorting to the infamous five stone comment he made in response to the allegations of inappropriate behaviour with male members.

Nurse Thomas Brown brought her own experience to bear with her near miss marriage to a down low man and her emotional turmoil that led to her research and formation of her advocacy group. She lamented that local churches have this issue and it is the place where other down low men come and use the covertness to meet and hide their relationship. She pointed out clearly that a gay man cannot recover from his homosexuality through marriage, “ .......... that will never happen through marriage ......” one thing was clear that she was not one of those guests as is customary to be spoon fed points in the thrust to drive the point home. She continued that it was a public health issue but the figures she quoted seem unverifiable as she said about 56,000 MSM may be here and of down low men 50% of them are in relationships with heterosexual women, she never provided her source for this data that flowed easily of her tongue.

She continued on the point of social pressure and the noveau intelligentsia who marry into a heterosexual set up to become accepted or regularise themselves although she seemed to have overlooked the commensurate side to this in that many single men are known to be gay and do exist unperturbed by open hostility at the upper socio economic levels it is when one starts to descend the ladder that the caustic responses sometimes translating itself via violence get more pronounced. The aesthetics was briefly examined as well where she rightfully looked at effeminacy, masculinity and profiling and that most down low men bear no discerning signs. “They can hide in a mega church, they can hide in any church because they look as macho and as masculine as the next straight guy, you cannot look at them and tell our women don’t understand that because Jamaican women are accustomed to them being effeminate ... and they are not like that.......you will never see it if that’s what you are looking for.” She then promoted her website.

Nurse Brown concluded that for women who find themselves in this situation that there is nothing wrong with them and that they should try to move on as best as possible, she said “......... you cannot change him, you did not make him gay, don’t listen to ignorant people who are gonna ask you, he married you so he must not have been gay when he married you? He was, he just did a very good job of hiding it from you and everyone else, so don’t blame yourself for your spouse being gay, it has nothing to do with you and don’t ever think that you can change him because yes you cannot compete with a man .........” she went on that heterosexual men also complain about having lesbian wives meeting them in church in some instances but are afraid to expose them. Dr Semaj brought up the threesome piece or ménage-a-trois which locally for all intents and purposes I dare say is very popular just go to any strip club and see open erotic lesbian themed entertainment.

Reality coming to the fore here has brought some sense to an exchange about homosexuality it seems only when it hits very close to home that theologians or anti gay voices have to face such reality, as for the deception aspect of this coming out open and honest is still a major issue across the board and in intimate relationships be they gay, bisexual or heterosexual couples, disclosure is also a major complaint I have heard a lot over the years. The matter of advocacy here in Jamaica not matured (only in age it seems) and sophisticated enough cannot be overlooked as my expectations for a fifteen year old agency would be to address if by a tight referral system issues such as this but again another possible outcome of poor leadership and program development crops up again.

Peace and tolerance

H

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

Firstly homosexuality is not just about sex and a perception by some of our opponents as a supposed desire as gay or bisexual persons to convert, impose or force non homosexuals into committing gay sex or becoming gay as if one can influence sexual orientation by mere pressure, the rest is by choice (excluding the odd case of abuse where psychological control of another is the motivator NOT SEX as in prison rape etc) worse yet an insatiable appetite to enter another’s excretory crevice if you will, if one were to follow some of these speakers aligned to or involved in the religious right movement one would get the impression we are doing the aforementioned incessantly such as an older comment by for example noted outgoing political Ombudsman Bishop Hero Blair on a World Focus interview where he said he did not want his sons to be turned gay by another man.

Now the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society, JCHS's co-chair and founder Dr Wayne West has been on a quest in recent months to in his words “prove moral nihilism” by the gay lobby locally and by extension with international help as he ascribes universality of a world view that LGBT persons are operating on a principle of anything goes without boundaries as it were and looping us all as aesthesis, humanists, secularists or an embodiment of the anti-Christ for that matter. LGBT Christians probably need to speak out more than their atheistic counterparts to debunk this notion being made into a fact for some, probably due to the fact they have gotten so much prime time attention.

I doubt the gay lobby for all intents and purposes of which I have some near twenty years involvement outside of its own sometimes flawed agitation which I have openly pointed out and opposed seek to usurp the law or any moral codes for that matter when privacy and consent are pinged to our call for the repeal or decriminalization of buggery it is in fact in respect to morals why the insistence as matters of sexual decisions are private ones as already exists in the hetero-normative if not patriarchal construct that now obtains. Just mere public romantic displays of affection between heterosexual lovers are not so popular (except dry humping act carnival or a dancehall setting proving the paradox that we are and highly sexualised our culture is) not even on the famed valentine’s day activities that have become so commercialized. Nihilism suggests numbness to governmental authority then if so would there have been some uprising already or widespread buggerers plugging every adult male owned rectum they could find, given the believe system that we are here to convert or make others into buggerers themselves?As captioned in the post’s title nearly every time Dr Wayne West gets a chance to be it on television, radio or on his blog on Wordpress he lumps penile anal sexual activity by gay men and the push for the repeal or decriminalization of buggery in Jamaica as seeking rights for fisting (use of one’s fist to penetrate another’s anus for sexual pleasure) scat (playing with or use of faecal matter as lube for penile, object, sex-toy or fist penetration or eating of such residue) and felching (eating sperm from another’s rectum), bare backing though one the rise does not just by my cultural examination lead to ejaculation in another’s rectum. He goes as far as to post links to scat sites and repeatedly publishes overseas studies sometimes very old ones on HIV infection and other psycho socially linked matters with reparative therapy hints and while doing so omits the sections that do not suit his strategy and also deliberately not include links to the full documents so one can peruse them for their own enlightenment of edification, thank God for Google.

Strange for someone who is opposed to homosexuality, one wonders if these are his own fantasy playing out in opposition to homosexuality or a hit at his own gay son? (photo below)

Besides we know via studies that sometimes the vehemently homo-opposing bigot in public is sometimes a closet case.

To complain of moral nihilism is one thing as it totally overlooks any remote chance of LGBT Christians ever existing in Jamaica but also dishonestly paints atheists as gay, a lumping many heterosexual atheists have been rejecting such generalizations and a cry that has been getting louder but to now use deceptive intellectual gymnastics similar to his own gay son Dr Keon West (above) whose recent piece on gay marriage in the Jamaica Observer entitled Out of Many One People presented a kind of pernicious attempt to push tolerance supposedly on our behalf, an intolerant view of intolerance if you will one can recall the dress down he got from noted seasoned journalist Ian Boyne in his Gleaner In Focus piece dated October 21, 2012 where he described the veiled attempt under the guise of intellectualism to show a supposed muzzling of freedom of speech at the time when the anti gay group Love March carried out a public demonstration on the buggery law’s retention.

Now it seems on the opposing side like son like father a similar style is being presented to us and we must also call out this Manichaean style or a that is so easily employed to oppose homosexuality or any thrust for recognition and rights. If morality which includes by the way truth, ethical and fiduciary responsibility are to be the pillars which Dr West (the father) is standing on to promote nihilism well he is not doing a good job, for that past several posts on his blog he alludes to the extreme anal practices and fetishes as normative for gay men especially those of local African descent which most of us are, he often precedes his entries with terms such as legalizing fisting felching, for example:

‘The “rights by stealth” strategy to fisting, felching, rimming, farming, scat, chariot racing etc’

Dunce, Diseased and Depraved . (suggesting anal sex is by depraved persons)

And

Legal rights to anal penetration, felching and chariot racing ?

Sure we choose whether to practice receptive or penetrative anal activity and or rimming he knows very well that sexual acts do not define an individual but I can assure him it is by penile penetration mainly. The only thing remotely close to a fist or on a fist that may be used as foreplay before the act is committed (and if it is done at all as outer-coursal pleasure can be just as good including a good blowjob) is a finger which is used to probe or prepare the orifice for entry or to apply water based lubricant or in some cases as in the older days before the visibility of such helpful implements lotion, Vaseline or butter in extreme cases were substituted for lube. This information is readily available in previous studies involving members of the population.

Fisting, Felching, Fishing, Scarring and Chariot Racing are not widely practised if any here in Jamaica that I can assure Dr West as while Jamaica MSM enjoy anal pleasure we are clear on not going the route of the “dutty foot” designation, as for condoms those are used but we can argue as to the proper application of such barriers hence the high rates of HIV in the MSM population. The colloquial term is used to describe someone who in a passive/receptive position may have inadvertently soiled their partner during intercourse is "dutty foot" which can happen but can be avoided and that reputation can be most embarrassing in the community if found out or revealed by the aggrieved but most cases not even the aggrieved party wants that reputation to be out there either as he too may find himself the brunt of relentless teasing, the same pride and saving face that exists in the mainstream about cleanliness in certain things also exists here in or community so for Dr West to think we are shit lovers is a deliberate ploy to place some shock value to his cause and his readers about anal sex.

ways of applying fleet enemas to flush the anal region and an actual fleet that is now available locally

Anal penile penetration is not the untidy affair as he would want to make it out to be I have repeatedly said this via my own blogs and podcasts as many pharmacies nationally even in rural areas no longer hide related paraphernalia behind the counter any more where one would have to whisper to the clerk for them but now even in the caustic climate that we are in can purchase lube, fleet and disposable enema kits and flushing packages quite openly barring the failure of nerves and prying eyes of those who perceive such products are only bought by gays. I have had my own share of stares when making my purchase but I feel proud doing so at least I am fresh and prepared for any eventuality.

After all enemas are not only for pre-anal sex cleansing but also for persons with bowel movement issues, persons with constipation problems and some elderly patients who need supervised living services via homes and a caregiver and other medical challenges regarding the extremities.

Rimming (oral anal contact which does not necessarily mean penetration by such method – a tongue) is also not such a wide practice locally just by cultural observation again, scientifically it may be difficult to capture how wide spread this is done but given the above mentioned enema methods now part and parcel of some of the HIV prevention strategies for MSM though much more is needed I can imagine there is some interest. As for chariot racing (A sexual position involving four individuals. Most commonly two men and two women, but four men can also enjoy this position) we hardly have that here again from cultural observation group sexual activity between SGL persons is usually not so cooperative and more with one dominant partner or several dominant partners and one passive etc.

I doubt we will ever see signs like this any-time in our country, besides such private practices are left to individual choice and may not necessarily become mainstream even by gay/bi male standards as we come to see since the long standing discourse about anal sexual practices overseas.

photo from Raunchy Laundry

Even if we were to look at fisting and the others that Dr West so readily use to promote his arguments not to free up buggery (when he could very well be promoting them for us and the public to become used to in the long run hence the shock value is diminished) fisters have their own set of products for preparation of such a far more painful but somewhat pleasurable episode as we know the anal region is lined with mucous membranes that assist with sensation (how else could you know if you want to use the bathroom?) just Google fisting products and see the results and to numb the pain the resourceful poppers are available which is also used by heterosexual couples who practice double penile penetration, Dr West is silent on that part where straight couples do other forms of penetrative acts. Poppers come to mind although concerns have been expressed about users experiencing low iron levels or hemolytic Anemia.

internet image of an example of a described fister inhaling the substance from a Poppers bottle to numb the pain of the exercise of fisting

Fisters, felchers et al exists in sub sub cultures of the greater men who have sex communities worldwide but mostly in Euro and Caucasian populations in such groups as bikers, skinheads (racist or not), leather communities (which may include persons of African descent in the US I have noticed) and a few others so I just want to smash in any way this notion being paraded by the goodly doctor that such practices are universally practised.

 His colleague Reverend Clinton Chisholm recently held a seminar on Homosexuality Clinical and Biblical Perspectives in April of this year where old US based NARTH, National Association for Psychoanalytic Research and Therapy of Homosexuals commissioned studies were readily presented and believed by mostly supporters in attendance and of course the sanitized and monitored question and answer section showed the need to tailor the narrative dishonestly to suit the anti-gay push, very little room was allowed for pro-gay audience members to speak. 

Let us also not forget his Gleaner article on February 5, 2012 entitled Homosexuality: Clinical Realities where he promoted for the most part reparative therapy also using NARTH’s misrepresented studies bearing in mind several researchers have complained, distance themselves and even taken legal action against the entity but such studies are still being paraded as the pariah to justify their opposition to homosexuality and related rights. He looked at pederasty for example where he said the Greeks had sex with boys when data on the matter it was teens that were favoured, to use “boy” suggests homo-paedophile abuse or sexual assault a subtle to paint adult male homosexuals as predators when the most common form of same-sex relationships between males in Greece was "paiderastia" meaning "boy love". It was a relationship between an older male and an adolescent youth. 

A boy was considered a "boy" until he was able to grow a full beard. In Athens the older man was called erastes, he was to educate, protect, love, and provide a role model for his eromenos, whose reward for him lay in his beauty, youth, and promise.

The roots of Greek pederasty lie in the tribal past of Greece, before the rise of the city-state as a unit of political organization. These tribal communities were organized according to age groups. When it came time for a boy to embrace the age group of the adult and to "become a man," he would leave the tribe in the company of an older man for a period of time that constituted a rite of passage. This older man would educate the youth in the ways of Greek life and the responsibilities of adulthood.

The rite of passage undergone by Greek youths in the tribal prehistory of Greece evolved into the commonly known form of Greek pederasty after the rise of the city-state, or polis. Greek boys no longer left the confines of the community, but rather paired up with older men within the confines of the city. These men, like their earlier counterparts, played an educational and instructive role in the lives of their young companions; likewise, just as in earlier times, they shared a sexual relationship with their boys. Penetrative sex, however, was seen as demeaning for the passive partner, and outside the socially accepted norm.

An elaborate social code governed the mechanics of Greek pederasty. It was the duty of the adult man to court the boy who struck his fancy, and it was viewed as socially appropriate for the younger man to withhold for a while before capitulating to his mentor's desires. This waiting period allowed the boy to ensure that his suitor was not merely interested in him for sexual purposes but felt a genuine emotional affection for him and was interested in assuming the mentor role assigned to him in the pederastic paradigm. The age limit for pederasty in ancient Greece seems to encompass, at the minimum end, boys of twelve years of age. To love a boy below the age of twelve was considered inappropriate, but no evidence exists of any legal penalties attached to this sort of practice. Traditionally, a pederastic relationship could continue until the widespread growth of the boy's body hair, when he is considered a man. Thus, the age limit for the younger member of a pederastic relationship seems to have extended from 12 to about 17 years of age.

The ancient Greeks, in the context of the pederastic city-states, were the first to describe, study, systematize, and establish pederasty as a social and educational institution. It was an important element in civil life, the military, philosophy and the arts.There is some debate among scholars about whether pederasty was widespread in all social classes, or largely limited to the aristocracy.

Simon Levay's 2010 book

Even with the inconclusive results of the genetic basis for homosexuality (as he quoted Simon LeVay – the researcher who looked at INAH3/brain development) Rev Chisholm like Dr West still hold the view that homosexuality is a lifestyle and nothing more and is based on pure need for illicit sex and nothing more. I am convinced it is not for ignorance of Dr West et al part why such a strategy has been taken using this lumping method but a calculated attempt to used shock and disgust of what persons perceived penile anal penetration to be diving in a cesspool and to play on that supposed disgust to thrust the anti gay agenda. Let us also not forget straight couples practice buggery too, whether the buggerer is bisexual is immaterial at this juncture.

Here is one of his quotes from his blog:

“Fools rush in where wise men never go”

The secular worldview which is driving the LGBTTTI agenda is amazing for its incoherence.

The ideologues claim “rights” when in their philosophical framework human beings can have no more rights than any other animal which has evolved from undirected and purposeless chance.

More than that, in their philosophical framework there can be no law as there can be neither free will nor objective morality.

Consistent with this incoherence secularists regard eating faeces (scat) and sucking semen out of each other’s rectums (felching) as “normal and positive” behaviours.

Naturally and predictably disease in this population is high yet the incoherents are agitating and voting themselves oxymorons such as same-sex marriage.

Despite the overwhelming scientific data which indicates that Men who have Sex with Men have higher levels of HIV and STIs the incoherents resort to name calling (haters, bigots and homophobes) to pursue a destructive lifestyle.”

To focus on “the sex” rather than the holistic approach for the same sex attracted individual and other variants in developing understanding even if one is opposed to the sexual aspects of the orientation smacks of open religious intolerance on a deceptive platform. We have seen over the years the powerful Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship as well to which Dr West is also aligned constantly referring to homosexuality as a “lifestyle” than orientation as if to infer it does not innately exist.

How can we ever challenge these men with varying forms of deception and to think they cause the gay lobby of being deceptive as well?

Truth wins out always on all fronts I say. We may have very well given the religious right some of the ammunition they now use as our own narratives and the lobby has been flawed as well and sometimes frothed with half truths too that I will admit but can two wrongs make it right or can opposing sides ever arrive at a workable place?

Left in time to be seen, anal penile penetration is here to stay Dr West or as in local parlance “batty sweet” it is not the untidy affair he wants his followers to believe and we certainly don’t practice fisting, felching, chariot racing in any large numbers or if any. The attempt to universalise those practices with our local populations is downright dishonest at no time be it in the Parliamentary submission from 1998 or the agitation prior to that nor in any discourse for the law’s removal or at the HIV prevention level were any additional non-penile anal practice added or hinted to apart from buggery as we know it via penile penetration to my knowledge. Sex toy usage was only discussed as a safer sex method at the HIV prevention level and as an additional form of sexual play to enhance relationships for academic purposes, data collection for such activities is not easy to come by and we are not a culture just yet though seemingly increasing that uses toys and shops that retail them as substitutes or enhancers for homosexual or heterosexual sex for that matter.

Finally my last comment on his post on Dunce, Diseased and Depraved

has not been published as he has a right not to approve such but I hit the nail on the head with his deception I think, selective reading and interpretation of a study as detailed as this is again downright deception at work, it read in part:

“ .......lol continued intellectual dishonesty here via ascribing universality to felching, fisting and scatting (your favourites) to an American demographic with anal penile penetration and to think nowhere in the abstract/study itself spoke to the latter practices.

Moral nihilism indeed but whose part I now wonder when this is your strategy here when relegating a group as depraved, who are you to judge?

NOWHERE IN THE FULL STUDY which I read were the other practices you so readily try to ping onto MSM as general practice appeared in this study as factors.
hhhmmmmmm who is Dunce now dear Doc or for that matter depraved when you sink to this level to misrepresent data to suit your own agenda?

The Conclusion you posted above from the study raises the fundamental question: WHY?

"Compared with MSW, MSM differed significantly on all demographics and reported a higher prevalence of condom use at last sex (62.9% vs. 38.3%) and of past-year HIV testing (53.6% vs. 27.2%) but also more past-year sex partners. MSM HIV and P&S syphilis rates were 2526.9/100,000 and 707.0/100,000, each of which was over 140 times MSW rates. Rates were highest among young and black MSM. Over 4 years, HIV rates more than doubled and P&S syphilis rates increased 6-fold among 18-year-old to 29-year-old MSM."

The rest of the study which you conveniently left off this post speaks to several other factors:

http://www.natap.org/2011/HIV/Men_Who_Have_Sex_With_Men_Have_a_140_Fold_Higher.8.pdf

HIV/AIDS Surveillance Registry Health care providers and laboratories are required by law to report new cases of HIV infection and HIV illness and AIDS cases to the NYC DOHMH. We extracted data on males aged 18–64 years who were newly diagnosed with HIV (with or without AIDS) between 2005 and 2008 and reported to the HIV/AIDS Surveillance Registry through June 2010. Data included patient race/ethnicity, and age and transmission risk at the time of HIV diagnosis. Males reporting a history of sex with males, either as a sole risk factor or with injection drug use (3.4% of the 6767 known MSM with new HIV diagnoses from 2005 through 2008) comprised the numerator for the estimated rate of new HIV diagnoses among MSM.

Consistent with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention definition of heterosexual risk, males whose reported transmission risk was a history of sex with females with a history of haemophilia HIV infection, injection drug use, transplant, or transfusion were classified as MSW. Among HIV-diagnosed male cases with known transmission risk, 81% were MSM, 11% were MSW, and 8% had other reported risk; 29% had unknown transmission risk at the time of report, which is comparable with the national figure.7 STD Surveillance Registry Health care providers and laboratories are required by law to report reactive syphilis tests and syphilis of any stage to the NYC DOH MH, whose staff attempt to interview all P&S syphilis cases. We extracted case reports for males aged 18–64 years diagnosed with P&S syphilis between 2005 and 2008. 

Reports included race/ethnicity, age at diagnosis, and sex of partner for interviewed cases (61% of male cases). Interviewed males reporting sex with males or with both males and females during the referent period (3 months before diagnosis for primary and 6 months before diagnosis for secondary syphilis) were defined as the numerator for the estimated rate of P&S syphilis diagnoses among MSM. Males reporting sex with only females during the referent period comprised the numerator for the rate among MSW. Among P&S syphilis–diagnosed male cases with known sex of partner, 89% were MSM and 11% were MSW. Due to lack of interview or refusal to report sex of partners, 42% of male

P&S cases could not be classified as MSM or MSW.........................

Another important piece of this study that must not be overlooked is the authors' recognition of the flaws in data collection at source via the health systems - "................. A critical step is improving STD/HIV screening and testing coverage to increase the number of persons who are aware of their infections, which can lead to behaviour change, decrease secondary transmission,and link infected individuals to care, treatment, and prevention services. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2010 STD Treatment Guidelines call for annual STD/HIV screening for sexually active MSM and more frequent screening for MSM who report high-risk behaviours To achieve this, it is imperative that providers are skilled in identifying MSM. A substantial proportion of MSM do not identify as gay. Therefore, providers need to be competent at taking a non judgemental sexual history that ascertains sex of sex partners and specific sexual practices with all partners.

In conclusion some of us do read and check to verify and not simply accept your word or that of others with your own form of subtle deception."

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

Peace and tolerance

H