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 

13,328 Jamaican MSM Reached by HIV Prevention says report on National HIV Program ........ but

A statement has come to hand in recent days that the new round of Global Fund money is now available for the national program to the tune of $506 million and as of March 2014 some 13,000 plus men who have sex with men (while excluding specific programs for same gender loving women) have occurred but what does this outreach means, only condom distribution and testing? when we know especially the least amongst us in the form of homeless LGBT youth in particular (bearing in mind Maslow's theory) how can they make safer sex decisions given the sensitivities involved?

Why for example was the HFLE manual placed as an achievement when the fiasco that played out in the public domain proved that sanitization of sexuality issues is the main reason why we have the homo-negative culture fuelling the problems of displacements?

see more on the HFLE matter:

URGENT NEED TO DISCUSS SEX & SEXUALITY NATIONALLY PART 2

Urgent need for sex & sexuality to be discussed nationally

Children’s Advocacy & LGBT Agencies inconsistent approach to Homeless MSM Youth

Missed Opportunities in HIV-AIDS outreach on the social scenes from 2010 for additional scope 

Here is the statement on the latest round of funding:

As it continues to strengthen the multi-sectoral response to HIV/AIDS infection rates in Jamaica, the Government has budgeted $506 million for the Transitional Funding Mechanism programme.

As contained in the 2014/15 Estimates of Expenditure currently before the House of Representatives, existing gains consolidated, and activities scaled up to reduce transmission of new HIV infections, while mitigating the impact.

The project, which is being jointly financed by the Government of Jamaica and the Global Fund is being spearheaded by the Ministry of Health.

Targets for this fiscal year include: increasing the number of schools targeted from 43 per cent to 74 per cent, with at least one teacher trained in life-skills based Health and Family Life Education, and who has taught in the last year; and reaching 490,000 students through life skills based Health and Family Life Education Interventions in School.

Additionally 3,870 commercial sex workers (CSW); 3,030 Men Having Sex With Men (MSM); and 975 inmates will be reached through prevention activities. Meanwhile, HIV counselling and testing will be carried out for 270,000 persons; and 12,833 adolescents (in the 10 to 14 age group) and 47,800 youth (in 15 to 24 age group) will be reached through prevention interventions in out-of-school setting.

Anti-retroviral combination therapy according to national guidelines, will be provided, and 63,265 CD4 tests done according to national guidelines for 8,182 men, women and children with advanced HIV.

The programme will also provide Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing according to national guidelines to 2,497 infants born to HIV positive mothers; increase from 60 per cent to 75 per cent Persons Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) on Antiretroviral drug (ARV) reporting at least 90 per cent adherence by pill count; increase from 25 per cent to 60 per cent reported cases of discrimination receiving redress by setting; as well as increase from 162 to 176 the number of institutions adopting policies to address HIV/AIDS.

Some of the achievements up to March 2014 include: increasing the number of schools from five per cent to 43 per cent with at least one teacher trained in life-skills based (Health and Family Life Education) HFLE and who taught in the last year; reaching 289,626 students through life skills based Health and Family Life Education Interventions in School; reaching through prevention activities 20,998 CSW, 13,328 MSM, 1,866 Inmates, 90,000 Sexually Transmitted Infection clinic attendees.

Also 24,241 adolescents (10 to 14 years old) and 75,973 youth (15 to 24 years old) were reached through prevention interventions in out-of-school settings; counselling and testing provided for 200,000 persons; 7,684 men women and children with advanced HIV received antiretroviral combination therapy according to national guidelines; 27 per cent reported cases of discrimination received redress; 162 institutions adopted policies to address HIV/AIDS; and the number of individuals in stakeholder organisations trained in strategic information, were maintained.

ENDS

Owing to the fact that there are no residential responses to homelessness in particular (remembering the Safe House Pilot 2009) that can greatly help with self efficacious work and better results but simply distributing condoms which is overall what the national systems in indeed none state actors such as Jamaica AIDS Support do with very little psycho-social, psycho-sexual work (outside of AIDS 101 workshops) and if the work is so penetrative why do we still have a high rate of infection based on the last survey suggested a rate of over 33% in the MSM cohort.

It seems rather odd to me that since the 1980s we have had hard evidence of the infection and psychological issues with some four major studies in the MSM populations and yet all that has ended as a response is condom distribution and testing, there must be more in terms of personal developmental work and not just meeting targets of testing us a guinea pigs. What is even more egregious about all this is that some of the agencies who do HIV work with MSM are either owned or managed by or linked to anti gay groups albeit that in order to qualify for funding they have to take on such populations though discomforting it is and so they do not put out any extra effort to see the needed changes and life improvements for LGBT people; then to add insult to injuries the LGBT groups or allied agencies too are just doing only enough to provide some sort of track record but no major or extra effort.

See: YOUNG MSM/TRANSGENDER WANT TO BE TREATED AS CITIZENS NOT POTENTIAL HIV/AIDS VICTIMS from March 2014

HIV and MSM community: Should we care? — Pt 2

Layered Stigma among Health Facility and Social Services Staff toward Most-at-Risk Populations in Jamaica

Big AIDS fight boost - Ja gets US$3.8 million from US$7-b fund

Concerns for HIV prevalence rate in MSM in Jamaica & connected matters

2007 MSM Study Reminder 

New HIV infections rising in region, Unprotected straight, anal and bisexual intercourse blamed 2011

Review condom policy for prisoners

Continued oversight of same gender loving women in HIV response

Peace and tolerance

H

Bisexual teen faced psychological prison, told not to tell anyone or else ..............

A seventeen year old teenager from St Andrew is the latest reported case of family ostracism that has come to my attention as more LGBT youth and adolescents find themselves on the frontline alone sometimes due to sheer ignorance by parents and urged by said elders siblings also participate willingly in making outcasts of their blood relatives. The young man who made contact with me via Facebook outlined his frustration in settling after the lengthy ordeal for some two and half years where he finally was told by his father to leave the only home he has known for all his life; although he has a neighbourhood female friend and of course other social ones as well his father according to the teen’s subsequent hand written report that I asked him to produce from which permission was granted to prepare this post outlining the details (less names of course) suspected he was gay and would occasionally make snide remarks.

The teen said at one point he responded to his father that if he did not see that he had a girlfriend and that she came by the house at times to which the elder would dismiss with a hmph and words to the effect “ ..... girlfriend nuh?” or girlfriend eh? Unbeknownst to the teen his immediate brother was actually set to monitor the youth’s movements and literally report to their father what he was about, so after school shenanigans or conversations and so on were watched and passed on, in one of the heated arguments the ostracised teen was surprised to learn that his father knew of a fight he was in at a bus stop one afternoon with another boy which surfaced in the cross talk several months after the fact which led him to suspect he was being informed on. While the young man’s mother was slightly more tolerant in a sense she too would warn him that if he was “battyman” he had to leave the house as she did not want that kind of nastiness around her.

Things came to a head however in September of 2013 when a male student who the teen was friendly with had met the ostracised teen first online then face to face and have been seeing each other for some time mostly away from the reporting brother but apparently other eyes were at work and word somehow got back to the brother, the teen had tried not to make this contact known to his younger informer sibling but the secret could not have been kept for long, the other party was said to be girly in a way and their meeting at a burger king store was told the father of the boy who confronted him of this other “battyboi” The ostracised teen’s neatness, order in his room and so called “prim and proper” ways were also made mention in the confrontation session where chastised the teen for being too “clean” implying that it is not a masculine trait for men to be so neat, the exchange grew in intensity according to the written report and a physical tussle ensued where the teen said he had to defend himself as his father lunged towards him with a frying pan to which he responded with the nearest thing he could find a large Jergens lotion bottle which he threw in retaliation, the matter continued where homo-negative curse words and warnings that if it was found out he was gay he would have to leave the house or change his ways in order to stay. Such are some the circumstances I have seen over the years which is sad for our young LGBTQ teens who have to exist under pain of some punishment be they psychological or physical abuse if not for some evidential reparative change.

Fast forward to March of this year where the straw that broke the camel’s back came in a fight between the teen and his prying brother to whom cordial relations had deteriorated in his bid to please his father while pressuring his bigger brother, the fight landed the ostracised teen facing an ultimatum among other things contained in the written report; since then he had reached out to other Facebook friends and so on prior to the forced eviction of sorts, he is able to return home at set times for clothing and so on in the absence of his father as his mother seems more sympathetic although she cannot speak to openly or outwardly. Such tense standoff can only last for a time and now he has found some community shelter assistance with an older influential thankfully and he has access to some finances from his mother who still gives the teen his pocket money not as often as before though when his father contributed to the amount.

This case is just one in a series of many that are sometimes hard to confirm but the reports are out there and the numbers of displaced youth climb all over the island, in my home parish of St Catherine there has been a spike in homo-negative cases and the numbers have gone up, just last month I was told of another matter where a male had to literally flee his home after some physical abuse, he is now with a friend for now; thank God for community shelter assistance I am all too aware of that informal avenue as my own shift way back in 1996 was interrupted and aided by such a phenomenon, good friends and caring people are hide to find but kindness matters out there despite the fallouts that can occur when such a helping hand is extended; my own drama in July of last year is picture proof where a young man I was offering assistance erred and I had to take strong action only after three days at my home and a strong sit down session explaining my expectations and house rules.

How else can the displaced youth be helped? When none state actors such as JFLAG, JAS do not want to directly addressed this longstanding matter yet they rejoice with a flowery promise by youth minister that homeless youth will be helped without questioning if the ministry will have as part of the response any reparative therapy interventions?

It has been clear for many years to some of us that corporatist typed NGOs who in public advocacy cry stigma and discrimination yet with all the clout they have simply refuse to do or implement the frontline response to homelessness. The Safe House Pilot 2009 is all the proof we need and the refusal way back in the day when the AIDS hospice became irrelevant given the changes in the cohort of infected persons’ suffering was greatly reduced as anti-retrovirals became more sophisticated hence persons living longer, it was repeatedly suggested by those in the know then that although the hospices were closing as they were also expensive to run; the displacement issues were also real then in the late nineties into 2000s yet all three spaces were subsequently closed; yet another easy way out was chosen instead of addressing the issue with some sort of residency response one of which was situated in the very area where the present homeless MSM/Transgender persons were at the shoemaker gully nearing the middle class Golden Triangle residency.

Is there really any interest in solving the homeless issues when everywhere else especially the US as of late under the President’s PEPFAR directive states are addressing their least populations. Something to think about.

also see:

Homeless MSM and rejection

Insensitive Parents and Displaced MSM Part III

Children’s Advocacy & LGBT Agencies inconsistent approach to Homeless MSM Youth

Kingston’s Homeless MSM challenges scream for proper attention

Outcomes when offering community based shelter for displaced gay/bi brethren

Youth Ministry to develop programmes to address LGBT youth, homeless, destitute and vulnerable children (2014)

Peace and tolerance

H

Human Rights of Most Marginalised Must Be Protected – Portia Simpson Miller at "Justice for All" conference 2014

also see: Promised (I mean suggested) Conscience vote on Buggery law not a priority right now (yet again)

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, says special provisions must be made, where necessary, to protect the welfare of persons who are among the most marginalised and disadvantaged.

She underscored this point in a speech delivered by Justice Minister, Senator the Hon. Mark Golding, during Wednesday’s (April 9) opening ceremony for the three-day Caribbean Consultation on Justice for All and Human Rights Agenda, at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston.

Mrs. Simpson Miller said Jamaica, like most other Caribbean countries, has signed several international agreements, designed to guarantee the human rights of individuals who “have been treated with disrespect and have to continuously confront discrimination.”

These, she pointed out, include: the United Nations (UN) Declaration on Human Rights; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; and the Inter-American Convention of Human Rights.

The Prime Minister said the Government of Jamaica will also shortly be introducing the Disabilities Bill to Parliament, which will “protect the rights and interests of persons with disabilities, for the first time, in our law”, as also legislation addressing sexual harassment.

Mrs. Simpson Miller contended that integrity and impartiality are “essential features” for sustaining human rights, pointing out that “like all West Indian Constitutions, ours, here in Jamaica, guarantees basic human rights of all citizens.” In this regard, she added, “the state cannot justifiably favour the rights of one part of its citizenry over any other.”

The Prime Minister noted that progress and change, though slow, has been made across the region in relation to countries’ efforts to safeguard human rights.

She, however, suggested the need to develop and advance a public education agenda for promoting the rights of everyone, and assured that Jamaica is committed to justice and equality.

Mrs. Simpson Miller said the consultation is both timely and vital in helping to pave the way for developing a formula that provides the basis for achieving a level of zero discrimination.

“The Justice for All process provides opportunities for rich dialogue of various stakeholders. These include: parliamentarians, faith-based leaders, representatives of the private sector, the youth, and civil society organizations. Through this process, we hope to identify meaningful options on which there is sufficient consensus for our governments to take action,” she added.

The forum is being staged from April 9 to 11 by PANCAP in collaboration with the Government of Jamaica; the University of the West Indies (UWI); and the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (GFATM), under the theme: ‘Advancing Justice for All and the Human Rights Agenda’.

Over 90 participants from Jamaica and overseas are discussing and deliberating issues pertaining to advancing the human rights agenda, in the Caribbean. Key among these are issues deemed restrictive to the successful implementation of the Caribbean’s response to HIV and AIDS.

The Justice for All Programme, coordinated by PANCAP, is an advocacy platform aimed at increasing awareness around HIV-related stigma and discrimination and their impact on access to prevention or treatment services.

The programme is being coordinated under the patronage of St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas, and United Nations Secretary-General Envoy for HIV and AIDS in the Caribbean, Professor Edward Greene.

The consultations ultimately aim to develop a PANCAP Roadmap for the reduction of HIV-related stigma, eliminate discrimination, and increase national HIV responses by creating a facilitative environment and removing discriminatory laws and practices.

Aunt beats teenager for being a lesbian

A seventeen year old teen in St James is the subject of a possible investigation by police according to a well placed source close to the case her aunt supposedly taking out her rage on the girl for being a lesbian in May may be charged for wounding. The discovery was made by the relative following eavesdropping on a telephone conversation the teen was having with another person on her cell phone. The aunt who took over responsibility for the girl some five years plus after the passing of her mother and absentee father has been strictly monitoring her movements since assuming such a role, the teen in said to have limited contact with her father but is more linked to her maternal side of her family. She is said to be well behaved otherwise and also does fairly well in school as a member of a club there involved in extracurricular activities.

The teen upon being discovered on the phone in a private conversation was confronted by her aunt who demanded to know the essence of her conversation and with whom (male of female), suspicions seemed to have been present prior to this episode; she apparently took the phone from girl and scrolled the call list redialling the last number she saw there, a female answered and the aunt proceeded to interrogate the party on the other end of the call in the presence of the accused teen; the girl allegedly answered the phone in what was described as a “sexy tone” according to my source and thus the conversation quickly descended into a shouting session as the frightened young lady sat in shock as the incident rapidly got out of control. The call ended and the relative has had the phone since sharing the number with other parties including non relatives but not before physically assaulting the teenager and threatening her with eviction and scandal not only in the community but the family altogether. She has acted on the eviction threat, whether it is a permanent decision is unclear.

A struggle ensued and a belt allegedly was used to inflict blows to the girl’s body as she was clad in a blouse and a pair of jeans shorts being home for the afternoon. The source also was able to confirm that there is evidence of bruises to the victim’s skin as a result of the blows inflicted by the raging aunt based on the material make of the belt used as the weapon with other stud typed decorations that came in contact with the teen’s skin. The matter was brought to the attention of the cops unofficially by a concerned citizen who was surprised at the reaction of the aunt to the otherwise well behaved niece. Reactions from the community as the news spread has been calm for the most part as is expected seeing that lesbianism is more tolerated than male homosexuality although some residents in the area express shock they also at the same time suggest that due to her quiet demeanour the aunt should have nothing to worry about although she has a right to react in anger but not abuse the girl. Other reactions include an intense prayer session that was held at the home complete with talking in tongues breakouts and so on. 

The teen is said to be with another relative for the time being. The matter has not been formally reported to the police but some personnel are aware of the situation according to the source. Photos of the injuries are said to be also available but were not released to me despite my requests for them, I always like to have evidence in this regard as if we are to convince the public and homophobes that homo-negative and homophobic (indeed lesbophobic) incidents such as this that involve physical contact occur then the crisis communication must reflect same.

Owing to the high visibility of LGBT issues in recent times I am not surprised that groups under the umbrella that do not normally become the subject of victimization eventually become so, there is always a spike of some sort overall in homonegative incidents when public agitation is high that being the pending decision of the tolerance ad case in the supreme court, the buggery review promise for parliament, the anti gay establishment’s cry and the newly commenced buggery law trial also in the supreme court (constitutional court). There is bound to be more scrutiny for stereotypical homosexual hints, negative reactions to same and violence in some instances. How many such cases occur we may never know and thanks to my source for providing the details to this one. More evidence of fallout also comes in the displaced and homeless populations as is also expected as they are far more exposed being in that category of persons, several chasings continue in Kingston proper with an alleged case in St Ann as well, as more details and confirmation occurs I will share what can be shared.

This business of teens exploring their sexual curve with experimentation or curiosity is something that has not been dealt with by parents and by an education system and an education minister (who is also a Reverend) that is afraid of dealing with sex and sexuality head on; instead the system sanitizes the information to a supposed bid to indeed protect and arm teens with proper skills and understanding to discuss such issues (for children it is understandable for such sanitation) The upcoming September school term the previously withdrawn Health and Family Life, HFLE manual for just one section of a voluminous document should be ready with the missing information that was intended to begin to address sexual orientation via a guided imagery exercise that would cause students to think in a role reversal as conducted by a trained counsellor specific to the course and not taught by general teaching staff yet the goodly Reverend Minister declared in parliament that student will not be groomed into homosexuality when the exercise did not seek to do such. The minister and his technocrats seem blindly aware of the fact that gays and lesbians cannot be hidden anymore and addressing identity issues at the early levels of development is the way to go to avoid the generational ignorance and confusion that has led to the present homo-negative and homophobic impasse when our educational system is only limited to sexual reproductive health more so than sexuality. The ostrich syndrome on such matters is going to have to go.

Why do we make things so difficult is puzzling to me?

Person’s inability to live their truths is the main reasons why we have many of our societal challenges not just for homosexuals but others in general. The it is no wonder why the down low issues abound, displacements and homelessness in the MSM populations and the active disguising of same sex attraction to regularize oneself all these put together help to create the challenges we now face some resembling homophobia as well when used as a defence mechanism.

I am expecting more challenges even as the battle in court heats up but where are the community and advocacy buffer mechanisms to meet those fallouts?

Peace and tolerance

H

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

Today one of the Gleaner's headline rang like a bell here is the story firstly then my comment below that I placed on the Gleaner site which I hope they publish as the debate intensifies especially given last night's discussion on All Angles.

'We Have The Numbers' - Anti-Homosexuality Church Leaders Confident Enough Religious Jamaicans In Island To Prevent Change To Buggery Law

Nedburn Thaffe, Gleaner Writer wrote:

With some 2,050,771 Jamaicans claiming affiliation to a religion, it would appear the church community, which has been standing firm against gay-rights activists in recent days, might be able to put up a formidable defence against those seeking to have the Government repeal the country's buggery law.

Just recently, one prominent clergyman shouted from his pulpit that he was prepared to die to ensure that Jamaica does not succumb to pressure from gay rights activists.

The statement from the executive director of the Church of God in Jamaica, Reverend Lenworth Anglin, followed that of another pastor, Reverend Al Miller, who declared last week that "a group of concerned pastors and leaders" have stated their willingness to mobilise and resist any attempts to tamper with the country's Constitution as it relates to the buggery law.

"We certainly have the numbers," Anglin told The Gleaner yesterday.

Data from the latest Population and Housing Census appear to support Anglin's claim. They indicate that some 129,554 Jamaicans are affiliated with a Church of God denomination.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church alone accounts for some 322,228, making it the denomination with the highest affiliation in numbers in Jamaica.

The Rastafarian religion, which is well known for its intolerance of homosexuality, has an affiliation number of 29,026.

But as the gay community and the Church continue on what appears to be a collision course, yesterday one social commentator who refrained from saying the level of impact the who refrained from saying the level of impact the Church is likely to have in helping to prevent any repeal of the buggery law, stopped just short of saying that recent comments from some clergymen might help to fuel even greater hostility in the minds of Jamaicans towards the gay community.

"Language like 'persons willing to die for' and so on, in my view, is unnecessary language at this point," said Carol Narcisse, who stressed that her views didn't necessarily represent those of the Jamaica Civil Society Coalition (JCSC) of which she is the chairperson.

"This is a discussion that the country needs to have, and it is hoped that the Church will provide an honest, sober position in the public domain, recognising that there is already a tendency towards making this issue being the subject of violence and the subject of harm to Jamaicans who are homosexual."

Added Narcisse: "We live in a democracy where all views will contend; the Church is one group in the society and it has a legitimate voice in the national conversation. However, the Church is not a monolithic group, there are other views within the Church as well."

"We would hope that persons of faith, leaders in the Church community who hold other views and a different approach; an approach that's more promoting of tolerance, an approach that is more promoting of a national discussion about inclusion and the rights of consenting adults, that those voices will come forward and join in the discussion."

She said any discussion going forward must be "sensitive to the fact that we are talking about the lives of human beings."

"We can only hope that we can come through this discussion in a way that does not see greater violence, harm, intolerance and exclusion," Narcisse charged.

Head of the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society Dr Wayne West agreed that "the Church has numbers" and could successfully argue against any repeal of the buggery law, so long as it pitches its argument correctly.

"When a country makes its laws, laws are framed within some sort of philosophy and I think that the Christian theistic world view is the best performing law. I think the Church can certainly argue that the Judeo-Christian world view is better than the secular world view," West said.

"I suppose the Church could certainly argue that a large number of people in Jamaica certainly hold that view."

Gay-rights activist Maurice Tomlinson is currently awaiting a ruling after going to the Constitutional Court to seek a declaration that Television Jamaica, CVM Television and the Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica had breached his constitutional right to freedom of expression when they refused to air a paid advertisement promoting tolerance for homosexuals in Jamaica.

nedburn.thaffe@gleanerjm.com
CONTINUE HERE

My response:

Interesting the fear mongering premised on sheer ignorance the fundamental question is in the very numbers of bodies, how many men with same sex desire be they gay or innately bisexual are hiding within the church? a recent radio discussion involving some prominent theologians and church representatives on "straight spouses" with unsuspecting partners suggest that inside the very church LOCALLY from whose pulpits where these pastors shout from many men (including the some clergy) hide themselves to regularize their lives. And as for sexual abuse of female members and male too and power differentials that another matter altogether for another time.

Will they come out when the time is right and declare who they really are? but given ones inability to live ones truth with convenient homophobic rhetoric we are in for some interesting times ahead. It will boil down to who will stand out and up eventually and stop the deceptions on all sides for that matter and let good sense prevail. UNDERSTANDING is what is needed here.

Besides there are Christian and Rastafarian folks who are tolerant, maybe it is their time to also start speaking up to bring some sense into the mix. The change of the law or reading down of buggery as it now stands is NOT going to suddenly create some avalanche of "Buggerers" that will simply hit every biological born male wearing a pair of pants. What are these people afraid or?

As for Rev Al Miller he has no moral authority to speak on anything for that matter these days, lest we forget his ongoing trial in aiding and abetting a known fugitive to escape the law of the land!? Albeit to a foreign power a that and using a male same gender loving and transgender form of aesthetic expression (cross-dressing) as a form of disguise in carrying out the deception at that yet he comes out swinging against homosexuality, really?!

If this were elsewhere he would be considered a traitor or even charged for treason at that.

Religious intolerance needs to STOP it makes no sense, confusing same gender sex with abuse is one of the main drivers of this as the fear is some infestation or increase in abuse of prepubescent persons when laws already exist to protect them and besides decriminalizing buggery which is what is now postured by the LGBT lobby and not necessarily a full repeal will not take away rights and protections that already exist it will only allow same sex intimacy in a private setting to occur via the all important CONSENT. Paedophilia or any attraction to a prepubescent person or child is a diagnosable deviant sexual disorder, HOMOSEXUALITY however is NOT the same and is innate.

The gender or supposed orientation of the abuser is not important when it comes to sexual abuse, ABUSE IS ABUSE and the law and psycho social responses should go into effect, just yesterday on Newstalk 93FM's Freshstart with host Sharon Hay Webster a rep from the CDA highlighted the need also for forensic psychiatrists in the system to also probe the look of perpetrators as well to avoid repeat offending.

Maybe we can follow the route of the Irish and learn from the path they took where they not only repealed buggery, removed the two ages of consent for homosexual(21) and heterosexual anal sex(18) made it 18 across the board, made privacy a cornerstone for same sex persons but they also added a child defilement clause as an amendment so as to appease the fearmongerers there as well, chaos did not break out there, instead Ireland is stable as she can be.

Some of us are lesbian/gay/bi/transgender/bisexual and everything else in between, it takes all kinds to make the world go round. Yet what is even more disturbing to me is the missing zeal in the anti homosexual campaign we see when it comes to murdered children/adults, spiraling crime and the elderly (recent cases comes to mind), the kids in state lockups with adults not to mention the umpteen missing as well yet plus the homeless on the street yet millions are spent for full paged ads and other perks for pastors for huge salaries but the moral fiber for the real issues on the ground is if not missing is very low.

One wonders if the tactic employed now to rile up a crowd (burrowed in someway from the political directorate) is not to fill collection plates too in a time when the economy is slow as well, popularity seekers at the expense of a minority group, after all it seems to be the only issue that makes a church service hot these days as most of these leaders are empty vessels, when the same congregation are themselves seemingly numb to the other societal ills.

Peace and tolerance

H

Additional materials: Miss Narcisse who was quoted above also had spoken on the issue on a radio show excerpted here ..............

Gay activists on Minority rights

Western Jamaica Clergy want buggery law to remain

Also see a letter in the Gleaner today as well: Church Biased and my post on sister blog GLBTQJA Wordpress on: Church Stands Resolute Against Buggery Backers says Al Miller ………… Love March Movement Lacks Moral Compass says LGBT voice

The problem with the LGBT lobby I have however is that just when it should matter most we are divided and are lacking several pieces of the parts to make the campaigns and messages resonate including credibility on certain fronts. Mixing a secularist agenda into the scheme of the agitation has only sought to anger the religious movement even further something I warned about some time ago and now we have added layers to the debate that have sought only to cloud the issue and extend the debate unnecessarily so.

Hear my short commentary I made on that:

The theologian community have gone as far as to call the homosexual community "dutty" in the recently launched translated King James version to patois of the new testament: The use of Jamaican dialect to further stigmatise homosexuals in the new patois Bible

As I ended my 2012 year in review and given recent happenings with JFLAG shooting itself in the foot - Truth is the ultimate weapon in the war. The LGBT leadership is a reflection of the follower-ship and vice versa if we are to grow the missing vigilance and objective approaches need to be improved. Deception seems to be on all sides take this for example:Dr Wayne West’s continued intellectual dishonesty on fisting felching & chariot racing by homosexuals in Jamaica

Also see: Espeut, West says “Homophobia” was invented to abuse Christians as hate speech as they use the victim ploy here. We have a long way to go it seems barring a miracle and some good sense prevailing.

Anti-battyman Association group formed on Facebook

A group formed on November 7th by one Angelicia Anderson is now online on popular social networking site Facebook with the hateful messaging including the call for all gays are to die.

Some of the messages if you are having problems seeing it include:

"All ah deh battyman need fi dead! All ah dem ah drankra!"

"Boom bye bye inna battybway 'ead"

However one member of the group hit back by demanding that gays be left alone when they commented "leave de battyman dem alone! dem na touch u," (Leave the gay men alone they are not interfering with you)

Good to see someone speaking out, I will report the group and urge you to do the same.

The Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/154533874590363/?fref=ts

Call to Action folks

Peace and tolerance

H

Education Minister says he has been harrassed post the HFLE Manual withdrawal

It is difficult to confirm this one clearly but since the Minister of Education's dithering on the Home and Family Life, HFLE curriculum matter that had contained therein some questions that were deemed objectionable and maybe inappropriate for the age cohort intended, grades 7 - 9, so we can surmise 12 to 14 year olds depending on what age they successfully attained GSAT results etc. Erica Virtue of the Gleaner says the paper has confirmed from the horses mouth that he has been fact been receiving inappropriate emails and other correspondences on the matter.

The Minister on his feet in parliament justifying the withdrawal of the manual in October 2012.

In two previous posts (see linked below) while I have been disappointed and very critical of the minister's decision to seemingly capitulate to the religious right as he himself is a man of the cloth due to the questions that explore homosexuality, anal sex, HIV testing and disclosure and a problematic guided imagery exercise that asks the students in a controlled setting I might add (as I understand it) to imagine themselves gay and everyone else straight or hetersexual and the associated stigmas the student may feel in the reverse roles. 

Urgent need to discuss Sex & sexuality nationally part 1

Urgent need to discuss Sex & sexuality nationally part 2

In the absence of an 2012 online copy of the manual here are some of the questions as carried on TVJ when the story broke in November, the hard copies have been pulled from the trained teachers' hands. (no copyright infringement intended) Here is the 2009 version in case:

DOWNLOAD HERE

Here is the article by Miss Virtue:

Lifestyle Text Withdrawal Backlash - Calls And Letters, Attack Ministry, Minister

Erica Virtue, Senior Gleaner Writer

Jamaica's Education Ministry is taking a beating from local and international rights groups who are upset that it pulled the controversial health and family life education (HFLE) text issued to grades 7-9 students.

Education Minister Ronald Thwaites last week confirmed the attacks, but opted not to disclose the names of the groups and individuals leading them.

"We have been inundated by calls and letters because of the position the ministry took. Up to today (Wednesday), I received a broadside from a group of gay, lesbian and transsexual people in New Jersey in the United States, who wanted to know why I was in favour of hate crimes," Thwaites told The Sunday Gleaner.

According to Thwaites, the New Jersey group wanted to know when he could report to it the full information on non-discriminatory material available to all students in Jamaica.

"It has been surprising to me, because our position is that, in principle we support the instruction of children towards healthy, faithful heterosexual relations, with tolerance and with understanding and non-discrimination towards others who adopt a different and alternative lifestyle," the minister said.

According to Thwaites, the position taken by the ministry was consistent with the position taken by Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller.

"But, apparently, there are many of those who want something much more than that and who feel that we must instruct children in all aspects of sexuality; homosexuality, heterosexuality at the earliest stages, without any caution or restraint, and we reject that," he said.

In September, the education ministry pulled the text after a parent pointed out the controversial content. Angry parents at the time demanded to know who approved the text even after it was withdrawn.

Approval questioned

The firestorm was ignited when it was discovered that the text, among other things, required grades seven to nine students to give responses to questions on their involvement in homosexual and heterosexual activity. Some stakeholders including parents and teachers questioned the process by which the Ministry of Education approved its teaching guides.

Thwaites accepted that officials at the ministry did not offer the rigid scrutiny the text should have undergone before it was signed off.

"We blinked," he admitted.

Faced with questions in Parliament from the opposition spokesperson on education, Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert, Thwaites argued that, "no minister of education of whatever political stripe would have knowingly allowed material as obnoxious as that contained in the HFLE curriculum to have been published, and it does appear that there were previous instances, and there were warnings, and it was a clear intention of some who have very clear predispositions regarding sexual conduct ... who got away on this one."

- erica.virtue@gleanerjm.com

ENDS

While I am strongly in support of some sort of sex and sexuality intervention at the high school level as I like others feel that the very reason we have so much homo-negativity and homophobia and patriarchal related challenges in society is because we have been taught reproductive health more so than S & S with a tolerant infused message. If this report by Miss Virtue is to be believed I cautiously used "harassment" in the eyes of the Minister is NOT my idea of engaging the official and to be fair to him he has met with JFLAG and other stakeholders prior to this uproar about the manual, he was present at the IDAHO conference in May where the J and other civil society groups were in attendance.

Yes we also appreciate the interventions (if you will) supporters overseas but they must be guided by the advocates on the ground, lest we forget in 2009 the Red Stripe Boycott in San Francisco and the attempted tourism boycott in Canada by what seemed to be over-exuberant friends without proper consultations and strategies, these high handed moves only serve to make the struggle extended or problematic as persons already resist the notion that Jamaica is one of the most homophobic places on earth (truth or not) thus the backlash at times towards homosexuality is actually the affront persons feel being supposedly castigated as homophobes. 

Just a word to the wise.

Peace and tolerance

H

Homophobia and HIV, Where do we go from here .........The Caribbean story?

Have a read of yet another article supposedly on our state headlined as a Caribbean story but as one reads it is a local one laced with all kinds of half truths as if this was the nineties as penned by a controversial Jamaican advocate. All the more reason why more voices need to speak out about our local challenges and not present half truths but the facts not for personal glory but for the community's growth and development.

Here is the piece as it appeared on Immigration Equality's site:

Coming from a country with possibly the highest HIV prevalence rate among men who have sex with men (MSM) (32.9%) and which some consider to be the most homophobic place on earth (in one survey 85% of the population self-identified as homophobic) I am hardly surprised that homophobia contributes to HIV.

My own personal experience as a law lecturer and a human rights advocate engaging in documenting the abuses against Jamaican LGBT has confirmed this clear nexus. My female students at the University of Technology, Jamaica readily told me that they purchase condoms for their male gender non-conforming friends who are afraid to do so themselves. In Jamaica, condoms are sold behind the counter and one has to ask a pharmacist or cashier to hand it over. Looking too “gay” will raise the inevitable suspicion that you MUST be purchasing the condoms for sex with a man, as “no self-respecting woman” would be willing to have sex with you.

Though my female students are clearly well-intentioned, they refuse to purchase lubricant, as that would be seen to be admitting a deficiency on their part. The MSM therefore resort to the use of products such as hairspray, saliva and petroleum jelly which all destroy the condom. I have, on occasion, procured condoms and lubricants for scared MSM since my relatively privileged position affords me a fair degree of insulation from the worst homophobic attacks. Instead of walking through a homophobic mob to the nearest bus stop, I could always drive away in my car. In 2008, an angry mob converged on a group of MSM at a pharmacy in the capital, Kingston.

Tragically, it was a woman who incited the attack.

I say tragically, because women are being directly impacted by homophobia and its link to HIV. Jamaican homophobia drives men to form relationships with women as a cover or “cure” for their sexuality. I married a woman thinking that would cure me. It didn’t and the marriage failed with painful emotional (but thankfully, no physical) consequences for both my ex-wife and me as well as our son. One married MSM we know of keeps the condoms he uses with his boyfriend in the trunk of his car so that his wife (who is on the pill) will not find them. It is easy to imagine what Jamaica’s relentless heat does to the integrity of these condoms. So, even though homophobia serves as an effective bridge for HIV to travel between the MSM and general populations, there is insufficient recognition by women of the immediate benefit to them — and their children — of supporting the rights of MSM to form their own relationships.

Finally, and most tragically, homophobia prevents effective HIV prevention, treatment and care messaging to MSM. In Jamaica’s prisons, where HIV is several times the national average, the availability of condoms and lubricants has to be done clandestinely as to advertise this fact would lead to a riot, which has happened with tragic consequences. In the absence of readily available condoms and lubricants, prisoners use plastic shopping bags and axel grease. Upon their release, these men are pressured to prove their heterosexuality and so they usually have multiple female sexual partners. Many children of these fathers are born within a very short time span.

When my own son was being born, a young man (only 23) was running ragged as 2 of his “baby mothers” were delivering at that hospital on the same day. He kept shuttling between the two 2 birthing rooms as neither woman knew of the other’s existence. This tragically funny story was made even more disconcerting by the fact that this youngster was expecting his thirteenth child.

As an organization committed to removing all barriers to an effective HIV response, AIDS-Free World has been working assiduously to tackle homophobia in the Caribbean. We have therefore launched the first ever legal challenge to Jamaica’s anti-sodomy law; sponsored research into the level and drivers of Jamaican homophobia; successfully challenged the sponsorship of homophobic “murder music”; conducted LGBT sensitization training with police on how to respond to victims of homophobic attacks; met with, and when necessary, publicly challenged politicians, policymakers and UN officials about showing leadership on the issue of tolerance for LGBT; developed media products to promote tolerance; trained LGBT groups on how to document and respond to LGBT human rights abuses; and initiated legal action against Jamaican TV stations who have refused to air our tolerance ads as well as against the homophobic immigration law of Trinidad and Tobago that bans the entry of marginalized groups such as homosexuals.

While our work is a long-term one, we know we are making headway, as seen from the tremendous increase in the level of public discourse around the repeal of the Jamaican anti-buggery law; the surprising statement by the new Jamaican Prime Minister during an election campaign that she will support a Parliamentary conscience vote on the review of the anti-buggery law; and the measured reduction in national homophobia.

The reduction in homophobia is not proceeding quickly. Neither is it expected to. This is because there are many structural barriers to tolerance messaging and these barriers have largely been erected and sustained by powerful bigoted religious fundamentalists that have infected all levels of Caribbean society. Over the past 30 years, these churches, with tremendous financial and technical assistance from North American groups, have been working assiduously to subvert the national ethos of tolerance for diversity, as found in Jamaica’s motto “Out of Many, One People.” Breaking the logjam of religiously inspired homophobia will require bold advocacy. We are up to this David and Goliath battle. The stakes are too high for us to fail.

ENDS

My comment which I suppose may get published was as follows:

This is a Jamaican story not a Caribbean one as headlined, so much for misleading persons.

Oh so here is Maurice Tomlinson yet again using the community in this wave the old narratives to the world ploy while he is out of touch with the real world and has to rely for the most part on reports as he parades himself as the LGBT spokesperson while not living in Jamaica anymore or so he says at the expense of a gullible population on the ground. The LGBT community especially the MSM group is not the same as the years gone by and as for HIV rates of infection the agencies named ALL have direct access to the community all they have to do is have far more presence and do the necessary work to bring down the numbers but instead they expect the community to come to them then they say that the community is underground when the groups can be easily found, some of the those group members are on the properties of some of these agencies everyday literally speaking as they have no where else to go, the poor outreach and frontline work (condom issued mostly) by the agencies themselves are to be blamed for those high figures too. The groups suffer from condom fatigue and HIV prevention message overkill sometimes.

The agencies also continue to ignore the real issues affecting the homeless for example mostly the pyscho social ones they are yet to be dealt with just yesterday the police had to deposit several homeless msms on the Jamaica AIDS Support for Life property in a bid to take them off the streets due to challenges on the roads and internal conflicts but as was promised by JFLAG on television to find a space for them to be housed as the authorities have become impatient with the anti social behaviours (see video above) and sheer numbers of them in the business district and entertainment strips we still await a shelter response following a townhall meeting on November 7, only on December 3 there was an ugly brawl with some of the men and staff of JASL there while the JFLAG employees looked on terrified as the drama unfolded. The men have been using other properties to get shelter without water for that matter so they access water from the JASL office. That tense situation has been off and on since 2010.

As for the buggery law and the charter of rights the parliamentary submission was the last time that JFLAG had a real presence in challenging the law on the ground way back in 1998, they were absent during the intermittent charter of rights debate and allowed the church groups to control the conversations and clauses, their adding or removal chief among them the discrimination by sexual orientation protection even as the invented gay marriage rights opposition ploy was used by the previous government to deny us any recognition in the charter and we sat and watched it all go down, very few of us kept the agitation alive.

As for buying condoms and distribution there are 5 agencies now (including anti gay faith based linked groups surprisingly) that reach MSMs including the various regional Health authorities of the Ministry of Health in particular and all distribute condoms with some peer educator training and the former stigma associated with condom and lube purchases (KY) and indeed fleet enema purchases as well have almost disappeared as more and more pharmacies carry fleet enemas now and one DOES NOT HAVE TO buy them under the counter. Even street side vendors have got in on the business realising that the MSM commercial sex workers also need their condom "stash" while swallowing their once homophobic positions they know the men are gay but for business they engage them.(despite the saturation of the market with the cheap looking brands the men will purchase brand named ones once they have cash) The old programmatic agenda that gay men do not have access to condoms is out the window. I purchase my fleets at the leading Kingston Pharmacy, York, and they have them displayed openly on the shop floor along with the KY lubes all one has to do is purchase and leave. Times have changed!!!!!!!! the most effeminate of men walk in as well and do business unimpeded. Other pharmacies are following suit and also have them displayed openly as I have found fleets at out of Kingston shops as well.

Sometimes the homeless msms complain that they are overstocked with "boots" the colloquial name for condoms and seem weary of the overkill of HIV prevention messaging, HIV testing and condom distribution which makes one wonder where are the other self efficacious activities for personal development? Plastic bag use as condoms are a thing of the past and does not happen with the regularity as before not even in prisons if one were to be truthful despite the item is a major contraband creative ways are found to get them in. What needs to be improved are the anal hygiene knowledge levels for MSMs in particular.

The tolerance ads of which he writes while having the right message are also poor in production value an observation made by several media experts including an executive of the leading media communications institution. 

As a former board member of Jamaica AIDS Support for LIFE he along with the others sanctioned the closure of a homeless shelter pilot project in 2009 where MSMs were to be housed and assisted to recovery but other agendas were more important and also bearing in mind some of the men were HIV+

We always knew of these religious groups with overseas contacts but we sat complacent and did not properly rebut their anti gay and anti buggery posturings it is now when they have turned up the heat persons like Maurice now realise they exist?

Enough of these narcissistic people who use intellectual dishonesty to push their agenda. We need to speak the truth when we want to engage the world to assist the cause but the old programmatic narratives are not working anymore. STOP THE DISHONEST LINES and present the PRESENT TRUTHS. We find ourselves here because we have failed to address some of the key issues but the way how some activists parade themselves as victims to mislead international agencies one wonders for how long this strategy will last? 

This is 2012 for God's sake not the 1990s.

Things have changed and are still changing slowly. Where the emphasis needs to be placed is on personal development for vulnerable groups not just seeing such groups as potential HIV+ persons via HIV prevention messaging and condom distribution targets only. 

Mr Tomlinson must stick to the evil that he knows.