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

Jamaica Observer columnist Mark Wignall believes among other things the Gay Lobby will wait in vain in his regular contribution to the paper: Supporters will give PNP government a honeymoon but... he wrote

In the month of November 2010 Washington would have already firmly decided that the JLP Government as constituted then was more than a nagging fly-in-the-ointment.

Ironically, as strained as the relationship has been between Washington and Caracas, it is more than likely that President Hugo Chavez, the most eager regionalist of our time, would have found reason to share a common objective with the US diplomats in Jamaica at just about the same time.

A Jamaican leader(Golding) had pledged to place his political future at risk by loudly standing out on a limb for a man wanted in the USA for drug and gun running and being a dangerous underworld boss - 'Dudus'.

At that stage the Americans would have singled out Dr Peter Phillips, the security minister in the PNP Government of 2004 and the point man in Jamaica whose actions led to the ultimate extradition as a man they could do business with in the near future.

On the Friday after the December 29 election there would be more than an element of 'mission accomplished' in the objectives of the Americans and President Chavez.

Golding had been slamming Chavez, an ally of the PNP, while in Opposition. The JLP Government formed after September 2007 was without ideology and a philosophy guiding its governance and grudgingly accepted the benefits of the PetroCaribe Fund only because it had no other choice.

It would indeed surprise me if the interventionist side of the regionalist President Chavez did not tangibly assist its ally, the PNP, in the last few weeks during the election. There exists no evidence that I am aware of that supports the view that a foreign government pumped significant cash into the coffers of the PNP. What is without doubt, however, is that contrary to conventional wisdom, the PNP was a cash-rich party in the last week of campaigning.

It is a slight reversal of 2007 when the JLP was overloaded with cash and the PNP was relatively broke. I use the word 'slight' because the JLP was not broke in 2011, only that the PNP became much richer than the JLP at the politically perfect time.

Many PNP supporters who I spoke with recently indicated a willingness to give the PNP a somewhat extended honeymoon to get the social and economic picture right. It is not, however, a mood that can be plotted on a straight-line graph.

The closeness of the election of 2007 had never indicated a rejection of the PNP, its policies or the style and mechanics of its governance. PNP supporters have accepted the JLP's four-year run as a minor blip on the political radar and firmly believe that a new PNP Government will 'get it right'.

"Even if di JEEP nuh run right away, wi know sey it a go work fi poor people," said a young woman to me recently.

Her young male friend, unemployed as she was said, "Money dey yah and as soon as Portia settle off, di JEEP a go start up."

Gay Lobby will wait in vain

I have yet to meet one PNP supporter who earnestly believes that the Buggery Law will be changed.

During the leadership debate, then Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller had indicated that a PNP Government led by her would review the law. The JLP had then pounced on it in an effort to gain political mileage - standard politics - by making it seem as if Simpson Miller had promised a change in the law.

"Do you believe that the PNP will review the Buggery Law?" I asked a group of young men, all unemployed and who admitted that they had voted for the PNP.

"Yeah," one said. "Review it yes, but a nuh nutten dat."

A youngster nearby took off on his friend's mood and said, "As long as she tek up di paper an put it back dung. Dat caan pass a Jamaica. It wi bun dung."

Another less vocal young man said, "A political talk dat. Maybe di man dem donate some money to di PNP party and it jus gi a talk. A politics and it nah guh no wey."

What is very obvious to me is that only Portia Simpson Miller could have made such a promise in so sensitive an area without the political backlash. Additionally, many voters accept that "a so di ting set", meaning that they accept that politicians will spout nonsense. In the case of Simpson Miller, voters were prepared to slot it in the 'not of importance' segment in the days leading up to the vote.

JLP waiting to roll over and die

A few days after the election I was in the company of a young woman and an official of G2K.

The young woman was a recent graduate of. UTech and was planning on going off to the US to study computer and film animation. Her father was a degreed teacher and her mother operated a small business.

She was discussing the G2K ads. "Those ads - they would have appealed to me, to mommy, to daddy, but, we don't vote." The G2K official seemed to sink deeper in the chair.

He just sat there, forced a smile and said nothing. The young woman was right. Assuming that a political party knows the landscape it is operating in, one would expect that the entity would have arrived at its a campaign after considerable research. If knowledge is presumed before research and the ads are made, the only conclusion that could be drawn is that those involved have been very close to our people at all levels. Or that they are stupid.

Now, fully recognising that constituency canvases (which have proven fairly accurate over the years) were either concocted because money paid for them did not reach down to those who were closest to the community or, poorly done because of the weakness of the JLP secretariat, many in the JLP have concluded that the wrong 'election ready' message was given to Andrew Holness.

Demoralised, angry with each other and already reaching for the long knives of 'intra blame' the JLP must face the fact that it is on the verge of a total wipeout at the local government elections.

In the red by anywhere between $40 million and $70 million, the party is lying in the middle of the road waiting on a truck to run it over.

observemark@gmail.com

Portia's Profound Comments (Gleaner Letter)

 

THE EDITOR, Sir:

The president of the People's National Party (PNP) recently said she would not exclude persons from her Cabinet on the basis of sexual orientation. Few seem to appreciate how profound the comment is. One newspaper sprang into attack mode with its bold headline, 'A idiot thing that'.

At first glance, the leader's comments seem to imply or assume that in appointing ministers, she has knowledge that the person being appointed is gay. This has inherent legal implications based on Jamaican law (The Offences Against The Person Act). Although buggery is not defined in the law, it is listed as unnatural offences, where it is described as "the abominable crime of buggery committed either with mankind or with any animal".

Additionally, the law specifically speaks to male-to-male acts of gross indecency, but is totally silent on female-to-female acts. So being a bugger and being gay or homosexual are not legally the same in Jamaican law. Being gay or homosexual is a much broader term, covering same-sex relationships. It does not appear to include "any animal".

The Jamaican law regarding unnatural offences and acts of gross indecency is, therefore, gender specific and includes animals. It does not consider or treat female same-sex relationships as unnatural offences or acts of gross indecency. So, based on the present law, appointing a female gay minister should not be an issue legally.

This, however, would not be the case if she were to appoint a male gay minister, especially if she knows that male is gay.

The reason for this is that it is a crime to know of a crime and not report it to the police. This may and ought to be considered concealment, cover-up, you name it. Although she may not have personally witnessed the act or crime, it's no different from the acts of bishops who concealed reports of priests sexually molesting youths and covered it up.

Therein rests a part of the dilemma, ie, the buggery law, as it stands, and whether or not she knows the appointee has breached the law.

Indeed, the law is gender-specific in its treatment of same-sex relationships. This ought to be deemed unconstitutional and ought to be corrected. How else does Parliament legislate a law that retains the wishes of the majority on the issue, and comply with the gender (sex) requirements of the Constitution (Section 13)? In democratic societies, it's done by review of the law.

For those males who have already concluded that "a idiot thing that", note that for a male caught committing (a) an unnatural offence, or (b), an act of gross indecency with another male, there is no fine. In the case of (a), it's prison at hard labour, for a term not exceeding 10 years.

In the case of (b), it's prison with or without hard labour, for a term not exceeding seven years. However, it's no offence for females to be caught doing similar acts. Easy nuh.

WARREN SIBBLIES

warrensibbs@hotmail.com

Houston, Texas

ENDS

Some comments followed:

Mr./Ms. Moderator, could you please post?

There is no doubt that Madame Prime Minister Elect; Portia Simpson-Miller is a very savvy and seasoned politician. She knows how to appeal to all voting blocks of the electorates, not just the majority, but also to
crucial minority voting blocks such as the disenfranchised gay/lesbians/bisexual. Hereto her recent statement of forming an all-inclusive/representative cabinet of all Jamaicans, there has never been a Jamaican politician to take such a bold and courageous stand. It is in light of her all inclusive statement that has embolden the gay voting block to turn out in support of the only national leader to acknowledge their existence on the island without religious damnations.

Silently and without any fanfare under the radar, they showed up at their respective polling stations and cast their individual votesof freedom and then exhaled as they walked away with a sense of relief. For you see, they had no reason to vote before, as they were never considered citizens in the country to which they were born; Prime Minister Elect; Madame Portia Simpson-Miller has given them hope, a reason and purpose for being, but above all, she has acknowledged their human existence.

Madame Prime Minister Elect, I respectfully implore, and beseech you to make good on you statement on creating a more equitable,humanistic, and representative cabinet of all Jamaican.

Kudos! And congratulations!

and

Thank you Mr. Sibbles for explaining the arguments so lucidly. The tendency for rabid homophobia to cloud rational and logical judgments on the issue of buggery in Jamaica is amazing. The constant reduction of homosexuality to buggery (anal intercourse) is so distorting that I find whenever I explain to people that the two (homosexuality) and (anal intercourse) do not necessarily coincide, better assessments can be made.

This is the dilemma that Sister P faces. If a male member of her cabinet personally declares to her that he is a homosexual, she can assume that he engages in the sexual conduct of buggery (which is law breaking). I say assumption since not everyone who thinks the label homosexual applies to him actually engages in the practice of anal sex.