On pastoral abuse, celibacy, cover-ups & passing the buck

Gleaner's Lasmay addressed it in 2010

As the furore surrounding the numerous cases of pastoral sexual assault continues, the selectivity by some church related groups is disturbing to say the least. The rapidity of the allegation crossing denominations only adds more of an abominable stench indeed abominations outside the Levitcal posture to the already rotting flesh in the department of trust and power by what is supposed to be trusted and honest clergymen. Something rots in Denmark! What is also coming to the fore is the perceived secrecy indeed cover-ups by some leaders and groups as they try to deflect the national scrutiny since the Moravian pastor allegations of the assault of a minor with a married pastor.

also see:

Betty Ann Blaine | Sex Abuse And The Church: Reveal, Repent And Redress (Gleaner) and Betty Ann Blaine on the big gay lie .......... you do the comparison. I agree with her on the call to Report child molesters and Public Theology Forum | Is It Just A Little Sex? - Church, Sex And Power (Gleaner)

The generalized prayer, the brushing over of the challenge by turning the scrutiny on non-Christians and their sins with the ‘enemy’ as the cause continues as it were instead of an open and honest introspection we get non traditional church voices to include antigay groups blaming traditional churches such as the Catholics who are “afflicted” with that problem; a recent ‘not in our church’ sub texted discussion on The Breath of Change, TBC radio suggested or that sort of thing does not happen in our church. There may be some truth to that given the hundreds of years the Catholic Church has been around and the historical records from as back as the 11th century shows us the appearance of an organised cover-ups running all the way up to successive Popes under whose tenure the problem occurred and continues almost unabated.

New has come to hand (as I did the draft of this entry) thanks to the BBC that a female chief member of the group addressing clerical (one of two previously abused) abuse has resigned even as she suffered abuse in the 1960s. The Irish woman from Dublin is now 70 years old and at the time of her ordeal she was 13 years old. Her idea was called AWARE which included hotline services especially in safeguarding children, counselling and some action against clergy found wanting. Strangely in the first year of the commission’s in 2014 existence there was no office space allocated and no staff which gives the appearance of deliberate obfuscation and efforts to frustrate the processes. Cover-up! The commission was not given any list of designated staff in the various Vatican departments with whom the commission could liaise; the commission then recommended that a tribunal be put in place whereby negligent priests could be held accountable, this was something that was approved by Pope Francis in 2015 but suddenly the congregation for the doctrine of faith said there were some legal difficulties and the tribunal was never implemented.

See her statement HERE then there was this: 1st  March 2017 Press Release from the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors

On Monday, February 13, 2017, Mrs. Marie Collins, a Member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors [PCPM] advised Cardinal Sean O’Malley, President of the PCPM, of her intent to resign from the Commission effective March 1, 2017.

Mrs. Collins, a Member of the Pontifical Commission since its inception in 2014 is a survivor of clerical abuse, and consistently and tirelessly championed for the voices of the victims/survivors to be heard, and for the healing of victims/survivors to be a priority of the Church.  In discussing with the Cardinal, and in her resignation letter to the Holy Father, Mrs. Collins cited her frustration at the lack of cooperation with the Commission by other offices in the Roman Curia. 

Mrs. Collins accepted an invitation from Cardinal O’Malley to continue to work with the Commission in an educational role in recognition of her exceptional teaching skills and impact of her testimony as a survivor.

What is also strange is that in 2015 another previously abused member who was also on the committee was sidelined after they announced the entire exercise was mere window dressing. But such are bureaucracies eh. Marie Collins the woman in question said that she was appreciative of the Pope’s leadership and said that he actually isn’t the problem. 

“The Pope is doing his best and he has made it very clear to church leaders around the world what he expects in regards to dealing with child abuse and with anyone who might abuse; but I think within the Vatican itself is a sort of a bubble there are just that small core who still I think don’t get it.” She said to a BBC reporter.

While Mrs Collins (Twitter) was able to fight through these bureaucratic obstacles her position became untenable according to her, when she was told by one Vatican department that they would not ensure all correspondence from victims would receive a response and for her it is the victims of abuse that require the greatest care and rightly so. She decided to resign. The president of the commission itself has expressed deep appreciation for Mrs Collins’ work while several newspapers in the Vatican have been paraphrasing those thoughts garnered from the Pope himself, the president also says he will offer prayers for Mrs Collins and all victims of abuse. That sounds more to me as a thinly snicker in a position of defeat by Mrs Collins, in other words glad she has left and now we can proceed under the guise of offering prayer. 

Meanwhile locally we could easily site some of the obfuscation at the Vatican and other foreign based orders designed to divert or deflect and questions, we are seeing Pentecostals, Seventh Day Adventists, Church of God structures and 

UPDATE: Revivalist Pastor arrested in Spanish Town today. Pastor to be charged following allegations that he molested a 14y.o. boy.

— Abka Fitz-Henley (@AbkaFitzHenley) February 5, 2017

Pocomania/Revivalists as a recent case shows, other denominations are factoring which suggests there are other things we may be missing and are festering out of sight but slowly coming to the fore. Who knew the dark secrets all along and did nothing? What do the governing structures of these denominations know and have been deferring or sweeping under the rug? Is the rug now two inches away from the ceiling regarding this matter? Newspaper articles barely skirting the issue of sexual assault by pastors directly while presenting the issue in a generalised context only gives the impression of a kind of intellectual dishonesty about it all; after all the said dishonesty has been used to magnify charges of paedophile intent by gays, grossing out perceptions of anal sex to include scatting or felching when we do not on a wide scale go to such extremes. It is the magnitude of the arguments that make the charges and stigma convincing hence the homophobic trap we find ourselves in. Also see: Dr Wayne West’s continued intellectual dishonesty on fisting felching & chariot racing by homosexuals in Jamaica

The resignation of Pope Benedict is widely believed it is the pressure he met with given the underbelly of the abuse of power by members of the Vatican and at monasteries worldwide, our local archbishop had said that he is not aware of any reports of such abuse, but if we are to go by the fear factor to report powerful bishops and men of the cloth things will remain under the carpet. Impacted individuals will simply not come forward, the US African American evangelical preacher Eddie Long’s case some years ago showed up the complexities of misuse or abuse of pastoral power and lesser powered individuals who often cannot say no or do not know how to in the face of a pastor who is supposed to be next to be infallible; albeit that Long case had a same gender element but the gender of the abused is immaterial and they feel abused. Sadly the unwavering support by congregants is also disturbing as they seem blind to the allegations as in the Long case is also reflected in the pending court cases locally to wait and see what evidence comes forth and the cussing out of the media as if they are the ones castigating the accused while using prayer and the ‘enemy’s fault’ in a victimhood ploy i.e. pastors/priests are infallible.

As the Moravian case and the misguided Hampton High School principal’s intervention by blocking the media from trying to interview the accused even as she helped to post bail for the man has shown us; now the school’s good name and image has been brought into disrepute, as she refuses to resign, in recent weeks much more is slowly coming out to suggest she and others including the wife of the accused who are board members of the school knew of some of the shenanigans but kept it hushed, the usual do not upset the apple cart mantra in governance structures. How various systems and terms over time have made the discourse of the lower powered position such as pregnant teenage mothers but what do we call the men who got them pregnant, normal!

Why is it that the congregants simply do not question pastors on certain things or check them by holding them accountable? Often engaging in victim blaming and seek to justify it. They and other supporters also seek to cuss out the media as they seek to cover the matters outside the courtrooms. The half hearted press releases and convenient narratives by antigay groups such as Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society, JCHS and its youth affiliate Lovemarch is insulting to say the least; their recently concluded seminar 

on sexual abuse some days ago focused more so on national sexual abuse by non-Christians as opposed to clerical abuse within the church as a whole, all this while charging a fee to enter but when compared to the antigay push mass rallies are held without any charge to attend, numerous documentaries are paid for by them, they fly in foreign antigay voices, sell DVDs and books to earn income while footing the bill for high priced attorneys in the ongoing buggery constitutional matter yet our homeless need help nationally, children’s’ homes need help other societal ills sit right before us. That ‘it’s you others and not us’ subtexts rang loud and clear in the materials that have since been released and the groups skirt around the matter that requires deep introspection.

It is sad that with one God we have so much division and denominational strife, and then there is the business of celibacy as forced in some instances on the priesthood following on theological narratives by Augustine and others while not realising there would have been disastrous consequences in hundreds of years to come. Celibate priests sought to seek the moral advantage over carnal laity while launching a massive re-commitment to helping the poor; however the unintended consequences still are with us today as the histories prove. Part of the new social activism was schools for poor children ran by priests known as pious schools, the combination of strict clerical celibacy with clergy involved in education made for the fermenting of freaks wearing a frock and a collar being created over time. All this happening while a sustained push to all but silence women in the church and or labelling free thinking women as witches in order to punish them, the published Witches' or Malleus Maleficarum is proof of that misuse of church power and was the guide to priests and inquisition judges that instructed how to effect the punishments. The monopolization of marriage under Pope Gregory VII in 1073 only sought to secure church power over persons while also making women as second class and fattening church coffers.

A historical perspective

In 1600 an honest priest named Joseph Calasanz in Rome started a school also known as the Pious or peerists order from which it was great success for the better part of twenty years, however cracks started to show despite strict rules of engagement in terms of priests who were not allowed or should not be alone at any given period with students. The order of the was supposed to be a deeply austere arrangement where narratives such as the priesthood must be seen angels devoid of all cravings or carnal affection of the flesh and so on. It did not work out as he planned and Calasanz became all too aware of the abuse cases that were on the rise when priests are left alone with the children, mostly boys. In 1629 disturbing reports got to Rome on one of the biggest schools in the network in Naples as the young headmaster was accused of sexual abuse. His name was Stefano Calbrini, fully aware of the damage the order may face if it went public sadly the founder Calasanz succumbed to fear and ordered the whole affair to be hushed up and the documents relating to the matter were burnt.

Instead of removing Stefano from the order he was promoted to visitor general of all the schools effectively removing the culprit from the scene of the crime while simultaneously given him access to more boys. It did not end well, father Stefano conspired to disgrace the founder in the eyes of the Pope and successfully forced the founder out of the order and took his place; it took the pious authorities close to half a century to recover. All this happened despite the leadership being aware of father Stefano’s issue including the Pope but did not anything, this was an extraordinary failure of power and trust, the very people dictating the moral agenda were openly defying it. The abuse of children covered up, denied and excused, the trust of many betrayed. My layman’s look at this is that a man starved or forced to be celibate can only lead to issues later, it’s like non conjugal visits to prisons and over time sexually frustrated men find substitutional sex avenues and psychologies to find a fix on the face of it, the challenge is when a matter becomes a case where control is the motivator and not sex then abuse sets in and victims are repeatedly exposed. As children with the point of least resistance being the main challenge they cannot stand up to their abusers and are left to suffer over time in silence.

Strangely in the present Mrs Collins resignation matter mentioned above she also said in part in a follow-up interview with the BBC:

“One particular area of the Vatican don’t want to cooperate with that work [child abuse matter] and that’s what been so shocking to me that these men still exist in the church; it’s something I like most people before I started working with the papal commission I was under the impression that pope just says do it and it’s done, but I think things are a lot more complicated than that there are ways and means in the curia they have been there for hundreds and hundreds of years as appearing to be amenable to something and actually put stumbling blocks in the way.

I think those men strive on secrecy, that has been the problem with the church all along but these men do these things behind closed doors and nobody gets to know about it; so from my point of view I want to say the commission is working very hard, I’m with them completely behind them and behind the Pope in every effort they make but I think keeping it secret that there is this group of people who are not willing and not of like mind I think that has to be said; I worked on it for three years, I’ve stayed silent on this instance and hindrances put in the way but there comes a point when particularly for a survivor where you see this obstruction there you cannot just accept it and go on because that’s how these things thrive; for people to keep it secret and nothing and then they get away with it.”

When asked about the systematic cover-ups equating her Vatican experience to that globally by church leaders, hierarchy and diocese she responded:

“It echoes for me the attitudes I have seen when I try to bring my abuser to justice here in Dublin twenty years ago; it echoes very clearly the attitudes that I met with in hierarchy here and my own archbishop it totally bring that all back but the church in many areas has learned and has improved and I’m particularly pleased with that I have been asked to continue with the training of new bishops.

There are church people willing and open to understand and to learn and to change, the ones that are not and that are pinning on to old ideas and institutional protections and all these other things they’ve got to be rooted out.

I can’t do it, those in the church themselves have to do it.”

Again I ask how much of that context as outlined by Mrs Collins can be placed in our local makeup in other denominations. Our very own Bishop Reece years ago in an interview had said there was no known case of abuse (see: Archbishop of Kingston Denies Claims That Clergy Members Abusing Alpha Boys or No Reported cases of Paedophilia say local Catholic Diocese Representative Reece from a 2010 interview) and the recently edition of the catholic voice publication mentioned nothing on the ongoing hot matter of clerical abuse or pastoral sexual matters but presented its usual politically correct fluff. For a church that has had so much allegations thrown at it I was expected far better particulars, statements and such as they are good at especially given the usual conflation of paedophilia with homosexuality overall often used as justification to deny any pro gay rights wrapped up in a Levitcal imperative thrust while putting other concerns over the safety of children. 

also see: Pope declares 'zero tolerance' for sexual abuse in Catholic church (Guardian) 2017

Meanwhile in a Gleaner article entitled "Canute Thompson | Confronting The Moravian Sex Crisis" and "Canute S. Thompson | Sex, Church And Power" by a member of the Moravian community suggested some actions to address the matter in his church he said in part from the former entry:

RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE MORAVIAN CHURCH

"A few synods ago, the Church, with the support of National Integrity Action and the Jamaica Civil Society Coalition, held a forum on corruption. That initiative was a welcome one and served to contribute to the image of the Church as a conscious player in an important national debate. The Church has another opportunity: to step up to the plate and show that it has the courage to articulate a commitment to heal not just its internal wounds, but the nation, as it hurts.

Synod 2017 would be a good place to engage in discussions on how the Church can work through the current issues that it faces. Hiding from each other, the public, and our reality is not a solution.

The Moravian Church has a duty to demonstrate to the public that it is serious about dealing with the issues bedevilling it. Speaking only in whispers, praying in generalities, preaching in vague terms, and casting blame will not provide a credible path forward. We have to be willing to confront ourselves and each other patiently and compassionately, yet boldly and honestly.

I offer these additional suggestions for public discussion and for the Church's consideration.

(1) That the Church broaden the terms of reference for the mechanism it has announced to examine the issue of how reports that raise adverse concerns are handled. The terms of reference should include an examination of its decision-making processes at several levels of the organisation to see the extent to which they are subject to checks and balances and capable of providing a trail sufficient for external review.

(2) That the Church seek the assistance of either a committee of the worldwide Moravian Church, or a local group, in reviewing its regulations and constitutional arrangements. The purpose of this review would be to examine whether these regulations and constitutional stipulations make adequate provisions for accountability of various office holders, especially the executive, and whether there is potential for institutionalised protection for abuse of power, violation of due process, and disregard for rules of fairness.

(3) While taking the steps [as suggested in Item (1)], and given that the Church's management of the recent incidents has led the clergy to acknowledge the existence of possible weaknesses, I suggest that the leadership of the Church open recent cases, including those prior to 2016, to review. The purpose of such a review would be to examine whether, in the handling of those cases, the executive followed the relevant procedures or otherwise acted in conformity with the basic rules of natural justice, accountability, transparency, and fairness.

(4) Finally, the church should immediately engage in a series of truth and reconciliation conversations. There are deep issues that go beyond the events of the last few weeks that remain unresolved, and there can be no sustained healing without candid, caring, and courageous truth-telling. The facilitator of such a process should be someone external to the Moravian Church. This person should be highly skilled in the art of healing-facilitation, mediation, and organisational renewal ....."

 Dr Canute Thompson is a member of the Moravian Church in Jamaica. His research interests are in the areas of governance, leadership reimagination, and transformational leadership. Email feedback to canutethompson1@gmail.com.

Trouble with these things and calls for introspection that are often met with snooty rebuffed and ignored, I can identity all too well in that department.

Cover-ups indeed:
Moravian Sex Scandal Deepens - Email Trail Reveals Church Knew Of Sex Allegations Against Pastor (Gleaner)

I run the risk of being criticized yet again of moral equivalence but how can disgraced clergy and pastors claim to speak on moral matters with any credibility? The robust nature of the antigay thrust versus what appears to be a typical expected response is hypocritical to say the least. Several cases are in the courts now I hope the systems can offer good support for victims although I am used to the knee jerk reactions when these waves of abuse come, then something else grabs our attention.

Think on these things

Peace & tolerance

H

also see:

Justified underage sexual abuse in lieu of homosexual sex!

Is the pope serious about confronting child abuse? .... the question of the age 2016

More Pastoral Inappropriateness & Under-aged Victims... Silence from The Selective Religious Anti Gay 2014

Vatican says cover-up accusations due to Pope's opposition to gay rights 2010 

Church members bashed for backing pastor

Two Good Letters on Gay Person-hood & Paedophile Homosexuality Conflation

No Reported cases of Paedophilia say local Catholic Diocese Representative 2010

Another St Thomas Pastor Accused of Rape ........... Where are Anti Gay Religious Groups?

Ephebophilia vs Paedophilia & Male Homosexuality part 2 .... the need to continue the discourse 

Catholic church 'abused 4,400 children'(BBC)

How has the Vatican's responded to child abuse?(BBC)

Pope's reforms polarise the Vatican(BBC)

American owner of missionary orphanage in Haiti arrested for allegedly sexually abusing kids (Observer)

Defintition of sex business back on the agenda again

So here we are again this old familiar place when will it just end already? it is indeed sad the backwardness on many fronts coupled with fearmongering, intellectual dishonesty and playing on the ignorance factor and moral correctness as it were still persists from the very first parliamentary submission on this in 1998 onwards see the 2014 version HERE. Talk about rubbish about gay marriage sneak in attempts as was hinted to a radio show this morning as well by church folk, oh boi!

The old debate about anal sex has been resurrected with a United Nations (UN) recommendation that Jamaica's Parliament approve a redefinition of sexual intercourse to add penetration of the mouth or anus in order to fairly protect men and women against sexual violence.

However, the local church lobby, through the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society (JCHS) and the Associated Gospel Assembles (AGA), has been quick to advise lawmakers to reject the proposal. The fanatics are at it again even in the midst of accused shoddy pastors being named as suspects in inappropriate sexual assault of children of all things yet very little stridency in that department, homosexuality or related matters gets full attention non the less. Also see: Clerical abuse ugliness revealed as antigay religious voices barely respond

Radio talk show host made a startling revelation on his show that in trying to get clergymen to discuss the child sex abuse issue for his show all contacted where either travelling or not able to commit to an interview. 

The science of it all cannot be discounted but as per usual that is left out even with  Wayne West talking about biology and such, anyone remembers this case?: Labourer suffer near two years in prison on false accusation of buggery and other cases where it is suspect as to the efficacy of doctors' reports that are submitted into evidence when no physical examination was conducted on the accused in the first place and one's doom can be so easily sealed over a couple glasses of Wray & Nephew on the rocks.

meanwhile The Gleaner carried:

Mark Connolly, from the UN Country Team, on Wednesday, read out the recommendation to a parliamentary committee that has resumed its review of Jamaica's sex laws.

Sexual intercourse under the Sexual Offences Act is "penetration of the vagina of one person by the penis of another person".

But Connolly said that if the definition is "too narrow, the legal recognition of sexual violence against men and boys would not fall under it in an equally protective way as against women and girls.

"If sexual intercourse does not consider the possibility of other penetrative practices that may be used for inflicting grave sexual violence to any person, it does not recognise the same nature of any sexual penetration and diminishes particular humiliating or painful traumatic experiences that victims may go through."

Wayne West, head of the JCHS, said that the proposal disregards the 'biology of sex' and promotes the 'gay agenda'. "The UN is working an ideological framework that is seeking to remove consideration of the reality of biology in order to advance its political agenda. You don't have to redefine sex from its biological moorings in order to punish people who offend other individuals."

Like West, the AGA's first vice-president, the Reverend Peter Garth, insists that the redefinition to include anal sex is a route to legalise same-sex marriage in Jamaica. He said that an "honest" medical doctor would admit that that form of penetration is unhealthy.

"I believe anal penetration is wrong in 2017 and anal penetration will still be wrong in the year 3000," he said.

Rape Is Rape!

For Public Defender Arlene Harrison Henry, however, the United Nations' proposal is important especially because it also recommends a redefinition of rape as an act committed "against any person".

Under Jamaican law, only a woman can be raped - an offence that carries a penalty of up to life imprisonment, unlike buggery, which carries up to seven years' imprisonment.

"There is need for this broader protection of rights of men and women and it ought to be gender neutral. Rape is rape. Right now, a male child who is buggered, no one under our law committed the act of rape against him," argued Harrison Henry.

Janet Farr, president of the Nurses' Association of Jamaica, said that redefining sex is accepting the reality. "The definition that we had before was rather archaic. The definition might be speaking to a certain ideology, but this is what the reality is."

SHOULDN'T BE A CONTROVERSIAL ISSUE

Noting the importance of equality before the law, rights group Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) and the gay lobby JFLAG have dismissed critics of the proposal.

"Protecting men and women from rape should not be controversial. The same groups opposing this common-sense reform are also arguing to maintain archaic marital rape exceptions that allow married men to rape their wives," said Rodje Malcolm, JFJ's advocacy manager

According to JFLAG's Glenroy Murray, it is "unfortunate" that Christian critics are taking a position that gives greater significance to some sexual violence over others.

Delroy Chuck, justice minister and committee chairman, has said that the review will run for up to six months, after which a report on the recommendations will be done.

ENDS

This business of rape where man as victims was raised for example in 2012 APPROXIMATELY three years after Jamaican policymakers ended a lengthy debate over changing the definition of rape, the United States last Friday upgraded their 80-year definition of the gruesome act to make it more gender-neutral, after much pressure from gender advocates.

also see: PNP Opposition unimpressed with 'painful and troubled' passage of Sexual Offences Bill 2009

Rape in the US was originally defined as "carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will". However, the Justice Department upgraded the definition to mean the "penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim".

The new definition now makes it possible for men and women to be the victims as well as the perpetrators of rape, and is expected to solve inconsistencies in data regarding the number of rape victims in that country.

But while the move is being lauded in that jurisdiction by law enforcement and government officials, some believe that a changing of the definition for rape is not necessary in Jamaica at this time. This is especially so given the fact that persons, whether males or females, can now be charged for the carnal knowledge of another without their consent under the Sexual Offences Act of 2009.

The Act was a spin-off to the Incest Punishment Act and the Offences Against the Person Act, which addressed sex crimes; however, the current Act still recognises rape as a crime that can only be committed by a man against a woman. A man commits this offence when he has sexual intercourse with a woman without her consent, or recklessly not caring whether or not she consents. All other sexual acts carried out against an individual without their consent is considered a grievous sexual assault; therefore an individual, whether male or female, commits this offence when they penetrate the vagina or the anus of a victim with a body part other than the penis or with an object manipulated by the offender.

Head of the Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA) superintendent Gladys Brown at the time, believes the Sexual Offences Act is very clear-cut and provides grounds on which a woman can also be charged for sexually assaulting a man without his consent, thereby eliminating concerns that the law is gender-biased. As such, she does not believe Jamaica should be concerned about changing the definition of rape as it now stands.

"If you are a woman and you go home tonight and you and your girlfriend tie up a man and you get a bottle and you insert it into his anus, you are going to go to prison for a good while because you are going to be charged for grievous sexual assault," she said.

"What the law tries to do, is not to minimise or maximise the offence but to separate them and where you could draw the line and make your judgement is when you look at the penalty, because there must be a separation in terms of the degree of the offence," she said.

While not discounting the trauma experienced by a woman who is sexually molested, she pointed out that a woman who has been raped usually has to consider other repercussions such as getting pregnant or contracting a sexually transmitted disease such as HIV/AIDS.

"When a man insert his penis inside of you, a whole range of things can happen to you to include you going crazy, going mad and feeling traumatised for the rest of your life," she said.

Under the Sexual Offences Act of 2009, a person who commits the act of rape is liable on conviction in a Circuit Court to imprisonment for life, or a time determined by the court not being less than 15 years. However, a person who commits the offence of grievous sexual assault is liable upon conviction in a Resident's Magistrates Court to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or upon conviction in a Circuit Court to imprisonment for life, or such other term as the court considers appropriate not being less than 15 years.

Executive Director for the Bureau of Women's Affairs, Faith Webster, believes that while the change in the definition of rape might be necessary for the US at this time, this is not necessarily the case for Jamaica.

"I suppose they are moving to the current situation, after seeing what exists on the ground; and you have to always continuously review and revise your laws in keeping with the current and contemporary situation," she said.

She believes the Sexually Offences Act of 2009, as it now stands, adequately deals with every aspect of the sexual assault of another without their consent.

In 2006, then Minister of Justice and Attorney General Senator AJ Nicholson had put forward a number of amendments to the Offences Against the Person Act, emphasising that there was an urgent need to reform the legislation. Provisions were also being made at the time to change the definition of rape so that women could be charged for committing the offence.

Nicholson argued that the gender-neutral concept of the Bill had been revised on the basis that men and young boys were also exposed to sexual violation and given this reality, they too should be afforded protection from sexual offences.

"I recall that there was a very lengthy discussion at the Joint-Select Committee at Parliament by various stakeholders throughout the island on the issue and the consensus was that they also wanted to keep the traditional definition; that is the penetration of the vagina with the penis," said Webster.

But Webster believes that even though men can get justice for being sexually attacked by a woman under the Sexual Offences Act, males still shy away from reporting cases where they have suffered grievous sexual assault because they have been raised to be macho. The act of a woman forcing a man to have sex in some sections of the society is seen as a good thing rather than something to complain about.

"In our cultural situation and the way we have been socialised in our country, that is always a factor and that could be one of the reasons too why rape of boys and men could be even higher than we really see, because persons are just not going to want to report that kind of an issue. It is even difficult for women to come forward and report a rape, moreover when you look at the situation with men, " she said.

Let's see what obtains in the next six months eh.

Peace & tolerance

H

some related matters:
Member of Parliament Lloyd B Smith on Of Buggery & Rationality 2014 

Parliamentary Committee struggles to define sexual intercourse 2009


JFLAG Tries to Clarify its Agenda 2014

Oh to change hearts and minds

J-FLAG now advocating for decriminalisation of same-sex acts (the change came to late for me) 

Opposition leader (JLP) reiterates his call for a referendum on Buggery .............

Commitment Ceremonies despite no legal marriage rights yet .......

In previous years I looked at commitment ceremonies in as parts of previous posts which followed up on some analysis across Jamaica for LGBT persons, other similar posts appear on Gay Jamaica Watch, Jamaican LGBT people have been making use of the avenues available to them to publicly as possible celebrate their love lives with friends and supportive family members and at that year in June often seen as the month of weddings there was no exception although the activities seem a little low keyed as years gone by as requests from the two or three Reverends who offer such duties to carry out the services fell. I would normally get calls to act as a witness in them, provide disc jock services for the reception or provide some sort of music on a storage form such as CDs or so.

This time around however as the Christmas holidays approach there has been a pleasant spike in terms of requests and questions/queries from persons in Jamaica seeking a space to have their ceremonies or renewal of ‘vows’ for older couples and as always since I have seen it lesbians tend to be the ones who go into long term unions than gay men but the latter have been taking the plunge as well. Like in part one of this entry the north American and indeed worldwide influences where ‘gay marriage’ is being made or has become legal persons are aspiring for same even if it is not legal yet here but in minds they want to show their love and explore the ceremonial components of a stable union. Foreigners from the United States mostly and as far as France in one case have also made queries via email and at first when I saw it I thought it was a joke or spam only to realise when I answered it was a serious inquiry.

With the advent of business avenues such as Airbnb as well and social media the requests are facilitated way easier than in times past, pink dollar markets are now open to virtually all. Non Jamaican and locals living overseas queries especially from those persons who are restricted by limited budgets or won’t or cannot afford a five star hotel after travelling want a more smaller intimate setting for their commitment ceremony nuptials. Lovely small and relatively reasonable priced spots in Portland, St Thomas and even Kingston outside of the traditional north coast flats are now easier to access directly or through blogs and NGOs. The price point is the key as prospective guests and couples avoid the middle man travel advisors or booking agents and make use of the advantages. Many of these properties under AirBnB and other independent guest house owners are seeing the opportunities as well and who attempt to roll out the red carpet albeit these are owned by heterosexuals. A married couple in Portland who came in contact with me via my blogs some years ago have been keeping in touch with me for some time now and have hosted two of the two ceremonies this year to much success ad satisfaction of the customers.

Same marriage or trans-persons marriages are not legal in Jamaica and may not be so for some time as the main hurdles of law reform on buggery and deep homo-negative and phobia driven stigma are on in earnest. Therefore the resistance to gay marriage is well embedded in all that nonsense and is still seen in this modern age as a method to ‘destroy the family’ when the family as we know and entrenched in the Jamaican constitution as between a man and a woman is already destroyed at best or is in serious trouble by those who already have the rights and privilege. If any damage is being done legal straight married couples (some Christians) are already doing a fine job not to mention those in the church and pulpits struggling with their own sexuality and hiding. At least with same sex marriage it provides some stability and maybe some same sexed married couples when the time comes can adopt children. On average for the past ten years end lots of young marriages end in divorce yet fanatical so called Christians who smear the rest of the church miss that fact that is so obvious. Just take a look at the official figures from the Statistical Institute of Jamaica, STATIN:

or

To unhinge the deeply entrenched definition of marriage in Jamaica as between a man and a woman will take lots of time and political will but the LGBT population though flirted with by politicians in recent years does not command the voting block in sufficient numbers or power from a local standpoint to force legislators to make the change; aforementioned fanatics and anti gay voices also still have large sway over a sometimes obsequious following who can be whipped into a frenzy with just one sentence opposing homosexuality as it were.

The spin offs are also clear in my mind, dress makers, small interior decorators, transportation folks and cake makers/decorators all benefit from the business, one cake maker/decorator a staunch Pentecostal was quite OK after she got involved in providing services for one ceremony, she reportedly jokingly remarked send the business come let the people live their lives.

It would be good if and when persons can get married and enjoy the full state recognition and benefits that flow such as legal coverage, housing and health benefits and the settlement of divorces through the courts to share the material assets and so on. Demanding marriage equality is not a zapper to those who already are allowed to marry and as is deceptively brought through in the subtext of anti gay advocacy. The word “equality” is often overlooked by those who oppose the push for same; and the fearmongering that Jamaica will be punished for same or that such goals are too lofty and imposed by foreigners.

Fortunately I am booked for a few ceremonies this year as opposed to the traditional month of June but the problem (if I can call it so) is the priests and pastors normally used are also busy with their own seasonal duties at their home churches; maybe a friendly Justice of the Peace (JP) may have to be identified.

Hope that the nuptials will have a good life after making their vows and live their dreams.

More anon

Peace & tolerance

H

also see older entries:
Buy no rings, you won’t wed; religious fear-mongering on gay marriage & the buggery law continues 

Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship’s continued fear mongering on Christian persecution post buggery law amendment & re-socialization 

When did anyone ask for gay marriage rights in Jamaica when we can't get basic tolerance ......... more smokescreen to deny recognition

There goes gay marriage paranoia again 

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

Lesbian couple celebrate their marriage locally .........

3 gay couples to wed in Negril - Activist says move is an act of defiance

Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society gets worked up over a phonebook!

sure he's not! a former headline on the group in 2013 in the Gleaner

Yet again we are subjected to total nonsense from the goodly folks at the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society to laughable proportions. The selectivity indeed hypocrisy of this entity and its colleagues at its predecessor Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship, Lovemarch, Jamaica Umbrella Group of Churches and Montego Bay Ministers’ Fraternal to name a few have all been trying to latch on to issue they can find to legitimise their piety yet often end up in abject failure with a captive audience laughing with popcorn spillages to boot. The age old criticisms thrown at the JCHS et al is that they have only strength for homosexuals and the so called LGBT lobbyists but are silent on virtually everything else, especially after the Gleaner headline “We’re Not Crazy” some time ago which pin pointed the nonsensicality of the group’s advocacy; nothing on the corruption front, nothing on clerical abuse or very persons in the pastoral and priesthood care yet very little as a dribble, nothing on lotto scamming and the involvement of so called pastors directly or indirectly via ‘spiritual protection’ from enemies or police capture, then there is the pastors themselves who are forced into silence with a now infamous bombing of a church just because the pastor spoke out on the illegal activity.

The silence on church abuse by the very pastors themselves of psychologically weak church sisters and indeed brothers as well even while promoting celibacy, fearmongering and intellectual dishonesty on HIV/AIDS rates from especially foreign sources. Now comes the headline, what a waste on the part of the JCHS when more important matters scream for attention. By the way who uses phonebooks these days when smartphones are in and APPS assist in locating persons plus WhatsAPP, SNAPchat and so on that may eventually eliminate the need for a hard copy directory in the long run? When groups such as Women’s Media Watch WMW discusses objectification of women in media as they have done for years where oh where these ‘church groups’ to aid the awareness.

The Gleaner carried this by Jovan Johnson:

the actual cover proposed for 2017 that caused the uproar

the new or alternate cover

Jamaica's church lobby has forced the publishers of the 2017 Yellow Pages to produce an alternative version of the telephone directory because of an "offensive" dancehall depiction it says is spreading "wrong" values.

The Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society led the campaign against the directory, which Global Directories Ltd was hoping would celebrate indigenous Jamaican music.

The depiction at the centre of the controversy shows a reggae scene with scantily clad women dancing with men at what appears to be a typical street session.

"We have challenges with our young people in terms of the values, the conduct that they are being exposed to. We thought that what was displayed there wasn't something that was beneficial," said Dr Wayne West, chairman of the coalition.

"We didn't think that scene, which was sort of a dancehall scene, was ideal. It wasn't the best thing that could have been done for the Yellow Pages - something which is so widely distributed and which is supposed to be the product of a company that should be seeking to elevate rather than to encourage behaviour that is not necessarily ideal."

Yesterday, Ian Neita, chief executive officer of Global Directories, said while the company would not apologise for using the scene, it understood the Christian group's concerns.

"In our response to their letter, we apologised for offending them because it was not the intention to offend them. We're not accepting that the depiction was offensive because that is a matter of interpretation," Neita told The Gleaner.

"We have provided an alternative cover for institutions such as churches and schools. Anybody who is offended by that depiction, they'll have a choice in having a replacement," he said, adding that the controversial depiction done by Raymond Jackson would remain in circulation.

Three directories are printed for Jamaica yearly: one for Kingston and St Andrew, an islandwide publication, and one residential. The controversial picture is on the cover of the directory for Kingston and St Andrew.

Ska is on the residential directory, while the scene depicting reggae is displayed on the islandwide copy.

In the reggae scene, scantily clad women are shown dancing with men at what appears to be a typical street dance.

Neita said that the company admitted that there's a "commercial and principled" aspect to the decision to print an alternative version.

"A church may be listed in the book [and] once they advertise in the book. In a kind of way, they become a co-sponsor. If it were a private magazine that we were putting forward in the public space, I think it would be a little bit different. I don't think we're resiling from a principled position by saying, 'Hey, I'll give you an alternative'."

Questioned on whether the company was setting a bad precedent by appeasing the church group, Neita said the "power" of the local religious lobby could not be ignored.

"In our society, the Church is a powerful lobby. We are a society that is fundamentally based on Christian principles. I don't think it's something that we can disregard. I'd like to think we kind of took the high road rather," he said.

"We still ended up having both (genres of music)."

Meanwhile, dancehall expert Dr Donna Hope said she did not see anything wrong with the scene.

"Dancehall culture is a very important part of Jamaican youth culture, and a dancehall scene on the front of the Yellow Pages, I and others thought it was an appropriate kind of image in a country where dancehall continues to provide response to and information about who we are as a people."

She said West has questions to answer.

"I would question Dr West on what children are exposed to in Jamaica and also wonder if Dr West is aware of the longevity of dancehall in Jamaica and the similarity in terms of his comment with that of many others."

The University of the West Indies senior lecturer added: "I would also want to find out if it is that Dr West, as a clergyman who is aware of the various challenges that we face in Jamaica, with multiple aspects of the socialisation planks, has also taken to task other critical aspects of our society that have been impacting our young people."

Neita declined to give the cost of the reprinting.

ENDS

Dr Wayne West and company seems to forget this is a free country where there is separation of church of state, this is not a theocracy; fearmongering on a simple artwork that is also representing older concepts of dancehall, yes I agree that appropriateness overall in other spaces where children maybe exposed is important but the photo(s) are tame compared to what children are exposed to on social media via smartphones that are not monitored and present dancehall aesthetics. Because the photos reflect the bowels of the people elitists such as Dr West would want to suppress expressions, the photo is not racy as now and is not relevant to the current context of dancehall. The age difference or generation gap is clear here as the values of older persons who mostly populate these anti gay and fanatical groups is way different and ever changing than todays ‘millennials’ generations as they are called they do not even use phonebooks some may not even know what such an item is; it is near obsolete and relevant to an older demographic as laptops (slowly going out of style as well) smartphones, tablets, fablets and possibly wireless personal communications in the touted forms of a cyborg type are coming as talk of such are here. Even church people are using Bible APP instead of a hard copy of the Bible and one has to ask where does this man and his foolish followers live? They are used more so for propping short people on a bench per say or just to decorate the coffee table at home or so.

Do we hear teens or kids ask for a phonebook!

This whole ugly mess is sheer nonsense and somebody needs to tell Dr West where he and his cronies should go jump off. In the words of Dennis Brook this morning on his ‘What’s on my mind’ segment on Nationwide, “Shut your pie-hole” JCHS just makes honest peaceful church folks look bad as the ‘church’ gets labelled overall as silly or behind the times. Sad the rest of the church community who seem not to want to ruffle the feathers of some stay silent when crap like this occur.

‘Nuff said.

Peace & tolerance

H

also see:
Leighton Levy on Gays are not our problem .... JCHS told to check the mirror

Ronnie Thwaites’ rubbish on flying rainbow flags grooms children into “particular lifestyle”


Christians say ... Don't force gay agenda on them ........ lol  

Hypocrisy from the religious bigots .. 

Silent on murders, vocal about gays 

Is this a joke .... Church group denies gay bias 

Healthy coalition nonsense! indeed

Reminder: sexual orientation & gender identity are different, Trans Awareness Week

November is Transgender Awareness Week running from the first week in the month, usually the 13th to the 20th culminating in the Transgender Day of Remembrance, TDOR, remembering those who have been taken from us tragically. 

There is a piece of intellectual dishonesty as described by some and downright deception in my eyes of labelling and unqualified diagnosis of transgender persons as ‘mad’ the chief protagonist of it all is none other than Dr Wayne West in his latest round of public advocacy; he has been redirecting the criticism of his outfit Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society, JCHS as ‘Crazy’ and affiliated groups namely Lovemarch, Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship, LCF aided and abetted by radio platforms such as Trinity Broadcasting and other non traditional media. Dr West’s recent references on LOVE 101FM specific to the pending transgender or gender neutral bathroom case slated to head to the US Supreme Court. He claimed in his unabashed support of Donald Trump’s attempts for the Presidency he claimed that transgender persons were ‘crazy’ among other things and went for the gender dysphoria diagnosis although he is not trained in psychology. He then sought to redefine in his mind that ‘normal persons’ in his trademark Trinidadian accent are not ‘confused’ and know who they are, definite male or female and nothing else.

When questioned by the host of the show on supporting a man (Trump) who is accused of some serious infractions and his fitness to run the most powerful government in the world (though slowly losing some credibility) Dr West quickly tried to adjust his position despite Trump is NOT anti LGBT as he has relatives who are so and indeed some of his mid to high end properties do allow same gender couples stay and wedding services, in fact there is word that he made a killing post the gay marriage SCOTUS ruling, notice Trump has not touched gay marriage all that much in his campaign for the Presidency although he has touched the business of the vacancy on the said SCOTUS with the thrust of replacing the deceased judge with another conservative; Dr West claimed to use moral equivalence to say out of the two both of whom as bad choices Trump is the better despite the obnoxiousness that has come to rub persons worldwide the wrong way.

West and others have sought to and continue to lump sexual orientation with gender identity so suggest the LGBTQI global advocacy is to impose new philosophies whilst silencing Christian voices which is not true, all this while having unfettered access to multiple traditional and social media platforms and more misguided public protests on said matters but barely as vocal and strident on other societal ills, they only respond to such when it really looks bad such as the recent Jamaica College student phone murder; one wonders of the one day protest in black was a honest response or was being used to right size the selectivity criticisms by myself and others. It makes for short work to continue to otherize LGBTQI people and they have even gone as far as pushing for intersex children to have surgeries long before they have the ability to give consent as to reassignment surgery where applicable.

West’s designation of sexual orientation as a misnomer in order to legitimize homosexuality has not gone unnoticed he claims that rigidity is the order of the day so one is either heterosexual or homosexual complete with name calling as per usual despite his so called Christian position. He totally ignores the concept of non binary gendering and has expressed fears that the upcoming SCOTUS hearing of the gender neutral bathroom matter may go in the favour of the applicants as the silencing campaign of persons like him continue, the usual victimhood ploy with is so overplayed. People such as West’s allies Betty Ann Blaine has made it her life’s work to label asylum seekers even with legitimate cases of homophobic violence outcomes as liars without any serious evidence shows the level of desperation these folks would go to in the name of God.

Remember these?:

see Gay Jamaica Watch: May 27, 2013

The Gleaner carried: 

'We're Not Crazy' - Local Lobby Defends Anti-Homosexuality Views; Rejects 'Homophobic' Label

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

When did anyone ask for gay marriage rights in Jamaica when we can't get basic tolerance ......... more smokescreen to deny recognition

Continued misconceptions of adult homosexuals being paedophiles and Is this a joke .... Church group denies gay bias and Healthy coalition nonsense! indeed

So let’s right size some of the deception and nonsense here egregiously done in the name of some misguided or misplaced fanatical Christianity, and note the difference between the two:

Sex? Gender? These two words are often used interchangeably, but there are distinct differences.

Sex is commonly understood to be based on a person’s genitals and reproductive organs; these anatomical details are thought to define a person as male or female. Gender is often understood to refer to gender identity, meaning your internal sense of yourself as female, male, or other, regardless of biology.

Truth is what is ultimately going to come to some middle ground on this mess frankly, despite the late in coming change of the position on the buggery law from repeal to decriminalization for example as court challenges are pending, said fanatics also use the deception of a push for a full repeal to give strength to their advocacy and then claim to subscribe to God centered principles which speak to forgiveness, true tolerance and such.

Nuff said

Peace & tolerance

H
also see:

JCSC Highlights Danger Of Debate About Buggery may lead to strife

Jamaica CAUSE issues Veiled threat to Govt to keep the buggery law or else

Another St Thomas Pastor Accused of Rape ....... where are these same groups?

Gay Lobby May Have Lost Potential Allies (after the JFJ sex education saga)

Church Cherry Picking on Issues again

Oh really! ............ Penile/anal penetration is NOT Sex Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society?

Anti Gay Religious group launches pro buggery DVD

Dr Wayne West’s continued intellectual dishonesty ...

Jamaican Pastor says the LGBT issue is not about rights but acceptance of lifestyle

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

Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society continues its “HIV is a gay disease” campaign with more deception added

Anti Gay Religious group launches pro buggery law DVD