Historical distortions, achievements & claims of firsts

While it is not LGBT history month yet as carried on this blog and sister blog GLBTQJA I was forced in a sense to address this issue of ‘firsts’ by some of my older readers who are reading such claims made elsewhere and are asking where are the previous achievements? Persons have been picking their memories on occurrences prior. Whenever we are not interested in being guided by our history we are bound to make mistakes repeatedly and make claims of first in ignorance or misnaming said claims; how many times have we heard the old adage a people who do not know their past are doomed in the future or should use said past to inform their future. While it is commendable to a certain extent to see the push for visibility and continued work the recent claims of firsts is where I am going in terms of the pride week activities by our good friends JFLAG, someone placed on Facebook and elsewhere the claim that they hosted the first ever LGBT sports day which as it turns out is not necessarily true. In the nineteen year history of the entity of which I was apart for over some 16 years we have had some sort of sports days involving lesbian football teams, a table tennis tournament with cash prizes paid out to winners, male netball teams who play in parish tournaments with the combined teams playing overseas as well, interest also came from the Sunshine Girls in a previous dispensation of not only playing with the boys but also training with them as it aided the ladies in tightening their game.

Trouble is we are not very good at properly documenting our journey, an issue I have always had a problem with and continue to, hence this entry. It flies in the face of the aforementioned participants and their role in the slow raising of the visibility of LGBT people in Jamaica; I can recall the backlash the male netballers received when the major dailies paid some attention to them; upon winning a major championship in Trinidad the press did not want to interview them, the local parish championships at the arena fields had it share of issues, there was no social media around then to do their own press so the photos and cut outs of articles were archived somewhere are near lost or forgotten. Speaking of archives to show the lack of appreciation of journeys past and how we got here just think back to the Gay Freedom Movement archives and how they were (mis)treated; after much quarrels they were finally reposed to the co founder Larry Chang, who is also a co-founder of JFLAG. Sadly when requested of previous members of the netball teams or even the cheerleaders they either cannot find the photos or cannot be bothered to go hunting them down; then we wonder why their own legacies are being effectively white washed.

also see:

LGBT History Month: Gay Freedom Movement archives properly re-posited overseas

from the archives Gareth Henry (left) in the male netball team uniform at the Stadium east field with members of the public and LGBT populations watching

some male netballers note that all are gay in this photo

The infamous matches at the Lela Robinson netball courts or the national arena east field courts back in the day were legendary as neighbouring basketball matches would come to a stop in some instances to watch, tease, throw homophobic remarks or just express surprise at men playing netball and doing it damned good. Even school coaches would join in, in recruiting players to guide their young female teams and some former players also sojourn into coaching with one main face that is almost a fixture on quality netballing in Jamaica. The contributions of the late Steve Harvey to the coaching aspect of the sport is also not to be outdone

art display from Pridefest 2011

Then there is the issue of the claim of first Pride in 2015, a claim that rubbed some folks the wrong way in the community as what should have been the clarification is the first ‘public’ pride; to say first pride ever suggests no such activity took place prior and is a slap in the face to event planners and even JFLAG itself when previous programs managers such as Emily Paul had pride events though low keyed were marketed to the LGBT populations with various events. Under Gareth Henry’s tenure the legendary Harmonica Sunbeam performed in Jamaica to a sold out crowd in 2004 during the gaycipation weekend as we termed it then. Then there was the Pridefest initiative by the now defunct Couture Elements team of which loads of photos are available thankfully. Pridefest combined business alongside the arts and identity themes successfully; JFLAG ironically was invited to set up a booth there to which they snubbed much to the surprise of many including the organizers.

It is important that folks claiming firsts do their research ever so carefully and not end up distorting the journey as if only their tenure matters and everyone else’s part is of no moment, with heightened visibility also via social media platforms older individuals need to also tell their stories which is not being done in a large scale. The separation of community based events versus publicly done events must be defined carefully so as to present the movement of the journey if not struggle. But with bloggers with older blogs deleting said blogs as well they clearly do not understand their own contribution by that act to the distortion and only attaching themselves to present activities as if nothing happened before. We better think on these things, what timeline do we want to leave behind, one of embellishments or one of truth?

Peace & tolerance

H

also see:

LGBT History Month: Pride Fest 2011 The First Full Community Introspective

Intersex spokesperson speaks in the European Parliament for the first time ever today

In an historical first this afternoon, the European Parliament heard from an intersex person on the rights and needs of intersex people across Europe

Intersex people are born with bodies that do not entirely match the definition of either the male or female gender.

During a public hearing on the situation of fundamental rights in the European Union in 2015, Dan Christian Ghattas, explained the situation of intersex people in Europe.

"It is estimated that around 1 in 200 people are born intersex," Ghattas explained, "and they are usually subjected to surgery and hormone treatment within the first two years of their lives in order to fulfil societal expectations about gender."

"This treatment of infants means that we do not get the opportunity to make choices about our own bodies. Most intersex people experience psychological trauma as a result.

"This is a violation of our right to self-determination, and contravenes the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights.

"We are asking the European Parliament to take an active role in supporting our rights, including a European Parliament own-initiative report on the rights of intersex people and a study on how EU gender equality legislation could be used to protect our rights."

Vice President of the European Parliament's LGBTI Intergroup, Malin Björk, commented: “LGBTIQ people face a constant political battle for the right to exist. Gender norms around how male and female bodies should look lead to a violation of the right to bodily integrity of intersex people."

"This is a form of violence and we have a responsibility to fight against in our struggle for justice. Therefore, the presence of an intersex organisation in the European Parliament in a hearing on fundamental rights is politically important, and something I value and celebrate.”

Ghattas appeared in the Parliament this afternoon with the support of the European United Left / Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL), the Organisation Intersex International Europe (OII), and the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA).

GUE/NGL Press Contact:

Nikki Sullings +32 22 83 27 60 / +32 483 03 55 75

Gay Kavanagh +32 473 84 23 20

Related MEPs

Homosexuality in Africa (Part 2)

also see: Homosexuality in Africa - (Part 1)

A very exceptional case was provided by the Nkund¢, a Mongo people of what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. Their tradition of homosexuality among men included the requirement that the younger men assume the top position. That tradition had died out by the time it was reported, but had been replaced by several others. One replacement was a game called yembankongo wherein younger boys pretend to be monkeys. Another replacement was the game of "playing parents," which is very commonly reported. Among the youngest children the game is merely imitative of adult sexual positions, but as the young people mature the game becomes perfectly conscious sex. And in the game not much attention is paid to whether the partners are of the same or opposite sexes. Among the older boys, when they lay together, one would say to the other, "This is what I do to your sister." The missionary who made this report then suggests that the boys are not really doing anything homosexual because they say that stuff about each other's sisters. Female homosexuality was well known and was called ya¡kya bons ngo which can be translated very roughly as "bumping pussies." The missionary writes, "Homosexuality has been known among the Nkund¢ since time immemorial, among men as well as women." But then he tries to explain it away, saying it is difficult for the young people to get married (Hulstaert). This kind of doublethink is found over and over in the literature whether the writers are missionaries, colonialists, historians, or anthropologists. A tradition is something that the average person in society knows about and reports. Since the average person in any society is non-gay, traditions of homosexuality are filtered through non-gay perceptions. Then when the traditions are reported, they are filtered again through the prejudices of the anthropologist or the colonial civil servant or whoever. Finally, before the report is printed, it is often is edited or censored. Sometimes we end up with a few sentences in bad Latin, if we are lucky. Often we find only a reference to "unspeakable acts" or "reprehensible scenes." We have a good idea what is meant. But the details are lost. Then we may find a later report that is more candid. We just have to suppose that the later report explains what the "unspeakable acts" were.

Here, however, is an example in which the earlier investigator gave the better account. The Fang live in the forest on the border between Gabon and Cameroon. The Fang were so called Bantus who replaced the original Pygmy inhabitants of this area three or four hundred years ago. One writer (Trezenem) reported: "Neither homosexuality or bestiality have ever been recorded, to our knowledge, among the Fang." That writer did his fieldwork around 1935. Writers who treat homosexuality and bestiality in the same sentence do not merit our trust. The Fang deserve a closer look. Sure enough, a writer who did his fieldwork around 1905 recorded traditions of homosexuality among the Fang. First Gunther Tessmann gives the usual reports of younger people playing parents. He reports a game played by older boys among the neighbouring Pangwe: one boy plays the wife of another and presents the play-husband with a mud pie. If the husband accepts, he pretends to eat the mud pie. They do not, however, pretend to have sex, but have sex in fact. Adult Fang excuse this sort of thing by saying the children do not know what they are doing and that children have no sense of shame. Adult Fang imply that such things never happen between adults. Tessmann then writes: We have spoken of homosexual relations among 'children.' In adults such conduct is regarded as something immoral and unnatural, simply as unheard of. In reality, however, it is frequently 'heard of' that young people carry on homosexual relations with each other and even of older people who take boys, who, as is well known, 'have neither understanding nor shame'. And they readily console them by saying: [we are playing a game]. The children are excused with the well-known assertion, which in its deeper sense can rarely be defended: [they don't know what they are doing]. Adults are excused with the corresponding assertions: [he has the heart of boys], which is, of course, by no means flattering to them.

Publicly, of course, homosexuals are treated with the greatest contempt, and they were therefore forced, as a matter of course, to cast about for a protective covering to shield themselves from the attacks of those who are different, just as a porcupine is protected by its covering of quills, a covering on which the attackers would cut their mouths and their caustic tongues. Such a covering was supplied by medicine, it was said that homosexuality is 'wealth medicine.'

Well, do you think that homosexuality among the Fang had completely disappeared by the Thirties, so that the writer who denied it was being completely honest? Or do you think it more likely that he was not sufficiently interested to ask the right questions of the right people. Certainly he made no great effort to survey the literature on the point. Clearly the Fang are as capable of being hypocritical as anyone. Perhaps by the Thirties they had learned to be more careful about what they said to Europeans. The Fang were not proud of their traditions of homosexuality. Adult male homosexuality was not generally accepted by the Fang. Fang homosexuals had to have a cover story. They told the other Fang: we are not really homosexual; we are just making money. Perhaps the Fang, as much as any of us, realised it was just an excuse, but at least it was an acceptable excuse. This is an example of a homosexual tradition and also an example of a tradition that not everyone in society thinks well of. According to Fang belief, the bottom man has the wealth medicine and the top man acquires it. Tessmann writes: "In actual fact it might turn out the effect of the medicine consists in the mutual support the 'friends' render each other, based chiefly on the consciousness of common guilt and the endeavour not to let this guilt be known." The wealth medicine is called bian nkuma which is generally used as an euphemism for anal sex between men. There is also a down side to this. Fang think homosexuality causes diseases such as leprosy and yaws.

The Fang are great story tellers and you are likely to find some of their stories in any anthology of African folktales. One of the stories involves four suitors who arrive at Bongo's house to court his beautiful daughter. The suitors were Schok I, Schok II, Schok III, and Schok IV. The daughter liked Schok IV. The mother liked Schok III. The brother liked Schok II. Bongo, the father, liked Schok I. Night fell and when they laid down, Schok IV laid with the daughter, Schok III laid with the mother, Schok II laid with the brother, and Schok I laid with Bongo. Schok IV tried to get romantic with the daughter, but since they were all in the same hut, the others made remarks to discourage him. Instead, he and the daughter planned to run away together, and the next day that is what they did. When it became apparent what had happened, Schok III flew into a rage, killed the mother, and fled. But Schok II decided to stay with the brother and be the brother's lover. Bongo wanted to make it up to Schok I, so he offered Schok I money and a wife. But Schok I refused, saying: "No, I don't want it. Rather, let it be that we shall always be together; when you urinate I shall urinate; when you defecate, I shall defecate; when you sleep, I shall also sleep with you in the same bed." Those Fang! Such romantics! Anyway, that is the Fang pledge of eternal love. So Schok I stayed with Bongo and was his lover. They became quite rich. But this is, after all, a Fang story, and the Fang do not approve of homosexuality, so eventually one of the lovers died of leprosy and the other died of yaws, while the Schok who had murdered the mother got away scot-free. In stories, disease awaits all those whom the Fang consider to be sexual deviants, such as anyone who has sex in the daytime.

Aphrodite's P.R.I.D.E Jamaica is four years old today

Logo Designed by Co-Chair Laura Garcia 

Founded February 14th 2010 by a group of lesbian and transgender individuals and straight allies with some thirty years experience combined to address the then invisibility of said groups in the general sphere of representation on community issues and TBL advocacy.

the aims included in its original outlook:

About Us

We are Aphrodite’s PRIDE. We operate as a Non-Profit Organization in Jamaica focusing on issues as they relate to the Jamaican Lesbian, Transgender (M→F & F→M) and Female Bisexual (LTB) Communities.

Our Mission

Our Mission is to create an environment conducive to positive intra and inter-community relations, encourage personal development (AGENCY) and improve self-esteem and create behavior change. We hope to achieve this by utilizing various methods of engagement and interventions.

Our Core Values

We are guided by our core values of Ethics & Integrity, Accountability, Mutual Respect, Compassion, Social Responsibility, Empowerment, Team Work and Balance

Our Priorities

Our priorities include but are not limited to issues as they relate to Outreach, Personal Development, Enterprise Training, limited Crisis Intervention & limited Healthcare within the Lesbian, Transgender & Female Bisexual Communities.

Our Core Competencies

We seek to address intra and inter-community relationship issues by trying to find creative realistic solutions while promoting the celebration of our diversities.

Our Impact

We acknowledge the importance of thinking ‘Outside the Box’ in terms of achieving our goals; so through programs and community education we hope to set important precedents which will help our efforts in creating an environment conducive to such. Also, by encouraging involvement in sporting & cultural activities we hope to promote healthier lifestyles and encourage more social responsibility. In creating a Safe Zone it is our hope that we will positively influence the lives of all in our community; particularly survivors of isolation, marginalization, discrimination, victimization or silenced by society’s restrictive gender norms and socialization. 

ENDS

Since then I was approached by both Co-Chairs to be part of the movement as an ally with limited scope to include some MSM issues and cross cultural matters and have since taken up the Outreach Co-oordinator post since 2012.

Major Activities thus far

Mentorship program with fifteen same gender loving women to identify leaders for community development with some funding assistance from Maynov Productions/Selena Blake; producer of Taboo Yardies Documentary presently being screened in Jamaica. See MORE HERE and from other private donors.

Whitney Reid, transgender voice from the We are Jamaicans Campaign(JFLAG) as a participant in the Entrepreneurship Training in 2013

Entrepreneurship Training/Personal Development:

ongoing Entrepreneurship Training Sessions August 2013 to end in April 2014
with a wide cross section of experts as facilitators 

Issues covered include:

Coming Out

Self Esteem

Business Plan writing

Telling Our Stories

Sankofa Arts Facilitation's Fabian Thomas presenting on the captioned subject matter

Project title:

Seismic. A social engagement programme for LGBT youth; Providing psycho social and enterprise development skills training services for vulnerable LGBT youth

Engaging forty Transgender, Bisexual and Lesbian Jamaicans with some MSM focus on personal development and micro and small business management.

Transgender Awareness Week 2013

Taboo Yardies Screening in Kingston with after discussion; SEE MORE HERE

~*~ Making a positive impact on our Community through Empowerment, Mutual Respect & Camaraderie~*~

Happy anniversary APJ, there is more to come. Thanks for your support and donations can be made to GLBTQJA on their behalf via Paypal (buttons situated on the top left side of this and other blogs in the family)

Peace and tolerance

H

On a sad note one of our participants passed away from a heart condition but we were happy to have had an impact in his life during his final days, rest in peace Jermaine James (24).

The Rainbow Flag is 35 today

A milestone indeed for the symbol of LGBT prowess worldwide.

The rainbow flag, sometimes LGBT pride flag or gay pride flag, is a symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) pride and LGBT social movements in use since the 1970s. The colors reflect the diversity of the LGBT community, and the flag is often used as a symbol of gay pride in LGBT rights marches. It originated in California, but is now used worldwide.

Designed by San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker in 1978, the design has undergone several revisions to first remove then re-add colors due to widely available fabrics. As of 2008, the most common variant consists of six stripes, with the colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. The flag is commonly flown horizontally, with the red stripe on top, as it would be in a natural rainbow.

The original gay-pride flag flew in the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade on June 25, 1978. It has been suggested that Baker was inspired by Judy Garland's singing "Over the Rainbow" and the Stonewall riots that happened a few days after her death. The flag also strongly resembles the ribbon colors of the WWI Victory Medal, though no connection is evidenced. Another suggestion for how the rainbow flag originated is that at college campuses during the 1960s, some people demonstrated for world peace by carrying a Flag of the Races (also called the Flag of the Human Race) with five horizontal stripes (from top to bottom they were red, black, brown, yellow, and white). Gilbert Baker is said to have gotten the idea for the rainbow flag from this flag in borrowing it from the Hippie movement of that time largely influenced by pioneering homosexual activist Allen Ginsberg. The flag consisted of eight stripes; Baker assigned specific meaning to each of the colors:

hot pink: sexuality

red: life

orange: healing

yellow: sunlight

green: nature

turquoise: magic/art

indigo/blue: serenity/harmony

violet: spirit

Thirty volunteers hand-dyed and stitched the first two flags for the parade.

Original eight-stripe version designed by Gilbert Baker in 1978

Version with hot pink removed due to fabric unavailability
(1978–79)

Six-color version popular since 1979. Indigo changed to royal blue.

After the November 27, 1978, assassination of openly gay San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk, demand for the rainbow flag greatly increased. To meet demand, the Paramount Flag Company began selling a version of the flag using stock rainbow fabric consisting of seven stripes of red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, blue, and violet. As Baker ramped up production of his version of the flag, he too dropped the hot pink stripe because of the unavailability of hot-pink fabric. Also, San Francisco-based Paramount Flag Co. began selling a surplus stock of Rainbow Girls flags from its retail store on the southwest corner of Polk and Post, at which Gilbert Baker was an employee.

In 1979 the flag was modified again. When hung vertically from the lamp posts of San Francisco's Market Street, the center stripe was obscured by the post itself. Changing the flag design to one with an even number of stripes was the easiest way to rectify this, so the turquoise stripe was dropped, which resulted in a six stripe version of the flag — red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet.

In 1989, the rainbow flag came to nationwide attention in the United States after John Stout sued his landlords and won when they attempted to prohibit him from displaying the flag from his West Hollywood, California, apartment balcony

For the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in 1994, flag creator Baker was commissioned to create the world's largest rainbow flag. It took months of planning and teams of volunteers to coordinate every aspect. The flag utilized the basic six colors and measured thirty feet wide. Foot-wide sections of the flag were given to individual sponsors as part of a fundraiser for the Stonewall anniversary event once the event had ended. Afterwards additional large sections of the flag were sent with activists and they were used in pride parades and LGBT marches worldwide. The Guinness Book of World Records confirmed it as the world's largest flag.

In 2003 Baker was again commissioned to produce a giant flag. In this case it marked the 25th anniversary of the flag itself. Dubbed "25 Rainbow Sea to Sea" the project entailed Baker again working with teams of volunteers but this flag utilized the original eight colors and measured a mile-and-a-quarter (2 km) across Key West, Florida from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf Coast Sea. The flag was again cut up afterward, and sections sent to over a hundred cities worldwide.

Variations

Many variations of the rainbow flag have been used. Some of the more common ones include the Greek letter lambda (lower case) in white in the middle of the flag and a pink triangle or black triangle in the upper left corner. Other colors have been added, such as a black stripe symbolizing those community members lost to AIDS. The rainbow colors have also often been used in gay alterations of national and regional flags, replacing for example the red and white stripes of the flag of the United States. In 2007, the Pride Family Flag was introduced at the Houston, Texas pride parade.

In the early years of the AIDS epidemic, AIDS activists designed a "Victory over AIDS" flag consisting of the standard six-stripe rainbow flag with a black stripe across the bottom. Leonard Matlovich, himself dying of AIDS-related illness, suggested that upon a cure for AIDS being discovered, the black stripes be removed from the flags and burned.

Other countries' LGBT communities too have adopted the rainbow flag. South Africa with one of the most liberal constitutions in the world, has recently adopted The LGBT flag of South Africa at one of the world's biggest costume parties the Mother City Queer Project 2010 to a crowd of 10 000 party goers. The creator Eugene Brockman said "the flag honors every Gay Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender person as they make the Rainbow Nation dazzle".

LGBT History Month: Allies & Friends Posthumous Recognition 2012

Remembering an ally Shawn or Sean Macfarlane who was taken from us in questionable circumstances, here is the Gleaner article that carried the story:

Former House Orderly Killed

THIRTY-EIGHT-year-old Sean Anthony McFarlane, a former orderly and records clerk in the Houses of Parliament, was brutally slain recently.

McFarlane, who spent some 13 years working in the legislature, was severely chopped all over his body at his home in Greater Portmore.

The Gleaner has learnt that the former parliamentary records clerk was apparently killed by persons known to him. However, the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN) was unable to confirm this.

Reports from the CCN are that residents in the community heard loud noises coming from McFarlane's home on October 3 last month.

According to the CCN, two men were reportedly seen running towards a white Honda Civic motor car and sped off.

McFarlane's body was found in his house with multiple chop wounds.

The Gleaner has been informed that at least three teenagers have been held in connection with McFarlane's killing, but the police could not confirm this yesterday.

A senior parliamentarian told The Gleaner yesterday that he was aware of the killing of the former parliamentary worker.

He, however, pointed out that the House did not acknowledge his untimely passing during its sitting because the tradition was for tributes to be paid only to former parliamentarians.

The legislator indicated that condolences had been made by the staff of Parliament to McFarlane's family.

ENDS

He contributed in his own way during his life to the community though indiretly but importantly non the less as a key ally in the Parliment's library he was instrumental in providing us and directing us to hansard notes on key bills.

Older bills laid on the house floor and which were hard to come by in days gone by long before there was a parliamentary website and even then the public had to wait inordinate periods to see key public materials, Shawn was always ready to assist my requests and that of other organizations who wanted to have vital debates and white/green papers sometimes that were tabled on our house floor. He was key in gathering the notes on the Sexual Offences Bills when they were debated and amended and also the problematic Charter of Rights Bills and associated hansard notes especially the presentation by Hyacinth  Bennett at the time.

He was also a loyal friend although he laid low and out of sight to avoid being labelled as gay seeing he was married with two beautiful children.

Another unsung hero and one who served though quietly but importantly.

Peace and tolerance

H

Jamaica Places third in Miss Gay Caribbean 2012 competition

Yes our representative this year in the Miss Gay Caribbean Detoxx Bústi-ae did us proud non the less and right in LGBT History Month at that as the show was held in New York recently in September, Miss Trinidad came in as first runner up while St Lucia won this year's competition which was hot from the get go. (see full video below)

Our girl was stunning!!!!!!! as shown below with shots courtesy of her Facebook page

This year we have been given a treat by the organizer as they have uploaded the full show for us overseas to see and judge for ourselves. I was not particularly pleased with some of the responses to our girl but overall we are there in the top three. Many persons said she was not "yard" enough and too American to bring off the local swag but she was ok for me and her fierceness was great in my view not to mention her makeup skills are awesome

Yeaaaahhhh

I was taken by her original interview and her bubbly personality as shown here:

Meanwhile here is a shot of the winner from St Lucia

Congrats to all the gurlz who entered. They really stepped up this year.

FIERCESS IS ALWAYS WELCOMED

Here is Miss St Lucia "December Snow" coverage in her home country:

Peace and tolerance

H

October is LGBT History Month, Breast Cancer Awareness & also Coming out day ............

Coming Out Day is an internationally-observed civil awareness day for coming out and discussion about gay, lesbian, bisexual, asexual and transgender (LGBT) issues. It is observed by members of the LGBT communities and their supporters (often referred to as "allies") on October 11 every year originally in the US but spreading wordwide, or October 12 in the United Kingdom.

Coming out / being "open"

NCOD founders Rob Eichberg, Ph.D. and Jean O'Leary encouraged all people, of all sexual orientations, to "take your next step" in living openly and powerfully on October 11th.
It is highly encouraged for participants on this day to wear gay pride symbols, such as the pink triangle (gay men), the black triangle (lesbians), the Greek letter lambda, and rainbows in jewelry and on clothing.

History

The day was founded by Dr. Robert Eichberg and Jean O'Leary in 1988,acting on behalf of their organizations, The Experience (www.ExperienceYourPower.com) and National Gay Rights Advocates in celebration of the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights one year earlier, in which 500,000 people marched on Washington, DC, United States, for gay and lesbian equality. National Coming Out Day events are aimed at raising awareness of the LGBT community among the general populace in an effort to give a familiar face to the LGBT rights movement.

Multi-national observance

In the United States, the Human Rights Campaign manages the event under the National Coming Out Project, offering resources to LGBT individuals, couples, parents and children, as well as straight friends and relatives, to promote awareness of LGBT families living honest and open lives. Candace Gingrich became the spokesperson for the day in April 1995.

Despite its name, National Coming Out Day (so called because it originated as an event in the United States) is in fact observed in many countries, including Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Croatia, Poland and the United Kingdom (in the UK it is celebrated on October 12). As of 2008, the Netherlands also has Coming Out Day on October 11.

For Jamaicans here on the rock that may not be so easy given the sensitivities involved and our active homophobia, one could maybe come out to close family members and friends and hope they keep it close to their chests or if one resides overseas and can literally insulate themselves dependent on the social class they are in as homophobia is far more pronounced in lower socio economic circles.

If you feel you want to observe this day in your life please be cautious and review the information so expertly provided out there.

Also it is LGBT History Month for all of October more posts to come on that in the meantime see the LGBT History tab below this post or go to GLBTQJA Wordpress

CLICK HERE for posts from GLBTQ Jamaica and scroll down.

or HERE for previous entries on Gay Jamaica Watch's blog

Here is an older audio commentary I had done back in the day

 LGBT History Month Jamaica 

It was earlier this year our local diva Diana King came out to the world.

See more here: Diva Diana King Comes Out or HERE where she further spoke to her decision.

Breast Cancer Awareness month is also recognized and here is a post from 2011 where a Jamaican lesbian shared her struggle with the disease and overcoming some of the challenges.

See: Breast Cancer Month: A Jamaican Lesbian’s survival story …………….

also

Male Breast Cancer 

Additional listening on the happenings of the Club Heavens rebirth earlier this year making it the longest serving club until the recent raid by cops supposedly looking for lotto scammers. It is hoped it may reopen soon to continue the tradition of serving wonderful events.

 Club Heavens The Rebirth 12.02.12  

And an old post on some of the historic happenings locally

 LGBT History Month Jamaica 

Peace and tolerance

H

Atheism, Secularism and Buggery ..............

LGBT History on Tuesday September 18 was made with the above interview on TVJ's Religious Hardtalk when two activists who happen to also be atheists or secularist supporters appeared there. A pre-LGBT history month post of sorts however in days following one of the guests Javed Jaghai posted on his blog that Television Jamaica, TVJ erred and censored his comments on buggery.

See:

TVJ Censors Atheism Episode of Religious Hardtalk

The Jamaican media is not as free and fair as we would like to believe. A few weeks ago, I agreed to speak about atheism on Religions Hardtalk alongside Angeline Jackson. The host, Ian Boyne, had read a letter to the editor of The Gleaner in which I stated that I am gay and he asked whether I’d be comfortable speaking about my sexuality. We agreed that it wouldn’t be a talking point, but that if it became relevant I would not skirt around it.

In response to a question about the buggery law, I stated that as a gay Jamaican it is offensive to my being. Ian exclaimed that I was both an atheist AND gay in Jamaica, and we laughed then moved on.  The next day I emailed him asking for his assurance that our exchange concerning my sexuality would not be cut from the program. He said he did not intend to do so. In fact, he had instructed the editors to make it the promo.

Two hours before the program aired, I received an email from Ian informing me that the program was sanitized of my acknowledgement of my sexuality. I was told the editors were concerned for my safety, as he was initially, and that he did not fight for transparency. I was furious! Silence and invisibility does not protect minority groups from violence. It allows ignorance and prejudice to go unchallenged. How dare they insult me by telling me I’m being silenced for my own good. Tell that to someone with a less sophisticated understanding of social oppression.

TVJ has no qualms about inviting so-called “ex-gays” to speak about their turn from homosexuality through prayer and counseling. They eagerly obscure your face and distort your voice when you are speaking about molestation by (predatory) homosexuals and about your constant struggle to reject perverse sexuality.

You are to remain faceless! Furthermore, the station recklessly sensationalizes news stories dealing with homosexuals and homosexuality (HFLE anyone?).
Last summer, TVJ refused to air a PSA aimed at promoting tolerance for LGBT people. Kay Osbourne, the general manager at the time, justified the decision of the station by explaining their responsibility to respect the views and wishes of the majority. Editors there have NO understanding of how (by commission and by omission) they promote discourse that marginalizes homosexuals and makes violence against us permissible.

But I am to believe they are genuinely concerned about my safety. Because a yessideh mi bawn outa fimi madda woom.

The next day I received a tweet from a friend who lamented that he woke up to see the rebroadcast of the program at 10am but it did not air. I immediately emailed Ian, because I imagined my friend must have tuned in at the wrong time. Ian told me TVJ decided they would not show a repeat of the program. Since the most offensive bit of the interview was expunged by the editors, one can only assume the rest of the segment was also deemed objectionable.

On a program that seeks to explore diverse perspectives on religion, some views are obviously not welcome. TVJ allows you to use their platform if they can make a spectacle of your beliefs while affirming the supremacy of Christian theology. How dare someone not show reverence to God while unambiguously advocating for the subversion of Christian hegemony! What I find stunning about TVJ’s decision is that it illustrates a point I made during the show that the voices of atheists and secularists are actively suppressed in Jamaica.
I am now convinced TVJ is more interested in further institutionalizing Christianity than facilitating progressive dialogue about secularism, diversity and inclusion.

That said, I am surprised the station posted the episode on their website and I would not be surprised if it was pulled abruptly.

Here is my two cents some days before via another post

   Atheism & Secularism may cloud the struggle for lgbt rights in Jamaica 

Melbourne elects Australia's first intersex Mayor

Melbourne has Australia’s first openly intersex Mayor following the election of long time queer community supporter and advocate Councillor Tony Briffa to the top position at the City of Hobsons Bay at the end of November.

Not being associated with any particular political party, Tony Briffa is an independent councillor whose focus has remained on representing his community (where he has lived all his life), community diversity and environmental issues.

Speaking enthusiastically at the launch of the Midsumma 2012 program on the weekend before the Hobson’s Bay election, Briffa who was a councilor at the time, said he was proud to be a member of the queer community and excited about the involvement of the city he represented in the full cultural life of Melbourne.

At the launch, he announced his intention to run for mayor, promising that should he get the top mayor position that he would be attending Victoria’s Pride March in February 2012 in full mayoral robes. Since officially becoming Mayor of the city of Hobsons Bay, Briffa has re-confirmed his intention to march at Pride March in the official robes. The City of Hobsons Bay, which includes the suburbs of Altona, Brooklyn, Laverton, Newport, Seabrook, Spotswood and Williamstown, has played an increasingly significant role in Melbourne’s queer cultural celebration the Midsumma Festival over the past few years, becoming a major hub of the 2012 program.

“I am excited about the future of our community and look forward to serving the city with enthusiasm and pride,” Briffa said following his election.

National LGBTI Health Alliance Board Member Gina Wilson says Briffa is inspiring.

“Tony is an inspiration and a role model for a whole generation of intersex people, both those who have suffered early interventions and those who have come to their differences later in life,” Wilson said.

“We share Tony’s hope that his election will break down taboos associated with intersex differences. Tony is a wonderful example of how intersex people can overcome the devastating and unnecessary medical treatment meted out to so many intersex children, and go on to become champions of human rights and cultural diversity for everyone.”

Additional Information:
The following is provided to help people understand who I am on a more personal level, particularly given my genetic intersex condition and some of the media articles about it. (Note that intersex conditions are sometimes also referred to as Disorders of Sexual Development, but I like to consider them as just a variation in nature).

The first thing parents are told when a baby is born is whether the baby is a boy or a girl. In my case, doctors weren’t sure because I was born with physical attributes of both sexes as well as missing attributes of both (i.e. a genetic intersex condition). This means I am biologically not exclusively male or female but somewhere in between (or both). My doctor immediately referred me to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne who ran a number of tests including chromosomal karyotyping, hormonal analysis, a laparotomy and biopsies. They diagnosed me with an intersex condition called “Partial Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome” and the treatment paradigm – likely elsewhere in the world – dictated that I was to be raised as a girl, any male physical attributes had to be surgically removed if possible, and I was not to be told the truth about my condition. This was a particularly difficult time for my parents.As a result of my diagnosis I was named Antoinette and raised as a girl. I went to Mount Saint Joseph’s Girls’ College in Altona and lived as a woman until I learned the truth about my condition and sought to find out who I would have been had the medical profession not sought to “normalise” me. I didn’t have a gender identity issue; I just wanted to be the person nature had intended. Frankly, after learning about my condition I felt like I was living a lie as a woman given I did not have a complete female reproductive system and was also born with some internal male organs.

After starting hormone replacement therapy to replace the hormones my testes would have produced had I not been castrated as a child, my body started to change. My voice deepened and I started to grow hair in places where I never had hair before. It started getting more difficult being “Antoinette” so I had my identity documentation “corrected” to state I was male. I didn’t particularly feel male because I didn’t have all the basic male attributes and the male upbringing, but it made public life easier. The funny thing is that my birth certificate is as wrong stating my sex as male, as it was when it classified me as female.

Years later I feel very comfortable having accepted my true nature. I am not male or female, but both. I am grateful for the years I lived as a woman and the insight and experiences it gave me. I am still “Antoinette” and have now also incorporated and accepted my male (“Anthony” or “Tony”) side. I feel whole. I’ll continue to live as Tony but I feel I am now at a point in my life where I can celebrate being different.
I am very touched that despite my condition the Altona and Hobsons Bay community has always accepted me. I think it shows our community is genuinely accepting and understanding of people who are different.

The following articles are just some examples of things I’ve done or articles written about me and my condition. My personal story has also been featured twice on 60 Minutes and I continue to advocate strongly for the rights of children born with intersex conditions and their families:

• “Choosing the Right Gender”, The Age (1 February 2005)

• “He’s the Man”, 60 Minutes (4 September 2005)

• “Human rights close to home for Tony Briffa”, Hobsons Bay Weekly (2 September 2009)

• “Dilemmas when gender is uncertain”, The Australian (19 March 2005)

• “Tony Briffa goes boldly as ‘other’”, The Hobsons Bay Weekly (7 July 2010)

• “Award-winning research gives hope to children of uncertain sex”, IBM Output (Winter 2007)

• Presentation by Tony Briffa at an Anti-Discrimination Board of NSW forum at the NSW Parliament House in 2003

LGBT History Month: Allies – Posthumous Recognition ’11 Part III

In remembering some of the Allies of the community and outside the community as well this LGBT History Month folks we lost in this year and times before, here are some individuals who were fearless in their own right and contributed much over time in their various forms or just lived life to the fullest. In Part 1 as posted on sister blog GLBTQJA Wordpress we had an interesting mix of persons who left us this year plus unsung heroes from decades before. In Part II I continued with some popular figures on the social scene including a transgender sister who was murdered this year unfortunately by her lover after a heated argument. 

There were brief snippets on them and what they meant to the community which is a far cry I must admit in some instances to what they are worth but it is a start in archiving our history, some of the information maybe lost in time forever.
This round in part III let us continue to look at the mix of persons who made their mark or left a trail for us. For now let us settle for posthumous tributes until we can safely highlight those who are alive and serving barring repercussions or forced outings. 

Paul Phillips passed in late 2010 after a brief illness, wonderful soul, warm personality, old world charm and an advocate in his own private capacity. Many can attest to it.

Howard Daly, Rastafarian of Guyanese extraction 

Jamaica AIDS Support, JFLAG Executive, Choreographer, Author, Life Coach, The Voice of Reason he passed away on September 4th 2010 from Complications due to Colon cancer.

Here is an original entry on GLBTQJA Wordpress at the time when he passed 

Ransford "Ranny" 

Long Standing advocate and employee at Jamaica AIDS Support for Life unfortunately he too succumbed to complications of the disease with which some say very little assistance from his former employers up to his promotion to glory. Volunteered with several HIV/AIDS initiatives, a former member of JamQuest a short lived sporting outfit that included male netballers, footballers and table tennis athletes who were LGBT people. His trademark locks were his identifying marker and at one point he trimmed them away much to the shock and dismay of coworkers and friends but he eventually regrew them. I have very little else on Ranny but this pic came from an old trip he was on with the group back in the day.

RIP Ranny

the beautiful Mi'Que all dolled up, transgender figure and party animal as hinted to in the introduction above see more here on Gay Jamaica Watch on her passing earlier this year

Remembering Donahue Jimmy Bulgin: April 11, 1966 - April 14, 2005

Thanks to a fellow DJ/Queen from Toronto DJ Relentless I was reminded of this awful event in 2005 and like me Relentless also made a decision to desist playing certain dancehall tunes in protest against murder music, since I hardly spin dancehall but more dancemusic for the club kidz, here is one of many poems that were dedicated to Bulgy as he was also known at the time of his murder in western Jamaica.

Thanks Relentless for this.

There ends 2011 entries for LGBT History Monthy, I do hope they are some source of inspiration to you, please seek expressed permissions for use of photos or hotlink any third party sharing to this and other posts if you used the materials therein

Peace and tolerance

H