Is mere tolerance enough?

So in our deeply homophobic society there are many like me who are calling for tolerance but it dawned on me what happens if and when such tolerance ever comes, the tolerance I speak of is of course not limited to just mere ignoring gay or other lifestyle practices and choices but freedoms as well. I have often hinted in previous posts here and on Gay Jamaica Watch (see the tolerance tab for related posts) in questioning aren’t we already a tolerant nation but just don’t realize how much we are?

Stereotypical gay characters dot our pantomime and arts sections of our society and the public sometimes pay top dollars to see these plays and skits knowing fully well what they are getting as entertainment. To stretch it a little further we accept gay icons in entertainment from other cultures like an Elton John or George Michael even Rupaul whose songs are played on radio daily and we slowly digest soap operas that have gay characters in them as well so what is holding us back from the realities on the ground that gay people exist here?

Persons maybe aware of gays living near or beside them but will be tolerant as long as they don’t show it or display the stereotypical expectations that of effeminate behavior or regular and rapid same sex visitors. So what drives this underlying need to beat or hate LGBT people especially men when they are fingered or allegedly caught in the act is still unclear?

We have a myriad of religions and faiths such as Rastafarianism, Jewish faiths, Muslim (save and except for a few crackpots),Seven Day Adventists, Church of God, Pentecostal etc. while they may all disagree on certain principles and ways of worship we have never in our history had holy wars or any semblance of that between the groups.

So maybe the level of tolerance has to be deeper and not just passing permissions because someone is asking for or demanding it or its done just to keep the faggots quiet so they wont complain too much, it has to be real then, but how de we measure real?

Tolerance or acquiescence?
The Prime Minister during the Sexual Offences Bill debate did exactly that, a kind of patronizing to gays where he hinted that while gays are free to live without being harmed the police must protect all citizens the buggery law will not be repealed or gay marriage will not be allowed, bearing in mind no one asked for gay marriage here in Jamaica. In other words gays and gay groups should shut up because we are lucky to be alive so just deal with it. If we are a nation with a motto that says “Out of many, One People” then why aren’t we really living it to the full extent of the words? There are so many other kinds of intolerant behavior, political, gender, class, religious (towards gays) and even within the LGBT community.

Acceptance of differences maybe a key lesson that has to be introduced to the young and re-taught or reintroduced to the adult population but when this presented as a solution the critics of gay rights and tolerance say gays are trying to force the gay agenda to the population and particularly the young. The notion that homosexuality can be caught or is contagious is a reality for some they are terrified of anything that remotely gives or hints to the gay lifestyle thus again lets go back to the Sexual Offences Bill and the Charter of Rights Debate as well where several clauses that hinted to gender discrimination or equality were forcibly removed by seemingly paranoid religious groups who were bent on making sure that LGBT people saw no chance of ever gaining any hold to rights or freedoms. Religion is often used as divisive and a way to justify imposing sanctions of lifestyles and behaviors that others find offensive, the church which is supposed to be the body incorporating love and acceptance is guilty of this use of divisive rhetoric to keep control of moral authority.

The famous six references that hint to homosexuality in the bible are often used with the greatest of ease to push gay lifestyles into a corner or to cover the closet queens hiding among their midst while heterosexual sins such as premarital pregnancy or fornication are viewed as mistakes and easily forgiven and life goes on. But yet the message of love is contextualized to push religious individuality and nothing else, where is the message of tolerance church? What about the line that God is love or is he considered love only after you have accepted him as Lord and Saviour and throw tides then he loves you?

Mere tolerance therefore may not be enough based on the above reasoning but you may have a different take on it, maybe a deeper appreciation for human beings on a whole and a certain selflessness that makes one open to all, to grow into that being in our context may not be so easy.

Public comments please.

Peace and tolerance none the less

H

Because 2010 Bisexual Conference Information

Bisexual Empowerment Conference:

A Uniting, Supportive Experience

Mark your calendar for April 16-18, 2010

at Hamline University in St. Paul

from the planners:

Spring 2009 marked the 15th BECAUSE Conference. We had a FANTASTIC turnout and look forward to seeing everyone again this year!

The BECAUSE Conference is the premier weekend event in the Midwest for bisexuals, queers, non-mono-sexual, bi-curious, questioning, and all others, regardless of sexual or gender identity. This conference is open to everyone!

This year conference attendees will find an exciting and packed weekend of social and educational programming, including keynote speaker Amy André. Amy is a writer, activist and current Executive Director of San Francisco Pride who will be speaking about health in the bisexual community. In addition to workshops on Saturday, there will be a conference wide panel titled It’s Time: Perspectives on Bisexuality Past, Present and Future. The panel will be comprised of current and past bisexual activists and allies from across the Nation discussing bisexuality, the bisexual identity and the bisexual movement. Also, on Saturday evening we will have our annual Drag Show/Cabaret event.

Keep checking this site for updates on the conference schedule, workshops and other exciting information about BECAUSE 2010.

Planning for BECAUSE 2010 is underway -- this is the time to get involved! Email BECAUSEconference@gmail.com for details.

They thank everyone who attended the conferences in the past and everyone who has worked so hard to make each event such a success. 2009 was the largest BECAUSE Conference in history--they hope to continue growth and service to the bi community. Help them to serve you!

This is an autonomous grass roots conference, so send them a message if your group would like to host it in 2011. This year's planning committee can assist with the transition and get you started on planning!

What vaginas Want slide information on Lesbian interventions

as presented at the LGBTQI Health Summit in 2009

Cherry Bomb Lesbian discussion: "Dating Someone in the Closet"

the ladies of Cherry Bomb welcome their friend and producer/director Mel Robertson to the couches to talk about the pitfalls and positives of dating someone who's still in the closet. Mel lets us in on the details for her upcoming film, Queens of the World, a coming of age, lesbian love story within the world of women’s professional soccer.

And the surprise question of the week: What if a straight girl has a crush on you? Do you try to bring her to the other side of the fence?

Cherry Bomb Lesbian discussion: "Dating Out of Your League"

the Cherry Bomb ladies welcome Doria Biddle of The Frank DeCaro Show on Sirius Radio to discuss dating out of your league. Do you put yourself in the same league as others do?

And in this week’s question from an audience member: What if you fall in love with someone and it happens to be a woman — are you gay or did you make a choice?

To struggle for gay rights is to struggle for all rights

By Scott Long — Special to GlobalPost

Basic rights and freedoms are for all people

The struggle for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's human rights is not just a campaign for a minority or a battle for gradual law reform. It is about what kind of societies we want to live in - and what kinds of people we want to be.
Scott Long, director, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program, Human Rights Watch

NEW YORK - The email came to Human Rights Watch anonymously, late one night.

"I am a gay, working in Saudi Arabia ... last night me and my friends were in the shopping mall and suddenly the Saudi police attack us and arrested my friend Mu'ayyad and I managed to run away ... He is in jail and they are treating him like an animal, they abuse him and hit him every minute, please we don't have any hope ..."

From our office in New York, we spent days trying to find a Saudi lawyer for this man. When he was eventually freed, we worked with refugee organizations to help him escape the country. A few months later, I visited him in Jordan, where he'd found temporary shelter. He spoke haltingly of his ordeal: picked up by the Saudi religious police because they thought his T-shirt suspiciously tight, his walk too "feminine." They tortured him and tried to rape him in his prison cell.

Mu'ayyad was an Iraqi, not a Saudi citizen. He'd been forced to flee Baghdad for the relative safety of Riyadh a year earlier. When his relatives in Iraq had learned he was gay, his entire extended family vowed to kill him.

As a refugee, Mu'ayyad was finally able to resettle in the United States. We only learned his story by accident: because his lonely, terrified friend sent out an email in the dark.

Many such stories happen. Most remain in darkness. Around the world, few places are safe for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. Some 80 countries criminalize consensual homosexual sex. Over half of them, from Malaysia to Jamaica, are clinging to repressive laws on "sodomy" that were left behind by British colonialism. The United States itself only scrapped its own such laws seven years ago.

New legal repression threatens. Uganda, not content with the law the British left, is debating a draconian "anti-homosexuality bill" that would inflict the death penalty on repeat offenders. "Promoting homosexuality" - any positive mention of it, any advocacy for gay people's rights - would incur a five-year sentence. And anyone who failed to report a homosexual to police within 24 hours would face three years in prison. The bill would build a nation of informers, turning citizen against citizen, sibling against sibling.

Mu'ayyad's story points to deeper dangers, though. For most LGBT people, the law is less threatening than prejudice and panic, hate and fear: an environment where families can be moved to kill their children in the name of "morality" or "honor." The Uganda bill, too, draws strength from how politicians and religious leaders seeking popularity and power have demonized LGBT people for years. One homophobic minister in Kampala this year promised to lead a "million man march" to support the death penalty for gays.

Around the world, sexuality has become a battleground.

"Fundamentalism" is a word both over-used and ill-defined. If it means anything, though, it describes movements that try to capture the state, to enforce social norms that society, community and family used to impose. Fundamentalisms feed on fear, on the sense of social breakdown, on the intuition that old values need new policing to prop them up.

Governments thus use their nightsticks and their surveillance systems to control people's bodies, to intrude in areas of private life that in many cases used to be irrelevant to them or off-limits. Ambitious politicians exploit fears of women's and men's sexual freedom for their own ends. Preachers and reporters alike stoke the atmosphere of prejudice, invoking desperate measures needed to combat what they call decadence.

One example: in Iraq in 2009, media and mosques spread fears that Iraqi manhood was somehow threatened with being "feminized" after years of occupation. Headlines and sermons warned that Western habits and an insidious "softness" were eating away at masculinity. Militias seized the chance to pose as protectors of morality, and started hunting victims - not just gay men, but any men who seemed "unmanly." Tight jeans or gelled hair could spell death.

Hundreds may have been murdered, kidnapped from homes or killed on the streets. In some cases the killers shot glue up their victims' anuses: a brutal reminder that their bodies were the abject property of others' beliefs, a reminder of what happens if you break unwritten laws of gender.

As human rights activists, we try to change practices, not sentiments. Yet LGBT rights defenders always know that the real terrain of our struggles lies in hearts and minds, in consciences scarred by hatred or open to acceptance.

There have been signs of hope this year. In June 2009, an Indian court overturned that country's 149-year-old sodomy law - the first such law that Britain ever imposed on its colonial possessions. It freed countless citizens of the world's largest democracy from the threat of blackmail or police harassment.

Yet the court saw its decision as extending beyond a single bad law. It affirmed this was not just about privacy or the citizen's right to safety behind closed doors, but about Indian democracy itself. It explicitly rejected a vision of the state as protective parent or as divisive judge. It cited Nehru, the nation's founder, declaring that "Where society can display inclusiveness and understanding," everyone can lead a life of dignity.

That is the real truth which voices too long shrouded in silence have been saying to us all. The struggle for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's human rights is not just a campaign for a minority or a battle for gradual law reform. It is about what kind of societies we want to live in - and what kinds of people we want to be. It is about rejecting hatred and irrational fear; it is about the freedom to live an autonomous life. Ultimately, the struggle is about all of us, for all of us.

Few Caplteon's show cancelled in the US

With the assistance of vigilant GLTB persons in San Francisco Fire Bun artist Capleton's upcoming shows have been cancelled, according to Humboldt Against Hate and Michael Petrelis' blog one of the promoters wrote to underscore the reasons why the cancellation was done.

According to Joe Mazzotti, the performance has been canceled.

Queer Humboldt and other area organizations have planned an informational meeting for venue owners and promoters, in hopes that people can learn of potential difficulties before renting out their spaces to the very few performers that are being boycotted due to murder music. If you are a promoter or venue owner and would like to participate, please contact Queer Humboldt

If you are looking for more information about "murder music," the following is an excellent starting point:

http://www.soulrebels.org/dancehall.htm

It is a wonderful feeling to know that our community will stand up and speak out when necessary.

Thanks again,
Mitch Trachtenberg

Actual Message from Joe Mazzotti:

Thank you for your inquiry in regards to Capleton!

We were unaware that He had been So aggressive in his actions, It was my understanding that Numerous well known artists had been listed and that he was one of them but had signed an RCA Agreement and so we were assured by the promoters who rents the room that he was all good now!

That is now known to be Very Untrue! for this reason the show has been Canceled!Mazzotti's has and always will support any persons right(s) to live happily, healthy and free of the kind of Violent acts this Hater espouses!

We hope that this "DOES NOT" Cause you to reconsider any future involvement with Mazzotti's on the Plaza!
Sincerely!

Joe M.

He as added more dates however in California, Nevada and Florida as follows:
San Diego, CA, on Monday, February 15, at the San Diego Sports Arena.

San Luis Osbispo, CA, on Wednesday, February 17, at the Downtown Brewing Company.

Crystal Bay, Nevada, on Thursday, February 18, at the Tahoe Biltmore.

Oakland, CA, on Saturday, February 20, at the Fox Theatre.

Long Beach, CA, on Sunday, February 21, at the Long Beach Arena.

Miami, FL, on Saturday, February 27, at Bayfront Park.

More updates to come where applicable

Peace and tolerance

H

Ralston ‘Rex’ Nettleford: A nation his monument

WE find our emotion about the passing of Mr Rex Nettleford somewhat perplexing; a tinge of anger that greatness has been ripped from our national soul; a

gut-deep sense of remorse. What a loss to Jamaica, the Caribbean and the world!

For let us admit it at the outset, this was no mere man. Words are not now going to be adequate to capture the essential Rex, a man said to choreograph ideas in the manner he creates symphony of movement.

That he died in the United States capital, the District of Columbia, is, perhaps, not by accident, under the same sky, breathing the same air as President Barack Obama, a man in the image that Rex articulated of the Black race and whose elevation to the most powerful office in the world made of Washington the undisputed capital of the globe. For Rex was a citizen of the world.

How will men speak the name Ralston 'Rex' Nettleford? How will we who are left to mourn his departure define his legacy?

We have always marvelled at the extraordinary mental dexterity of Rex Nettleford, that he could pack a hundred lifetimes into one brief 76 years on planet Earth. Here truly was a man who did not belong to himself, but gave of his every molecule to the betterment of his human family, especially Jamaicans.

Rex Nettleford hardly knew how to say no, if there was a clear opportunity to enlighten and educate, engage and endear, moreso with ordinary Jamaicans. Although he used many avenues of expression, academia, culture and the art through dance and movement, the written and the spoken word, Mr Nettleford was above all a teacher. In the classroom of the University of the West Indies, he was second to none, refusing to relinquish that role even when he became Vice Chancellor in 1997.

Jamaicans will remember him for his articulation of their craving to be 'smady', or 'smaddification' -- to be accepted as somebody with worth and character and not mere hewers of wood and carriers of water in the grand scheme of things.

If even on a lighter note, it was he who cautioned a generation of Jamaicans trying recklessly to break out of old moulds and climb the social ladder, that "a bhutu in a Benz is still a bhutu".

At times like this, a country needs to honour its great sons. We believe it will be a challenge to find additional fitting tribute to Rex Nettleford who has been so honoured and decorated locally, regionally and internationally.

In the international arena, he has received at least 14 honorary degrees from universities, including the University of Toronto and the University of Oxford. The 'Professor' has served in various leadership capacities on numerous regional and international bodies including his beloved Caribbean Community (Caricom), the West Indian Commission, UNESCO, the International Labour Organisation and the Organisation of American States. He is also the recipient of the Zora Neale Hurston-Paul Robeson Award for Outstanding Scholarly Achievement from the National Council for Black Studies, USA.

In 2008, he received the region's highest honour, the Order of the Caribbean Community, and in Jamaica, the nation's third highest honour, the Order of Merit (OM) in 1975.

Our humble suggestion to the Government is that a broad committee representing the major interests he served be quickly assembled to consider the most fitting tribute that a grateful people can pay.

In any event, we already know, that the greatest monument to Mr Ralston 'Rex' Nettleford is indeed, the Jamaican nation.

US Study: “Abstinence-Only” Delays Sexual Activity in Pre-Teens

Abstinence-only sex education delayed sexual activity among pre-teens, and it reduced the amount of recent sexual activity among those who were already sexually active, according to a study published in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine and reported in ScienceDaily.

For the study, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania followed 662 African Americans in grades six and seven who were randomly assigned to an abstinence-only class, a safer sex–only class or a combined abstinence and safer-sex class. As a control group, some students attended a class that promoted general health and did not discuss sexual matters.

Two years after the intervention, 33 percent of students in the abstinence-only group reported having sex, compared with half of the control group. In addition, students who were sexually active during the study reported fewer incidents of recent sexual activity.Researchers found none of the classes significantly affected consistent condom use or unprotected sex.

There was also no difference in condom use among participants who lost their virginity during the study. The abstinence-only classes did not use moralistic terms or portray sex in a negative light, according to the article.“Abstinence-only interventions may have an important role in delaying sexual activity until a time later in life when the adolescent is more prepared to handle to consequences of sex,” said lead author John B. Jemmott III, PhD, from the University of Pennsylvania. “This can reduce undesirable consequences of sex, including pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections like HIV/AIDS.”

Cherry Bomb Lesbian discussion - Gay and Lesbian Divide

Gay Men and Lesbians: How do they come together for the cause of equality? The ladies welcome actor and comedian Jason Stuart to the couch to share the boys' side of things and the girls end up rolling with laughter.

This week’s question: How do you stay away from the "bad girls"?

Wonderful How -To Video on Female Condom Use for Gay/MSM

This instructional video was created to destigmatize and demonstrate the proper use of a female condom (FC1 & II) between men. Created for a program in Burkina Faso, this video is presented in English here.

This video is also available in Moree (a primary language in Burkina Faso), Dioula and French. For more information, please visit http://www.thecondomproject.org

Click here to check it out.

This is certainly an option to diversify your safe sex practices and/or for men who just don't love male condoms - the top can feel less restricted and the condom can be inserted some time before sex. People can and should be more liberal with the lube inside the female condom because it’s less prone to slipping off or slipping into the anus.

Special note - there is a new female condom on the market, the FC2. This latest generation of the female condom is nearly identical to the original female condom, but includes some significant improvements. The FC2 is seamless, softer, quieter, thinner, and stronger that the first generation. It is also made out of a synthetic latex called nitrile that is safe for folks who have latex allergies.

The video above provides instruction on the FC1, but the insertion practices for the FC2 would be the same. Neither version of the female condom has been tested for anal sex - but there are many health institutions that provide guidance for this behavior. It's really up to you if you want to try it and finding what way is most comfortable for you.

More info on the FC2 -

Approved by the Food and Drug Administration in early 2009 and now available for purchase in the U.S., the FC2 is the latest generation of the only woman-initiated HIV, STI, and pregnancy prevention tool currently on the market. New and improved, the FC2 is seamless, softer, and quieter than the original female condom. The FC2 is composed of a synthetic latex known as nitrile that is equally protective at reducing a person’s risk of HIV and STI infection as the FC1, and is safe for use by people with latex allergies.

Thanks to IRMA for this one.

H

Oral sex and STIs

Donna Hussey-Whyte

WHILE oral sex is fast becoming a highlight of many couples' intimate lives, some are unaware that it can expose them to as much sexually transmitted infections (STIs), as with unprotected sexual intercourse.

Oral sex is the act of sexual intimacy from mouth to penis (fellatio), mouth to vagina (cunnilingus) or mouth to anus.

Gynaecologist Dr Charles Rockhead, said any sexual infection that one can get from sexual intercourse, can be transmitted through oral sex.

"The rule of thumb is that if you won't have unprotected sex with someone, don't have oral sex with them, because the same viral or bacterial infection that can be transmitted through intercourse, can be transmitted through oral sex," he said.

Rockhead added that the situation is the same for both men and women.

STIs are caused by viruses or bacteria that like warm, soft, moist places such as your mouth and genital area (penis, vulva, vagina, anus, area between penis and anus, and area between vulva and anus).

"Remember that most of the viruses are also in the saliva, so you have a transfer from genitals to mouth and from mouth back to the genital area," the doctor noted.

While all STIs can be transferred through the mouth, some of the more common ones you can get are chlamydia, syphilis, gonorrhoea and herpes. In fact, people can even develop genital warts in the mouth as a result of transfer of STI. HIV can be passed through cuts in the mouth or small abrasions.

According to Rockhead, the only way to prevent the transfer of infection is to abstain from both oral and anal sex, as well as intercourse or for both partners to be tested before getting sexually involved.

If, however, you choose to have oral sex, ensure that you use a barrier method to prevent direct contact between one partner's mouth and the other's genitals, such as condoms or dental dams.

Dental dams are small squares of latex that were made originally for use in dental procedures. They are now commonly used as barriers when performing oral sex on women, to keep in vaginal fluids that could transmit an STI. Some people use plastic wrap instead of a dental dam.

Why are Jamaicans so homophobic? (Observer Letter)

Dear Editor,

I recently returned from an International Human Rights conference where I was bombarded with questions about Jamaica's human rights situation which I proudly defended. However, one question stumped me. Participants wanted to know the source of Jamaicans' fear and contempt of gays. Sadly, I could not provide an intelligent reply.

Those participants just couldn't reconcile Jamaica's warm, welcoming, "one love, live and let live" reputation with the virulent homophobia as expressed in the February 1 Observer article in which President of the Islamic Council of Jamaica Mustafa Muhammed advocated death for homosexuals.

As a secular state we are obliged to recognise, among other things, rights to freedom of expression and privacy as long as those rights do not represent a serious danger to public health, morality, or public safety, yet we appreciate the threat of unchecked fundamentalism of the type advocated by this Muslim leader.

So why are Jamaicans so concerned by what consenting adults do in the privacy of their bedrooms? What do we fear will happen? Like Ian Boyne, I really want to hear an intelligent response to this question, devoid of emotional religious rhetoric.

What the country needs to appreciate is that the continued denial of the rights of gays to privacy and self-expression in this secular state may cause these individuals to demand their rights by violent means. In other contexts this would be called self-defence. The prime minister's statement that he will not intrude on the privacy of people's bedrooms hardly goes far enough, and the rhetoric of the Muslim leader is certain to heighten the sense of hopelessness of this very marginalised group who will continue to lose faith in the legal system with disastrous results for the society's Muslim leaders. While I respect and would staunchly defend the cleric's right to freedom of expression, I urge responsible expression so as not to destabilise our already fragile socio-economic status as this would challenge the public order requirements for the exercise of his right.

Maurice Tomlinson

maurice_tomlinson@yahoo.com

Jamaican Music under siege discussion 02.02.10

A follow up discussion in some sense to an article carried in a recent XNews edition Gays move to ban dancehall. The guests are Winford Williams from CVM TV and Dr. Donna Hope Markee who seem to try to balance their views on the subject. They seem to be worried about the wholesale ban on reggae and dancehall which are two separate genres. German politician Volker Beck was mentioned as he has led a charge to ban hate music all together and since Jamaican artists won’t comply then all seem to be punished.

The behaviour of some of the artists was hinted at as not helping the situation they refuse to comply with the local laws on hate given their own history of bigotry and intolerance over the years. The German index has been developed which has a dossier of lyrics and artists who perform described problematic hate songs, if ones song appears on such list then they are not allowed to perform in Germany and possibly other European states. The CDS and materials are banned permanently. They also are having it increasingly difficult to get visas and permits to perform in European states.

“The culture of Europe is very different’” said Dr. Markee
TOK was mentioned as a group “having problems” now because of an old song named “Chi Chi Man” so any inference or words deemed hate then you may be in problems. Many of their shows are to be cancelled but the promoters and management team are aggressively negotiating. Artists can be arrested for performing so called hate lyrics on stage. The justification is that Jamaican culture is a name calling culture and that it usually doesn’t go any further so artists should be allowed to perform.

The so called gay agenda is on according to Winford Williams and that the artists are being deliberately provoked so as to make mistakes then suffer the consequences.
Dr. Markee however highlighted the fact that music though generic to the country of origin there is only one market online via YouTube or other digital media and artists must be mindful and diplomatic. She complained however that artists having erred in songs done a long time ago are suffering the consequences now.
Leadership in dancehall was required according to Winford Williams he said that the when the gay community came after the hip hop artist a body named hip hop action network acted as intermediary to the artists allowing the lobby group to talk to them and vice versa.

Let’s watch this one folks

Peace & Tolerance
H

Audio portion (apologies for poor quality in some sections)

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Icon lost - Golding, Simpson Miller mourn Nettleford

Jamaica lost one of its most revered cultural figures last night when Professor Rex Nettleford, vice-chancellor emeritus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) and founder of the National Dance Theatre Company (NDTC), died, just hours before he would have celebrated his 77th birthday.

Nettleford passed away at George Washington Hospital in Washington, DC, one week after suffering a heart attack at a hotel in the United States capital.

Last night, Prime Minister Bruce Golding said he was deeply saddened at the news of Nettleford's death.

"Jamaica and the entire world have lost an intellectual and creative genius, a man whose contribution to shaping and projecting the cultural landscape of the entire Caribbean region is unquestionable," Golding said.

"Rex Nettleford was an international icon, a quintessential Caribbean man, the professor, writer, dancer, manager, orator, critic and mentor. He has left a void in our world that will be a challenge to fill."

Nettleford was admitted to hospital, unconscious, on January 27.

Olivia Grange, minister of youth, sports and culture, said in a release that Nettleford, who had been in the intensive care unit at the hospital since last Wednesday with catastrophic brain injury following a cardiac arrest, died at 8 p.m., four hours before his birthday.

"The nation, the wider Caribbean and beyond mourn the loss of this great Caribbean icon," Grange said.

A national loss

Portia Simpson Miller, president of the People's National Party and opposition leader, expressed con-dolences to Nettleford's family, friends and colleagues.

"I am very deeply saddened by the news of Professor Nettleford's passing. This is a national loss and one that I feel personally. Words are inadequate to capture the extent of the grief I feel," Simpson Miller said.

Simpson Miller hailed Nettleford as a son of rural Jamaica whose life's trajectory testifies to the success that is possible through grit, determination, resilience and 'smadification' - local parlance for self-actualisation - within the Jamaican cultural environment, of which he wrote so eloquently.

Jamaica's ambassador to the United States, Anthony Johnson, told The Gleaner last night that doctors said Nettleford never regained consciousness.

He had gone to Washington, DC, to attend a fund-raising gala for the UWI.

Many tributes have come in for the Trelawny-born Nettleford, who excelled as an academic, cultural activist, historian and remained an unapologetic regionalist.

Former Jamaican prime minister, Edward Seaga, who first met Nettleford in the early 1960s, described him as the "quintessential Caribbean man".

"There was a strong willingness on his part to absorb Jamaican culture, which I believe is his greatest contribution. It's on that basis that the NDTC became such a force," Seaga told The Gleaner.

For many years, Nettleford juggled duties with the NDTC and the UWI where he was vice-chancellor from 1997 to 2004. He was the NDTC's choreographer and artistic director, and continued to lecture at the UWI's Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication (CARIMAC) and Trade Union Education Institution.

In a 2007 interview with The Gleaner, Nettleford said Seaga assisted the NDTC in its early years by taking them to kumina and revival meetings. The group incorporated those informal 'lessons' into some of their dance routines, including the popular Kumina.

"The underlying thing was using dance to explain to ourselves and the world who we are, and to celebrate the African presence in the shaping of a Jamaican/Caribbean ethos," Nettleford said in the interview three years ago.

Bridgett Spaulding (formerly Casserly) was an original member of the NDTC, who first met Nettleford when he and fellow dancer Eddy Thomas were forming the group in 1962. She credits him for the group's longevity.

Unparalleled passion

"He had a passion for the company that is unparalleled, but he also had a strong desire for people to grow and develop," Spaulding said.

Nettleford experienced remarkable personal growth during the 1960s. A graduate of Cornwall College in St James, he was a Rhodes Scholar who attended Oxford University and had cut his teeth as a dancer in the Ivy Baxter Dance Group.

He and Thomas formed the NDTC in September 1962, one month after Jamaica gained Independence from Britain. It comprised dancers from various groups, and emerged around the same time that ska music and the Rastafarian culture were beginning to have an influence on Jamaican youth.

During that decade, Nettleford championed the work of folklorist Louise Bennett-Coverley and wrote the provocative book, Mirror Mirror, which dealt with racial and social issues in Jamaica.

Politically, Nettleford said he was drawn to the ideals of Norman Manley, Jamaica's first premier, who was also a fierce proponent of Caribbean unity.

In the 1970s, Nettleford was a cultural adviser to Manley's son Michael, Jamaica's socialist prime minister from 1972 to 1980. At the time of his death, Nettleford was acting in a similar capacity to Prime Minister Bruce Golding.

Nettleford received many awards for his contribution to academia and the arts. He was a recipient of the Order of Merit, Jamaica's third-highest honour.

He is the latest Caribbean cultural figure to die in recent months.

Playwright Trevor Rhone, Trinidadian writer Wayne Brown and bandleader Sonny Bradshaw passed away late last year.

Jamaican Muslim leader blasts gay lifestyle

BY KARYL WALKER Crime/Court Desk Co-ordinator ?walkerk@jamaicaobserver.com

Monday, February 01, 2010

PRESIDENT of the Islamic Council of Jamaica, Mustafa Muhammad, says he agrees with the Sharia law which prescribes death for people who openly flaunt homosexual behaviour.

Muhammad did not mince words as he lashed out against what he described as an unclean, unnatural lifestyle.


“It is illegal and in the Sharia law the punishment is death. If you follow Christianity it is a crime in the sight of God. He destroyed a whole city because of this thing. It is an ungodly practice and I apologise to no one for this,” Muhammad said.

Under Jamaican law, persons who practice buggery — the sexual penetration of the anus — can be sent to prison for up to 10 years.

Despite claims by local and international gay lobbyists that homosexuals are attacked and killed in Jamaica, police statistics show that most gays who are killed are victims of crimes of passion.

Muhammad made sure to state that he was against the killing of gays in Jamaica.

“This can only be done in a country that is being run by Islam,” he said.

Muhammad was also critical of the gay lobbyists who are clamouring for Jamaicans to adopt a more relaxed attitude towards homosexuality.

“What is happening is that we are leaning towards the laws of man,” he said. “If a Muslim woman chooses to cover up herself it is seen as oppressive, but it is wicked to criticise homosexuals? I am not free to express myself as a Muslim but a homosexual is allowed free expression and protection from the law.”

The Sharia Law is interpreted differently in some Muslim jurisdictions and in some countries women are subjected to what western cultures describe as oppressive treatment.

Some Muslim cultures deny women education and enforce female circumcision, but Muhammad explained that this was not in keeping with the true teachings of the Prophet Mohammed and the Sharia Law, but should be attributed to cultural practices.

“Of course women must be allowed education. The Koran says every Muslim must seek knowledge. If there is a Muslim who denies a woman education, then it is not acceptable,” he told the Observer. “Female circumcision has been around for thousands of years and a lot of people come into Islam with this culture. It is very important that we separate the teaching of Islam from the culture of the people.”

Does size really matter?

An age old question that’s posed today, with Jamaican men using their libido and penis size as the main talking points for their masculinity the question becomes even more relevant. Most feel proud that they can “mash up a gal” (hard thrusting penetration) but many women for example from a heterosexual standpoint say they have met men who are well endowed but they cannot “perform” when it comes to prolonged penetrative sex and stimulation which most of them seem to crave enjoy.

Well endowed in this instant could be penis sizes from 81/2 inches to 12 inches or as we say in the local parlance “donkey wood” the donkey is seen as the central image for penis size and when one is seen in public with a erection it is the source of much humour, animated discourse and roars of laughter as I have witnessed especially in urban areas as rural Jamaicans are used to the site.

In the MSM context from my observation we also seem to have bought into the ideas of strength and power in size and almost worship the penis so to speak in everyday conversations of past sexual escapades. The bigger the equipment the more praise a man heaps unto himself or in the case of reported encounters we glorify “the breast” size as we call it here in Jamaica. Is this glorification and almost obsessive crave for the big thing is what drives our sexual desires and the associated excitement? Or is it the many fantasies that we have that sometimes we never have the real thing so we conjour up these images of a rough encounter with a big you know what to self stimulate for compensation?

My own experiences have also confirmed some of the stories coming from heterosexual women that the size is OK but then comes the performance or lack thereof, premature ejaculation seems to be the most common thread of sexual problems in men these days and they are resorted to all kinds of aphrodisiacs to compensate. From illegally purchased pops of Viagra or Cialis to Chiney brush which is still available, to self administering “Spanish Fly to get that “High” feeling or ecstasy pills which are now available on the Jamaican circuit. Other problems include a lack of understanding romance and the associated skills for pleasure other than penetrative sex and the regular use of oral/genital stimulation to compensate for low libido which can become boring at times in my view.

With these issues of impediments to sexual performance the answer to the question the maybe a NO as those factors blocks the effects of the end result which ought to be pleasure as one defines it. Another expectation in the Jamaican context of the well endowed male is that he must match his perceived strength with power by thrusting deep and hard into the particular orifice of his choice that is vagina or anus to reinsure his passive partner that he is all man. I guess the size issue is overrated then and we are fooling ourselves. Foreplay and other outer-course or non penetrative typed sexual activity are considered irrelevant or boring for most whether gay, straight or bisexual. We may have to let each individual sexual experience sort out those issues as the animalistic need drives us to the reasoning that the more ruff we can get sexually then the better the pleasurable outcomes despite the realities in the end.

Some men have since learnt and practice regular masturbation to help to increase size as well as the activity causes the tissues in the penis to increase hence more blood flow to sustain the erection and the size when aroused. Jamaican men in previous times shone public discussion about “backing ones fist” or masturbation but that is changing with the realization that it can have an impact on penis size as well as individuality, personal choice and practices which the general population is slowly grasping. Issues like homosexuality and other sexual practices raised on various local media are slowly opening the eyes of the public to think about sexuality in a new light but it is a long and slow change.

My answer now to the question therefore is NO for now, based on the above reasoning as simple as it may look, what say you to the question of size taking into account the other factors involved in sex and sexuality?

Please comment publicly otherwise respond via email to lgbtevent@gmail.com.
Peace & tolerance
H

Meanwhile, in Senegal ......

International pressure on Uganda is important, but other nations remain havens of anti-LGBT oppression

by Cary Alan Johnson and Ryan Thoreson
Published on January 21, 2010, 5:58am

The global outcry against Uganda's "Anti-Homosexuality Bill" could not be more deafening. Opponents of the legislation have condemned the effort not just to put gays in prison, which is already the law in Uganda, but to further criminalize the ''promotion of homosexuality,'' require that suspected gays and lesbians be turned in to authorities, and to punish some individuals -- including those who are HIV positive or those euphemistically called ''repeat offenders'' -- with death.

The governments of Canada, France and Sweden have branded the bill wrongheaded. From Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to President Barack Obama himself, the U.S., a major foreign donor to Uganda, has made its disapproval of the legislation clear. Usually silent religious leaders, from Anglican and Catholic Church leadership to Saddleback Church's Rick Warren and other evangelical Christians, have condemned the bill's promotion of the death penalty, imprisonment for gays and lesbians, and the threat its provisions pose to pastoral confidentiality.

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe has expressed deep concern with the bill's potential impact on Uganda's heretofore successful HIV-prevention efforts. And while both the African Union and the government of South Africa have characteristically failed to condemn the bill, several important African leaders, including former president of Botswana Festus Mogae and UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa Elizabeth Mataka, have spoken out firmly and forcefully. If the bill passes in this firestorm of criticism, it certainly won't be for lack of unified, unequivocal condemnation.

This vehement response was absent less than a year ago and fewer than a hundred miles away, when the Parliament of Burundi amended its Penal Code to criminalize consensual same-sex relationships for the first time in its history. Nor was it conspicuous when Nigeria considered criminalizing attendance at gay-rights meetings or support groups in 2006. Now, horror at the cruelty of these new laws and growing evidence of direct involvement by the U.S. religious right is leading to a subtle, but significant, sea change. Local LGBT and civil-rights movements are finding the voice to condemn these horrible new pieces of legislation and the international community is standing its ground. Last month, the government of Rwanda dropped a proposal to criminalize homosexuality in the face of pressure from rights activists and HIV-service providers inside and outside of the country.

But while condemning new oppressive laws is important, it is just as important -- and perhaps more pressing -- to take measures to hold governments accountable for the daily violence and lifetimes of discrimination that LGBT people face in the more than 80 countries around the world that continue to criminalize homosexuality and the many more that impose penalties for those who challenge gender norms.

Take Senegal, for instance, where homosexuality has been illegal since 1965. The last two years have seen a dramatic escalation in homophobic persecution and violence, largely unnoticed by the international community and the world media. The country has experienced waves of arrests, detentions, and attacks on individuals by anti-gay mobs, fueled by media sensationalism and a harsh brand of religious fundamentalism. Police have rounded up men and women on charges of homosexuality, detained them under inhumane conditions, and sentenced them with or without proof of having committed any offense. Families and communities have turned on those suspected of being gay or lesbian. In cities throughout the county, the corpses of men presumed to have been gay have been disinterred and unceremoniously abandoned. As the international community has laudably warned Uganda on the progress of its nonsensical law, arrests on charges related to homosexuality in Senegal -- five men in Darou Mousty in June, a man in Touba in November, and 24 men celebrating at a party in Saly Niax Niaxal on Christmas Eve -- continue largely unnoticed.

Responding to the homophobic extremism in the Ugandan legislation is hugely important, but it is no substitute for a broad and unequivocal condemnation of sodomy laws and anti-LGBT violence wherever it occurs. When just such a statement condemning grave violations of human rights on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and calling for the end of criminalization was brought to the UN General Assembly just one year ago, only 66 of 192 countries voted for it. At the time, the U.S. was not one of them.

Even if the campaign against the Anti-Homosexuality Bill succeeds, homosexuality will continue to be illegal in Uganda -- just as it is in Senegal, where the lives of LGBT people are virtually unlivable. The test of our commitment to rights for all members of the human family, including LGBT people, is not whether we respond when the media turns its hot spotlight on a new, extreme piece of legislation. It is whether we are willing to commit our attention, resources, and political will in places like Senegal, where there are no cameras or reporters chronicling the impact of a decades-old law to hold us accountable. While the global sense of outrage at Uganda's bill is inspiring, it will be a missed opportunity if this spirited condemnation of homophobic violence fails to become standard operating procedure.

Cary Alan Johnson is the executive director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC). Ryan Thoreson is a research fellow at IGLHRC and co-author of Words of Hate, Climate of Fear: Human Rights Violations and Challenges to the LGBT Movement in Senegal. The opinions expressed here are the authors' and not necessarily those of the organization.

Gays Move to Ban Reggae/Dancehall in Germany says the Xtranews

In the January 21 – 27th edition of the Tabloid newspaper The Xnews has again taken a swipe at the GLBT activist movement with the Headline as outlined above. The lengthy piece took up two pages as they went into detail of the actions taken by selected German authorities against harmful music, x-rated materials, violent videos and extremist music.


The Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons a department in the government of Germany deliberated on whether or not to jump onto the Stop Murder Music Campaign. “Children and young people need to be protected from right winged extreme music hence the reason why (BPJM) indexes films, games and music, they also seek to educate the public on the importance of protecting minors from dangerous media.” According to the BPJM’s website.


The article continued that the BPJM has plans to monitor specific artists by limiting their CD distribution and possible full ban and removal of said materials from the market altogether. Last year the leader of the green party parliamentary group, one Mr. Volker Beck called on large internet sellers to begin removing the CDs in question from their sales inventory.


“Those in Jamaica who invoke hatred should not earn money with their music in Germany.” Beck said
In February there will be a panel discussion under the theme “Against Homophobia in art – but how? With invited representatives from politics, gay and lesbian groups, artist management and promoters.
“People will be discussing sustaining measures against homophobia in art. Our aim is to develop lasting strategies for the handling of controversial artistes between prohibition and dialogue” a quoted from a release Xnews said.
Since serious actions like the deportation of Sizzla after his arrest in Spain in 2008 and the visa problems faced by other acts like Bounty Killer, Vybz Kartel and Busy Signal and the most recent episode with Buju Banton in the United States many artists have almost become endangered species on the music scene as their material has become difficult to sell in some of these harsh territories.


“Dancehall artistes are being crippled by the violent tone of their music, countries are not accepting what they are selling. The question we need to ask ourselves is how can we the producers, the media, disc jockeys mold our artistes into good world citizens? Are the government and other stake holders willing to protect the industry for future generations?” Jeffrey Stephenson was quoted by the XtraNews.


The article continues by talking about the previous style of reggae where the messages were clean about love, respect and Rastafari. Mention was made of the Mayor of Berlin being openly gay and that he opposes the music altogether. The Europeans are not allowing any form of music whatsoever that evokes or incites violence in their territory. 


Anthony B is quoted to have said that Reggae has gone off message and doesn’t highlight the positives about Jamaica, food, sea sand and sun. In Europe the older artists are said to have the pulling power more than the artistes who now attract negative publicity. One insder was quoted as saying that the ban may not just be about anti gay music but also the messages about politics and antiwar sentiments which may be having an impact on the youth in parts of Europe.


Peace & Tolerance


H

The drip dry boyfriend vs. the ever increasing Jamaican Metro sexual

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men in pink once reviled and used as a marker for perceiving his homosexual status (without effeminate behaviour and other feminizing hints)

So on the weekend I found myself in a discussion at a Lyme of lgbt bloggers where the whole matter of men who are metro sexual are ever increasing here on the island vs. the drip dry male who just looks good despite his natural state, that is without the use of mountains of male grooming products and tight jeans/tops wearing proudly showing the endowed nipples and gifts from God.

The other bloggers asked me to raise the issue in a post to see what comes of it.

The issue came for mention when the guys and I were watching old episodes of Noah’s Arc where a scene had the character Wade in Noah’s bathroom applying facial creams much to Noah’s surprise and dismay somewhat, as the following scene showed Noah explaining his concerns to the other characters.

Interestingly Jamaican men gay, straight or bisexual as the case may be are increasingly conscious of there looks to the point that dancehall culture speaks to it in song about men competing with women over the skin bleaching creams and tight brand named expensive clothing lines worn today.

As we traverse the city streets here in Jamaica one wonders if we are really in a homophobic society as is often said. Gorgeous buffed muscular men attired in the once vilified tight jeans but carefully maintaining the deep voices and a “bad man attitude” to justify the masculinity with puffy or corn rowed dyed hairdos and manicured nails despite social class.

One member of the lyme group (I call him J1) said he didn’t mind his boyfriend being the metro sexual as he found it interesting and he thought it reinforced his homosexuality thus making him attractive in his eyes. The stereotype that gay men overcompensate in personal care with high maintenance which makes him stands out was an attraction factor for J1, the other guys disagreed and I wasn’t sure where I stood as I don’t have a steady boyfriend now and never really allowed it to bother me that much. The other guys (let’s call them J2 & J3) strongly disagreed and seem to play to the general Jamaican consensus that “man muss stay man” (men must be masculine and are to be seen as a real men) they felt that their “Men” must not use grooming products heavily like themselves or like women or look too effeminate as others gays looking on my berate their relationship as we say in Jamaica as “two pot covers slamming shut” 

(2 effeminate men in a sexual union is unacceptable and not logical) there must be a dominant man and a passive partner mimicking the heterosexual concept of relationship elements. But even as the landscape changes right before our eyes we now observe men having their hair done with extensions by the street side hairdressers and in increasing salons that are becoming unisexual, men wearing bleaching creams in public or on the streets as well is not a shocking phenom anymore

Are these brothas gay? Or is it a mix of tastes and cultures?

As we are so influenced by things from up north and elsewhere.

There may be a study available on this phenomenon I was told it would be good to see the findings (got to search for it)

Then again the converse may justify the attraction issues as some masculine (heaviots) guys really like their men queenie and deeply femme or as drag queens and it’s the feminine aspects of the behavior that becomes the basis for the hookup.

Some questions:

Do you think that your partner should be deeply masculine?

Or do you mind that metro sexuality is evident in your man?

Do you think that seeing the ways and idiosyncrasies of a metro sexual partner may make him seem less of a man?

Is not accepting metrosexualism these days non progressive in lgbt culture?

The effeminate behavior of ones partner may take some getting used to but when the period comes around to introduce your loved one to people you fear the reaction and have to relive the reality of it being present all over again for just that split second.

What’s on your mind about this?

(Public comments preferred) otherwise lgbtevent@gmail.com

H