'BISEXUAL CLAIM NOT TRUE' - J'cans bash recent survey report

UPDATE 6:49pm UNAIDS Caribbean has debunked the original story go HERE for more but still read on below as the discussion has already commenced so might as well we continue to raise the issue(s)

Well I sort of expected this biphobic reaction laced with anti-gay insinuations in a sense as it seems to be founded on a fear of persons being perceived to being on the downlow so as to avoid being outed as gay. There maybe some truth to that though as the gay for pay phenomenon is real, these days one only has to listen and hear the one liners in the latest dancehall songs hinting to supposed downlow men forcing or using wealth and materialism to "change" other men to commit same sex acts. I wondered aloud in a Facebook group if the study took into account behavioural bisexuality as well, which I doubt as bisexuality on a whole is not given the attention it deserves in general LGBT discourse or rights agitation and as for social interventions and recognition to double gender loving persons we know all too well the agencies here pay scant regard to that except for the occasional time as this or when bloggers mark the respective calender events.

One also has to take a look at how even the gay community views bisexuals or for all intents and purposes pansexual people who see no gay or bisexual label entrapping them. 

also see: 
Bisexual and pansexual identities often look the same

Lady Switch Hitters & the Boyfriends who complain ...

The Biphobia in the community (Gay, Lesbian) maybe higher than thought

Anyone remembers this cartoon when the Vybz first made the trek to the slammer?

also see: Kartel on lockdown and that suggestive cartoon .....

Hence when issues/discussions like these come forth there is silence as all things gay and beautiful pervade the great and small all things wise and wonderful buggery repeal superceeds them all. This shows once again a clear lack of interest in general LGBT issues and not just the "G" in the struggle for recognition and rights. Bi-erasure and subsequent biphobia by default, a complaint raised by some community members for several years, where is the leadership?

see this older entry: “LGBT” advocates – nonengagement of bisexual issues = Biophobia by default

The Star News carried the following today in a follow up to the precursor to the Caribbean online study whose results are expected to be out by September of this year according to a recent communication with an officer close to the group responsible for its execution.

PAULA GORDON, Staff Reporter

Several Jamaicans are questioning the credibility of a recent study that claims that one in every four Caribbean men is a bisexual.

The online study conducted by the Caribbean Men's Internet Survey (CARIMIS) has become the hot topic on the lips of many persons since yesterday and has sparked some level of controversy.

About 2,560 men are said to have participated throughout 33 territories. This would possibly mean that the survey included men from Jamaica as well.

questioned credibility

Though the findings are preliminary, it was revealed that 15 per cent of those surveyed said they had sex with men but gave no labels, such as homosexual or bisexual to their acts.

Subsequent to the news being broken about the study, our news team sought to get some comments from several Jamaicans.

A number of the persons interviewed questioned its credibility and the sampling methods used.

Kirk Thomas, a bank employee, told THE STAR, "I don't believe in that survey because it doesn't identify the territories examined, ... one in every four ... my crew consist of 13 and mi sure I am not bisexual and none of my friends are so I can't agree with that survey."

Andrew Henry, a taxi man, expressed, "I know about myself, I don't think it is right. I think they did that survey down in the Lesser Antilles."

Interestingly, the gripping results have also resulted in numerous comments being left on Facebook.

Several males blasted the group that carried out the study on the social networking site.

One male wrote, "Lol ... these statistics are so dumb, would love to know how they came up with this ... The truth is we don't know squat, could be even more or less or not at all ... Personally I don't even accept it one out of four ... Come on."

Another wrote, "Not Jamaica ... Don't mix we up ... ."

On the other hand, several women proved to be more receptive to the findings.

One woman said, "Is true! Unno man is in denial"

In the meantime, THE STAR understands that the project, which was launched in November last year, was funded by the UNAIDS, the joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.

It is expected that the results will be handed over to regional governments in short order.

article ends

Given the homo-negative and sometimes caustic environment here in Jamaica it only stands to reason why same gender loving men overall tend to be closeted in a sense and take on heterosexual partners even have offspring so as to take the social pressure of their backs, the proverbial why don't you have a child yet or girlfriend taunts from parents or sibblings. Is it time we begin to have a serious national discussion on coming out and remaining out and also here on the rock instead of having to run or seek asylum elsewhere? be you of whatever sexual orientation, it is time we start living our truths?

Bigger issues here are on the horizon to me than just a survey on how many bisexuals that there are.

All of a sudden the Star News "Tell Me Pastor" has a letter from a man claiming his female partner is a deceptive bisexual, how convenient, see more here: Deceptive bisexual one wonders is these letters are real sometimes.

Peace and tolerance

H

One in four Caribbean men bisexual – survey

There seems to be some foul up going on here as the original information was as follows:

Almost one in four Caribbean men today describe themselves as bisexual, a new study suggests.
The preliminary findings of the regionwide Caribbean Men’s Internet Survey (CARIMIS) are in stark contrast to the Caribbean’s traditional image of a macho society with sparse tolerance for homosexuality.

“We have a fair population in the Caribbean that identify as bisexual. Across the entire sample … about 20 to 23 per cent say they are bisexual,” facilitator of the CARIMIS project and director of UNAIDS, Caribbean Regional Support Team, Ernest Massiah said.
The CARIMIS study is being touted as the “largest sample” of the Caribbean MSM (men who have sex with men) population of its kind, done via Internet—surveying 2,560 men throughout 33 territories in the region.

Massiah also revealed that 15 per cent of the men did not define themselves in any category. Although they engaged in sexual activity with other men, they “do not want a label”, he said.
According to the director, the most “shocking” aspect of the study involves the amount of physical and verbal abuse and visual intimidation levied against MSMs in their respective countries.
“What we are seeing across the region is that between five and 10 per cent of people have been assaulted because they were perceived to have a different sexual orientation,” Massiah said.

In some nations half of the MSM population identified with being verbally abused and visually intimidated.
“What we are seeing is that as a society, if you have a sexual orientation that is perceived as different, you can be physically abused and in a lot of cases you receive verbal abuse,” he said.

For the first time, the study identified a new population of men – the educated MSM man.
“We are getting a population that we have not been able to get data from before, that is men with secondary and tertiary level education. We have a very educated sample here,” the director said.

Previously, face-to-face surveys were the norm, but only accessed “certain members” of the MSM population. Massiah said that the use of the Internet and redefining their target populations was the key to the survey’s success.

“It is a good way of doing research because you can get to people in a much quicker way than you would have if you tried to do an interview with an individual person,” he added.
The study’s results will be given to governments of participating nations to help develop policies and initiatives that will protect and service the MSM community.

The UNAIDS-funded initiative was launched online last November and concluded in June.
The MSM population is defined by the survey not only as openly gay men but also men who do not self-identify as gay or bisexual but participate in sexual activities with other men. The survey is being implemented throughout the English, French, Spanish and Dutch speaking Caribbean countries.

The survey is now closed and will be out by October.

New developments - August 16, 2012

After communicating directly with the UNAIDS Caribbean media representative to verify the story yesterday via email the following Press Statement was sent to me from their Trinidad office as other media outlets had it wrong it seems, the problem is the damage has been done but let's make it right as local discourse is already high since the story broke with even our Jamaica Observer carrying the piece:

PRESS STATEMENT

MSM data due by the end of October

PORT OF SPAIN, 16 August, 2012— UNAIDS Caribbean wishes to debunk a news story circulating in the regional media over the last 24 hours under the headline “One in every four Caribbean men bisexual”. The story’s claim that a UNAIDS study found that quarter of the region’s men are bisexual, is misleading and of no merit.

The Caribbean Men’s Internet Survey—the first ever online study of men who have sex with men (MSM) in the region—has not yet been finalised as country-specific data are currently being analysed. Of the overall sample (of MSM who responded to the survey), 23 percent declared themselves to be bisexual. This is far different from one in four Caribbean men being bisexual as suggested in the story. Additionally, the sample size of the survey was 3,566 and not 2,566 as the report stated.

Findings will be finalised by the end of October 2012 and will be released to the regional media directly through the UNAIDS Caribbean Regional Support Team. For factual information on the study methodology and preliminary findings please visit www.unaidscaribbean.org

Contact

UNAIDS Caribbean | Cedriann Martin | tel. +868 623-7056 ext. 283 / +868 371-7195 | martinc@unaids.org

UNAIDS
UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, is an innovative United Nations partnership that leads and inspires the world in achieving universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. Learn more at unaids.org and unaidscaribbean.org

ENDS

My question is who made these grave errors in numbers and the time of the study's release? UNAIDS, the media or is Dr Massiah The Regional Director as quoted is being reigned in as he has been saying alot lately, case in point his pronouncements that the PNP, Peoples National Party offers hope for repealing the buggery law while revealing his hand that he has had conversations with three sitting unnamed Prime Ministers (to be named), an observation I made that he should have held that to his chest while continuing the talks.

 here is the actual newscast on the PNP matter from Nationwide News

also take a look at a thread from the Antiguan Observer HERE

Some concerns from Western Jamaica on homelessness and homo-negativity

Readers and listeners welcome to another timely post on homelessness that I would normally cover on my other blog Gay Jamaica Watch but this time I was hauled over the coals by some of my following to also pay closer attention to the homeless and displacement issues in western Jamaica predominantly Montego Bay, Pitfour, Grandville and Savanna-la-mar along with other homo negative issues and a few same gender loving women concerns so I took a two day trip to Montego Bay and overnighted with a friend. From the moment I landed it hit me, why aren't you dealing with us as well on your blogs and audio/podcasts? I was repeatedly asked. So I was taken to task for the very thing I critique lol but such is life, there is always a teaching moment to learn from and I am guided by you my readers and listeners. But also understand that the issues in Kingston require urgent and consistent vigilance as the circumstances change so rapidly.

Indeed the social interventions by the LGBT advocates seem not to be island-wide and merely concentrated in Kingston proper but as we huddled and began to examine what was is really taking place it soon became clear that the same issues and more that were and are bedeviling the homeless msms in Kingston are the same as our western counterparts. Issues such as:

1) Transactional sex and related negotiating issues?

2) Identity issues and effemophobia clashing with hypermasculine types 

3) Gay for pay populations crossing over into the main homeless MSM populations and the subsequent fallouts

4) No permanent shelter and residential access

5) Improper diet and health issues especially HIV positive members of the groups 

6) Homophobic attacks and homonegative responses from the mainstream

7) Inability to reconnect with biological families and subsequent interventions and related social services

8) Non response or aloofness from the LGBT bodies that readily parade the men's issues overseas

9) Increased cynicism and refusal to report incidents to the very LGBT bodies

10) Little follow up from the LGBT legal arms and meaningful assistance from same

11) An unusual phenomenon of stoning becoming a fixture as part of the anti gay response in reported homophobic incidents 

The predicted fallout from the lotto scam crackdown by the authorities and the coming to a halt the informal half way house program that was carried out by a key influential who has been fingered as a key player in the illegal scam has also come to light as many of the displaced and homeless men who benefited from that arrangement have now found themselves having to move to other parts of St James and by extension other parishes including Kingston. This was the same influential who ran a club that was invaded in February 2011 by cops with some awful results, see the link for more: 

Big Blow for homeless/displaced MSMs in Western Jamaica …..

Meanwhile other alleged scammers too have fallen on difficult times financially and are now joining the fold it seems as they were once vilified by the originally displaced that were not helping and selfish while enjoying their ill gotten wealth.

Also with the veiled threat of sorts coming from the supposed criminal underworld as well that was carried in the tabloids recently many persons in the community are also surmising the increased hostility towards perceived LGBTians as a consequence of this threat.

see: 

Thugs warn drag wearing scammers ……………

A few incidents were reported to have occurred over the past few months where the persons so harmed have flatly refused to go into the report their concerns and injuries either to Jamaica Forum for Lesbians Allsexuals and Gays and worst yet the police who in western Jamaica do not treat with any urgency or proper regard the sanctity of ones rights in a precinct of a station instead reportees are ridiculed or made to feel dejected as officers make a mockery of the situation. The untimely departure as well of Manger and his assistant at Jamaica AIDS Support for Life Montego Bay offices as only serve to add insult to injury as he also acted as a crisis intervention contact in western Jamaica often putting his own self in harm's way to offer emergency shelter or relocation for persons who would normally call the office for assistance. He was fired due to internal matters that have left many stunned even now some several months after his departure. The new staff members have been described as out of touch and very snooty and seem not interested for the most part in getting involved in serious cases but those who still do engage have a hard time convincing the homophobic victims to report the issue to JFLAG, the response is usually they feel it will go nowhere than just on paper. 

A same gender loving woman also had to beat a hasty relocation as she was the victim of a stoning incident as well so she took evasive action, she surmises that after the visit of a butch identified friend she became profiled by her immediate neighbours hence the incident that followed. A nurse also had to take action at her place of work where another coworker verbally abused her but the regional authorities quickly diffused the situation and transferred the offending worker to another locale.

With no permanent presence at this time of a crisis intervention team in Montego Bay how are the persons going to report incidents separate and apart from calling in to them. JFLAG has indeed indicated that it will be opening some shelter of sorts finally after 14 years of existence the first time a shelter is being opened after so many years of not addressing the social issues that have grown exponentially. How many beds are there in this project and if it will remain open and close surprisingly and dubiously as the previous Safe House Project we are yet to see. One other issue is will this new shelter if and when it opens will the services be so offered to engage the existing homeless men numbering some thirty or more just by observation and some of whom have been around since 2007 after the exposure of an LGBT party DVD by bootleggers first in Montego Bay then in Kingston leading to an islandwide meltdown. Many persons from western Jamaica had to beat a hasty retreat to come to Kingston hence the explosion of displaced and homeless persons to this day with all the associated problems some internally caused unfortunately.

Please see the following for some background to some of the issues:

Murder, Homelessness and fallouts ..................................

June 13th double murder scene of two homeless msms which was not a homophobic killing

also hear a recent audio commentary on the Trafalgar murder matter and more

and recent issues with the Kingston cohort 

From the pen of one of our homeless brothers ……..

There are several things to consider here folks as we navigate LGBT life here on the rock especially for those of us who choose to remain here and battle it out and not run off using the tempting asylum routes being waved infront of some as a dangling carrot but it becoming more clearer is the social fallouts and homonegative issues however small they make look needs urgent attention by the advocacy structures. Influentials alone can no longer take on these matters as they are spent from attempting to do so and resources are scarce on their part yet millions are available from the LGBT groups and they do not act on addressing the glaring issues staring us all in the face.

Think on these things

Peace and tolerance

H

Caribbean Sees Progress on HIV/AIDS, Fears Funding Cuts

Ian McKnight, executive director of the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVCC), used one word – “tokenistic” – to sum up his perspective on the 19th International AIDS Conference that ended here over the weekend.

Addressing the final session of the six-day event, McKnight said while “hubs” were important for allowing delegates to voice their opinions in small gatherings, these same delegates were not given the same opportunity at gatherings attended by scientists, officials and other major stakeholders.


The Caribbean has the second highest incidence of HIV/AIDS after sub-Saharan Africa. McKnight said he was disappointed that the conference had excluded vulnerable populations, such as drugs users and sex workers, from making their position known.


U.S. President Barack Obama lifted a travel ban on HIV-positive travelers, but some sex workers say they were denied visas to attend the conference. “It is nothing short of an abomination that they have been excluded from this conference …we need their voices and their issues here with us at this conference.


“So these half baked attempts at including people who use drugs and sex workers are tokenistic and it must stop now,” he said to loud applause.


Prior to the official start of the conference, the executive director of the Barbados-based Caribbean Media Broadcast Partnership (CMBP), Dr. Allyson Leacock, said that while the Caribbean media had adopted a significant role in educating and informing the public about the HIV/AIDS epidemic, she was also fearful that the conference would sideline Caribbean concerns.


She said the challenge for the Caribbean is that its population is so small and donors and other agencies “tend to use these numbers when HIV has the same potential to decimate the region”. Jamaica’s health minister, Dr. Fenton Ferguson also appealed to the international community not to cut back on aid to the region as it deals with the HIV/AIDS epidemic.


“The move to make funding decisions based on limited criteria such as World Bank country rankings without wider economic and potential impact assessments will be judged as an error by history if allowed to stand. “These decisions threaten the very lives of the people we have just saved, “he said, adding that Jamaica, and the region as a whole, “cannot go it alone from here”.


“We need the continued support of our international development partners, who if they abandon us now, in the words of Michele Sidebe (UNAIDS executive director) would be making a decision to let HIV regain a foothold and flourish in Jamaica and they would be making a decision to abandon the next generation of children to HIV,” he said.


Ferguson said a recent study indicates that Jamaica would need 30 million dollars annually by 2030 compared to 15 million annually today to sustain its HIV programmes. “We could therefore see a doubling of the cost to the response if the investments to mitigate its impact are not made now,” he said, adding “today Jamaica, like many other countries, is concerned about the potential impact of the global financial crisis on the sustainability of its national response to HIV”.


McKnight said cutting back was not an option, adding that all the progress being touted at the conference “would be doomed to failure if we do not have the funding to do this work”. “None of it, none of it can ever happen without serious commitments and so we call again on our governments and say renew your calls to take ownership for this response and to make the investment necessary and to end AIDS,” he said.


U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said more than 150 million dollars in new U.S. spending initiatives geared toward leveraging progress against AIDS already achieved through new drug treatments, programmes to stop mother-to-child transmission of HIV and the preventive effect of expanded voluntary male circumcision.


But there were suggestions here that the US funds were geared more towards Africa than the Caribbean. In a report titled “Together We Will End AIDS” released ahead of the conference, UNAIDS noted that AIDS-related deaths in the Caribbean have declined by almost 50 percent in 10 years.


AIDS-related deaths fell to about 10,000 in 2011, nearly half of the figure for 2001, in the almost 30 years since the start of the AIDS epidemic. “This is in large part due to the relatively high antiretroviral treatment coverage of 67 percent for the Caribbean as a whole. At present 230,000 people are living with HIV in the Caribbean. The estimated number of persons who were newly infected with the virus last year was 13,000,” the report said.


UNAIDS said that about 1,100 children became infected with HIV in the Caribbean in 2011, the majority in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, which together comprise 68 percent of the region’s HIV epidemic. UNAIDS said that many of the member countries of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) “are close to achieving elimination targets for the prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT).”


But there is need for caution. “We don’t want people to think that the AIDS epidemic is over because we have eight million people in treatment,” UNAIDS deputy executive director Paul De Lay told IPS after participating in a panel discussion on “HIV/AIDS and the News Agenda – Implications for Ending the Epidemic”.


“We need to work with the media to ensure that we are putting the right spin on the data,” De Lay said, noting that while it is important to note that eight million people were receiving medical treatment for the virus, “underneath that figure is a lot of people who are not getting treatment”.

HIV Undetectable in 2 Men After Bone Marrow Transplants: Study

But whether procedure or continued medication is responsible remains unclear

(HealthDay News) -- Following bone marrow transplants, two men infected with HIV no longer have any traces of the AIDS-causing virus in their lymphocytes, researchers report.

Lymphocytes are a type of white blood cell and are a key part of the immune system.

The U.S. researchers suspect that bone marrow transplantation along with continuation of antiretroviral therapy resulted in the dramatic effects evident eight months post-transplant. They are scheduled to present these preliminary findings Thursday at the International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C.

HIV patients on antiretroviral therapy often achieve "undetectable viral loads," meaning there are no virus particles in their blood. But they still have latent HIV in their lymphocytes, and if antiretroviral therapy were discontinued, the latent HIV could reactivate.

But having no traces of HIV in these white blood cells is an indication that this "reservoir" of latent HIV may have been eliminated, the researchers believe.

At this point, they are far from saying these patients are cured. But the findings are "exciting," said Dr. Savita Pahwa, director of the Center for AIDS Research at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, who was not involved with the study.

"Every hint you get that it's possible to wipe out the reservoir needs to be investigated," she said.

"Eliminating the reservoir is the key to the cure," said Pahwa. She also stressed that it would only be possible to say these patients were "functionally cured" if the virus did not rebound when the patients went off antiretroviral therapy.

The two men whose cases are described in the paper underwent chemotherapy for blood cancers before receiving stem cell transplants. One had his transplant two years ago; the other, four years ago. Both also developed graft-versus-host disease (when transplanted cells attack the host cells) and continued with their antiretroviral medications throughout and after the transplant procedures.

Any of these factors could theoretically explain their HIV-free status, but the bone marrow transplantation combined with antiretroviral therapy seems the most likely explanation, said the study authors.

"We believe the transplanted cells killed off and replaced all of the patients' own lymphocytes, including the infected cells, and the donor cells were protected from becoming infected themselves by the antiretroviral therapy they were taking throughout the transplant period," said study senior author Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes, chief of infectious diseases at Brigham and Women's Hospital and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

Graft-versus-host disease also probably played a role, he said. "The replacement of host cells by donor cells is itself a form of graft-versus-host reaction," Kuritzkes explained.

But the only way to verify that the transplant plus antiretroviral therapy can eradicate HIV is to take the patients off their medication regimens.

That would be the "next logical step," said Kuritzkes, adding that this would require patient consent and adherence to ethics protocols.

But even if the transplant procedure were found to eliminate the reservoir of latent HIV cells, bone marrow transplantation is a very risky procedure. Kuritzkes said he does not "foresee bone marrow transplantation being performed on otherwise healthy HIV-infected patients who are doing well on [antiretroviral therapy]."

Kuritzkes and his colleagues are continuing to enroll and follow HIV-positive patients who have undergone bone marrow transplants as part of a larger study.

This preliminary study contains echoes of the so-called "Berlin Patient," who has no detectable HIV cells in his blood five years after a stem cell transplant for leukemia.

Like the two men discussed in the current paper, the Berlin Patient -- Timothy Ray Brown of Seattle -- also had been diagnosed with HIV and also underwent chemotherapy (for acute myeloid leukemia) and developed graft-versus-host disease.

But, unlike the current patients, Brown received his stem cell transplant from a donor who had a rare genetic mutation that increases immunity against the most common form of HIV. He remained HIV-free after discontinuing antiretroviral therapy.

The two men described here received donor cells, which were "fully susceptible" to HIV, Kuritzkes said. This raises the possibility that a cure may be possible even when the donor does not have this gene mutation, he said.

Because this research has not been peer-reviewed and published in a medical journal, the data and conclusions should be considered preliminary.

SOURCES: Daniel Kuritzkes, M.D., chief, infectious diseases, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and professor, medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston; Savita Pahwa, M.D., professor of microbiology and immunology, and director, Center for AIDS Research, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine; study abstract, July 26, 2012, International AIDS Conference, Washington, D.C.

HealthDay

Beenie Man Calls Gays Child Molesters In Advocate “Apology”

 The Advocate posted an exclusive interview with notorious dancehall singer Beenie Man, in which he allegedly “apologizes” for song after song calling for the death of gay people. Oh, and promotes his new album.

In the intro, writer Akim Bryant discusses how Beenie (born Anthony Moses Davis) went on YouTube earlier this year to issue a mea culpa for his past bigotry:

“However, back in May 2012, Beenie Man took to YouTube posting the first-ever apology video by any dancehall artist to date, in which he said, “Let me make this clear…I have nothing against no one. I respect each and every human being regardless of which race or creed, regardless of which religious belief…regardless of which sexual preference you have including gay and lesbian people.”

Actually, that’s not an apology. It might be a change of opinion, or a clarification, but we don’t see anything about Beenie, 38, being sorry for contributing to violence perpetrated against the LGBT community.

In fact, Beenie didn’t think it was either: In follow-up interviews he said “I never apologized,” and “I told them to leave us alone, to try to understand where we are coming from.”

If you want to understand where Beenie’s coming from, take a look at some of his lyrics: In “Mi Nah Wallah”, he chants about about cutting the throats of all gay men. In another song he sings “I’m dreaming of a new Jamaica, come to execute all the gays.”

And we can’t stop singing “Take a bazooka and kill batty-fucker,” when we’re in the shower.

The New York Times’ Kelefa Sanneh found some real zingers:


In “That’s Right,” the infectious chorus begins, “We burn chi-chi man and then we burn sodomite and everybody bawl out, say, ‘Dat right!’”

And in “Han Up Deh,” Beenie Man cracks some jokes (“Man a save yuh from drowning is a lifeguard/ Man a watch a man batty, him a batty-guard”), then delivers an anti-gay party chant, asking listeners to raise their hands if they agree: “Hang chi-chi gal wid a long piece a rope/ Mek me see di han’ a go up, mek me see di han’ a go up.”

Beenie likes to say he’s being persecuted for songs he wrote as a wayward youth: “Do not fight against me for some song that I sing 20 years ago.” But these murderous lyrics come from tracks that were all released after 2000. (“Batty Man Fi Dead,” or “Faggots Must be Killed,” was released in 2004.)

And he’s performed many of them well into the new millennium.

Maybe Beenie spells it out in the actual Q&A? Bryant asked the Jamaican dancehall star what prompted him to do the YouTube “apology” (Bryant’s word not ours).


“…If you want people to love your music, all you have to do is respect people for who they are. So when I go to Europe now, me have 30 shows—10 of them canceled. People come out and they protest.

…The next reason is I have done a song with Janet Jackson and it being taken off the charts, video taken off MTV. Now this song with me and Nicki [Minaj]. We textin’ and everything (she says) you need to stop it and make people understand that’s not who you are right now.”

Either Beenie isn’t media-savvy or he doesn’t want to bullshit the reader—he’s making it pretty clear he’s changed his tune to stop the boycotts against him, not because he realized hatred and violence are wrong

.

It only gets worse from there, folks.

When Bryant asks what kind of change Beenie has seen since talking about treating gays fairly, he replies “the shows that we used to get banned from, we are now booked.”

When he asks Beenie about the homophobia that still rages in his homeland, his response is exasperating: “I can’t be concerned about Jamaica and small-minded and one-track, ya understand?”

Worst of all, Beenie suggests gays in Jamaica rape children—and Bryant leaves it unchallenged:

“You have place in the Caribbean where gay and lesbian is legal like Barbados and a few more places. But Jamaica is a place where it’s just bent one way because gay in Jamaica is not like it is in America. It’s mostly big men with money going down in the ghetto and turning the local youths so you call that statutory (rape) or child molestation.

They convince the youth that they are this way…and me know enough youth this way. That’s why when it comes to gay murder in Jamaica, it’s so vicious. With local youth, they can’t go back to their life that they used to know. And then [the rich men] use them and go find the next youth to use. So people need to understand that in Jamaica it’s a different lifestyle. It’s not like two men come together and say I like [to date men]. That’s not the way it is in Jamaica.

So right now until that finished and the youth stop getting kidnapped and found raped and thrown in a bush…until that stops and gays and lesbians speak out against child rapists and all of these things, then the government will see where they’re coming from.

You can’t beat up on the government when you don’t understand what the government is fighting for. They’re not fighting against [gays]. In the government in Jamaica right now, me sure you can find a few gay people. But the whole Caribbean needs support because the [rapes] have to stop.”

Instead of addressing that claim—and trying to sort out the truth from malicious myths—Bryant next asks Beenie about appearing on The RuPaul Show back in 1996. Who gives a damn about RuPaul (sorry, Ru)?!? The man just said gays in Jamaica don’t deserve equality because they’re child rapists!

Maybe Bryant and his editor just wanted to let Beenie hang himself with his words. But that’s not what comes across—not with a headline like: “Beenie Man Apologizes: The king of dancehall music is sorry for his past homophobic lyrics and says his view on LGBT equality has evolved. “

Toward the end of the interview, Bryant asks Beenie if he’d ever perform at an LGBT event. “Ya know, I just can’t answer that,” the singer replies. “When I get there, I get there, seriously.”

We’ll save you the trouble, Beenie. We don’t want you.

Photo: Alex Const

Full story here: http://www.queerty.com/dancehall-homophobe-beenie-man-calls-gays-child-molesters-in-advocate-apology-20120801/#ixzz22PqUsxup

Some background though, in July of this year on Jamaican television he did say he DID NOT apoligize (see video below) and as I had initially reacted when the news first broke I never bought it as it was only a way to get on to shows as funds dry up for local acts, dancehall and indeed other forms of music do not have large sales figures for artists to earn from

also see the following posts: Not Impressed!!!! Beenieman ................... artist supposedly backtracks on gay stance

Artistes react to Beenie's statement .................

Beenieman Says apology to gay community had no influence in his return to performing in the US

Some concerns about same gender loving women on the rock

With the recent murders of several men who have sex with men and related issues taking centre stage on mainstream news and in the LGBT community's gaze the same gender loving female community issues get overlooked sometimes but one concerned sister in the community shared with me and another influential a story of one of her friends who is going through a rough time so to speak with the forced eviction from her home by predominantly her father which led her to leave voluntarily after a heated argument with him among other things.


You will appreciate not all the details will be presented here but the ones relevant so as to raise some issues.





We since arranged a meeting with the young lady who spoke candidly about her dilemma as she crashes with another friend in a kind of alternative crisis intervention plan. 

.......... here is an old audio post I had done in 2011 raising person's willingness to provide temporary accommodation to other LGBTians who may need emergency shelter after a traumatic or phobic event.

Some considerations ..... would you assist someone who has been displaced ???

Same gender loving women too also go through displacements but we often do not hear about them that much as MSMs are more prominent and visible in as far as the outcomes are concerned leading to sometimes full homelessness. She was willing to share her story and allowed some minor details to be shared via this blog in a bid to carry on the discussion about insensitive parents and their separation from their LGBT siblings once perceived or found to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or even transgender though often confused as a cross dressing gay individual.

Issues here in this case included:

1) Profiling


2) Prying into personal stuff and space (where the displaced woman's father searched her room sometimes in her absence and kept asking questions such as where was her boyfriend?)


3) Restrictions of the use of the computer as her father thought she may be influenced by some lesbian, his resolve was allegedly strengthened during the brouhaha over the lesbian coercion matter in the media earlier this year although she was already out of the home voluntarily.  


4) One parent showing slight support - i.e. her mother showed some concern but had to be discreet in her connections as her husband the victim's father would scold her upon realizing or finding out that contact was made


5) The victim's desire to reconnect despite the opposition from her father but does not know where to turn for proper psycho social assistance


6) Other friends impatience with her suggesting she get over the issue and move on while implying she must forget her parents altogether


7) Her father's unease with her semi masculine or stud aesthetic


Linking up:

The recent discussion on a television program "All Angles" hosted by Dionne Jackson Miller (just above time:1:41 onwards) resonated somewhat with her mother more so than her father as both saw the program on TVJ hence the attempts to reconnect even more thus allowing for some discreet visits to the home of course in the absence of her father, as she outlined this development it was clear to me that she was moved by that first visit back to the home as her reactions proved she was touched by the development.


It is however good she could have reconnected in some way but her friend and I are in no way capable or qualified to counsel her as to this type of intervention where families are concerned, although peer support is indeed helpful in some respects, the most her friends have been doing already was encourage her to move on and suggested as aforementioned permanent separation from her parents as a solution. 


The psycho social support here is needed as I have been reiterating in previous posts referrals sometimes do not work and not all counseling experts are LGBT specific in their practice and do not know how to handle related issues. There was an infamous case years ago where a lesbian was referred to a counselor and she was told in the session to seek God and the whole nine yards which led to the particular counselor being removed from the list of referees for such services at that time.


She has since been referred to a counselor to have the matter looked at unfortunately at market rates though I wish it were pro-bono but such is the scheme of business. We need some sort of residential support systems that negates the need for referrals that could end up costing so much money that some displaced and homeless lgbt people already do not have. It is good to know that persons are seeking out ways to help each other in the community but our lesbian sisters need equal attention just as MSMs do or get as there is a perception that the women are often overlooked in the eyes of some persons as for me I say flat out that they are overlooked often times.


I am keeping my fingers crossed on this one and hopes it works out for the best.


Peace and tolerance


H

United Belize Advocacy Movement (UNIBAM) discusses sexual orientation; is it a choice?

The President of United Belize Advocacy Movement (UNIBAM), Caleb Orosco, is taking the government to court, challenging Section Fifty-Three of the criminal code on the grounds that it criminalizes homosexuality. This morning the organization held a meeting at the Radisson to dialogue with various human rights agencies. It discussed a myriad of issues including sexual discrimination and ways to increase the understanding of gender based violence, homophobia and LGBT human rights issues. According to Orosco, the LGBT movement is raising consciousness on sexual orientation across demographic lines. Clinical Psychologist, Asa DeMatteo, presented scientific findings on the origins of sexual orientation and Orosco says it is not a choice.


Caleb Orosco, President, UNIBAM

CALEB OROSCO

“I am proud to say that the one thousand or so people that we have in our close group in Belize for the Constitutional Challenge have not only raised awareness, but they have engaged the Christian right and their position. I am most proud of the fact that we’ve taken sexuality out of the closet—and not just LGBT sexuality; I mean sexuality as a whole. Nobody in this country can ever say that they do not or have not had a discussion on sexual orientation. Nobody can ever say that they don’t know what discrimination is like or they cannot say that there isn’t a face to the issue of discrimination. We had invited a clinical psychologist to try to build new research around epigenics and basically it is scientific research that talks about the origins of sexual orientation. 

For us, his presence here has value because he brings not only a professional perspective but a scientific background in explaining what things are. His value is also to break up some of the myths that have been projected out there in the media; that sexual orientation is a choice, that sexual orientation you can pray the gay away. These are fundamental issues which have hardly begun to be address within the media or the education system. So his presence is about increasing the awareness of the other scientific research.”

According to Orosco, no individual should endure abuse because of their sexual orientation. According to Clinical Psychologist, Asa DeMatteo, the court challenge is the beginning of a long process which will inevitably lead to the tolerance of differences on sexual orientations.

ASA DEMATTEO

Asa DeMatteo, Clinical Psychologist

“Gay people say I’m a citizen, I pay my taxes, I live a life in this country or my country and I want to be equal under the law. Belize is like the United States in the 1970s or England in the 1980s; this is moved faster in some places than others. A lot of people, particularly here in Belize talk about it as a gay agenda or as a conspiracy. I don’t know how you call it a conspiracy for someone to say I wanna be equal. I want to be treated equally under the law. The biggest opposition—but not all the opposition—comes from the religious community and that’s just a segment of the religious community. I don’t think they should be asked to accept it. What they have to be asked to do is keep the laws out of discrimination. 

No church has to accept that homosexuality is not a sin; no church has to accept gay marriage or anything like that. Religion like sexuality is a private matter that each person gets to choose. And so what they need to do is tolerate differences. This issue is for me and for gay people; this is our life. This is our everyday twenty-four seven life that we have to cope with; this insult kind of insult to our dignity and our civil rights. For the church it is a side issue. It’s an important to them, but it is not central. Central to their belief is their love of god and their adherence to biblical principles; that is their central focus. And why they are going to accept it is that they are just gonna give up.

That’s what happen all across the world. They’re gonna say all right already we understand the equality and how that happens so far—and I can only look at history to predict how it happens in the future—is that gay people say I’m gay. Caleb Orosco started this thing but that’s not gonna change. What’s gonna change people is when they find out; oh my butcher is gay; oh my nephew is gay; oh my son is gay; my daughter is in love with a woman. When you know that someone is gay, you can’t hate them anymore because they’re your community; they’re your brothers and sisters and friends and neighbors and business men and stuff like that. And that’s how it happens all over the world. And Belize isn’t different from the rest of the world. And it will come. This is the beginning of a long process.”


UNIBAM, as an organization has been struck off from the case by the court, but Caleb Orosco, its president is continuing with the legal challenge.

European Parliament condemns violence against lesbian women, supports LGBTI rights in Africa

The European Parliament has adopted a resolution on violence against lesbian women and LGBTI rights in Africa. The Parliament is reacting to an increase in arrests and violence against LGBTI people, and particularly lesbian women, on the continent.

With this new resolution, the Parliament expresses its acute concern over the arrests, violence, rape and murder of lesbian women in African countries.

Recently, lesbian women were reported to be increasingly arrested in Cameroon. They remain regular victims of ‘corrective’ rape and murders in South Africa, and other countries, such as Liberia and Malawi, see legal and social conditions worsen for lesbian women.

The Parliament notes the situation is worsening in countries such as Uganda and Nigeria, but potentially improving in Malawi, where newly appointed president Joyce Banda aims to decriminalise homosexuality, and in Swaziland, where HIV/AIDS prevention efforts are ongoing despite strong legal threats.

The debate in the European Parliament was overwhelmingly supportive of the rights of LGBTI people, and especially lesbian women, with very strong speeches by Members of the European Parliament and by European Commissioner Connie Hedegaard.

Despite support from centre-right MEPs Eija-Riitta Korhola (EPP, Finland) and Edit Bauer(EPP, Slovakia), the EPP group withdrew its support from the draft resolution hours before the debate. Voting against the resolution, conservative MEP Bernd Posselt explained he wasn’t in favour of mixing criticism of violence with non-discrimination.

Ulrike Lunacek MEP, Co-president of the European Parliament’s LGBT Intergroup, said: ”I find it utterly shocking that the EPP group withdrew their support from a resolution they had previously agreed to. Why can they not condemn the raping of lesbian women and killings of LGBTI people? Their opposition makes no sense.”

“But I remain convinced the Parliament will stay committed for the years to come, as it has been since 1993, to the human rights of LGBTI people.”

Sophie in ‘t Veld MEP, Vice-President of the LGBT Intergroup, added: “Despite the ugly opposition of center-right MEPs to this resolution, I’m proud to say that once more, the European Parliament expressed its strong commitment to peace and equality. 

No amount of discussions, resolutions or speeches will do justice to the lives of danger a lot of women and LGBTI people face in countries around the world. While we keep pushing for equality here in Europe, we also stand in solidarity with minorities around the world.”

Read more:

• Read the resolution on the European Parliament website

The IDAHO 2012 Report is out .....

With mobilization stretching across all continents and over 100 countries, the 2012 edition of the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia broke new records. Several countries joined the celebrations for the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia for the first time, including countries among those which keep 1,5 BILLION people under laws that criminalize same sex relationships. Hundreds of millions of people reached by anti-homophobia and transphobia messages, as media massively covers IDAHO mobilizations worldwide. A short list of highlights include : Activists flew the rainbow flag on the hills above Tehran - Iran First-ever LGBT events were held in 7 cities across Burma, one of which hosted a 105 year old Transgender woman who addressed the young generations with a message of hope and love Organizations in Saint Petersburg defied the recently passed law prohibiting any form of LGBT activism, flying hundreds of balloons in the city skies as part of the global ’Rainbow Flash-mob’ action. Unesco convened an international conference to launch their first ever publication focusing solely on the issue of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, consisting of a collection of best-practice cases from around the world. As part of the Pride action week held for IDAHO in Cambodia, a float of ’tuktuk’ (local three-wheeler scooter taxi) raced under heavy monsoon rains, and included the participation of the British Ambassador. The IDAHO Committee held with the OECD and the World Bank an international conference reflecting on the economical cost which homophobic and transphobic policies bear on developing countries, and announced a research project on this issue. More than 50 EU politicians collectively recorded a video to support LGBT young people, on the mode of the ‘It Gets Better’ campaign. At UN level, the heads of UNAIDS and UNDP marked the day and added their voices to the High Commissioner for Human Right who recorded a video ahead of the day in support of activists’ mobilizations. In several countries in Latin America, organizations pursued, with the support of the World Health Organization, last year’s IDAHO ’Cures that Kill’ campaign which aims at fighting against so-called reparative ’cures’ In Cuba, the President’s daughter, Mariela Castro, once again lead the annual IDAHO street parade. In other places, people were invited to get a ’vaccine against homophobia’, by activists dressed as doctors. In high school, colleges and universities, students held ’IDAHO classes’, to teach the teachers how to confront homophobia and transphobia in the class. In many countries like Brazil, the United Kingdom, France, China, Canada, and others, the Day is being celebrated across the whole nation, including in places where ’traditional’ LGBT celebrations like Pride marches are not possible. As an activist from the Unites Arab Emirates wrote : "‘Days like IDAHO help to remind us all, not only the LGBT community, but every individual that basic human rights are still being fought for. LGBT rights are not special rights, they are Human rights!" This sentence surely resonates in all of us as the one overarching vision that binds us all together, beyond our diversities, which we should celebrate. All in all, once again, a vibrant, diverse and imaginative IDAHO. A celebration of courage, determination and creativity ! The annual report brings many more stories and pictures from around the world. The IDAHO team wishes you an inspiring reading ! The IDAHO Committee team Document to download IDAHO - ANNUAL REPORT 2012 In Jamaica the report mentioned: More than 80 representatives from government, civil society, the diplomatic corps and various educational institutions joined Jamaican activists for a public forum in Kingston themed “Right The Wrong: Encouraging Respect for Safer Schools and Better Learning Environments.” The forum sought to highlight the urgent need to address issue of bullying in schools. Pity this was not highlighted nationally save and except for CVM TV very little was mentioned of this by JFLAG

UNAIDS Report Launched: "Together we will end AIDS"

UNAIDS Report Launched: "Together we will end AIDS"

Open publication - Free publishing

More than 80 countries increase their domestic investments for AIDS by over 50% between 2006 and 2011

A new report and supplement from UNAIDS shows that as international funding flattens, more countries are increasing their own share of investments for HIV and that a record 8 million people are now receiving antiretroviral therapy

L to R: Anuar Luna, GNP+, Svitlana Moros, All Ukrainian Network of People Living with HIV, Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director, Ambassador Eric Goosby, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, Amina Ibrahim, UN Sustainable Development Goals, Mahmoud Mohieldin, Managing Director, World Bank. 18 July 2012. Washington, DC.


WASHINGTON, DC/GENEVA, 18 July 2012—A new report by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) shows that domestic funding for HIV has exceeded international investments. The report, Together we will end AIDS, states that low- and middle- income countries invested US$ 8.6 billion for the response in 2011, an increase of 11% over 2010. International funding however remained flat at 2008 levels (US$ 8.2 billion).

According to the report, 81 countries increased their domestic investments for AIDS by more than 50% between 2006 and 2011. As economies in low- and middle-income countries grow, domestic public investments for AIDS have also grown. Domestic public spending in sub-Saharan Africa for example, (not including South Africa) increased by 97% over the last five years. South Africa already spends more than 80% from domestic sources and has quadrupled its domestic investments between 2006 and 2011.

“This is an era of global solidarity and mutual accountability,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “Countries most affected by the epidemic are taking ownership and demonstrating leadership in responding to HIV. However, it is not enough for international assistance to remain stable­­—it has to increase if we are to meet the 2015 goals.”

To further expand country ownership and support mutual accountability, the African Union launched aRoadmap for shared responsibility and global solidarity for AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in Africa ahead of the XIX International AIDS Conference in Washington, DC. It charts a course for more diversified, balanced and sustainable financing for the AIDS response by 2015 and demonstrates Africa’s new leadership and voice in the global AIDS architecture.

BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) increased domestic public spending on HIV by more than 120% between 2006 and 2011. BRICS countries now fund, on average, more than 75% of their domestic AIDS responses. Domestic sources already account for more than 80% of resources spent on AIDS in South Africa and China—and the Chinese government has pledged to fully fund its response in the coming years. India, too, has committed to increase domestic funding to more than 90% in its next phase of the AIDS response. Brazil and Russia already fully fund their AIDS response with domestic resources.

HIV funding from the international community, on the other hand, has largely been stable between 2008 and 2011, at US$ 8.2 billion. Funding from the United States of America accounts for nearly 48% of all international assistance for AIDS.

“It is clear that this is no time for the world to slow down our efforts on global AIDS—rather, we must seize the moment to build on the progress we’ve made and achieve an AIDS-free generation,” said Ambassador Eric Goosby, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator. “The United States has made it clear that we will continue to do our part in meeting our shared responsibility by making smart investments that stretch each dollar as far as possible to save lives.”

While domestic investments in AIDS are increasing, there is still a large shortfall in global funding for HIV. By 2015, the estimated annual gap will be US$ 7 billion. At the 2011 United Nations High Level Meeting on AIDS, countries adopted a Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS in which they agreed to increase investments for HIV to between US$ 22-24 billion by 2015. A concerted effort by all countries is needed to scale up funding if this target is to be met.
Record numbers of people on treatment – lives saved


Although total resources for AIDS have not significantly increased, record numbers of people are accessing antiretroviral therapy. In 2011, eight million people had access to life-saving treatment in low- and middle-income countries—an increase of 1.4 million over 2010. Despite the substantial numbers of people newly starting treatment, it is only just over half (54%) of the 14.8 million people eligible.

People receiving antiretroviral therapy versus the 2015 target and the number of AIDS-related deaths, low- and middle-income countries, 2003–2011

The report also outlines the significant progress that has been made in reducing new HIV infections in children. Since 2009, new infections in children have fallen by an estimated 24%. Some 330 000 children were newly infected in 2011, almost half than at the peak of the epidemic in 2003 (570 000).

In both expanding access to antiretroviral therapy and stopping new HIV infections in children, this progress suggests that countries are on track to achieving the targets set out in the 2011 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS: to eliminate new HIV infections in children and reach 15 million people with antiretroviral therapy.

“HIV prevention and treatment is needed for all, now and always,” said Mr Sidibé. “I believe that together we will end AIDS. The question is not if but when.”

New HIV infections among children (0–14 years old), 2001–2011 and the target for 2015

The increase in access to antiretroviral therapy is helping to reduce new HIV infections. The positive effects of antiretroviral therapy in suppressing viral loads of people living with HIV is helping to stop the transmission of HIV. Changes in behaviour, combined with the natural course of the epidemic and an increase in access to antiretroviral therapy, has resulted in a continuing decline in new HIV infections––by more than 20% since 2001.

The report, launched ahead of the XIX International AIDS Conference in Washington DC, gives new data showing that an estimated 34.2 million people were living with HIV in 2011. In 2010, UNAIDS reported that at least 56 countries had either stabilized or achieved significant declines in rates of new HIV infections. This trend has been maintained and new HIV infections have fallen by nearly 20% in the last 10 years worldwide. New data shows that 2.5 million people were newly infected with HIV, 100 000 fewer than the 2.6 million new infections in 2010.

Some 4.9 million young people were living with HIV, 75% of them live in sub-Saharan Africa. Globally, young women between 15 and 24 years of age remain the most vulnerable to HIV, and an estimated 1.2 million women and girls were newly infected with HIV in 2011.
Key HIV data in 2011 – at a glance
34.2 million [31.8 – 35.9 million] people globally living with HIV
2.5 million [2.2 – 2.8 million] people became newly infected with HIV
1.7 million [1.6 – 1.9 million] people died of AIDS-related illnesses
More than 8 million people receiving antiretroviral therapy
Rights-based approaches to HIV

The AIDS conference is being held in the United States for the first time in over 20 years––and just two years after the host country lifted travel restrictions for people living with HIV. Data in the report shows that 46 countries, territories and areas, however, still restrict the ability of people living with HIV to enter, stay or reside in them.

Rights-based approaches, which advance gender equality and empower communities, are widely recognized in the report as essential to all components of the AIDS response. The report also underlines the important advantage of community-based responses in delivering HIV services.

“We can see strong leadership and participation of civil society and key populations in the AIDS response in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, but we still have a rapidly growing epidemic in the region,” said Svitlana Moroz of the All-Ukrainian Network of People Living with HIV. “Punitive policies towards sex workers, people who use drugs and men who have sex with men, combined with the criminalization of HIV transmission, are all factors fuelling the epidemic. We need to develop and sustain programmes of integrated treatment for HIV, tuberculosis, drug addiction and viral hepatitis and to find an appropriate balance between HIV treatment and prevention.”

The report outlines that sustaining the AIDS response will require strong country ownership and global solidarity. It also emphasises the need for investments to be sustainable and predictable and that countries must be able to mobilize and use resources effectively and efficiently.

“Every dollar spent on AIDS is an investment, not an expenditure,” said Mr Sidibé. “We need to focus not only on achieving the 2015 targets but we need to look beyond and keep our sights set firmly on realizing our vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths.”

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Contact UNAIDS Geneva
Saira Stewart
tel. +41 79 467 2013
stewarts@unaids.org Washington DC

Sophie Barton-Knott
tel. +1 202 735 46 05, +41 79 514 68 96
bartonknotts@unaids.org

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Download report: Together We Will End AIDS
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