Wheel and come again, ACP Green ...... but

Someone has responded via a letter to the Observer as to the trope from outgoing former assistant police commission Les Green who basically berated the gay lobby's agitation on gay murders in Jamaica, where he has postured that it is not true. It would seem in the article there is some truth but our intellectual dishonesty is worrying to me as well. The specific June 13th double murders of the homeless men was NOT a homophobic incident and also a few others since the start of the year. We must take each case on their own merit.

Here is my audio as well:

meanwhile the Letter writer wrote:
Dear Editor,

Les Green's comments in the July 8 Sunday Observer are misleading! I don't understand his comments, but the media seem to be running away with them

Jamaica is a very intolerant society when it comes to gays, no question. The buggery law itself is anti-gay, making men who have sex with men (MSM) actually illegal, so how could he say otherwise? While it would seem that most gay murders on the island might be gay-related, usually following similar gruesome patterns, murder is still murder. Is he saying that because it is gay-related, it's not as big a deal? Clearly, these murders are a symptom of a much bigger problem, when you have a society so filled with violence .

Murder is usually inspired by intolerance anyway, so regardless of the specifics I don't see how this former senior police officer could suggest otherwise. Ironically, he is also suggesting that cross-dressers in Jamaica are too contrived, I suppose too bold, by being themselves and going out in public in "drag". If Jamaicans are so tolerant, why would he make this comment to warn cross-dressers? Is it illegal to cross-dress? Why should I care, or be bothered if someone want to walk the streets in women's stockings? It is their lives, their way of self-expression, their art, not mine. I have seen cross-dressers in many major cities elsewhere, and though some may get a few stares, even laughs, generally there is no fear or prejudice.

Also, it is not just gay cross-dressers who are attacked in Jamaica, any sign of looking different or seemingly effeminate can inspire a random attack. I have read stories about bullying in schools of effeminate young students - this is totally unacceptable, another sign of cultural intolerance. I witnessed a mob attack in broad daylight on Oxford Road, where two guys who were perceived to be gay, just by their sense of style or mannerisms, had to run for their lives.

I have friends from New York who were visiting the island as tourists who also had to flee New Kingston Shopping Centre, because they dressed differently. Luckily a woman driving by saw what was happening and opened her car door to rescue them, and warn them of what exists even in those areas. So Les Green needs to think again. His stay in Jamaica has been relatively brief; he did not grow up in Jamaica, or experience all aspects of life there, to be making such generalised comments.

And I don't understand that recent police raid in St Ann either. It is one thing to go after criminals if they are involved with illegal stuff, but playing up the cross-dressing part seems like targeting a certain group, and this seems extremely odd to me. While one would agree that Jamaica has changed a lot over the years, due to the media, internet, TV and films which help societies in some ways to become more aware, it is very unfair to say that Jamaicans in general remain tolerant to issues pertaining to sexuality; this is very misleading. 

It wasn't too long ago our own former PM publicly stated in a BBC interview that gays could not serve in his Cabinet. Gays who don't even cross-dress are still subject to ridicule, bullying, prejudice, hate. I therefore urge the former Assistant Commissioner to seriously rethink his comments.

Pete Delisser

Pdelisser 1988@yahoo.com

ENDS

Here is a video vox pop from the paper as well about supposed "gay murders" and possible causes.

Here is an older video from 2009 that gives some insight as to the early beginnings of the explosion of homeless men on the island separate and apart from the existing populations.

Violence and venom force gay Jamaicans to hide 

This was when the organizations meant something but since all kinds of politics has clouded our advocacy structures roles and responsibilities.

Peace and tolerance

H

Labour Ministry Launches HIV Workplace Education Campaign

The Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLSS) has launched an HIV in the Workplace Public Education campaign, aimed at sensitising employers of the need to adopt policies on HIV and AIDS.

The initiative being undertaken by the Occupational HIV Unit in the Ministry’s Safety and Health Department, falls under the United States President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), being implemented by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

In his address at the launch held on July 3 at the Mona Visitor’s Lodge and Conference Centre in St. Andrew, portfolio Minister, Hon. Derrick Kellier said HIV/AIDS is an important workplace issue and impacts significantly on production and national development.

He said there are increased costs on companies through decline in productivity, increased labour costs and expenses, costly treatments and loss of skills and experience.

He pointed out that the most critical segment of the workforce (15-49 years) is most at risk for contracting HIV, and with a prevalence rate of 1.7 per cent, with two of every 100 persons infected, it is important for the country to respond seriously and urgently to the epidemic.

“It is necessary for all sectors to respond appropriately to HIV and AIDS in the workplace, and put policies and programmes in place,” he stated.

He said the MLSS is leading the national response through a rights-based approach aimed at reducing HIV-related stigma and discrimination.

He informed that the national HIV/AIDS Workplace Policy, which was developed in 2007, will inform regulations to be appended to the proposed Occupational Safety and Health Act, which is being implemented to address health and safety concerns in the workplace.

The Minister therefore gave the undertaking that the country should have an Occupational Safety and Health Act by the end of the current financial year.

Meanwhile, he said the Ministry continues to be proactive with its voluntary compliance programme, encouraging employers to provide safe work environments in order to reduce stigma and discrimination. “Companies are also being urged to implement educational and training programmes that can contribute to behaviour change,” he said.

 

In her address, Mission Director, USAID, Denise Herbol said stigma and discrimination continues to drive the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Jamaica, and that the partnership between the USAID and Jamaica, along with other donors, multilateral organizations, non-profit groups, and people living with HIV, work to make positive resource and programmatic investments to save lives, which otherwise may be lost to the disease.

“Through PEPFAR, we are working with Jamaica to address the negative impacts of stigma and discrimination, creating equal access of quality care and services for those living with HIV. A partnership with the Ministry of Labour in addressing and combating stigma is critical,” she stated, noting that activities include strengthening the voluntary compliance programme in the private sector.

Discrimination by cops while carrying out duties ??? ..........

While cops have their responsibilities to carry out they must do so without open stigma being displayed, the alleged lotto scamming activity is said to be also in the same sex community resulting in a crack down on a party at Club Heavens last weekend at a popular socialite's birthday party. The cops appeared on the scene with anti gay remarks blaring even as the article below that appeared in the Gleaner yesterday portrayed a clean crackdown procedures ignoring the actual sequence of events as since told to me by several upset patrons hours after being processed and released.

Here is the article firstly

Kenrick 'Bebe' Stephenson (right) awaits processing by the police while two cross-dressers strike a pose for the camera after they were detained by the police

Scammers Party In Drag

Several cross-dressers, some suspected to be involved in the illegal lottery scam, were taken into custody and a number of items, including motor vehicles, seized by the police yesterday during an intelligence-driven operation in St Ann which targeted scammers from western Jamaica.

Head of the Lottery Scam Task Force, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Leon Clunis, and his team raided a nightclub on the border of St Ann and Trelawny early yesterday morning and discovered scores of men dressed in women's apparel, some proudly displaying their get-up.

According to Clunis, two of the men held were wanted by the police.

They were identified as Kenrick 'Bebe' Stephenson, an alleged mastermind of the illicit lottery scam who was wanted for absconding bail, and a man from Kingston who the police did not name but said he was wanted for housebreaking and larceny.

Charges were also laid against a man in connection with a quantity of illegal drugs found at the club.

"We took in more than 130 patrons, and confiscated a number of phones, and about 15 vehicles, including Skylines, and we are presently sifting through to determine the ones we need," Clunis told The Sunday Gleaner.

"At this nightclub party, we thought that there were many females, but in reality there were not more than 11 females; most of them were males dressed as females," added Clunis.

"We have no interest in one's sexuality or sexual preference, we are dealing with crime and criminality in general. As long as it is committed, we are coming after you."

In May this year, Stephenson was charged with unlawful possession of property and abstracting electricity from the Jamaica Public Service Company.

The police were also probing his alleged involvement in the lottery scam after he was held by members of the task force during a raid in St James.

But Stephenson has reportedly failed to attend court, prompting the issuing of a warrant for his arrest.

proper documentation

"We are doing our jobs, and ensuring that what we do is properly documented," said Clunis.

"What is very important is that corporate Jamaica is on board and they have been giving us assistance in terms of intelligence and quick information to which we can respond."

In the meantime, Clunis disclosed that during an operation last Friday, another alleged major player in the lotto scam was arrested in the Santa Cruz area.

He was taken to a remittance service facility to collect some $250,000 which is believed to have been obtained through the purported sweepstakes.

ENDS

I was absent however in my capacity as a disc jock for events there but I have been kept abreast by some disgruntled members of the party who felt they were grouped with everyone else as guilty before proven Innocent or without any evidence to the effect.

Allegations such as:

Persons stigmatized as HIV  positive were searched with some cops wearing two pairs of gloves

Profiling and sexually inappropriate suggestions that the cross dressers be searched in a fondling manner

A patron while waiting to be processed had an asthma attack and was left to suffer for some time without any assistance until one officer intervened

Police officer on the crackdown operations had no numbers on their person as is required by law

The disc jocks on duty at the time of the event were ruffed up by the cops and one reportedly was hit on the head 

Veiled threats and suggestions that we are to die as homosexuality is wrong

Alleged verbal abuse by some members of the patrol with selected members of the party

Patrons felt rather uncomfortable as they saw what was described as hate in the cops eyes, the patrons were taken to the Trelawny All Purpose stadium for processing.

Yes, if there is evidence that lotto scamming is happening then do whatever in a legal and transparent procedure in nabbing the accused persons with the relevant evidence but to stop an entire event using typical homophobic and homo negative tactics especially on the strength of ACP Les Green parting shot as he returns to the UK that the gay lobby is embellishing calls of homophobia, SEE MORE HERE persons should be free to congregate and entertain themselves and to think the club is situated far from any populated areas in a bid to avoid interference and yet still we ended up with this invasion without a warrant or proper explanation upon entry as to the reason for the patrol and searches.

Also of importance is what is going to happen to those persons who maybe involved in this activity and now have been falling from grace, will they be made displaced and subsequently homeless adding to the already problematic set of circumstances including murder and internal strife with overlapping communities such as the hypermasculine types.

All the gains it seems we were making with the police and the interactions and cooperation have been eroded here just by the two most recent issues and the problematic homeless populations and the deaths is worrying to me and some influentials. Where do we go from here?

Peace and tolerance

Also see: Cross-dressers held at St Ann fete on the Observer site

also see:

CLICK HERE 

and a subsequent letter to the Gleaner as well: The Club Matter – Unprofessional Police Behaviour Must Stop

H

Gay lobby claims not true, says Green ......

Source: Jamaica far more tolerant of homosexuals than the public hype’

A day before former Assistant Commissioner of Police Les Green left the island at the end of his eight years of service, he rubbished a common claim by the gay community and international rights groups that homosexuals in Jamaica are victims of wanton murder, mob-mauling and marginalisation.

His pronouncement came just weeks after gay lobby group Jamaica Forum For Lesbians All-sexuals and Gays (JFLAG) suggested that two men killed in the New Kingston area were slain because of their sexual preference.
In an interview on Thursday with the Sunday Observer, Green said despite claims by JFLAG that Jamaicans are intolerant of their lifestyle, and are targeting them for death, his experience during his tenure here was totally different.


JFLAG has, for years, contended that gay people have been marginalised in Jamaica, but Green said while that may have been the case in the past, the country has come a long way in tolerating the homosexual lifestyle.

“I think Jamaica is far more tolerant than the public hype. There is a vibrant community in Jamaica and there isn’t the sort of backlash that some people say. I think we are much more tolerant and accepting. Just go around and you will see they are more flamboyant in the way they dress and behave as if they are comfortable with it. If that’s the case, why are they stigmatised?” Green said.

“It’s just the hype from some who claim Jamaica is very anti-homosexual, but the reality is far from that. There are many homosexuals who live and work freely in Jamaica,” he said.

Green explained that as a homicide investigator he worked closely with the gay lobby group which referred him to several incidents in which members of their community were murdered.

However, the former Scotland Yard detective said his findings show that the majority of gay killings are carried out by members of the gay community.

“All of those murders that I have investigated have been in relationships and are victims of gay attacks, domestic situations,” he said.

On June 13, the badly mutilated bodies of Winston Ramsey and Jermaine Thompson were found in an open lot on Trafalgar Road. Since the gruesome find, homicide investigators have reported that the killings had all the signs of a gay-on-gay crime. However, days after the killing JFLAG, in a release to the media, used the murders as a launching pad to call on Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller to look into the plight of homeless gay men.

“Among the most recent attacks against the gay community was the savage killing of two young men. The men were apparently brutally murdered with blunt instruments in the vicinity of the intersection of Trafalgar Road and Lady Musgrave Road. People who are homeless frequent this area. Among them are young gay men who have been made homeless because of the continued intolerance of homosexuality in Jamaica... We call on the prime minister and the ministers of national security and labour and social security to listen to the cries and needs of members of our community who continue to be subjected to discrimination and violence, have nowhere to live and no food to eat because of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” the JFLAG release read in part.

However, Green flatly rejected that line of reasoning and said of all the murders of gay men that he has investigated only one was not committed by a member of the gay community. “That was Steve Harvey and that case was a robbery,” Green said.

Harvey was a Jamaica AIDS Support employee who was abducted from his Duhaney Drive, Kingston 20 home by gunmen and later found dead on Pinewood Terrace. Harvey’s ATM card and other items were taken. His vehicle was found parked at a football field in Grants Pen, St Andrew.

In 2002, the body of self styled psychic and television show host, Safa Santura, was found badly bruised and slashed at Cavaliers in St Andrew. Police say he was also murdered by his jealous lover who was later sentenced to life in prison.

Two years later, gay rights activist Brian Williamson was chopped and stabbed multiple times with the murderer leaving his remains inside his house at Haughton Avenue in St Andrew. At the time police reported that Williamson’s home was a hangout spot for gays. His killer, Dwight Hayden, was also sentenced to life.

In December 2006, the decomposing body of Wayne Pinnock was found in an upscale apartment owned by late Trade Ambassador Peter King. His nude body had eight stab wounds and his throat was slashed.

A member of the gay community who was present at the murder scene admitted to the Observer that Pinnock was gay and was in fact killed by his male lover.

King was himself the victim of a gay-on-gay murder. His nude, mutilated body was found in a pool of blood in his bedroom at Waterloo Road, Kingston 10. His killer, Sheldon Pusey, was sentenced to 15 years for manslaughter.

At the time of his sentencing, his attorney pleaded with the judge that his client stood a great chance of being sodomised due to “rampant homosexuality” in Jamaica’s prisons.

At least one foreign national has also fallen victim to the vicious blades of a gay killer.

Former British diplomat John Terry was found strangled at his home in Mount Carey, St James in September 2009. His body was wrapped in a sheet. Police reported at the time that a hand-written note was found in the house which suggested the reason why Terry was slaughtered.

Green, who at the time was the head of Serious and Organised Crime, was forced to refute claims by the British media that Terry’s death was a hate crime.

“I don’t think it is a homophobic attack, although it’s been run in the UK press. It isn’t consistent with the information that we have. It is unlikely,” Green said at the time.

A security guard was arrested, charged and convicted of Terry’s murder.

While Jamaicans are becoming more tolerant of the gay lifestyle, most are not willing to allow public displays of affection or cross-dressing as obtains in Europe and North America.

In February 2007, three cross-dressing men were saved by the police from an angry mob outside a pharmacy in a St Andrew plaza. A similar incident occurred a few weeks later in downtown Kingston.

“I am not into gay-bashing, but the problem is cross-dressing and going downtown. Do they do that to create a media blitz? That just seems too contrived,” Green said.

original article ENDS

A response from Maurice Tomlinson:

It is clear that ACP Green has been infected with the same malaise (or he probably brought his low-grade homophobia with him from the London police force) which typifies the Jamaica Constabulary Force. He therefore believes that gay Jamaicans should not be seen and definitely not be heard. He also seems very content to identify with those who strenuously argue that gay Jamaicans are engaged in some kind of suicide pact and most, if not all the attacks against the Jamaican gay community are self-inflicted. However Jamaican television station, CVM TV, reported that in the early hours of the morning of October 18, 2011 armed thugs invaded the home of 16 year old Oshane Gordon and chopped him to death because of his "questionable relations with another man." On June 21, 2012, the same station reported of the mob invasion of the home of suspected gays in the community of Jones Town, Kingston. There have been numerous attacks in between, few of which have been reported to the police because of attitudes such as exhibited by ACP Green’s. Even in their homes gay Jamaicans are not safe from attack because of their sexual orientation. Yet, Mr. Green paints a rosy picture of what it means to be gay in Jamaica.

We therefore ask ACP Green that if he really believes his own views about the human rights situation for gay Jamaicans could he please dress in drag and go downtown Kingston (or Ocho Rios, Falmouth or Montego Bay) for just one day?
In response to Mr. Green’s statement that gay Jamaicans are attacking each other, some homosexual Jamaicans engage in acts of domestic violence, just like some heterosexual Jamaicans. This is a function of our national problem with conflict resolution. The critical difference is that straight victims of domestic violence have the protection of the country’s Domestic Violence Act while gay Jamaicans do not. Is it any wonder therefore that some gay relationships end in death because of the sense of powerlessness, decades of psychological abuse spawning internalized homophobia and a general feeling of being trapped?

Les Green demonstrates the classic signs of someone who is woefully deficient in critical thinking skills. Thankfully his tour of duty with the Jamaican police force is coming to an end. The Jamaican government has said that more UK police are coming to the country. We sincerely hope that Green’s replacement is more familiar with basic human rights principles and has the capacity to really think for himself, instead of being sucked into the anti-gay group think of the monolithic Jamaican police force. But we doubt it. Chances are the Jamaican Police Force will not wish to accept someone who will rock the boat too much. And the British government (still smarting from the remarks about aid conditionality made by Prime Minister David Cameron) will likely hesitate before sending a true “homo-lover” to the Jamaican police.

ENDS

my two cents:
So the intellectual dishonesty continues in a sense, with flowery narratives and intellectual masturbation, the June 13th matter concerning the two homeless MSM by Trafalgar Road definitely was NOT a homophobic killing and the lobby needs to be careful how we go crying wolf, we can't fool the public, there are homophobic murders yes but there are also non homophobic murders as well that involve MSM/Trans individuals as victims. JFLAG et al are sometimes too quick on the draw the cry out and not check each case on its own merit and make sure before making demands on government. The RJR retraction by ED Dane Lewis shows us the aftermath of such repeated missteps.

Here is some more on audio, WE MUST BE TRUTHFUL AND SURE IN OUR ADVOCACY 

A WARNING FOR THOSE CONSIDERING Male to Female SRS

main contributed by Jamaican Transgender advocate Laura G with additional readings added
What if you “succeed” in completing a TS transition, but did it for the wrong reasons?

Yep, you get the idea! This is one place you do NOT want to go!

In the large majority of cases, transsexual (TS) transitions work out well over the long-term, as we’ve seen in the many stories documented in Lynn’s Transsexual Women’s Successes page. However, in some cases a complete TS transition may totally fail to meet very unrealistic expectations, and way too late the transitioner may realize that undergoing sex reassignment surgery (SRS) was a BIG mistake.

In Lynn’s TS Informational pages, we discussed some of the social risks that face TG and TS transitioners. In the SRS information page, we discussed some of the medical risks of the surgery itself. Here in this page, we focus on the risks involved in undergoing SRS in cases where the overall rationale for transition and/or for undergoing SRS is questionable.

Some examples of “wrong reasons” and wrong situations for undergoing SRS are (i) efforts to become a center of attention and live a “sexy life”, (ii) thinking it will “automatically turn oneself into a woman” in others’ eyes, (iii) deciding to become a woman on a whim (for example, in the midst of a mid-life crisis), (iv) doing it for autosexual “thrills”, (v) doing it while suffering from preexisting serious mental conditions unrelated to GID (depression, bi-polar conditions,…), etc.

Regrets and adjustment difficulties seem to occur especially frequently in the cases of older intense crossdressers and sexual fetishists whose drive to transition is based primarily on male sexual feelings and habits. These individuals will gradually lose their male libidinous responses to their new female body as time passes after the removal of their testicles during SRS. This loss of libidinous rewards, combined with accumulating practical, social and emotional difficulties in postoperative life, can lead to serious long-term adjustment difficulties for those who’ve “made a mistake”. (This effect is quite different from the experiencing of a heightened female libido and improvements in lovemaking capability that occur in many other postoperative TS cases).

The bottom line here is that EXTREME CAUTION is advised if you are unsure of your motives for SRS.

Examples of cases of “regrets”:

Following are stories of people who have experienced regrets and have openly talked about their particular regrets. We can learn a lot from such cases, which help clarify the nature and validity of this serious warning:

Renée Richards

Dani Bunten Berry

Sandra MacDougall

Samantha Kane

Summary

more reading:

HERE

"Keep it to Yuself mentality" on homosexuality part 3 .... stay in our bedrooms?

In part one we looked at a local female entertainer's take on homosexuality and her position on it via a stigma ladened song she released some time ago.  I also examined the general belief of Jamaicans on the keeping of homosexual tendencies private or to ones self as the only way people will begin to overlook the lifestyle to a certain extent and the music involved.

GO HERE for part 1 see also video on Ernie Smith's interview (MP who lashed out at gays in Parliament recently) where he expressed the same sentiments about gays keeping "filth" to ourselves. MP's Erratic Behaviour in Parliament using or abusing his parliamentary privileges to lambaste even the police. Just other examples of shoving us in the closet forcibly.

Also see popular Jamaican homophobic words and their use

People like Shirley Richards of the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship and others in the anti-gay lobby get easy opportunities in the print media to spew their homophobic rhetoric without fail or question by the respective editors even when it is clear that garbage is written for example see Jamaicans homophobic? That's a lie! letter to the Gleaner she wrote recently. These folks would prefer us disappearing or retreating in our selves and yet they are members of church congregations and christian organisations if they had magic they would make us straight and win in the end.

In part two I continued on the same trajectory while looking at ethical issues from the religious right and now comes part three which is a two subject post. One is a letter that appears in today's Gleaner entitled "Keep it In The Bedroom"  and the second is a talk show clip which hinted to an alleged predatory move by an alleged gay man towards a younger man that upset a friend of the man who expressed his upset of gays trying to change or convert other men towards homosexuality on the face of it. This is not the only letter of this kind from the newspapers wither but first here is the letter:

Keep It In The Bedroom!

THE EDITOR, Sir:

The dark, sordid, murky, foreboding, filthy and demonic world of homosexuality is not a lifestyle to be embraced and celebrated, even though no less a person than the president of the United States has given his approval.

What a person does in his private domain is his private affair and his privacy ought to be respected, but this celebration ought not to be forced upon an unwilling public.

All persons should be loved, but not all lifestyles should be embraced.

I am referring, in particular, to that wedding picture on the front page of your newspaper dated Monday, June 4. We are very upset at the prominence that it was given in your newspaper. We the citizens of Duncans are very angry. We do not support marriage between Eve and Eva, or between Adam and Steve.

It is also to be noted that in The Sunday Gleaner dated June 10, there is also reference to lesbian marriage ('I want to marry my gay partner'). Is this what your newspaper is promoting?
St Paul refers to this lifestyle as one embraced by people of a reprobate mind. Is this a healthy and decent way of living?

Love the homosexual, but NEVER embrace his or her lifestyle.

P. LOGAN

ENDS

My main question is how can you love the person without seeing them for who they really are and allowing free expression? ........ but you must be free to be you! oh really?!!!

See what you make of this readers.

Meanwhile here is the audio from BEST FM100 on Winston Babatunde's show where a caller  mentioned his supposed disgust as outlined above:

Clearly the male caller is frustrated but while I can concur that if one makes an advance or romantic gesture to another and the person does not reciprocates a threat is NOT the way to then enforce your feelings on another, this is precisely what sometimes makes the LGBT struggle problematic overall and inadvertently reinforces homo-negativity leading to homophobia in essence in the responses from the public. But to enforce homo-negative sentiments to castigate the entire LGBT community is also a NO NO in my book, not all same gender loving persons are interested in forced flirting or are in the business of "forcing" ourselves on persons, there maybe more to this than meets the eye or ear in this case.

One question lingers in my mind in this case despite the limited information provided by the caller, did the intended subject of this lust by the man who issued the threat lead the man on to believe there was some interest otherwise?

There are so many other variables at work sometimes with relationships and hookups especially with hyper-masculine types as was hinted to that the threatening caller is. It seems host Babatunde tried to not let the caller to his show jump to inciting violence on the airwaves but I think he was not on point with handling the call and it sounded a bit disjointed on the hosts part, judging by the monitoring as well by the Broadcasting Commission and rightly so.

Have a listen and see what you make of it.

also in today's Star News there is a letter to the Tell Me Pastor column on a similar story as outlined in the audio above, the letter is excerpted below:

Keep your gayness to yourself 

 

Dear Pastor,

I have great concern for what is happening in Jamaica. One of my great concerns is about gays who try to incorporate innocent lives into their group. And when they try to do this, they do it in a subtle manner, so if a person is not sensible enough to recognise or do some homework in order to find out who is who or who they are getting involved with, they are caught in the web.

This is Jamaica and I am a Jamaican and I would prefer if gays keep their gayness to themselves or declare themselves whenever they are seeking friendship from a female. A female like myself who is not aware of who is who because I grew up in a sheltered lifestyle can get caught in these type of scenarios where gays/lesbians try to manoeuvre their way into our lives.

being threatened

I feel overwhelmed right now. It is because of this reason why I am jobless. It is because of this reason why my life is now at stake. I am being threatened. It is because of this reason why I cannot go about my business freely. My past co-workers claim that one of my children's father is gay and they eternally taunted me with this and victimised me. If he is such, I honestly didn't know and I went to him as a woman to a man. I don't believe in same-sex relationships. I honestly don't support this type of lifestyle.

I am impressing upon these gays that it is better if they declare themselves before trying to manoeuvre their way into innocent people's life. For this, I am now paying the penalty just because I didn't know. I am impressing upon young ladies, especially, to be in the know. Whoever wants to live this type of lifestyle can live their lives this way or whoever wants to entertain this type of lifestyle can go ahead, but please remember don't push themselves into innocent people like that. I am so upset and angry right now and it is reflected in my letter.

Anonymous

Pastor's response

Dear ..,

You have said quiet a lot. Evidently you have had personal experiences with gays that have affected you. I do not mean to imply that you have engaged in anything that is immoral or sexual, but whatever has happened, has caused you much pain.

You said your life has been threatened. Remember that all threats should be reported to the police. I wish you well and I hope that the warning that you have given would be taken seriously by young men and women.

Pastor

ENDS

See what you make of it all folks
Peace and tolerance

H

more audio from me:

Closet gays push up HIV

I guess since Diana King's coming out earlier this week (see below) this article seems timely and with the discourse on homosexuality and the family's supposed destruction by the religious right with all the quotations of foreign statistics here we can zoom in locally. We already knew that closetedness causes issues just from overseas studies and previous surveys especially the last before this release in 2007. One wonders how the religious right is going to respond now? maybe they will further cement their belief that buggery should not be decriminalized without properly examining the facts. 

Meanwhile the class issue comes up here, but homelessness was not associated with closetedness as we have seen recently with the overlapping population from the downlow communities who have been outed and found themselves homeless or displaced and clashing with older displaced populations who are more effeminate, I fear the agencies seem behind in the realities out there, consequences of the two murders of the two homeless MSMs in the Trafalgar area is glaring proof unfortunately of the issues coming out of the overlapping populations.

Here is the article though:

New research suggests fear of stigma keeps infected 'down-low' males underground

BY NADINE WILSON

NEW data showing a 32 per cent HIV prevalency rate among men who sleep with men (MSM) in Jamaica have reignited fears that the sexual practices of this largely underground community could erode gains made over the years in curbing the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

According to Jamaica's National HIV Strategic Plan for 2012-2017, there are an estimated 33,000 MSMs in the country, but health officials say interventions targeted at this group have mostly failed because these men fear discrimination if their sexual activities are revealed.

A survey of the MSM community in 2007 showed that as many as 56 per cent had at least one female partner in the course of that year and almost 64 per cent identified themselves as bi-sexual. Only 57 per cent had ever done an HIV test, although almost 30 per cent of them had sex with multiple male partners within the four weeks prior to the survey. Only 67 per cent reported using a condom during their last sexual encounter with their main male partner, while 62 per cent reported doing so with their female partner.

What is particularly worrying to health officials is the fact that the MSM community is, for the most part, a 'bridge' population which is contributing to the increasing rate of HIV seen in women.

AIDS remains a leading cause of death among Jamaicans 15-49 years, with approximately 74 per cent of all AIDS cases in the island being within that age group. There were over 300 reported AIDS deaths in 2010 and as many as 2,100 Jamaicans estimated to become newly infected each year. This, despite the country making significant inroads in reducing the number of cases over the last few years with the introduction of a public access anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment programme in 2004. AIDS cases are highest among men.

Project co-ordinator at the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition, Ivan Cruickshank told the Jamaica Observer the country is courting disaster.

"When we look at the rates of HIV among the MSM population, if we are not able to reach them effectively with HIV prevention, we really have a serious epidemic on our hands...," he said.

Acting director of the Ministry of Health's National HIV/STI programme, Dr Nicola Skyers, has said that while the ministry has been interfacing with MSMs in the lower socio-economic strata of the society, getting access to MSMs in the middle and upper classes has been extremely difficult.

"We do recognise that ignoring these subsets will cause an explosion within the general population because we know that there is a bridge. Men just don't have sex with men, they have sex with women as well, so we do recognise the risk of ignoring these particular populations," she told the Observer.

Cruickshank explained that MSMs with affluence rarely utilised the public health-care system which would enable policy-makers to fully grasp data on the community. Most, he said, usually seek treatment at private facilities or overseas.

"There is so much to lose that a lot of persons refuse to access health care because some of the questions that might be asked [and] some of the issues that they might need to take to the health care provider are issues that would identify their sexual practices," he said. He also noted that some of these men are also in heterosexual unions and do not want to risk their relationships with their female partners.

One male sex worker who has been offering his services to males since 2005 told the Observer that most of his clients were influential and wealthy men who had wives and children. He admitted that he did not use a condom with these men during his earlier years in the profession, and THATother male sex workers he knows still do not use them.

"When you are with these persons who are of good character in society, you don't perceive a risk because of the position that they are in. Because this person is a manager,or so forth, you don't perceive that they would be running around, and that sort of thing. [Because] they are protective of their families, you are willing to take your chances with that person, versus someone who is not 'up there' (affluent), who, in my head, is of greater risk because they might be sleeping around with any or everybody," he said.

He said some male sex workers "are flamboyant and dress effeminately" and so they sometimes chose not to access public health care because they fear being discriminated against, although their more affluent clients were able to easily access treatment through their private doctors. Most of their clients, he confirmed, are unknown to persons monitoring HIV/AIDS intervention programmes or policy-makers.

According to the National HIV Strategic Plan, the sexual practices of 40 per cent of reported male AIDS cases in Jamaica are classified as 'unknown', "and may reflect under-reporting by MSMs who are unwilling to reveal their sexual practices, as well as incomplete reporting."

This unavailability of data is a significant weakness in the surveillance system.

"The high rates of HIV infection and bisexuality among MSMs are likely to be important factors currently driving the HIV epidemic in Jamaica," the report noted.

The new National HIV Strategic Plan, which succeeds the current plan that ends in 2012, pointed to "an urgent need to identify remedial actions" so as not to jeopordise future funding, especially from global agencies that target at-risk populations.

"Specific approaches will be developed to reach subgroups of MSM: male sex workers, adolescent MSM, PLHIV (persons living with HIV), transgender, and bisexuals in upper social classes, as well as other MSM with money, power and influence who are usually the decision makers in the sexual relationship," the plan noted.

France to pass gay marriage, adoption law ..........

 

France's Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault delivers a speech as he attends a political rally for the upcoming second tour of the legislative elections in Paris June 13, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Gonzalo Fuentes

(Reuters) - France's new Socialist government is to legalize marriage and adoption for same-sex couples, Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on Friday, reflecting a shift in public attitudes in the majority Catholic nation.

President Francois Hollande, who took office last month, had pledged to legalize gay marriage and adoption during his election campaign but had given no time frame.

Since Hollande's Socialists won an absolute majority in parliamentary elections two weeks ago, the conservative UMP party, which had opposed the measure under former president Nicolas Sarkozy, can do little to stop it.

"The government has made it an objective for the next few months to work on implementing its campaign commitments on the fight against discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity," Ayrault's office said in a statement.

Earlier in the day, the junior minister for families Dominique Bertinotti told French daily Le Parisien that a law on gay marriage and adoption would be passed within a year.

The statement from prime minister's office did not confirm the time frame, but asserted a law would be implemented.

In addition, the government would hold discussions in the autumn on ways of making life easier for trans gender individuals, whose dealings with French administration are often complicated by their change of name and sex.

A law granting full marriage status to gay couples would bring France, which currently provides only for same-sex civil unions, into line with fellow EU members Denmark, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Sweden.

It would also mark a profound change in French society, where more than two-thirds of people still describe themselves as Roman Catholic, according to a 2010 survey by pollster Ifop.

However, fewer and fewer of them adhere to strict Roman Catholic teachings on sexual issues or back the Vatican's condemnation of homosexuality. Church attendance has collapsed.

As recently as 2006, surveys indicated that most French were opposed to changing the definition of marriage, but now more than 60 percent support the idea, the pollster BVA said. A majority also favor allowing gay couples to adopt children.

Nevertheless, gay rights advocates say homosexuality remains taboo in many areas of public life. Media tend to use euphemisms such as "long-term bachelor" to hint that someone is gay.

"Today, it's still very difficult to put a name on things, as if saying in public that someone was homosexual was to violate a taboo," a group of gay professionals wrote in an opinion piece in the newspaper Le Monde on Friday, the eve of a Gay Pride march in Paris.

A gay marriage law would boost Hollande's credentials as an agent of social change in the tradition of late Socialist president Francois Mitterrand, who appointed France's first female prime minister and scrapped the death penalty.

Hollande fathered four children out of wedlock with his former partner, fellow Socialist Segolene Royal.

A debate on gay rights might also draw some attention away from the economic woes weighing on his popularity.

Still, there is certain to be opposition from conservatives and practicing Catholics.

"We are convinced that young people's development requires the presence of a mother and a father," said Thierry Vidor, head of the Familles de France umbrella group, which represents some 70,000 families, and campaigns for traditional family rights.

"We will take action to try to show that this measure is ultimately dangerous for society."

ENDS

I can imagine the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship folks and the newly formed coalition headed by Reverend Peter Garth squirming to this news, France has been a repeated reference point for their arguments not to mention the Isaachar Foundation who placed that ad on December 1st 2011 (see below) quoting HIV infection rate figures to boost their argument no to repeal or decriminalize buggery locally while overlooking certain other issues unique to French society including open drug use such as public spaces for shooting up which also has a direct impact on risk of infection, it's not only unprotected anal sex that is the cause here for their high rates but one can be selective in pushing ones argument, I thought Christians were supposed to be more ethical in their dealings? 

here is a flashback news clip from the groups as well originally aired on CVM TV May 15, 2012

After all France was one of the first places on earth to legalize homosexuality in 1791 then they equalised ages of consent in 1982, prior to this announcement today however in regards to couples PACS was the order of the day, Civil solidarity pacts (PACS), a form of registered domestic partnership, were enacted in 1999 for both same-sex and unmarried opposite-sex couples by the government of Lionel Jospin. Couples who enter into a PACS contract are afforded most of the legal protections, rights, and responsibilities of marriage. The right to joint adoption and artificial insemination are also denied to PACS partners (and are largely restricted to heterosexual married couples), although there are proposals to extend the rights afforded by PACS and make them more similar to marriage. France's highest constitutional court ruled that stepchild adoption of biological children by same-sex couples is allowed. Unlike married couples, they were originally not allowed to file joint tax returns until after 3 years, though this was repealed in 2005, and joint tax returns can now be filed immediately.

Same-sex civil unions/domestic partnerships conducted under laws in foreign countries are only recognised for a few countries. Registered Civil Partnerships in the United Kingdom are not recognised – the only solution currently available for a couple in a Civil Partnership to gain PACS rights in France is to dissolve their Civil Partnership and then establish a PACS. Same-sex marriages from the Netherlands, by contrast, are already recognized. This does not however allow dual citizenship, which is reserved for opposite-sex couples. For example, a Frenchman who marries a Dutchman in the Netherlands, and therefore assumes Dutch nationality, automatically loses his French citizenship.

On June 14, 2011, the National Assembly of France voted 293–222 against legalizing same-sex marriage.Deputies of the majority party Union for a Popular Movement voted mostly against the measure, while deputies of the Socialist Party mostly voted in favor. Members of the Socialist Party stated that legalization of same-sex marriage would become a priority should they gain a majority in the French legislative election, 2012.During his campaign for French presidential election, 2012, Socialist Party candidate François Hollande declared he supports same-sex marriage and adoption for LGBT couples, and has plans to pursue the issue in early 2013 if he won. Let us see if the aforementioned anti gay groups will continue using France's record now that they have embraced Gay Marriage rights for same sex couples.


here is a short audio response I did recently:

Peace and tolerance

H

Homosexuality Will Destroy The Traditional Family (Gleaner letter) ..... well timed anti gay messages?

It seems the anti gay lobby is at it again this time with a series of well orchestrated messages well timed and placed, just days ago we heard a radio interview with a leading clergyman uttering the same thing, then the comments and emails towards my blogs with the same message then over in the neighbouring Caribbean islands namely St Lucia we saw a newscast saying the same message and the clergyman interviewed on camera there then saying homosexuality is a disorder

A prominent Clergyman believes the growth of the gay rights lobby is a big contributor to the perpetration of acts of buggery.
Catholic Priest Linus Clovis was speaking against the backdrop of the alleged incident in Canaries in which a Policeman and another man are reported to have sexually assaulted a mentally challenged teenaged boy.

Here is the letter however appearing in today's Gleaner:

Homosexuality Will Destroy The Traditional Family

THE EDITOR, Sir:

I am compelled to address the issue of homosexuality in light of recent pictures of two gay marriages by Jamaicans overseas, comments by the United States deputy assistant secretary of state that Jamaica will not be allowed to move at its own pace in its acceptance of homosexuality, and the Archbishop of Accra's thoughts on the matter.

We are seeing the very powerful gay lobby in every facet of life, be it spiritual, social, economic, legal, cultural or political. What bothers me is the fact that those of us who do not subscribe to the lifestyle are vilified, seen as haters, and many have turned a blind eye or are afraid that the mighty USA and England will not continue to be generous to us. Many of us are prepared to sell our souls for 30 pieces of silver!

I went to college in the USA where I lived in girls' dormitories and apartments in Portland, Oregon, and Washington, DC. There were lesbians and men with men everywhere! I found many of them to be well-rounded individuals, having excellent interpersonal skills, but their jealously takes on blood-curdling, deadly and demonic proportions!

All the sexual problems of the heterosexual lifestyle pale in comparison to this lifestyle. I have seen enough, experienced enough of the nastiness and perversion as I interfaced with many of them, cried with them, helped some pick up the pieces of their lives, comforted some, saw deaths, including suicide.

This lifestyle is destructive and feeds on itself. It devours as it goes along.

Love for the lifestyle

Many homosexuals will tell you that they know it is wrong but they love the lifestyle, as it enables them to 'step up inna life'. There is much material gain. Others are so fierce and in your face that it is difficult to like them, much more love them, even if they are family friends or family members. But love them we must.

I have two grandchildren. What do I tell them when they come home and ask me why does little Ann or Sam have two mommies or two daddies?

I will teach my grandchildren not to hate, kill or maim them, but that individuals chose this lifestyle which will ultimately destroy families as we know it, and that for our family, homosexuality will never be okay.

LAVERN WRAY

ENDS

My simple two cents: via some questions for her to ponder, pity she never left an email but if she or someone she knows sees this .............

Frankly Miss Wray aren't the very gay people who you so chastise now born in most cases to supposed heterosexuals be they in married unions or single parent homes?

Isn't the family as you know it already on the way to being destroyed seeing that there are so many boys on our streets that holier than thous like you drive pass and not pat attention to in any really serious fashion or provide any assistance to? And what about mis-matched marriages in church for the sake of impressing other church brethren? persons forced to enter into a relationship and they do not even know each other

What about gay and lesbian couples who raise very heterosexual children in a steady and stable household, did they destroy that child in the process?

Do not confuse consenting same gender loving adults living their lives as they see fit within the legal framework thus far with exploitative same sex relationships, they are different, way different and there are numerous examples of stable same sex unions with either adopted children or children born with an opposite sex partner in a previous union by one of the two persons in the couple and the children turn out 'undamaged" far better tolerant than other kids in a heterosexual union and are heterosexual themselves, I shudder to think what your household maybe like and the type of men and women you would be contributing to society after all didn't Christ say we must love our neighbours as ourselves, what is this fear in the religious community that homosexuals are going to poison the world?

Granting rights and privileges to same gender loving folks won't diminish or take away rights already enjoyed by heterosexuals.

There is nothing to fear but fear itself in your case.

By the way someone sent me this on facebook, thought I'd share it:

Here is an audio I did recently:

Peace and tolerance

H

Diva Diana King comes out ...........

Jamaican diva with the big voice who gaves us smash billboard hits such as "Shy Guy" "L L L Lies" fabulous dance remakes of Aretha's "Say a Little Prayer (for you)" and Chaka Khan's "Aint Nobody" and her last major summer anthem "Summer Breezes' has come out on Facebook around 9am Jamaica time and the reaction from the community has been unwaveringly supportive. I had the pleasure of meeting her in her early years in Kingston when she was on the local scene long before she signed that deal with Sony/Work records and became the international pop/dance diva she is now, she wouldn't remember me of course but I am happy that this has come in the midst of the awful stuff hapening to  sections of our LGBT community including murders of homeless brothers recently (see post below or on Gay Jamaica Watch for more)


Tongues have been wagging on certain media platforms as of late due to her new appearance tattoos and all and then her live set with Celine Dion at the Jazz and Blues festival here in Jamaica which sent speculation higher as stereotypical profiling came to the fore with her new image. Now she has answered un-apologetically.

Diana posted on her facebook page the following note:


My name is DIANA EUGENA KING, known to most as DIANA KING my fans call me KingSinga.

I AM … WOMAN … MOTHER ... AUNT … JAMAICAN … AMERICAN ... INTERNATIONAL ARTIST ... SINGER ... SONGWRITER ... BAND LEADER … FRIEND ... LOVER ... ENTREPRENEUR ... GODDESS! among other things AND YES!!!…

I AM A LESBIAN ... the answer to my most asked INDIRECT question.

I welcome the "WHO CARES" right now LOL.

I answer now, not because it's anyone's business BUT because IT FEELS RIGHT WITH my SOUL and I believe by not answering or hiding it all these years somehow makes it appear as if I AM ASHAMED OF IT or THAT I BELIEVE IT IS WRONG. I FEEL NEITHER OF THOSE THINGS … or I would have grown my hair. But all kidding aside, I AM a private person, but sometimes, one has to step outside of their comfort zone to GROW. This here, that I'm doing, is my road. Not everyone will OR is required to travel this way. Some people will carry this fact about themselves to the grave and that's their prerogative but, a "GOOD" reputation can be a GIGANTIC LOAD in a girls backpack. I KNOW now that it's time I fully practice the meaning of my face tattoo, which is LOVE YOURSELF LIVE YOURSELF. I JUST WANT TO KEEP IT REAL.

HONESTLY SPEAKING, I have always been AFRAID to admit it openly, because of the UNKNOWN of what it may cause negatively, to me my career my family and loved ones. But I realized that it is not my job to make others COMFORTABLE, I AM ONLY RESPONSIBLE FOR MY LIFE, the stuff U think about on your deathbed and at this point in my life I DO NOT CARE about the things that FRIGHTEN me anymore. My biggest regret is that I didn't COME OUT earlier because being silent has held me back from being ALL that I was born to be. The DEEP FEAR that I've had, especially that my own JAMAICAN PEOPLE will judge me and not accept me because of their homophobia has been a heavy burden. I fly my country's flag HIGH. Always with respect and honor everywhere I go, there is no doubt where I AM from, especially in my music. And I am nothing but PROUD of myself and my accomplishments, no one can take that away from me, IT IS already written in the History Books. But I often wonder, if JAMROCK would have STILL been proud of me if they knew the truth from the days of SHY GUY. So even though I'm a woman of the world, living out of my massive duffle bags in different countries, week after week month after month , JAMAICA has been in my head with great LOVE and absolute FEAR. The harsh reality that people like ME are persecuted, beaten, jailed, raped and murdered everyday JUST for being who they are or JUST EVEN BEING SUSPECTED OF IT. It's what I saw too many times growing up in SPANISH TOWN and living in KINGSTON and it scared me to death. I COULDN'T WAIT TO GET OUT OF THERE. It is hard to imagine the anguish inside if you are not considered an ABOMINATION I and cannot relate personally. BUT GO AHEAD …….. IMAGINE IT for a minute.

And I can only image what it is like, living there and enduring that reality everyday 24/7 365 days of the year. I WILL NOT carry this baggage ANYMORE. In about 10 years I will B older than both my parents before they died. MY PERSONAL NEED to be 100% authentic and TRUE to myself and to make sure my children learn, especially from me, not to EVER be afraid to be WHO THEY ARE is stronger than any insecurities I may have had over the years. I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN WHO I AM from the moment I could think and had even tried to be THE OPPOSITE because of society's pressures. Trying to LIVE A LIE is horrible, whether GAY or STRAIGHT and for me, was the saddest part of it all because it only caused immense pain to everyone involved. I have been myself to the fullest ALL EXCEPT for when I came to my sexuality. And it is particularly tormenting U R a FREE SPIRIT. Only people who were very close knew because I told them. I've never felt comfortable being around or working with people who were UNCOMFORTABLE with that fact … and I thought for a long while that that would be enough. But it wasn't and it is not. NOT FOR ME … it feels like living INCOMPLETE. I have MUCH RESPECT and deep ADMIRATION for all those who have COME OUT before me, Dead or Alive. I have stood on the sidelines COVETING your bravery. YOU and LOVE have given me the COURAGE.

I could have STAYED SAFE AND HIDDEN but for me, IT WOULD MEAN THAT ALL THOSE WHO HAVE DIED for BEING LIKE ME … ALL DIED IN VAIN. JUST LIKE BLACK PEOPLE WHO DIED FOR ME SO THAT I COULD HAVE THE OPPORTUNITIES AND RIGHTS I NOW HAVE … WOULD HAVE ALL DIED IN VAIN (and if U think some of them weren't gay and lesbian as well U R sadly mistaken) … BUT IF I DID NOT or DO NOT TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE FREEDOMS THEY GIVE ME AND CARRY THAT TORCH and KNOWLEDGE with DIGNITY and SHOW MY GRATITUDE and RESPECT and DO MY PART BY LIVING A LIFE THAT WOULD MAKE THEM PROUD, it would B like spitting in they faces. NOT TOO LONG AGO, I would NOT have been able to go to school much less college. Maybe I would have been ALLOWED to sing for them but NOT touch them. The mic I used would B thrown out AND I would probably have to open my legs REAL WIDE before I got paid a SMALL FRACTION of what I deserved if any at all. I would have had to use the NIGGA back door and stay in a THE NIGGA HOTEL. I couldn't fly 1st class, PLEEEEASE try NO-CLASS, a girl like me would have to take a boat and keep out of sight at the very bottom. I COULDN'T B in the presence of white people if I wasn't the maid. And if they felt HAPPY they might just celebrate by RAPING or LYNCHING ME. All because their interpretation of the BIBLE said, WE WERE LESS THAN HUMAN. I haven't forgetten the PAST, the INSANITY but it is HISTORY and not meant to be a disrespect to my caucasian family. MY fans come in every shape, age, color, class and creed and I LOVE and APPRECIATED ALL of them. Weve come a far way and have a ways to go, but we HAVE GORWN. I'm not here to compare to fight or defend myself or to debate wrong or right. BUT KNOW THIS!

WE ARE everywhere and everyone whether U acknowledge US or not. WE R people U love and cannot live without. WE bring U joy and entertain U. Some of U have even gotten married and made love to our songs, repeated our quotes and have our Art hanging in your homes. WE deliver your babies WE save your lives in hospitals and in wars. WE defend U in the courts and stand up for your rights. WE design the clothes and shoes U just have to have and cannot live without. U hand us your money at the banks. WE fly U to the beautiful and exciting places U love to travel to. WE give U knowledge and inspiration everyday with our words, music and dance. U eat at our restaurants and dance in our nighclubs. WE hold your hands and pray for U on your deathbeds. WE baptize U and marry U. WE R ... your NEIGHBORS your FRIENDS and your FAMILY.

I am not seeking anyone's approval. 

The people I love and care about the most, love me no matter what and my true fans love my music and my positive energy on and off-stage. I have never been disrespectful to anyone, and have repeatedly shared my deepest thoughts and feelings with you and have demonstrated my UNWAVERING LOVE and COMPASSION for humanity, time and time again thanks to social media. I have been blessed with eyes that only see a person's HEART, not the labels placed on them, whether obvious or not. And if there is a GOD .. that trait, my best quality, came straight from the ALMIGHTY. That is WHO I AM to MY CORE and I cannot B anything else. I cannot tell where this will lead but I KNOW, I WILL B ALRIGHT and just like ths status I posted a few day ago, I have two options

"I KNOW not just BELIEVE, THAT IF I LEAP OFF THIS LEDGE INTO THE DARKNESS OF WHAT IS UNCERTAIN ... I WILL EITHER LAND ON MY FEET ON SOMETHING STRONG or I WILL GROW WINGS AND FLY.

As usual, MUCH LUV AND GOOD VIBES TO U ALL. AND IF U DECIDE NOW THAT U DO NOT "LOVE" ME ANYMORE … KNOW THIS!!! NOTHING WILL EVER MAKE ME STOP LOVING U.

ENDS

Since then this cartoon has come as one of the responses: