Lawyer, newspaper contributor says more positive comments to his letters than negative ones.

You may have been seeing a string of letters from one Mr. Maurice Tomlinson (Atty-At-Law) in the newspapers chief among them the Jamaica Observer with the latest appearing in today's edition as posted below entitled Jamaica wants gays dead, take note as well some of the comments to his mostly legally based observations and comments. In an interview on March 22, 2010 with the gentleman by phone I quizzed him whether he was met with any major resistance due to his stance on tolerance and the buggery law given his experience in law and associating with other Human Rights groups and international discourse of rights treatise and proceedings.

He was keen to say that he expected the negative comments, he agreed with me however that Jamaica is not at the same place it used to be on GLBTQ issues. He noted his most recent letter to the Jamaica Observer’s editor where the comments where negative and he doesn’t mind using his real name and not a pseudonym as he wants to stand up for something and has sufficiently prepared himself although not explaining how for any eventualities. He doesn’t think he is irresponsible in what he is doing as well and he feels he is at a point where he is not scared about repercussions as he has sons and he wants to make a difference for them.

He is presently organizing a “Walk for Tolerance” public event to be held somewhere in Western Jamaica on April 7th 2010, 11am, email him at maurice_tomlinson@yahoo.com. He says he has the support of JFLAG and other international GLBTQ rights groups who will be present with banners to promote and ask for tolerance. I quizzed him about the safety issues regarding this event given the sensitivities and outright intolerance that exists here he said if members of the public asked what was afoot he would explain what is actually occurring. He did explain he took the necessary steps in securing the appropriate police permits event though said permits conveniently went missing twice before he finally got the relevant approvals from the police hierarchy. The event should last for an hour or so.

“This is history in the making, I don’t know how many people appreciate that” …………………….. “For all that we have suffered and all that we have been through we need to come together to recognize the move in this psychological moment in time,”

“Cowards don’t rule the world, I am not going to be a coward anymore, I hope we have some persons who are willing to be like me, it’s not for everybody but definitely it’s going to happen that’s the bottom line”

“Its not like I am out there gallivanting in front of peoples faces, I am addressing them on what I consider academic and intellectual points.” He said

He says he is angry at how the media presents the “stupidness being passed as rational discourse” he agreed that it’s all done to sell papers and he continued that it feeds into the country’s intolerance.

He continued to say that persons should be stand up and be counted, he said he didn’t understand how hiding works and we should recognize the change happening in Jamaica. He made reference to the UN AIDS representatives comments that he doesn’t understand what the issues are here in Jamaica as in Africa gays are being killed suggesting the situation there is rather worse than here. I hope that the walk goes well as I will try to attend as well although I am all the way on the other end of the island. This is refreshing however to see advocacy at this personal level outside the skewed system we have here.

He hinted to my case of some 13 years ago before a JFLAG existed and questioned whether if many persons would go through that, my case of course of my being arrested on a main road by police and charged for buggery although no sexual activity took place. The case was subsequently adjourned sine die as the prosecution couldn’t’ prove their point and stopped coming to court event though myself and my other three co-accused made sure we were present at every court mention date.

He never mentioned if there would be any media campaign to support the walk but lets watch this one folks to see how it turns out, I do hope something positive emerges out of this move by a one man advocate, sometime it takes only one to start the thrust.

Peace and tolerance

H

Jamaica wants gays dead (Observer Letter)

Dear Editor,

From all indications, it is clear that the Jamaican Parliament wants gays dead.

Recently, the executive director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibe, reminded the world that in Jamaica - a country with anti-sodomy laws - there is a 32 per cent HIV prevalence among men who have sex with men (MSM) versus 1.6 per cent in the general population.

While in Cuba, Suriname, the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic, countries without such legislation, the HIV prevalence in MSM ranges from one to eight per cent.

In the face of such damning evidence, this government, with the full complicity of the Opposition, entrenched the nation's anti-sodomy laws through the 2009 Sexual Offences Act which maintained the ban against private consensual adult male sex.

The short-sighted members of parliament who voted in favour of this shameful piece of legislation failed to realise that while they were busy playing word games about what constitutes private consensual adult sex (none of their business), they were simultaneously trampling on the privacy rights of citizens and sowing the seeds of a public health disaster.

Thanks to the anti-sodomy laws present in 11 Caribbean countries, the region now has the world's second highest HIV prevalence rate after sub-Saharan Africa, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic is now rapidly spreading to the heterosexual community, affecting many women and children.

As the saying goes, when you dig a hole for someone, dig two. With the legendary and celebrated promiscuity of some of our male politicians, I suspect it is only a matter of time before we hear that a few of them have been caught by this trap they set to catch gays.

Maurice Tomlinson

maurice_tomlinson@yahoo.com

Charter of Rights’ Bill’s passage may be delayed by six months

The Prime Minister Bruce Golding on his feet in parliament on Wednesday March 17^th said that the Charter of Rights Bill that was debated on and the respected recommendations accepted may be delayed by six months. The Charter which is to replace section 3 of the constitution has been on and off the roster for over twenty years, Mr. Golding says he is disappointed the legislation has not been passed. The conscience vote taken on the death penalty has further delayed its passage.

Parliament is to be parouged shortly, the legislation and further amendments may be necessary the Prime Minister said and may require a further six months for debate between the houses and sides before final passage so it may not pass during this legislative year. The sticky issue of the death penalty is said to be the main issue that’s holding up the passage.

Let’s not forget that the GLTBQ issues were brushed over via an invented discussion on gay marriage and the government’s refusal to accede to such marriage request although no such requests were made. Of course as it turned out it was nothing more than a front by the administration to sure up their new small majority at the time as they had just came into office just over a year at the time of the debate. Also using the strength of the “Not in my Cabinet” comment made on The BBC Hard talk interview plus the outburst by the renegade Member of Parliament Ernie Smith making negative comments about gays who by the way he has now found himself being satirically questioned by public commentators as to his own sexuality.

You may find other related posts and selected parliamentary presentations on this blog and on Gay Jamaica Watch under the tabs Charter of Rights. Meanwhile the Sexual Offences Bill is also at a standstill (see tabs as well on Sexual Offences Bill) after it was debated in the upper house. In retrospect one wonders if the fast tracking of both pieces of legislation at the time were done to present an image of a government doing something about the “gay problem” chiefly the misconceptions about paedophilia as we know we have heard utterances to the effect that suggests that gay men in particular are interested in getting into boys pants. We now therefore have a Charter that doesn’t recognize GLTBQ people as worthwhile citizens of Jamaica and doesn’t see discrimination in relation to sexual orientation were wiped out from the original draft document at the behest of the Lawyers Christian Fellowship lead by Shirley Richards (Atty-At-Law) and a key religious homophobe Reverend Al Miller who in recent times has found himself embroiled in all kinds of political platforms the most recent being the United States request for Dudus Coke extradition issue where he became tongue tied in a war of words between those for and against honoring the request.

Readers please we must follow these issues closely as they relate to our rights as citizens and personal freedoms. Of note the Abortion Bill was mentioned in Parliament a week ago where it was stuck at the point of whether to allow abortion for rape victims who become pregnant and are at over twenty two weeks of gestation. This to me has implications for rape victims in general but lesbian, bisexual and those of other orientations rape victims in particular of which we have seen a dramatic increase since 2008 with one known case of “Corrective Rape” that went to trial where the culprit was found guilty and will serve a total of 29 years as he has previous charges he was on bail when he was apprehended. Notice the silence from JFLAG on these issues anyone?

The sensitivities involved here should be of concern as the police has not fully adjusted its customer service stance towards GLTBQ people. However the woman who testified in the above mentioned matter said she was treated fairly by the staff at the rape unit now named CISOCA Center for Investigation for Sexual Offences and Child Abuse. So there is hope yet as some improvements are evident. Maybe I am the only gay male blogger who really considers this issue towards our lesbian sisters an important one as we are all one despite our gender, where is the tolerance even amongst ourselves?

Think on these things.

Peace and tolerance

H

20 years of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission

Reflections on the work of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission celebrating its 20th Anniversary in 2010 as it works to end discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.

IGLHRCs work spans the globe with staff in the Americas, Asia and Africa working to bring human rights to everyone, everywhere.

Toward a Different Understanding, Gay issues discussed in Guyana

Alissa Trotz is editor of the weekly In the Diaspora Column

There has been a spate of letters to the press in recent weeks on the question of sexuality in Guyana, following the report that a group of lawyers will be bringing a constitutional challenge to a law that criminalized cross-dressing and under which seven persons were arrested and charged last year.

This is an issue with immense ramifications for how we understand matters of discrimination and equality in our own times. Some have marshaled ‘scientific’ evidence to make the case that homosexuality represents some kind of identity disorder (this vexed question of science will be addressed in a later column), others advise us that they are sending their authoritative opinions on the matter to Bar Associations and Attorneys-General in Guyana and across the Caribbean. Yet others cite religion as the final word that demonstrates irrefutably just how un-natural homosexuality is (this is one of the issues that is being taken up in the court case, in which Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson told the four men charged, that they must go to church and give over their lives to Christ). In fact this is one topic that makes for interesting bedfellows indeed!

Back in 2001, several religious groupings brought tremendous pressure to bear on President Bharrat Jagdeo to withhold presidential assent from an Amendment Bill that was overwhelmingly approved (55-0) by the National Assembly, and that would have outlawed discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. The Bill was based on recommendations from the Constitution Reform Commission, a body that in fact included representatives from the Christian, Hindu and Islamic communities, all of whom at the time assented to the anti-discrimination recommendation. In a letter written to the Stabroek News on January 26, 2001, Father Malcolm Rodrigues wrote that “Surely God did not make any exceptions in his creation of the human species, which would allow us scope for discrimination! We must remember that apartheid was founded on precisely this sort of discrimination, except that the base was colour of skin rather than sexual orientation.”

On Saturday last, one Stabroek News letter writer (approvingly) noted that homosexuality remains illegal in 29 countries, this in a continent where several Presidents have recently and publicly condemned homosexuality as a foreign import. In Uganda, there are currently attempts to raise the penalty on anyone found guilty of engaging in homosexual acts to life imprisonment, with jail terms as well for those who know but do not ‘report’ homosexual activity. We are expected to see these official pronouncements and acts – which will lead to terror and marginalization for people among us, including family members and friends – as evidence of a robust anti (or post) colonial stance, an instance in which we demonstrate how freed from colonialism we are, how mentally emancipated and independent we have become. In this way of thinking, it is those who oppose homophobia, whether legislated or unofficial, who are accused of being neocolonial. We set aside the inconvenient fact that much of this legislation, which we now seek to extend or refuse to comprehensively dismantle, was put into place under colonial rule. We do not then have to engage in the difficult work of figuring out how and why it is we have so thoroughly internalized colonialism’s divide and rule tactics, and who it ultimately benefits. We do not have to think about how this makes it so much easier to control us, when we learn to police ourselves and each other. We do not have to ask ourselves why we feel we can selectively choose which aspects of mental slavery we need to emancipate ourselves from.

On Friday last, Desmond Tutu, Nobel Laureate and Archbishop Emeritus of Capetown, South Africa, penned a remarkable op-ed piece that appeared in the Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/11/AR2010031103341.html). It was called ‘In Africa, a step backward on human rights’. I remember the incredible opportunity of meeting him in the UK, shortly after the end of Apartheid. It was a small group of us, students from various African and Caribbean countries, and I can still recall our excitement at being in the room with Archbishop Tutu, our sense that the struggle of his people for freedom spoke to us all across our intertwined yet different geographies. The South African struggle represented a refusal of incredible dehumanization during my own lifetime (I will always remember where I was, with friends from St. Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada and Jamaica, glued to our television for a glimpse of Nelson Mandela as he walked out of the prison that never succeeded in incarcerating his vision and his spirit and his hope). And it is in that spirit that I offer Desmond Tutu’s words that appeared in the Washington Post, in full below:

Hate has no place in the house of God. No one should be excluded from our love, our compassion or our concern because of race or gender, faith or ethnicity — or because of their sexual orientation. Nor should anyone be excluded from health care on any of these grounds. In my country of South Africa, we struggled for years against the evil system of apartheid that divided human beings, children of the same God, by racial classification and then denied many of them fundamental human rights. We knew this was wrong. Thankfully, the world supported us in our struggle for freedom and dignity.

It is time to stand up against another wrong.

Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people are part of so many families. They are part of the human family. They are part of God’s family. And of course they are part of the African family. But a wave of hate is spreading across my beloved continent. People are again being denied their fundamental rights and freedoms. Men have been falsely charged and imprisoned in Senegal, and health services for these men and their community have suffered. In Malawi, men have been jailed and humiliated for expressing their partnerships with other men. Just this month, mobs in Mtwapa Township, Kenya, attacked men they suspected of being gay. Kenyan religious leaders, I am ashamed to say, threatened an HIV clinic there for providing counseling services to all members of that community, because the clerics wanted gay men excluded.

Uganda’s parliament is debating legislation that would make homosexuality punishable by life imprisonment, and more discriminatory legislation has been debated in Rwanda and Burundi.

These are terrible backward steps for human rights in Africa.

Our lesbian and gay brothers and sisters across Africa are living in fear.

And they are living in hiding — away from care, away from the protection the state should offer to every citizen and away from health care in the AIDS era, when all of us, especially Africans, need access to essential HIV services. That this pandering to intolerance is being done by politicians looking for scapegoats for their failures is not surprising. But it is a great wrong. An even larger offense is that it is being done in the name of God. Show me where Christ said “Love thy fellow man, except for the gay ones.” Gay people, too, are made in my God’s image. I would never worship a homophobic God.

“But they are sinners,” I can hear the preachers and politicians say. “They are choosing a life of sin for which they must be punished.” My scientist and medical friends have shared with me a reality that so many gay people have confirmed, I now know it in my heart to be true. No one chooses to be gay. Sexual orientation, like skin color, is another feature of our diversity as a human family. Isn’t it amazing that we are all made in God’s image, and yet there is so much diversity among his people? Does God love his dark- or his light-skinned children less? The brave more than the timid? And does any of us know the mind of God so well that we can decide for him who is included, and who is excluded, from the circle of his love?

The wave of hate must stop. Politicians who profit from exploiting this hate, from fanning it, must not be tempted by this easy way to profit from fear and misunderstanding. And my fellow clerics, of all faiths, must stand up for the principles of universal dignity and fellowship. Exclusion is never the way forward on our shared paths to freedom and justice.

"Not in My Cabinet" but we protect dons by legal semantics, we give away your national airline, oh no JLP

All the major newspapers have been taking a swipe at the Jamaica Labour Party administration for its stance on the Dudus issue finding so called justified reasons not to honour an extradition request from the United States and then the gunfire that erupted in Hannah Town yesterday following the said gentleman's birthday bash see: Hell breaks loose in West Kingston from the Jamaica Observer (cartooned below centre.)
It was so easy for the Prime Minister to brush off any idea of entertaining the GLBTQ issues and that infamous BBC appearance where he categorically said he would have no known gays knowingly in his cabinet although they are there. On the mantra of fairness, rights and justice for all Jamaicans the Jamaica Labour Party campaigned in 2007's general election and barely won by a slim majority but as we have seen it was all talk and no backing action. Sadly the JLP is loosing the fight on the ground as the Dudus issue heats up one wonders if yesterday's encounter the police had in West Kingston was an attempt to find Dudus as the cops said they were looking for wanted men, three men died and three cops were shot and injured.

A good percentage of the public like myself are left in a daze as the legal luminaries, commentators and leaks to so called friendly press pushes the debate as to the PM's stance on not extraditing Dudus because the US allegedly broke the law by obtaining evidence in the form of wiring tapping the don's phone. Above are some of the cartoons that have been blistering in their shots at the PM and his ministers.

also see:
Where 'Dudus' Coke meets Transparency International
Let 'Dudus' have his day in court - Part 2

'Dudus defence'

Air J in the meantime:
One wonders if they will ever live down the so called divestment of Air Jamaica which on the face of it turned out to be a lie as the recent statements by the Trinidadian Transport Minister where he indicted that Caribbean Airlines was only interested in Air J's profitable routes and as to the staff at Air J who knows what will become of them.

Well he may have conveniently swept the gay issue under the carpet for now but certainly other issues have arisen let's see how it plays out, a second term looks unlikely. The gay issues are not going away anytime soon.

Peace and tolerance

H

The Star News again at it ....headlined: FREAKY LESBIAN ABUSES 16-Y-0? Youngster also raped, buggered

FREAKY LESBIAN ABUSES 16-Y-0? Youngster also raped, buggered

A hot-blooded lesbian woman from a volatile St Andrew community has found herself on the wrong side of the law after allegedly performing oral sex on a 16-year-old girl, assisted by two men who later raped and sodomised the teen.

The woman, said to be in her 20s, has since been arrested while her male accomplices are yet to be apprehended.
Information reaching THE STAR is that sometime before the incident, the inquisitive teenager had approached the older woman asking if the rumours that she was a lesbian were really true. The woman reportedly told the girl that the rumours were true following which a brief conversation developed between both and numbers were exchanged.

invitation

Allegation stated that on the date of the assault, the February birthday of the lesbian woman, she invited the teen to her house in the St Andrew community, stating that she had some money that she would like to give her.
Reports continued that the youngster went to the house and saw two men along with the woman inside. The woman allegedly told the girl not to pay the men any mind and to follow her to a room for the money.

After the teen and the woman went in the room, the men reportedly followed and allegedly held down the teen, allowing the lesbian woman to perform oral sex on her.
The allegations continued that after the woman was done performing the act on the teen, the men then raped and buggered the girl. A report was subsequently made and the woman was arrested.

When the matter was called up in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court last week, the lawyer for the accused lesbian made a bail application on her behalf.
The court set $100,000 bail and ruled that she return on April 8 for the preliminary enquiry into the matter.

ENDS

UPDATE: 16.08.10

This case has gone quiet for both the men and the alleged lesbians who were said to be involved again also some hint of accusing persons of deliberately forcing teens in sexual activity without substantive proof is precisely the reasons we as a nation are so angered and homophobic in a sense, even if the allegations are true we must substantiate the merits of the case and separate homosexual paedophilia from consensual gay sex and treat them differently. Too often the public reads stories like this and walk away accusing alleged gays of maybe doing the same just by them being so.

MORE UPDATE: 22.01.11

The Homo-Negativity Surrounding Paedophilia …….

So just three days after a Jamaica Observer article conflicting an alleged case of paedophilia in Kingston where the accused was killed (see Jamaica Observer: Gay vs Paedophile, they seem not to know the difference) another sad story now appears in today’s Star newspaper of another alleged assault on a male teenager. Sadly these incidents are very disturbing indeed for to have any sexual attraction at all for pubescent or prepubescent individuals is a serious condition as stipulated in the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychological and Sexual Disorders (DSM IV) or Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM V is now being reviewed in draft and is scheduled for release May 2013) Ephebophilia is not included however in the current DSM IV. Ephebophilia is the sexual preference of adults for mid-to-late adolescents, generally ages 15 to 19. Hebephilia refers to the sexual preference for individuals in the early years of puberty (generally ages 11–14, though puberty may vary). Teleiophile is the opposite where the teen is strongly sexually attracted to an adult which may explain our school girls on buses situation in compromising positions.

Paedophilia or Pedophilia Definition

Pedophilia is a paraphilia that involves an abnormal interest in children. A paraphilia is a disorder that is characterized by recurrent intense sexual urges and sexually arousing fantasies generally involving: nonhuman objects; the suffering or humiliation of oneself or one’s partner (not merely simulated); or animals, children, or other nonconsenting persons. Pedophilia is also a psychosexual disorder in which the fantasy or actual act of engaging in sexual activity with prepubertal children is the preferred or exclusive means of achieving sexual excitement and gratification. It may be directed toward children of the same sex or children of the other sex. Some pedophiles are attracted to both boys and girls. Some are attracted only to children, while others are attracted to adults as well as to children.

Pedophilia is defined by mental health professionals as a mental disorder, but the American legal system defines acting on a pedophilic urge as a criminal act.

Description

The focus of pedophilia is sexual activity with a child. Many courts interpret this reference to age to mean children under the age of 18. Most mental health professionals, however, confine the definition of pedophilia to sexual activity with prepubescent children, who are generally age 13 or younger. The term ephebophilia, derived from the Greek word for “youth,” is sometimes used to describe sexual interest in young people in the first stages of puberty.

The sexual behaviors involved in pedophilia cover a range of activities and may or may not involve the use of force. Some pedophiles limit their behaviors to exposing themselves or masturbating in front of the child, or fondling or undressing the child, but without genital contact.

Others, however, compel the child to participate in oral sex or full genital intercourse.
The most common overt aspect of pedophilia is an intense interest in children. There is no typical pedophile. Pedophiles may be young or old, male or female, although the great majority are males. Unfortunately, some pedophiles are professionals who are entrusted with educating or maintaining the health and well-being of young persons, while others are entrusted with children to whom they are related by blood or marriage.

Causes and symptoms

Causes

A variety of different theories exist as to the causes of pedophilia. A few researchers attribute pedophilia along with the other paraphilias to biology. They hold that testosterone, one of the male sex hormones, predisposes men to develop deviant sexual behaviors. As far as genetic factors are concerned, as of 2002 no researchers have claimed to have discovered or mapped a gene for pedophilia.

Most experts regard pedophilia as resulting from psychosocial factors rather than biological characteristics. Some think that pedophilia is the result of having been sexually abused as a child. Still others think that it derives from the person’s interactions with parents during their early years of life. Some researchers attribute pedophilia to arrested emotional development; that is, the pedophile is attracted to children because he or she has never matured psychologically. Some regard pedophilia as the result of a distorted need to dominate a sexual partner. Since children are smaller and usually weaker than adults, they may be regarded as nonthreatening potential partners. This drive for domination is sometimes thought to explain why most pedophiles are males.

Symptoms

A pedophile is often very attractive to the children who are potential victims. Potential pedophiles may volunteer their services to athletic teams, Scout troops, or religious or civic organizations that serve youth. In some cases, pedophiles who are attracted to children within their extended family may offer to baby-sit for their relatives. They often have good interpersonal skills with children and can easily gain the children’s trust.

Some pedophiles offer rationalizations or excuses that enable them to avoid assuming responsibility for their actions. They may blame the children for being too attractive or sexually provocative. They may also maintain that they are “teaching” the child about “the facts of life” or “love”; this rationalization is frequently offered by pedophiles who have molested children related to them. All these rationalizations may be found in pornography with pedophilic themes.

Demographics

Pedophilia is one of the more common paraphilias; the large worldwide market for child pornography suggests that it is more frequent in the general population than prison statistics would indicate. Together with voyeurism and exhibitionism, pedophilia is one of the three paraphilias most commonly leading to arrest by the police.
The onset of pedophilia usually occurs during adolescence. Occasional pedophiles begin their activities during middle age but this late onset is uncommon. In the United States, about 50% of men arrested for pedophilia are married.

The frequency of behavior associated with pedophilia varies with psychosocial stress. As the pedophile’s stress levels increase, the frequency of his or her acting out generally rises also.
Pedophilia is more common among males than among females. In addition, the rate of recidivism for persons with a pedophilic preference for males is approximately twice that of pedophiles who prefer females.
Little is known about the incidence of pedophilia in different racial or ethnic groups.

Diagnosis

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,fourth edition text revised, the following criteria must be met to establish a diagnosis of pedophilia.

Over a period of at least six months, the affected person experiences recurrent, intense and sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges or actual behaviors involving sexual activity with a prepubescent child or children aged 13 or younger.

The fantasies, sexual urges or behaviors cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of daily functioning.

The affected person must be at least age sixteen and be at least five years older than the child or children who are the objects or targets of attention or sexual activity.
A diagnosis of pedophilia cannot be assigned to an individual in late adolescence (age 17 to 19) who is involved in an ongoing sexual relationship with a 12- or 13-year-old person.

In establishing a diagnosis of pedophilia, it is important for a mental health professional to determine if the patient is attracted to males, females or both. It is also important to determine whether incest is a factor in the relationship. Finally, the doctor must determine whether the pedophilia is exclusive or nonexclusive; that is, whether the patient is attracted only to children (exclusive pedophilia) or to adults as well as to children (nonexclusive pedophilia).

More from HERE

The problem is when stories of this nature are put out there persons walk away blaming consenting adult homosexuals as wanting to get into boys pants.

Peace and tolerance

H

HIV infections in gay men 'increasing in homophobic countries'

Rates of HIV infections in gay men are increasing in countries which have homophobic attitudes, the chief of the UN AIDS agency has said.

Michel Sidibe told journalists at a lunch yesterday that rates of infection among gay men were rising in areas such as Africa, where many countries have laws against homosexuality.

He said that in Africa and China, around 33 per cent of new HIV infections were being found in gay men, which he said was a significant increase.

AP reports that on new laws being introduced in countries such as Uganda, he said: "You have also a growing conservatism which is making me very scared.

"We must insist that the rights of the minorities are upheld. If we don't do that … I think the epidemic will grow again. We cannot accept the tyranny of the majority."

Mr Sidibe said that, in contrast, between six and nine per cent of new infections are found in gay men in the Caribbean, which has fewer laws against homosexuality.

He blamed the rising infection rates on infected people being too scared to seek help and fearing they will be punished.

He also cited rising infection rates in drug users and prostitutes in countries which have stringent laws against drug use and prostitution.

Uganda's proposed anti-homosexuality law will impose the death penalty on those caught having gay sex while infected with HIV.

The bill's sponsor, David Bahati MP, claims it will reduce HIV infections in the country, although health experts say it will have the opposite effect.

Mr Sidibe also mentioned HIV infections in the US, saying it was "shocking" that more than 50 per cent of new infections in 2009 occurred in gay men.

He said: "It seems like we have come full circle. After almost no cases a few years ago we are seeing again this new peak among people who are not having access to all the information, the protection that is needed."

Circumcision may not cut HIV spread among gay men says CDC in a new study

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Although studies in Africa have shown that circumcision can lower the spread of HIV among heterosexuals, it may not do much to prevent infections among gay and bisexual men in Western countries, a new study suggests.

A number of studies in African nations have found that circumcised heterosexual men were up to 60 percent less likely than uncircumcised men to contract HIV during the study periods.
But it is unclear whether circumcision could have an impact on HIV transmission in the U.S. or other Western countries, where much of the transmission is among men who have sex with men. There has so far been no good evidence that circumcision lowers HIV risk among these men.

In the new study, researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) looked at HIV infection rates among nearly 4,900 men in the U.S., Canada and the Netherlands who took part in a clinical trial of an HIV vaccine.

They found that circumcised and uncircumcised men showed no difference in the risk of HIV infection over three years.

Moreover, while having unprotected sex with an HIV-positive partner increased a man's risk of infection, there was no evidence that circumcision altered that risk.

The findings, reported in the journal AIDS, come as the CDC is developing new recommendations on circumcision for reducing HIV transmission. The agency says it is considering whether to recommend circumcision for heterosexual men at elevated risk of HIV, and whether there is enough evidence to make any recommendations for men who have sex with men.

With regards to infant circumcision, the CDC says on its Web site, "many options are still being considered in this process, including simply recommending that health-care providers educate parents about the potential benefits and risks to ensure that parents have the information they need to make an informed decision."

Circumcision is thought to protect men from HIV infection because foreskin tissue appears particularly susceptible to the virus, and may serve as an entry point for it.

But circumcision may not make much difference in transmission among men in Western countries for a number of reasons, according to Deborah A. Gust and her colleagues at the

CDC.

One factor could be the fact that many HIV-positive people in developed countries are on powerful HIV drugs that reduce the chances of transmission, and may outweigh any effects of circumcision. In addition, Gust and her colleagues point out, circumcision would not affect HIV risk from receptive anal sex -- and that, again, could outweigh any protective effect of circumcision during insertive sex.

The findings are based on data from 4,889 men who took part in an HIV vaccine trial begun in 1998; 86 percent had been circumcised. During the three-year study, 7 percent of the men became HIV-positive.

When the researchers accounted for other factors -- including demographics, and HIV risk factors like drug use and having unprotected sex -- circumcision showed no effect on the odds of HIV transmission.

Still, Gust and her colleagues point to some limitations of their study, including the relatively small number of uncircumcised men overall and the small number of uncircumcised men who became HIV-positive during the study -- 43.

They say that future studies, with larger samples of uncircumcised men, should continue to look at the question of circumcision and HIV transmission among men who have sex with men.

The researchers also note, however, that other CDC scientists have concluded, based on their own studies, that circumcision would likely have only a "limited" impact on HIV transmission in the U.S.

SOURCE: AIDS, 2010.

Dancehall meets house music: Is Tolerance already there in the fusion but unrecognised?

Just by basic observation wearing my other hat as a DJ there has been a growing fusion of sorts happening for some time now where dancehall acts and producers have been appearing on and releasing house based rhythms averaging 120 BPMs, beats per minute. Technically speaking this was not so in the early days of dancehall it was practically unheard of for dancehall acts to be doing disco sounding songs as a backlash of sorts was on in the late seventies to early eighties when rhythms were just 30 – 80 BPM with “Riddims” released on the spur from various production houses and producers. Could it be that the dancehall acts are experimenting with the sounds to stay relevant on the European and international scenes due to the pressures of the Stop Murder Music Campaigns in the respective areas?

House music, techno or disco as we label all beats with 120 BPMs or over as gay music so many dancehall acts at that time avoided such rhythms and stuck to the original formula of the double drop beats with the one clap as evidenced in songs like Little Lenny’s “Gun Inna Baggy” or Shabba Ranks’ “Trailer Load a Gal” a formula that is still used on some rhythms today but they hardly are becoming hits. Most tunes today are house or hip hop influenced such as Vybz Kartel’s recent hit “Life We Living”

It was not until a raft artists started signing deals with the major labels in the United States during the nineties such as Lt. Stitchie to Atlantic Records where his song “Man fi Know how fi Dress was remixed into a now hard to find commercially seven minute house stomper which went to number one on the billboard dance music charts then other artists started following suit of course the original 70s/80s disco beat is no stranger to Jamaicans DJs and singers present on it, there were older artists like Denroy Morgan father to the members of Morgan Heritage who delivered his big hit “I’ll Do Anything for You” in the eighties which although not reaching number one on the dance or pop charts is still a staple on radio and club DJ playlists especially the 12’’ extended play.

Jamaicans on a whole prefer the older disco songs like Madonna’s “Holiday”, Donna Summer’s “Hot Stuff” and Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” recent modern house updates like Robin S’s “Show Me Love” and Black Box’s “Everybody” are accepted in the dancehall setting as early spins by disc jocks. On the gay circuit songs like Amber’s “Sexual,” Pusaka’s “The Worst Thing,” Kina’s “Girl from the Ghetto” and a recent 2009 J. Verner remix of Wide life’s “I Don’t Want You” are all time favourites. I will do a complete list some time soon. (dj.howie1@gmail.com)
Let’s not forget other mainstream Jamaican artists and those of Jamaican lineage such as Gwen Guthrie with her worldwide smash “Aint Nothing Goin on But The Rent” another oldie but goodie and the eccentric Grace Jones with “My Jamaican Guy” “I Need a Man” and “Pull Up To My Bumper” who is worshipped by gay men everywhere, then there is Sheryl Lee Ralph (one of the original Dream girls, the Broadway production in the eighties) with her worldwide smash “In The Evening” which has been remixed and re-released on several labels including a serious stomper by Almighty Productions all are cult classics and revered by the gay community worldwide. Let’s not forget the queen of Reggae Marcia Griffiths whose smash “Electric Boogie” is known everywhere it has been adopted by dancers and kept alive by the gay community especially in the United States as we saw in the Noah’s Arc series in season two where at its end the guys danced together doing the Boogie.

Other artists who have been remixed as well include Johnny P, Shaggy and most recently Shabba Ranks who we can remember ran into problems with the gay lobby groups in the UK in the early nineties. His latest effort “Love Me No More” was a collaboration with Bob Sinclar (actual spelling) the song has a flat out Reggae beat at first but morphs into a straight out deep filter house madness which I have spun at a few gigs. Mr. Sinclar is a well respected French house DJ/producer who has been working with other Jamaican DJs and using yard influenced beats on his house tracks. His alliance with former Bob Marley & The Wailers member Gary Pine to produce the unforgettable “Love Generation” has re-launched the interest in the fusion, his biggest hit in my view is “World Hold On” with Gary Pine again on vocals so massive it was that it was used for ads and appeared on Noah’s Arc: Jumping The Broom” movie where Noah and other cast members vogued to it. Speaking of Bob Marley we have seen a steady stream of techno, trance experiments and deep house remixes of his songs chief among them is a delicious loop and sampling of “I am Rainbow Too” taken from his classic tune “Sun is Shinning” of course implying an Anthemic gay theme with its repetitious haunts, I personally love it. The latest bootleg release I have heard is “I Shot the Sheriff 2010” as done by an underground European team.

Even harder cult artists like Beenieman have been mixed by popular house music remixers one can remember “Dancehall Queen” a duet with Chevelle Franklin taken from the local movie of the same name which was redone for a promo CD by the infamous and influential Maurice Joshua, that was an unexpected surprise as the Jamaica stations at the time spun it like it was going out of style. The deep creative orgasmic looping of Chevelle’s voice was infections at the first 2 minutes of the track (Oooh Uh Uh Uh). Ini Kamoze during his short success in the nineties had his songs remixed including the secondary hit “Listen To Me Tick” by one of the early house music pioneers David Morales also other artists like Papa San before his sojourn into gospel had songs remixed and distributed by Mercury Records who at the time had Crystal Waters delivering massive dance stompers like “Gypsy Woman (la da dee la dee da) in 1994 which had a remix with a raga sounding chant. David Morales himself has done some experimenting with Ragga as they call dancehall delivery of the words or lyrics. His major release “Dance Inna De Ghetto” is still spun somewhere in the world on a dance floor. Lets not forget Real 2 Reel’s “I Like To Move It” which was a major New York underground track on an independent label (Strictly Rhythm) in 1994 which also has been remixed and re-interpreted with the infamous Ragga vocals which moves gay and straight floors alike. Classic dancehall DJ Eee-ka Mouse as well has experimented appearing on an underground dance track in 1991 the name escapes me now but the 12’’ vinyl release I recall very well. Big vocals and impressive delivery as Diana King ruled in the nineties as well with club/house interpretations of her hits “Aint Nobody” (Chaka Khan cover) and “Say a Little Prayer for You” (Aretha Franklin cover) the former remixed by David Morales while the other mixed by a UK based set of remixers known as Love To Infinity who has mixed everyone from MJ to Whitney, Diana King was one of the last Jamaican big voice sisters to score big on the Billboard pop and dance charts.

Modern artists who have been mixed despite their songs not becoming major hits include Tami Chyn’s “Frozen” as done by Ralphi Rosario (who has mixed Mariah) then there is Enur that featured the late Natajsha with this massive underground hit “Calibra” aka “Talk of The Town” which has been used by Beenieman and others for remixes of local songs.
The most recent release of Major Laser’s “Pon De Floor with samplings of Vybz Kartel, Busy Signal and others tearing up clubs and dancehall events everywhere in Jamaica I was struck by the impact hence this post. I think we already have fused both music forms at the cultural level then why can’t we just drop the homophobic crap? Other songs that have been doubled as house and dancehall on the turntables and CD mixers is Enur’s Calibra just the first lines get the crowds into a frenzy and people vouging or whining as they feel, it is one of those versatile numbers that have become unforgettable.

At the musical level and even at other levels of entertainment namely the stage productions with gay typed characters namely “The Oliver Samuels, Chu Chu and Shebada effects” on dramatic theatre the meeting of the cultures are proven beyond the shadow of a doubt it is hard to comprehend here some questions that come to mind:

Why this fusion has has not trickled down to the grassroots or to the actual messages in songs?

What could be holding us back as a people to recognise this clearly and just forage into tolerance?
Do we as gay community need to launch some public education drive to highlight the fusions?

So dancehall has already met house music and both cultures are walking parallel these days just listen to the speed, techno and filter electronic sounds of the new tracks from so called hard core acts like Vybz Kartel and others and the proliferations of instructional dance songs inviting the listener to dance via move by move outlines. The fusion though obviously present and which could have been recognised to some extent but as is expected coming out of this new feel are homophobic tinged criticisms and lyrics where males dancing together in groups have been severely criticised by several new songs notably a song “Ladies if You Ready to Party” while on a fierce 128 BPM techno feel track it specifically asks that other males stay far during participation on the dance floor so we still have a long way yet to go as evidenced here. Homophobia and fear have crept in, the perceptions that many of the dancers from the various houses are on the down low is also not lost to many, we have seen the vicious commentary levied at a recent popular dancer and his subsequent removal from his dance team and the physical attacks and feuds between groups with accusations of gaydom levied at each other.

One popular commentator has said something unexpected by hinting that most creative persons are gay and maybe we are going to have to start taking a look again at our entertainment structure, a rather progressive comment given the context here. Let’s watch the trend here folks it may change yet again as our music has always done. Maybe the very call for tolerance my come from the dancehall community itself.

Peace and tolerance

H

Women for Women still on the move.

In response to the recent International Women's Day celebrations in recognition I found it fit to highlight a group of active Jamaican lesbian and bisexual women who are working for change on the ground.

With the departure of the active and vivacious former Chairman of the only lesbian and bisexual group in Jamaica who left “very large breasts to fill” according to one of the present Co-chairs shared jokingly in an interview at their offices on March 3, 2010 the group has refocused its attentions on issues affecting lesbian, bisexual and special transsexual community members. Of note the transgendered community that of Female to Male preoperative individuals have been very active themselves and have formed important alliances with the WFW and other small activist typed ventures to work on their respective objectives.

Women for Women is a Jamaican not for profit unpaid membership organization which focuses on issues relating to and supports the needs of lesbians. Their mandate is to unite and assist in the educating of persons within the Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered community by implementing programs focussing on but not limited to personal and career development, general deportment and family issues. Through edutainment and sports, the objective is to assist in reducing the negative and in many instances self destructive practices within the local community.

Their Motto: In Support of Sisterly Love, Unity

They embrace transgendered persons despite specifications be they Male to Female or Female to Male variants. They intend to focus on the real issues affecting the community they have already begun to address pertinent issues in the form of interventions with workshops and other forumatic activities directed at their membership.

They have launched a special award named the “Simple” Award as named after the former chairperson for International Women’s Day on March 8, 2010 which will become annual feature to recognise women who make significant contributions to the development of the sisterhood and are active in general women’s issues. Their first actual private presentation ceremony is expected to occur on March 8, 2010.

They intend to continue the programs as started under the previous administration with several new initiates added since the appointment of two new Co-chairs. They are seeking funding to support said programs those that are active include the Sport program to include as much sporting activities as possible, Developmental programs including Career choice activities, motivational speaking on several issues including human rights issues and recreational activities to include outings and other cathartic based activities. They are also seeking to collaborate with other women’s rights groups to arrive at formidable cooperative initiatives at empowering women from all walks of life and sexual orientation.

For further information on this active Jamaican women’s group please send an email to womenforwomen1999@gmail.com

Good luck to my sisters in the struggle as we have seen since recently the awful scourge of the episodes of “Corrective rapes” and other forms of deviant violence and discrimination meted out to women in general be they lesbian bisexual or heterosexual as reported on this blog and elsewhere, the various groups under the GLBTQ variants must begin to cross fertilise ideas and concerns albeit they may not be those directly related to the other groups concerned. The recent Armadale incident and subsequent damming inquiry as well is a clear indication as to the “hatred” towards the female gender even in our so called homophobic society where several female wards of the state lost their lives to basically due to state neglect and women deemed as outcasts and unworthy as possible productive citizens, issues and societal ills that have yet to be properly dealt with in terms of the perception towards women in general society in the so called age of information women still suffer bouts of outward discrimination.

As I left the short interview process with the Co-chair the executive and other committee members were preparing for what turned out to be a spirited meeting as we were in earshot on the vibrant but muted exchanges. In a way this active group is showing the rest of us in advocacy how it really ought to be done.

A word to the wise is sufficient.

They have promised to and wherever possible to provide and contribute direct lesbian centred articles as a sign of cooperation.

Peace and tolerance

H