Jamaica lesbians suffer from under-reported violence but whose fault is that ???

The representative agencies are culpable in this regard and here is why in my view:

This sudden new found concern for same gender loving women's advocacy was never there that much over the many years of the life of the representative organizations is suspect, not all of us can be fooled by supposed concerns. As a male I am becoming more and more fed up with the grandstanding and embellished representations of advocacy that are presented to the world.

Lesbophobia never really did create the excitement or accord the level of importance as repealing the buggery law and men who are victims of beatings and other serious happenings get from the male dominated agencies so they do not get the articles and media spotlight and subsequent on the ground attention required. We know that MSM issues are far more pronounced locally but in as far as the responses to same gender loving women's issues they are woefully lacking even after a total of thirty plus years of combined advocacy over respective groups, individuals and organizations.

The article below appeared on an overseas website showing yet again that news about us has to be generated off shore maybe in a bid to impress folks that work is somehow being done locally and which plays into the criticism about certain voices and that persons play on the reputation that Jamaica has gained, and using it to their own ends to push themselves as superstar advocates while persons on the ground suffer literally and counting on the silence and gullibility of lgbt Jamaicans as well as the fears of straight people to help them. All elements of the elitist culture at work.

Even from the early days of GLABCOM, gay lesbian & bisexual community meetings although it was designed to be an interface between the community and certain AIDS organizations mostly MSM issues were covered so much so that at most meetings men who be in far greater attendance than women and both JFLAG and WFW (formerly lesbians in action renamed) representatives were absent for years until the project was closed down.

At the intervention level same gender loving women who have been raped for example may not necessarily want to sit in front of a male crisis intervention officer or even a counsellor for that matter to rehash or relive a horrific rape experience, the sensitivities must be observed when we are talking about rehabilitation or victim's support. A female counselor or officer would suit the job far better when the men who hold such position cannot empathise with a woman who has been raped, very few males can do so.

The article read:
By Branka Juran and Maria Caspani

LONDON (TrustLaw) - Lesbians in Jamaica face attacks such as gang rape due to rife homophobia in the country, but few of these abuses get reported, Jamaica’s leading gay activist said.

“In Jamaican culture women are generally expected to be quiet about harassment and abuse,” Maurice Tomlinson, Jamaica’s leading gay activist and HIV/AIDS campaigner, said in an interview with TrustLaw.

Women are not the only victims. Tomlinson said 70 percent of attacks reported to rights organisations between 2009 and 2011 concerned gay men.

Under Jamaican law it is legal to punish any act of physical intimacy between men with jail and the possibility of 10-years hard labour.

Tomlinson was in London this week to receive the inaugural David Kato award for gay human rights activism.

“When we find out about these cases (involving gay women), they are usually so horrible that they rise up to the level of having to be reported,” he said.

Tomlinson works as a legal advisor for rights group AIDS Free World, helping them forge a structured way to address homophobia in the country and documenting human rights abuses against LGBT people.

When he first started recording accounts of abuses, Tomlinson was appalled by the sheer brutality of some of these acts.

“There was one instance where a gang of four men raped a lesbian because they said she was ‘taking over all good looking women’, Tomlinson recalled.

“They cut her genitals, so she could ‘better take men’ because ‘that is why she was a lesbian’, they said.

With 82 percent of its citizens opposing homosexuality – according to the results of a recent survey – Jamaica is one of the most dangerous places in the world for gay people.

"The Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals & Gays (J-FLAG) reported in June (2011) that 51 homophobic incidents had been registered in Jamaica between January and June 2011, representing a rise compared to the same period over 2010,” according to a report released in September 2011 by Amnesty International.

Endorsement of homophobic behaviour used to come straight from the country’s political establishment. Former PM Bruce Golding was openly homophobic and stated he would never appoint a gay person to cabinet.

Now, some – even if feeble – signals of change are starting to emerge.

In January, the newly elected Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller has made some promising statements regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people (LGBT).

“I think she (Simpson-Miller) genuinely does not have a problem with LGBT people and does not pry to people’s bedrooms,” Tomlinson said.

Nonetheless, homophobia still permeates almost every aspect of the Caribbean island’s society.

People go to church where they listen to pastors preaching that homophobia causes diseases, then they turn on the radio and hear popular Jamaican musicians Buju Banton and Beenie Man using anti-gay lyrics.

Tomlinson himself has received numerous death threats.

After news of his marriage to a Canadian man sparked a row in Jamaica, it was deemed best for him not to return home. He is waiting on Jamaican authorities assure him it is going to be safe for him to travel back.

(Editing by Rebekah Curtis)

ENDS

And why can't JFLAG speak for themselves and why wasn't Women for Women (WFW) consulted on this issue? why doesn't JFLAG put out a press release (as it's good at that) to talk about same gender loving women's issues directly? it cannot!!! simply because the organizational behaviour which is male dominated has over these many years contributed to a culture of silence on same gender female issues as homophobia towards males take center stage and lesbian issues do not generate the sound bites or is a lightening rod for funding. 

Lesbians and bisexual women have been getting their share of drama for decades as many suffering in silence as they feel their pleas may fall on deaf ears but even with a stark increase in reports in 2007 onwards of corrective rape, arson, forced evictions and even displacement/homelessness, even with an arm of the J named WomenforWomen they are tied, resource starved and cannot stand up to the male dominated executive structure of JFLAG, parent organization Jamaica AIDS Support or the other associated groups, the men call the shots. Butch lesbians in particualr have been feeling the pinch but why should women report anything when they feel they are ignored by the groups? and now to use  their plight to sure up image is so unethical.

Also see: 

Women for Women still on the move. 

Being a woman & gay in Jamaica

and

A marriage and another activist seeks asylum

The culture of silence as well where interventions and activities that are to benefit the entire LGBTQIQ2S body politic are held close to the chest of some as if others are not deserving of the impact they ought to have on the movement hence not rolled out generally. Sadly this is our reality and all kinds of media manipulations and PR are used to quash criticisms including labeling persons who point out the inadequacies as enemies of progress when very little progress in all these 37 plus years of the struggle in total have passed.

We need to put women's issues and I dare say homelessness on a equal footing to that of their male counterparts in the struggle in a transparent way and not try to sneak it in the backdoor as the rare let's give them some attention ploy. A loud cry here for proper and meaningful frontline interventions as it is not all about repealing buggery.

What is also coming to the fore is the belief that this is a smoke screen to divert persons from the questionable departure of the gentleman mentioned in the interview from Jamaica as some sections of the community have doubts as to the ethical basis on which he left and how the timing seemed well planned with what is suspected to be a leaked photo of a wedding to the press and a set up to get an award. We need to call it out when we see it, who waan vex a fi dem business dat. Not all of us can be fooled anymore.

more here via audio:

 Lesbian issues left out of the Jamaican advocacy thrust until now? 

Want more evidence of the gloss over of same gender loving issues for women then check this post on sister blog GLBTQJA done in December 2011 of the murder of two lesbians and the non response from the so called LGBT rights groups:

2 SGL Women lost, corrective rape & virtual silence from the male dominated advocacy structure

here is the corresponding audio for that post:

2 SGL Women lost, corrective rape and virtual silence from the male dominated advocacy structure 

also here is the audio from the original shocking news of Mr Tomlinson's departure:

   Ethical Professionlism & LGBT Advocates 01.02.12 

Peace and tolerance

H

Love 101FM's Family Time on Homosexuality

Love 101 FM carried another edition of Family Time series this week they continued on the subject of homosexuality following up on last weeks edition with none other than Dr. Wayne West on the homosexual agenda. This week they took a more Christian view on it almost conflicting as also a psychological approach was used as the guest is both a pastor and psychologist and the two seems to have almost clashed as the discourse outlined below will bring to bear but of course as Love 101 is a religious station the Leviticusal line has to be carried with a so called sympathetic approach to gays with a view for change, obviously suggesting reparative therapy. The causality issue was prominent as well where early initiation, loss of bonding from same sexed parent (old belief that is still used by the religious opposition) and effeminate men with a supposed hormonal imbalance who are rejected by society but welcomed by gays hence going into same sex activity. In other words all these persons are forced into gaydom, no mention is made of the person who realises very early that they are same sex attracted which leads me to believe the agenda here was mainly reparative therapy. The guest is also linked to the Back to the Bible which is linked to Focus on the Family and we all know (Dr.) James Dobson though untrained in psychology has deemed homosexuality an abnormality and curable. 

Dr. Barry Davidson was the guest in this discussion, he is a family Psychologist, serves as Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Family Life Ministries. He holds Master Degrees in Theology and Psychology as well as a Doctorate in Family Psychology, majoring in Marriage and Family Therapy, from The Fuller Graduate School of Psychology, Pasadena, California.
Since 1981, Dr. Davidson has been counseling with couples, adults, adolescents, and families, and assisting them in resolving personal and relational problems. In May of 1989 and 1990 respectively, he received the Jeff Balswick Memorial Award, and the Faculty Award for academic performance in Marriage and Family Therapy at Fuller Graduate School Awards Convocation, culminating his work with Project Family Outreach, an agency for ethnic minorities living with multiple or severe social, emotional, and spiritual problems in Pasadena, California.
His contributions to academia have been numerous, as a visiting lecturer at Azuza Pacific College in California, lecturer at the Caribbean Graduate School of Theology and a part-time lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Social Work at the University of the West Indies, Mona.

Dr. Davidson, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Family Life Ministries, has served this Organization since 1983 in the capacities of Executive Director, Director of Counselling, and Chairman. He is a consultant to the Executive Team of the Jamaica Psychological Society and sits on the Board of the 'Back to the Bible Broadcast'. He authored the well-known pre-marital counselling manual Before They Say "I Do", and co-authored "Healthy Families A Caribbean Perspective," with Ms. Maureen Watson.

We will use the following keys for this post - DB - Dr. Barry Davidson and the Host as The Host.

The Hosts: Who is a homosexual?

DB: Broadly defined homosexuality is an erotic attraction to persons of one owns sex although homosexuality includes sexual thoughts feelings fantasies and overt sexual acts with same sex partners, the term usually is not applied to pre-adolescents, to individuals usually young people whose curiosity leads to brief experimentation of erotic involvement with persons of the same sex or to people in prisons or to isolated same sex environments who temporarily engage in homosexual behaviour because opposite sex partners are not available, it is important I believe to distinguish between homosexual behaviour that is engaging in at least periodically in sexually stimulating actions with another person of the same sex and homosexual orientation which are feelings, sexual attraction towards members of the same sex many people with a homosexual orientation never let others know of this same sex preference and never engage in homosexual behaviour with other human beings sometimes we don't make the distinction and as a result create difficulty for people.

So when we talk about homosexuals we need to realise that what we are saying is that these are people who engage in sexual activities and sexual behaviour with those of the same sex. Man with man woman with woman

The Hosts: So you mean it's intentional not necessarily something you fell into at one time or you were testing out at some point?

DB: It's not something you experiment with it's something you have grown to like and continue to do

The Hosts: Can you describe a homosexuality type(s)?

DB: There is no such thing as a homosexual personality type or types homosexuals are of all age they come from all occupational fields and socio economic levels, some of them walk effeminately or behave effeminately some don't some are very masculine and so it is always erroneous because you see somebody who seem effeminate to assume that person is a homosexual 

The Hosts: Is any person born a homosexual?

DB: The research does not support that, in at least, Masters & Johnsons did a major research some years ago and from the research that they did it suggests that homosexuality is neither inborn or nor genetic 

The Hosts: If its neither inborn or genetic then is it normal?

DB: It depends on what you mean by normal, when we think of normal quite often we think of majority so it is normal for us to drive on the left hand side of the road in Jamaica because that's the norm, so when you think of normal statistically the majority of people are heterosexual and not homosexual so in that sense it would be considered abnormal because it is not the true case for the majority of people ........

The Hosts: is it wrong to experience homosexual thoughts?

DB: There are many people who experience the thoughts, there are many of us who experience all kinds of thoughts, you might experience the thought of lusting but do you act on it? you might experience the thought of stealing but do you act on it? the thoughts are things we experience because we live in a world where we are constantly bombarded with all kinds of ideas, what we need to be able to do is to recognise, understand our thoughts but to focus on the appropriate behaviour, so for instance a man who is not homosexual and is completely heterosexual and he sees a beautiful woman and so the thought of sleeping with that woman might come through his mind, does he act on it? no he can't because she is not his wife so it would be inappropriate, so we need to recognise that people do experience thoughts of all kinds, for instance one of the things that challenges us today why I believe the whole homosexuality is such a big issue is that pornography is a big thing access to pornography is very easy these days, you just have to have a computer and you go online go on the Internet and you can access thousands of pornographic sites and alot of them are homosexual sites and so you have alot of our youngsters who spend a tremendous amount of time on the computer they access these sites, they see this and observe it again and again so it becomes something that is apart of  their thinking and because its a part of their thinking they now want to act on it, it is very easy for two guys to be in a room and nobody thinks anything so we don't know if any experimentation took place. Experimentation might lead to further experimentation then it might become habit and then it might form for them what is now their perspective, their preference in their own sexual expression.

The Hosts: How does someone really become a homosexual?

Get the rest here:

   Love 101 FM Family Time on Homosexuality 19.01.12 by glbtqja7                  

Certainly we have a long way to go in the discourse and understanding between parties what is striking to me is that pastors who are psychologists tend to ignore the DSM rules in as far as homosexuality is concerned when it has not been a disorder since 1973. Other questions asked were how does one counsel a homosexual? does the Bible allow any room for homosexual relationships? 
Then there were the callers who in large part opposed homosexuality as was expected. I tried calling in but the lines were busy as is usually the case whenever homosexuality is discussed on any station.

Peace and tolerance

H

Ooops! ..... Not so fast with compliments for Cuba just yet......

photo credit: 

In the previous post we saw news of the expected passing of gay marriage and possibly other LGBT rights for Cubans, a positive step by amidst this come awful news of a murder of a member of the community there and police harrassment of native bloggers to that island. I tend to agree with a fellow blogger who also had the post title captioned in his opinion on the new developments in Cuba.

Florida-based news website Cubanet is reporting that a young transgender woman has been beaten to death in police custody in Cuba.
¨Eighteen-year-old Leidel Luis, who was known as Jessica, originally from the province of Santiago de Cuba and who lived with her partner named Yariel in Las Tunas, died after receiving a brutal beating in Guáimaro in Camaguey, southern Cuba.

It is alledged that she was picked up at a traffic stop 4 January by police calling her "faggot, nigger and disgusting."

The report is sourced to a prison inmate, Rolando Castro Sanchez who names those he alleges beat Luis to death as police officers Galindo Yarian Larena, Juan Ramon Lorenzo, their commanding officer Heriberto, and the sector chief Boris Luis Caballero. It is alleged that her body was removed after she was found dead in her cell in the middle of the night to an unknown location.

Cuba's Communist Party Congress, which opens 28 January, will reportedly adopt pro-gay provisions. Mariela Castro Espín, the daughter of Cuban President Raúl Castro and the leading advocate for LGBT rights in Cuba, wrote on her blog this week that the revision of the Family Code in 2013 will include recognition of same-sex couples.

However, continuing police harassment in Cuba, including arrests, has been reported on a number gay Cuban blogs, such as that of the Reinaldo Arenas Memorial Foundation. Gay Cuban blogger Francisco Rodríguez Cruz has also condemned 'irregularities' committed by Cuban police, who, he says, have repeatedly fined visitors to a gay meeting spot in central Havana. In September a death in custody of a transgender man was reported in Havana...¨ read it all, ¨Muere Travesti Tras Golpiza Propinada Por Policias¨

ENDS

Sorry to hear of this tragedy. Like us in Jamaica our Cuban brothers and sisters alike have their share of drama with the authorities although same sex and transgender aesthetics are more publicly accepted than any other island in the belt here but apparently violence is still a feature as is even in more progressive or "free" states where displays of affection are normative in a sense and legislation provides protection and recourse for aggrieved persons. 

The adoption however of any pro LGBT legislation may push into over-drive the demand from the ground here in Jamaica to the promised review of the Buggery Law by the new government the People's National Party, PNP. Recently after the Prime Minister's first parliamentary address on her own mandate she said to journalists that talks are proceeding and that a timeline is not set as to when the review and subsequent conscience vote will take place, but bearing in mind the makeup of the cabinet and the all important Senate with individuals who have openly expressed anti gay views over many years one wonders if they will get pass their original positions.

Earlier in 2009 the former Prime Minister Bruce Golding had used Cuba as an example in the Charter of Rights Bill debate as one of the countries who supposedly stood up to the "avalanche" as he puts it to legalizing homosexuality bearing in mind it is not illegal in Jamaica but Buggery is (despite the gender of the recipient).

We are keeping our fingers crossed things work out and as for our blogging friends there, we have you in our prayers.

Peace and tolerance

H  

Cuba Makes Progress in Sex Reassignment Surgery ... expects communist party to accept LGBT rights

Havana, Jan 17 (Prensa Latina) Cuban surgeons have performed 15 sex reassignment surgeries, and other transsexual people, who are assisted by a committee in compliance with international standards, are applying to that kind of procedure, an expert said on Monday.

The director of the National Sex Education Center (CENESEX), Mariela Castro Espin, explained that the first such surgery in Cuba was performed in 1988. However, it was not until 2007 that the Ministry of Public Health decided to perform sex reassignment surgeries again. As we spread this service in the media, more people going through the conflict and who do not know that they can get help will come to us, said the expert in an interview with the website Cubasi.

So far, transgender people must go through a follow-up period of two years, during which they are assisted by specialists, along with a personalized hormone therapy for the duration of the transition to the gender with which they are identified.

At the end of the process, the committee endorses those eligible for sex reassignment surgery (commonly known as sex change) and for a legal identity change, said Castro Espin.

However, she explained that surgery is not an aesthetic whim, but a scientific procedure agreed upon internationally, which benefits transsexual people.

The surgical procedure helps them to relieve the distress they experience since early childhood, as a result of prejudices that lead to misunderstanding and discrimination, she assured.

On the other hand, she noted that since 2008, Cuba has been working on an educational strategy, supported by the media, state institutions, the Communist Party and civil society organizations, to respect free, responsible sexual orientation and gender identity.

This is a profound process of cultural transformation to provide elements of analysis to dismantle the prejudices that have historically dominate people, their sexuality and their bodies.

These and other important issues will be discussed extensively in the 4th Cuban Congress on Guidance, Education and Sex Therapy, scheduled for January 23-26, at Havana's Conference Center.

The event, which will be attended by experts from the United States, Spain, Canada, Venezuela and Argentina, among other countries, will be held under the theme "Sex Education in the Processes of Social Transformation".

rma/jg/abo/msl/vm
Modificado el ( martes, 17 de enero de 2012 )

ENDS

with regards to LGBT rights in Cuba reports state:
“I believe the party conference will define an explicit policy of non-descrimination in matters of sexual orientation and gender identity and that, in turn, it will help dismantle the prejudices standing in the way of its approval,” Mariela Castro, director of the National Sexual Education Center, said in an interview on the Web site CubaSi.

She made her comments when asked about the draft bill that seeks to modify the Cuban Family Code to legalize same-sex unions, among other rights it aims to secure.

For now, according to Mariela Castro, the bill is being studied by specialists of the Justice Ministry and experts of Cuba’s National Jurists Union with the idea of including it in the 2012 legislative schedule.

For several years Mariela Castro has promoted legal reforms on the island in favor of sexual minorities.

In 2008, the Cuban government approved sex-change operations by ministerial decree, but no progress has been made in Parliament to reform the Family Code.

At certain times the sexologist has also asked the Communist Party to rid itself of anti-gay discrimination.

Cuba’s Communist Party will gather on Jan. 28 for its first National Conference, a meeting that has sparked great expectations about the possible changes and guidelines it will come up with for a generational “changing of the guard,” as Raul Castro requested at the sixth party congress last April.

But the president put a damper on such expectations last week when he told reporters “we shouldn’t get our hopes up” about the conference since this is an “internal matter” of Cuba’s only legally recognized political party.

meanwhile - VI Cuban Congress on Education, Sexual Orientation and Therapy

The National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX) and the Cuban Multidisciplinary Society for the Study of Sexuality (SOCUMES) announce the VI Cuban Congress on Education, Sexual Orientation and Therapy, to be held in Havana from 23 to 26 January 2012 in its usual venue of the Palace of Conventions in Havana. Session under the theme "Sex education in the processes of social transformation."

The purpose of this event is to contribute to interdisciplinary discussion of the notion of human sexuality, and complex process of transformation in various areas of social reality.

In parallel, develop the II Symposium Transidentidades, gender and culture , the Second Symposium of Clinical Sexology and I Consensus Chronic diseases and sexual dysfunctions .

These meetings are intended to facilitate dialogue and the system of best practices and theoretical experiences, as well as joint academic partnerships between institutions and civil society groups, regional and international organizations to contribute to the development and implementation of strategies and public policy around sexuality and sexual health, integrated into the processes of social transformation.

Sexuality education from emancipatory paradigms, compared to learned patterns of domination, presents us with a commitment to social transformation and weigh the humanist values ​​of solidarity, equality and social equity.

We count on your valuable participation.
Mariela Castro Espin
Chairwoman

ORGANIZE
National Center · Sex Education (CENESEX)
· Society for the Cuban Multidisciplinary Study of Sexuality (SOCUMES)
· Palace of Conventions in Havana, Cuba

SPONSORS
Ministry of Public Health
National Council of Scientific Societies of Health (CNSCS)
Academy of Sciences of Cuba
World Association for Sexual Health (WAS)
Latin American Federation of Sexology and Sexual Education (FLASSES)
Center for Psychological and Sociological Research (CIPS)
Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECI)
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)
Unite to End Violence Against Women in Latin America and the Caribbean
ONUMujeres
United Nations Program for Development
FOS Belgium
Oxfam Canada
Canadian Embassy
Nations Population Fund, United
Culture and International Cooperation

Watch out, Jamaica (Observer) letter writer on atheism

 

Dear Editor

The homosexual crusade has opened a new front in its assault on society's norms and traditional way of life. Its global centres in America, Canada and Europe have blown a gale-force wind in atheism, giving it much vitality and a new appeal.

Being atheist is now the most happening thing within the gay, lesbian and bi-sexual community. New adherents and veterans alike are now flocking to this newly found mode of awareness, and are using it as a proxy to further their foothold in society.

The choice of atheism — and not some other spiritual belief system — is an excellent preference for them. For one, it helps fortify their fundamental claim of being born gay; and further, it grants them the force necessary to help challenge the main charge against them: that homosexuality is essentially an ungodly lifestyle choice. In other words, atheism provides the free-thinking platform where homosexuals can dismissively reject the absolute notion of a God and of a final arbiter over morality.

By virtue of this, homosexuals are able to bluntly reject all forms of religious condemnation against them. This, of course, is central to their purpose, as they relish the idea of being able to use atheism as a doctrinal counterweight against all religions, especially Christianity, which has been a constant rebuking thorn in their movement's path.

Prior to this, it was the their sagacious use of the American Civil Rights laws to legitimise a lifestyle, which many still consider morally repugnant and totally contrary to the natural order of life. The Civil Rights laws, one of the greatest legislative achievements of the 20th century, was enacted to give minority groups, but primarily African-Americans who have suffered years of colour prejudice, the right to function as full citizens.

However, proponents of the gay rights movement have hijacked the Civil Rights movement and its laws, and have also cunningly used the same model of activism and advocacy as that of African-Americans to gain constitutional protection as a group. 

This added protection guarantees homosexuals their civil rights and bans discrimination against them based on sexual orientation. By reason of this, homosexuals' fundamental rights are protected twice under most civil societies' constitutions; once as members of a free society and once more as members of a special group.

Like body-piercing and tattooing, the new buzz of atheism will find its way into impressionable cultures such as Jamaica that takes its cue from "foreign", so to speak.

The latest crusading effort by international organisations, under the guise of promoting human rights, has come in the form of the US State Department announcing that future foreign aid will only be doled out to countries which are deemed homosexual-friendly, thus delivering a crippling economic blow to countries like Jamaica and Uganda, which oppose homosexuality and which also rely heavily on foreign aid assistance to supplement their budgets.

Recently, an African-American parent in Washington, DC, upon learning of her lesbian daughter's recent conversion to atheism, became distraught and declared that she was more bothered by her becoming an atheist than by being gay. This has become a challenge for parents like her as the spread of Atheism rises with the support of social networking, the Internet, and social clubs.

The concept of a Black atheist or Black atheism was a misnomer in African-American culture. But now, the idea is becoming more ubiquitous and steadily making inroads in bastions such as Harlem, Brooklyn and Washington, DC. This should be cause for consternation in Jamaica, as whatever is flavourful in America, especially with African-Americans, becomes flavourful with Jamaicans.

Very soon, this exotic union of homosexuality and atheism will barrel its way onto our shores and will take with it all vestiges of sexual morality. Watch out, Jamaica, a transforming force of human secularism is heading our way

C Anderson
c.andrsn1@gmail.com

ENDS

This supposed fear and or paranoia is just unbelievable to me but then again the way how some sections of the Christian community lambaste homosexuality and dishonestly link male homosexuality in particular to predatory paedophilia without subscribing to or verifying the facts is a serious cause for concern, then it is no wonder persons turn away and become atheistic when God is for all intents and purposes is a loving God despite the sinner's sin as no supposed sin is greater than any other but homosexuality is marketed as such by some.

Sometimes I really do wonder if these over zealous persons or religious fanatics do not realise the very Antichrist which is so prophesied about is gaining more power by simply the vitriolic way theses persons condemn homosexuals without in some cases inviting dialogue or a movement towards Christ. This continued deceptive anti gay quest is becoming more of a turnoff to the average person if ever so slowly.

Personally I do believe in God but not the one that is being so presented to the world as so vengeful and hateful, how can hate and God be even in the same sentence when he came for the outcasts? only earlier today I posted on my sister blog Gay Jamaica Watch about whether Apostle Paul really condemned homosexuality per say but more so the non monogamous relationships that existed at the time in Rome where he was based.

See:  Did Apostle Paul actually accepted Christian homosexuals?

The widening divide between the religious and the LGBT communities which also include LGBT Christians is worrying to me and there has to be some common ground especially here in Jamaica with talk of a promised review of the Buggery Law, knowing how influential the church still is here in Jamaica the review maybe thwarted especially when it gets to the conscience vote where members of parliament are expected to reflect their constituents' views if and when it occurs (many still see the promised buggery review as an election ploy to get pink votes in the Dec 29th polls).

As for the so called homosexual agenda, whatever that is, what agenda is the writer referring to? LGBT people have always been here but with successive generations things change and judging from the text in the letter the writer lives overseas, hypocritical that he stomachs homosexuality albeit with the necessary state protections where passed in the US and are exporting the hate to us. If I may quote a set of questions posted elsewhere: Isn't it ironic how many of these "Ministers" and Anti-Gay alliance groups readily and hastily flock to Black nations to spread this hate?
When's the last time you've heard of these groups go over to Norway or Denmark?
Makes you think what's their REAL motive in behind the targeting of specific countries and continents?

What is also very interesting is the amount of money being devoted to anti gay campaigns and full paged ads in Caribbean newspapers here (below) was one such as done by a group calling itself the Isaachar Foundation on Dec 1, 2011 bearing in mind a full page ad locally can run you up to half a million dollars depending on the day it's run.

while more pressing matters visible to all are left to simply go on, issues such as homeless kids, children in the care of the state, abused children and the umpteen missing kids here in Jamaica via the Ananda alerts in the papers daily, the zeal at which bishops and others go after or bash homos is far less energetic that developing interventions to solve those aforementioned problems but who cares really? HYPOCRITES!!!!!

Here is a look back at an exposé of homophobic evangelicals in the U.S. who support anti-gay rhetoric and violence in Uganda, thus exporting hate in the name of Christ whilst getting substantial funding in the process. 

Peace and tolerance

H

Dealing with the gay rights issue (Observer Editorial) ........

People's National Party (PNP) strategists must still be sighing with relief that there was no obvious backlash to Mrs Portia Simpson Miller's affirmation in the pre-election debate that Jamaica's buggery law needs to be reviewed.

We say 'no obvious backlash' because as we all know the PNP won the election by a 2-1 seat majority.

Like ourselves, sociologists and others with an interest in such matters must be extremely curious as to whether the election result means there is a significant softening in attitudes towards homosexuality among the Jamaican population.

It's not as if elements in the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) did not seek to profit from Mrs Simpson Miller's remarks. We recall the Observer story of Saturday, December 24 reporting on how the JLP candidate for West Central St James and former Cabinet Minister Clive Mullings "armed with a Bible" lashed Mrs Simpson Miller's comments from a political platform in Montego Bay.

As it turned out, Mr Mullings' action was of no profit to him since he lost his seat.

Yet more reason, perhaps, to suggest a softening towards the gay community? We really do not know for sure.

Perhaps the promised "conscience vote" in Parliament, whenever it occurs — following suggested consultations with constituents — will provide scope for a proper exploration of how people really feel regarding this issue.

What we do believe is that Mrs Simpson Miller deserves commendation for her courage. Not only did she speak to the need to review the centuries-old law bequeathed to us by British colonialists, but insisted that she would not "pry" into people's private lives and would appoint "anyone" to her Cabinet based on "ability" regardless of suspected sexual orientation.

In one stroke, she departed from the line taken by former Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who had declared "...Not in my Cabinet" when asked by British television three years ago if he would consider accommodating homosexuals in the Jamaican executive.

We sensed at the time, that the cautious, middling response of the then Prime Minister Andrew Holness to the gay rights question reflected a recognition, perhaps unconscious, of the possibility of a 'softening' in Jamaican public attitudes over recent years.

Of course, any Jamaican Government must also take into consideration the realities in the outside world. For in Europe and North America and many other places, gay rights are routinely considered fundamental human rights. And as Mr Golding once pointed out, the gay lobby is "perhaps the most organised" in the world. Our anti-gay entertainers have discovered that fact at great cost.

More to the point, the rich and powerful are increasingly insisting that countries like Jamaica abide by their code.

The European Union has long used aid and diplomacy as a fulcrum in its quest to influence countries like Jamaica and its Caribbean neighbours, as well as nations across Africa and the Third World to liberalise laws relating to homosexuality.

Late last year, British Prime Minister David Cameron suggested that his Government will be linking aid to recognition of gay rights.

And since that time, the US Government publicly declared its intention to use foreign aid and diplomacy to encourage reform of gay laws.

Some among our church leaders who contend that homosexual behaviour is in breach of "God's Laws" have urged Mrs Simpson Miller and her Government to resist external pressures relating to homosexuality. But it seems to this newspaper that it would be naïve for anyone to expect that Jamaica can continue to ignore such pressures indefinitely.

ENDS

Meanwhile JFLAG tries to clear up the ultimatum versus request mess on the 100 day issue with the PM and the buggery review via yet another press release:

J-FLAG DID NOT GIVE ULTIMATUM

Kingston — January 12, 2012
The Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG) wishes to clarify that the organisation has NOTgiven the government an ultimatum.

On January 3, 2012, CVM TV contacted the organisation for a comment on its expectations of the new administration following the Peoples National Party’s (PNP) win in the General Elections. This was in the context of the bold pronouncements the Most Honourable Portia Simpson Miller had made during the leadership debate. NewsWatch reported, J-FLAG’s Executive Director, Dane Lewis as saying “To be realistic, I imagine within the first hundred days at least the issue could be raised, with a look at how to proceed.”

However, many have misinterpreted this statement of expectation as an ultimatum. Mr Lewis also highlighted that Jamaica is required by the end of 2012 to report to the UN Human Rights Committee reviewing Jamaica’s status under the International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights “on what concrete steps it’s [Jamaica] making towards removal of discriminatory laws”. It is within this context that the comment was made. J-FLAG wishes to reiterate that it has not issued an ultimatum but offered a comment on what could be done by the Government within the first hundred (100) days to demonstrate its recognition of the broad human rights concerns that affect all Jamaicans. This is a common strategy which has been used by many other organisations in civil society and private sector.

Like all Jamaicans, J-FLAG remains committed to the human social and economic development of Jamaica. In so doing, J-FLAG will continue to defend the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Jamaicans from discrimination, harassment and violence.

ENDS

As I hinted in a previous post on my sister blog GLBTQJA on Wordpress mistakes such as granting a telephone interview (sans any consultations with the community I might add) to the media in a "hot environment" when homosexuality or related matters are in the public domain is a no no, all the J should have done was waited and not mention anything at all to do with any time line in any way, shape or form now for it to be misrepresented as an ultimatum. We have had previous misconceptions before of JFLAG's position by media and one would have thought that as a former media participant himself the Executive Director of JFLAG Mr. Lewis would have known the ins and outs of local media with regards to hot button issues such as this. The San Francisco boycott some years ago and the suggested EGALE tourism boycott as well are prime examples of learning curves for the group and speaking just a little too much but when it's time to speak there is silence. How many mistakes are there to be made before it is perfected? one never knows/

Peace and tolerance

H

Betty Ann Blaine on Poverty, children and the Buggery Law .... and that awful confusion of homosexuality with paedophilia

It is one thing to oppose homosexuality because of religious and so called moral reasons but to repeatedly include in ones reasoning same sex paedophilia when we know that most adult consenting same gender loving folks are NOT attracted to pre-pubescent children is just plain intellectual dishonesty or sheer ignorance, you decide readers and listeners as you read this letter penned by Miss Blaine.

Why does all the anti gay rhetoric has to be centered around paedophilia or some fear that repealing buggery will unleash butt hungry men on children? I think the notion is preposterous yes we may love other men and find them sexually interesting but certainly NOT children for those reasons.

Why include the long closed Peter King case and supposed rumoured sex tapes with other prominent male entertainers, is this so called Christian woman now subscribing to rumour, innuendo and conjecture now to bolster her position? I was not expecting that from her.

Where are the moral and ethical zones in this piece?

The letter read as follows:

 

Dear Reader,

It is now very clear that the issue regarding the repeal of Jamaica's Buggery Law has found some space in the country's dialectic, so much so that interest groups have already begun to pounce.

The Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP's) youth arm, G2K, sensed that an opportunity presented itself, given the country's anti-homosexual environment, and attempted to use the buggery debate to benefit the outcome of the recent election. It failed, and that is because God doesn't like "ugly" even when the principle of the matter might be correct in His eyes.

Of course, there is vested interest in certain quarters, both inside and outside of Jamaica, and already certain constituencies have made it very clear what they would like the new administration to do. To my mind, the matter is not so simplistic, neither is it urgent.

First of all, the need to repeal the Buggery Law cannot be the most important item on the national agenda at this time and should be recognised as such. When one considers the deep and entrenched problems of poverty, dispossession, joblessness, the abominable atrocities against children, the plight of the elderly, among other day-to-day abuses, the revocation of Jamaica's Buggery Law could by no means be considered to be high on the list of priorities. If Jamaicans had to choose among the raft of pressing issues, including the 'bread and butter' ones, I suspect that the issue of buggery would be low on the list.

Secondly, and more importantly, there can be no discussion about buggery outside of a broader discourse concerning poverty and the vulnerability of the poor, especially poor children, to the risk of homosexual abuse. Let me hasten to say that I am aware that the risk of abuse by heterosexuals is equally as great.

Until the problem of poverty in general, and child poverty in particular, are adequately addressed and alleviated, the repeal of the Buggery Law cannot be considered, and anybody who is concerned about the most vulnerable groups in the society should agree.

As the founder of two major children's organisations and as a children's advocate for over 30 years, I have had to deal with many cases involving the sodomy of children. The tragedy is that they are almost exclusively children of the poor, and as a consequence, they have had little or no access to justice, let alone restitution.

It is impossible for my colleagues and I to forget the case of the nine-month-old baby boy who died after being buggered and otherwise physically abused. The tiny casket stood starkly in the front of the near-empty church on the day of the funeral. As far as I recall, no public statement was ever made by any of those groups now clamouring for the repeal of our Buggery Law.

It is common knowledge that one of the most accessible sources for those in the society who prefer to have sex with children, are the country's street boys. In my work I have come to know several of them who are now young adults who have been irreparably damaged as victims of child sodomy while living on the streets.

It is also common knowledge that there is a conspiracy of silence and secrecy surrounding a certain set of tapes involving a certain influential man in the society who was brutally murdered six years ago. It is rumoured that young boys are among those captured on the tapes. Of course, in a country dominated by class supremacy and the abuse of power by influential individuals, it is no surprise that to this day no information has been forthcoming regarding the allegations of sexual violence against the children who may have been victims of that particular circumstance.

Any discussion about repealing the Buggery Law must be preceded by a full and thorough study of buggery in the society and how those cases have, and are being been dealt with in the justice system. It is critical that the country should understand the nature and extent of the problem in order to arrive at any informed position.

That sentiment must be clearly articulated to any foreign government which thinks that it has a right to dictate the repeal of any of the laws of a sovereign state like ours, however dependent we may be. Instead of threatening sanctions, those countries concerned about our Buggery Law should instead help us to strengthen critical institutions and to eradicate poverty so that the rights of those Jamaicans who are vulnerable to the ravages of abuse from both homosexuals and heterosexuals will be protected and advanced.

At the moment, Jamaican children are at risk, both outside in the general society and behind closed doors, everywhere across the country. With an average of 200 children being reported missing each month, and with the increase in rape and other sexual offences, strengthening our laws and not weakening or repealing them must be the highest priority.

Until Jamaica begins to see a levelling of the social and economic playing field, I don't see that we can pursue any worthwhile debate about the repeal of any law that may involve the sexual abuse of the poor and of minors, whatever the sexual orientation.

With love,
bab2609@yahoo.com

ENDS

She obviously continues to conflate same gender sex with abuse without understanding that the real issue when it comes to paedphilia is that the perpetrator is sexually attracted to children that is a diagnosable disorder but homosexuality is not the same.

Peace and tolerance

H

Integrity Commission's Chairman hit at the buggery review proposal

In an article this morning in the Gleaner another clear wipe from the Reverend Dr Wellesley Blair at the recent push by the lobby group JFLAG on the promised buggery review and subsequent conscience vote by then opposition leader voted in Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller. Clearly this is a swipe on the strength of the belief that the newly installed PNP administration received money from supposed gay groups who are using their influence and also on the perception that the recent debt cut turned debt redirection to or from commonwealth countries namely from the UK is placing or foisting the homosexual agenda on the nation, have a read and see what you make of it.

Also see: Of Commonwealth, Buggery Law And Ditching The Queen (Gleaner 02.11.11)

Nedburn Thaffe, Gleaner Writer wrote:

Members of the new Portia Simpson Miller administration were yesterday urged not to give in to pressure from foreign countries and local groups, as they take over the reins of government following the People's National Party's (PNP) recent general-election victory.

"We are a sovereign nation. No one from outside must tell us what to do," urged the Reverend Dr Wellesley Blair.

"In executing your duties, please do not feel threatened by anyone, (neither in) foreign or inna the yard. No outside government or any local group, no matter what they wave in front of you. Let no man or any woman look at you and say, 'Do this or else','' the reverend warned.
Blair, who also serves as chairman of the PNP integrity commission, was addressing members of the Simpson Miller Cabinet during his sermon at the Portmore New Testament Church of God in St Catherine yesterday, where the new government ministers were in attendance.

(Photo: Garfield Robinson) 

Buggery law review

The prime minister, in the leadership debate ahead of the December 29 general election, had suggested it was time for a review of the country's buggery law and a conscience vote among parliamentarians. Simpson Miller's comment led to concerns among some elements across the island, including within the Church, that the PNP administration was considering amending the law to legalise the act.
Such a potential move has been seen as bowing to pressure from the United States and United Kingdom which have long called for tolerance of homosexuality.

Simpson Miller, during the leadership debate, also challenged a previous pronouncement by former Prime Minister Bruce Golding, in a BBC interview, where he said no gays would be allowed in his Cabinet.
Simpson Miller said she would take a more even-handed approach, adding that persons should be selected for Cabinet duties on the basis of their abilities to execute duties assigned.

In the meantime, while calling for the prime minister and her Cabinet to put God first in all decision-making, Blair said: "Loyalty to God over loyalty to foreign rulers may cause personal and even national persecution. There are some things that we are going to have to bear as a nation and we are depending on those that God has chosen (to lead)."

Blair when contacted yesterday to clarify whether his comments were in reference to the country's buggery law declined to say.
"Take it how you want to take it," he said.
The pastor also used yesterday's sermon to caution the Portia Simpson Miller administration to withhold nothing from the Jamaican people.

"I would encourage you, hide nothing from the populace. They want to know the facts ... . Tell us the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God," Blair said.

Great expectations

He said the people of Jamaica already have great expectations.

"People are looking to you to fill their pots, to fill their pockets, to send their children to school, to give better health, to do everything," he said. "Many of us don't realise it cannot work that way."

He added: "With the circumstances surrounding you, depend upon your God."

Blair also urged the prime minister to ensure that her ascendancy to office signalled a turning point in the operations of government in the country.
In the meantime, the prime minister in her greetings to members of the congregation called for them to pray for her team.
"At this time, our country Jamaica is at a crossroads, but the same way our Holy Master moved his son from the pit to the palace, and he was able to use his position to lift his brothers that plotted against him ... ; He raised up kings, and He put down kings," Simpson Miller said.

"This morning, my team ... we placed ourselves in the hands of God," she added following resounding applause from the congregation.

nedburn.thaffe@gleanerjm.com

ENDS

More...........

The Wrath of a Bishop 

Let us not forget this is the same Pastor some years ago was reported as: "A homosexual only has one of two rights. It is either he changes his life or accepts the just punishment of God, as He did in Sodom and Gomorra,"

Bishop Blair also made it clear that God did not make any homosexuals or “create any Sodomites,” as they (Sodomites) made themselves that way, at least according to his interpretation of the Book of Romans chapter one.
He added that those who are talking about the setting up of a gay church in Jamaica that time, must remember that there are a few God-fearing, Holy Ghost, holiness preachers who are still around and who are very adamant that they will do everything legally and spiritually in their power to bar that.

What he really was saying is that if you set up a church that accepts gays and lesbians, watch your back.

Bishop Blair said that “Sodomites who are caught should be beaten. I believe that when the court orders lashing, some of those Sodomites who are caught and some of the criminals, should be brought in the square of Half-Way Tree and be lashed and send them home.”

Blair said he will be monitoring what goes on inside Gordon House, Jamaica’s Legislature, to see who would dare to vote for the passing of gay-friendly legislation. He said he will try to influence the Christian community to target politicians in the next election.

"If the legislation to legalize sodomy and lesbianism passes in Jamaica and it is signed into law, and God does not do something about it, God would have to wake up Sodom and Gomorra and beg them pardon," said Blair.
Three gay men at that period were beaten in the streets of Jamaica by a mob for being gay. Last year two lesbians were found murdered in an apparent hate crime. In recent years, gay hate crimes in Jamaica have skyrocketed to all time high numbers proving that Jamaica could quite possibly be the most homophobic place on Earth.

ENDS

also see Dr Blair's other Reverend brother Bishop Herro Blair as well who also happens to be the political Ombudsman now here in 2007:

Blair warns politicians - Hits at campaigns, abortion, gay marriage - August 6, 2007

Jamaicans for Justice calls for Ombudsman Bishop Hero Blair's resignation

Buggery law backlash – Blair: The church has been sleeping – Blair warns review could lead to same-sex marriages

Attack of the Blair's on the gay lobby?

Why was the party at this church in the face of expected strong religious opposition against the proposed buggery law review?
Why does the present cabinet looks the way it does when clearly the core support expected for any review on buggery is clearly not present?

Will she shuffle this cabinet in the long run to get the needed positive votes if and when the review/conscience vote is held?

also see the Observer's take on the story: DON'T BOW! Pastor urges Portia to avoid foreign influence - God’s great eyes are upon you — Blair

here is TVJ's coverage of the service highlights:  PM PLUS EXECUTIVE MEMBERS WORSHIP IN PORTMORE

Interesting times lie ahead

Peace and tolerance

H

Mark Wignall ....... Gay Lobby will wait in vain

Jamaica Observer columnist Mark Wignall believes among other things the Jamaican Gay Lobby will wait in vain in his regular contribution to the paper: Supporters will give PNP government a honeymoon but... he wrote

In the month of November 2010 Washington would have already firmly decided that the JLP Government as constituted then was more than a nagging fly-in-the-ointment.

Ironically, as strained as the relationship has been between Washington and Caracas, it is more than likely that President Hugo Chavez, the most eager regionalist of our time, would have found reason to share a common objective with the US diplomats in Jamaica at just about the same time.

A Jamaican leader(Golding) had pledged to place his political future at risk by loudly standing out on a limb for a man wanted in the USA for drug and gun running and being a dangerous underworld boss - 'Dudus'.

At that stage the Americans would have singled out Dr Peter Phillips, the security minister in the PNP Government of 2004 and the point man in Jamaica whose actions led to the ultimate extradition as a man they could do business with in the near future.

On the Friday after the December 29 election there would be more than an element of 'mission accomplished' in the objectives of the Americans and President Chavez.

Golding had been slamming Chavez, an ally of the PNP, while in Opposition. The JLP Government formed after September 2007 was without ideology and a philosophy guiding its governance and grudgingly accepted the benefits of the PetroCaribe Fund only because it had no other choice.

It would indeed surprise me if the interventionist side of the regionalist President Chavez did not tangibly assist its ally, the PNP, in the last few weeks during the election. There exists no evidence that I am aware of that supports the view that a foreign government pumped significant cash into the coffers of the PNP. What is without doubt, however, is that contrary to conventional wisdom, the PNP was a cash-rich party in the last week of campaigning.

It is a slight reversal of 2007 when the JLP was overloaded with cash and the PNP was relatively broke. I use the word 'slight' because the JLP was not broke in 2011, only that the PNP became much richer than the JLP at the politically perfect time.

Many PNP supporters who I spoke with recently indicated a willingness to give the PNP a somewhat extended honeymoon to get the social and economic picture right. It is not, however, a mood that can be plotted on a straight-line graph.

The closeness of the election of 2007 had never indicated a rejection of the PNP, its policies or the style and mechanics of its governance. PNP supporters have accepted the JLP's four-year run as a minor blip on the political radar and firmly believe that a new PNP Government will 'get it right'.

"Even if di JEEP nuh run right away, wi know sey it a go work fi poor people," said a young woman to me recently.

Her young male friend, unemployed as she was said, "Money dey yah and as soon as Portia settle off, di JEEP a go start up."

Gay Lobby will wait in vain

I have yet to meet one PNP supporter who earnestly believes that the Buggery Law will be changed.

During the leadership debate, then Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller had indicated that a PNP Government led by her would review the law. The JLP had then pounced on it in an effort to gain political mileage - standard politics - by making it seem as if Simpson Miller had promised a change in the law.

"Do you believe that the PNP will review the Buggery Law?" I asked a group of young men, all unemployed and who admitted that they had voted for the PNP.

"Yeah," one said. "Review it yes, but a nuh nutten dat."

A youngster nearby took off on his friend's mood and said, "As long as she tek up di paper an put it back dung. Dat caan pass a Jamaica. It wi bun dung."

Another less vocal young man said, "A political talk dat. Maybe di man dem donate some money to di PNP party and it jus gi a talk. A politics and it nah guh no wey."

What is very obvious to me is that only Portia Simpson Miller could have made such a promise in so sensitive an area without the political backlash. Additionally, many voters accept that "a so di ting set", meaning that they accept that politicians will spout nonsense. In the case of Simpson Miller, voters were prepared to slot it in the 'not of importance' segment in the days leading up to the vote.

JLP waiting to roll over and die

A few days after the election I was in the company of a young woman and an official of G2K.

The young woman was a recent graduate of. UTech and was planning on going off to the US to study computer and film animation. Her father was a degreed teacher and her mother operated a small business.

She was discussing the G2K ads. "Those ads - they would have appealed to me, to mommy, to daddy, but, we don't vote." The G2K official seemed to sink deeper in the chair.

He just sat there, forced a smile and said nothing. The young woman was right. Assuming that a political party knows the landscape it is operating in, one would expect that the entity would have arrived at its a campaign after considerable research. If knowledge is presumed before research and the ads are made, the only conclusion that could be drawn is that those involved have been very close to our people at all levels. Or that they are stupid.

Now, fully recognising that constituency canvases (which have proven fairly accurate over the years) were either concocted because money paid for them did not reach down to those who were closest to the community or, poorly done because of the weakness of the JLP secretariat, many in the JLP have concluded that the wrong 'election ready' message was given to Andrew Holness.

Demoralised, angry with each other and already reaching for the long knives of 'intra blame' the JLP must face the fact that it is on the verge of a total wipeout at the local government elections.

In the red by anywhere between $40 million and $70 million, the party is lying in the middle of the road waiting on a truck to run it over.

observemark@gmail.com

Portia's Profound Comments (Gleaner Letter)

 

THE EDITOR, Sir:

The president of the People's National Party (PNP) recently said she would not exclude persons from her Cabinet on the basis of sexual orientation. Few seem to appreciate how profound the comment is. One newspaper sprang into attack mode with its bold headline, 'A idiot thing that'.

At first glance, the leader's comments seem to imply or assume that in appointing ministers, she has knowledge that the person being appointed is gay. This has inherent legal implications based on Jamaican law (The Offences Against The Person Act). Although buggery is not defined in the law, it is listed as unnatural offences, where it is described as "the abominable crime of buggery committed either with mankind or with any animal".

Additionally, the law specifically speaks to male-to-male acts of gross indecency, but is totally silent on female-to-female acts. So being a bugger and being gay or homosexual are not legally the same in Jamaican law. Being gay or homosexual is a much broader term, covering same-sex relationships. It does not appear to include "any animal".

The Jamaican law regarding unnatural offences and acts of gross indecency is, therefore, gender specific and includes animals. It does not consider or treat female same-sex relationships as unnatural offences or acts of gross indecency. So, based on the present law, appointing a female gay minister should not be an issue legally.

This, however, would not be the case if she were to appoint a male gay minister, especially if she knows that male is gay.

The reason for this is that it is a crime to know of a crime and not report it to the police. This may and ought to be considered concealment, cover-up, you name it. Although she may not have personally witnessed the act or crime, it's no different from the acts of bishops who concealed reports of priests sexually molesting youths and covered it up.

Therein rests a part of the dilemma, ie, the buggery law, as it stands, and whether or not she knows the appointee has breached the law.

Indeed, the law is gender-specific in its treatment of same-sex relationships. This ought to be deemed unconstitutional and ought to be corrected. How else does Parliament legislate a law that retains the wishes of the majority on the issue, and comply with the gender (sex) requirements of the Constitution (Section 13)? In democratic societies, it's done by review of the law.

For those males who have already concluded that "a idiot thing that", note that for a male caught committing (a) an unnatural offence, or (b), an act of gross indecency with another male, there is no fine. In the case of (a), it's prison at hard labour, for a term not exceeding 10 years.

In the case of (b), it's prison with or without hard labour, for a term not exceeding seven years. However, it's no offence for females to be caught doing similar acts. Easy nuh.

WARREN SIBBLIES

warrensibbs@hotmail.com

Houston, Texas

ENDS

Some comments followed:

Mr./Ms. Moderator, could you please post?

There is no doubt that Madame Prime Minister Elect; Portia Simpson-Miller is a very savvy and seasoned politician. She knows how to appeal to all voting blocks of the electorates, not just the majority, but also to
crucial minority voting blocks such as the disenfranchised gay/lesbians/bisexual. Hereto her recent statement of forming an all-inclusive/representative cabinet of all Jamaicans, there has never been a Jamaican politician to take such a bold and courageous stand. It is in light of her all inclusive statement that has embolden the gay voting block to turn out in support of the only national leader to acknowledge their existence on the island without religious damnations.

Silently and without any fanfare under the radar, they showed up at their respective polling stations and cast their individual votesof freedom and then exhaled as they walked away with a sense of relief. For you see, they had no reason to vote before, as they were never considered citizens in the country to which they were born; Prime Minister Elect; Madame Portia Simpson-Miller has given them hope, a reason and purpose for being, but above all, she has acknowledged their human existence.

Madame Prime Minister Elect, I respectfully implore, and beseech you to make good on you statement on creating a more equitable,humanistic, and representative cabinet of all Jamaican.

Kudos! And congratulations!

and

Thank you Mr. Sibbles for explaining the arguments so lucidly. The tendency for rabid homophobia to cloud rational and logical judgments on the issue of buggery in Jamaica is amazing. The constant reduction of homosexuality to buggery (anal intercourse) is so distorting that I find whenever I explain to people that the two (homosexuality) and (anal intercourse) do not necessarily coincide, better assessments can be made.

This is the dilemma that Sister P faces. If a male member of her cabinet personally declares to her that he is a homosexual, she can assume that he engages in the sexual conduct of buggery (which is law breaking). I say assumption since not everyone who thinks the label homosexual applies to him actually engages in the practice of anal sex.