Imagine this, you and your family members and friends are returning to Kingston early this morning to make it for work when you encounter a flat tyre on the way in a rural community, you alight from your car and the other passengers, 2 females and a male and you as the male driver proceed to get your tools from the car's trunk.
(you as the driver is attired in nothing but an old jeans pants you had cut above the knees for a drive out you did the night before, you are not gay but your other male cousin is but its no big deal to you, he is not effeminate and isn't recognizable)
You proceed to start the tyre change when you hear voices from a way down the road, hurling expletives, you continue as you think it's not you there are being directed at. Then out of the blue four stick wielding, stone carrying men approach you and say you are gay by virtue of your short jeans pants that YOU cut to wear for your comfort.
This was exactly what happened at around 6:40am this morning, in retaliation the male occupants wasted no time in defending themselves, pulling machetes and a lug tool from the car and rendering several blows to the attackers who were hell bent on exacting their brand of justice .... "for battyman fi dead"
It was when the females however vented their anger at the attack and pronounced that their boyfriends were not gay that things cooled, the sad part there were no witnesses as it was early in the morning and that part of the road was not inhabited that much.
So the madness continues, if you look a certain way or of a predisposition you are likely to be attacked and maimed, it is sad that this is where we are as a country and here we are talking about unity after the Olympics success.
We have a loooooooooonnngggg way to go.
Monday, August 25, 2008
EU Agency Calls for a Re-definition of Marriage, Criminalization of “Homophobia”
(WASHINGTON, DC - C-FAM) A recent report from the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) of the European Union (EU) has called for binding EU regulations that would equalize the legal status of married heterosexual couples with that of same-sex and opposite-sex couples across Europe. It also recommends policies aimed at “promoting visibility of homosexuality and other gender identities” and criminalizing homophobia through “hate crime” legislation.FRA contracted writing of the report to a group called FRALEX. FRALEX is roughly the same group as the now defunct EU “network of independent fundamental rights experts,” a group that was widely criticized for trying to get the government of Slovakia to abrogate a treaty with the Vatican that provided conscience protection for doctors unwilling to carry out abortions. The European Parliament requested FRA’s opinion in drafting a new EU law, called a directive that would prohibit discrimination based on “sexual orientation” in employment, education, social security, health care, and access to goods and services.
Current EU laws extend that kind of protection only in the area of employment, leaving other areas to be treated in national legislation.The 165-page report goes beyond examining the proposed directive and contains analysis of all possible aspects of EU and national laws that possibly discriminate against homosexuals. Areas include employment, freedom of movement, asylum, family reunification, freedom of assembly, and criminal law. The report argues that EU law should force member states, in which there is no registered-partnership or “gay marriage” legislation, to treat poeple in these arrangements as married couples.
Currently, the EU allows citizens of the EU and their family members to move and reside freely anywhere in the EU. The EU also allows third-country nationals who are spouses of EU citizens to reside legally in the EU. Both of these regulations refer to marriage in the traditional sense, although they allow exceptions when the move or reunification happens between countries that recognize other forms of relationships as equivalent to marriage.The extension of marital privileges to same-sex and cohabiting opposite-sex couples is justified in the report by reference to the EU’s “fundamental principle” of “equal treatment.” Yet, the definition of same-sex and opposite-sex couples is not precisely defined in the text. The authors refer to “stable and permanent relationships” or “de facto durable relationships” or relationships with “a sufficient degree of permanency.”
Arguably, only couples involved in a sexual relationship would benefit from the proposed extension of current EU regulations. The report does not contain any prescriptions of how governments might attest to and discern such relationships.Other parts of the report call for mandatory national “equality bodies,” preferably with independent units dealing only with homosexual issues. It argues for endowing them with “quasi-adjudicatory functions” that would allow them to issue “binding sanctions or orders, subject to review by courts.” It also argues for a sweeping EU regulation that would make “homophobic hate speech a criminal offense.”Maciej Brachowicz, a human rights expert from Poland-based Jegiellonian Club, told the Friday Fax that “if one were to agree with FRA’s opinion, there are barely any legal grounds left for claiming that any inequality in social life should not be treated as discriminatory.”
Visit us at http://www.c-fam.org./
Editor in Chief – Austin Ruse Managing Editor –
Piero Tozzi Assistant Managing Editor –
Hannah Russo Chief Correspondent –
Samantha Singson Contributors –
Susan Yoshihara, Maciej Golubiewski
Current EU laws extend that kind of protection only in the area of employment, leaving other areas to be treated in national legislation.The 165-page report goes beyond examining the proposed directive and contains analysis of all possible aspects of EU and national laws that possibly discriminate against homosexuals. Areas include employment, freedom of movement, asylum, family reunification, freedom of assembly, and criminal law. The report argues that EU law should force member states, in which there is no registered-partnership or “gay marriage” legislation, to treat poeple in these arrangements as married couples.
Currently, the EU allows citizens of the EU and their family members to move and reside freely anywhere in the EU. The EU also allows third-country nationals who are spouses of EU citizens to reside legally in the EU. Both of these regulations refer to marriage in the traditional sense, although they allow exceptions when the move or reunification happens between countries that recognize other forms of relationships as equivalent to marriage.The extension of marital privileges to same-sex and cohabiting opposite-sex couples is justified in the report by reference to the EU’s “fundamental principle” of “equal treatment.” Yet, the definition of same-sex and opposite-sex couples is not precisely defined in the text. The authors refer to “stable and permanent relationships” or “de facto durable relationships” or relationships with “a sufficient degree of permanency.”
Arguably, only couples involved in a sexual relationship would benefit from the proposed extension of current EU regulations. The report does not contain any prescriptions of how governments might attest to and discern such relationships.Other parts of the report call for mandatory national “equality bodies,” preferably with independent units dealing only with homosexual issues. It argues for endowing them with “quasi-adjudicatory functions” that would allow them to issue “binding sanctions or orders, subject to review by courts.” It also argues for a sweeping EU regulation that would make “homophobic hate speech a criminal offense.”Maciej Brachowicz, a human rights expert from Poland-based Jegiellonian Club, told the Friday Fax that “if one were to agree with FRA’s opinion, there are barely any legal grounds left for claiming that any inequality in social life should not be treated as discriminatory.”
Visit us at http://www.c-fam.org./
Editor in Chief – Austin Ruse Managing Editor –
Piero Tozzi Assistant Managing Editor –
Hannah Russo Chief Correspondent –
Samantha Singson Contributors –
Susan Yoshihara, Maciej Golubiewski
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Photos from August 10th Firebombing in Clarendon (1)
See Below for more pics etcNo requests for photos of the victims will be honored as they have requested.
Photos from August 10th firebombing incident in Clarendon
The two males who occupied the home were injured with one having burns over 60% of his body. They were asleep at the time of the incident when what seemed to be a home made torch-bomb device was thrown through a window to the bedroom of the house. The occupant nearest to the window suffered the burns as indicated above.
Both men are slowly recovering, with the hospitalized brotha now ingesting solid foods and juices after not being able to do so for some time. His skin is healing as well and the burn treatment is helping.
The staff at the hospital have been cooperative and no other incidents related to this matter have come to our attention as yet.
We are praying for a speedy resolve however, the boys and their families have not considered or hinted at any legal action yet to our knowledge.
No requests for photos of the victims will be honored as they have requested.
Both men are slowly recovering, with the hospitalized brotha now ingesting solid foods and juices after not being able to do so for some time. His skin is healing as well and the burn treatment is helping.
The staff at the hospital have been cooperative and no other incidents related to this matter have come to our attention as yet.
We are praying for a speedy resolve however, the boys and their families have not considered or hinted at any legal action yet to our knowledge.
No requests for photos of the victims will be honored as they have requested.
Peace
Some churches shun HIV-positive Jamaicans
They're denied communion, advised against marriage and aren't baptised in church pool
BY INGRID BROWN Sunday Observer senior reporter browni@jamaicaobserver.com Sunday, August 24, 2008
For three years, she found comfort in her church. So involved was the 41-year-old mother of three that she devoted herself to the choir and served as an usher, making several friends along the way.
However, all this started to change the day a less than sympathetic doctor bluntly told her she was HIV-positive before flouncing out of her hospital room.
Unsure what next to do, the mother, whose name we will not reveal, turned to her church for solace, but instead found rejection.
"I told my pastor's wife and she told her husband, who told the deacons, who in turn told their wives," she said.
Before long, almost everyone in the Pentecostal church knew and they slowly began to ostracise her.
"I just started to feel something was different. I would sit in a row and the persons near me would make some lame excuse to switch seats," she told the Sunday Observer.
"I would show up for choir practice and find out they had changed the day and no one informed me," she said.
The stares and whispers became unbearable, and eventually her pastor advised her that it would be best to relinquish some of her duties and allow persons time to adapt to her new status.
This lady's experience corroborates the findings of a Jamaican study that some religious leaders and church members continue to openly discriminate against HIV-infected persons.
The study, presented at the recently concluded International AIDS Society AIDS conference in Mexico, said that next to public health workers, religious leaders are the most discriminatory against infected persons.
Terry-Ann Smith-Frith, procurement officer in the Ministry of Health, who conducted the independent study, told the Sunday Observer that infected persons were not allowed to take communion in some churches where one cup is used for all members of the congregation.
They were also advised against getting married and, in some instances, not baptised in the church pool.
"One young lady had to go to the river to get baptised, as the pastor would not baptise her in the church pool with others," Smith-Frith said.
She said it was even discovered that some pastors did not want to officiate at funeral services for people who died from AIDS.
In addition, religious leaders are still not recommending condom use for prevention of the disease.
The situation is made worse as some infected Christians are shunned when they seek pastoral counselling.
"They are suddenly told they can no longer sing on the choir and that they must now sit in the back of the church," she said.
Pastor Percival Palmer of Wholelife Ministries admitted that discrimination is still very much a part of the church psyche, although perspectives have begun to change.
"Attitude is changing as the information is becoming more available and many persons involved in the HIV/AIDS fight are believers," he said.
"We still believe, though, that the HIV/AIDS disease is a lifestyle problem in the main, so we believe in abstinence, being faithful, and condom usage for persons who know that they are HIV/AIDS-infected," he told the Sunday Observer.
He said the church must respond with compassion and not condemnation, even when the lifestyles of the infected persons are known.
"We condemn lifestyles, but not individuals, because we are created in His (God's) image and likeness and we have to join the fight against HIV/AIDS with compassion and faith now," he said.
However, not all pastors share Palmer's view.
A Church of God leader in St Catherine, who requested anonymity, said pastors have to be compassionate, but they also must be realistic.
"We can't just push certain things unto our congregation, because persons need time to understand the issues about HIV/AIDS, and if they are uncomfortable using the same pool as someone who is infected we just have to respect their wish," he said.
This is especially so, he said, in a rural church like his, where most persons are not fully sensitised about the disease.
"The most some of them know is that when someone has AIDS they just wither and die," he said.
As for prevention messages being taught in his church, he said that will not happen anytime soon.
"We not sending any message to tell our little boys and girls that it is okay to go and have sex as long as they use a condom, because that would be saying sex out of marriage is okay," he said.
Bishop Howard Gregory, suffragan bishop of Montego Bay, said the Anglican church has always had a focus on HIV/AIDS issues.
"We have had the issue of whether persons can take from the same cup and that has been discussed and settled in congregations," said Gregory.
He said leaders who discriminate do not understand the nature of AIDS and how the virus is contracted.
This ignorance, he said, is due largely to the fact that HIV was first linked to homosexuals and was interpreted by many religious figures as the consequence of sin.
"There is a reggae tune which speaks about 'Jah lick them with diseases' and that, I think, is the philosophy which guided some of these persons," he said.
As for encouraging the use of condoms, Gregory said the Anglican church does not have a problem with it as long as it is used within the ambit of "responsible sexual activity and not just for any casual relationships".
John Hewitt, acting bishop of Bethel United Apostolic on South Camp Road in Kingston, said they have baptised infected persons in the church pool.
"We baptise people with AIDS in the same pool because we don't believe people can contract the disease that way," he said, adding that they even prayed for infected persons who returned to say they were healed.
He said they have also adopted a home for children with HIV, and have had health officials coming in to do sensitisation sessions with the congregation.
Hewitt said this is something they would encourage other churches to do, in addition to preaching abstinence before marriage.
The Caribbean Council of Churches, in one of its publications distributed at the recent AIDS conference, said attitudes of condemnatory judgement, negative discrimination and/or indifference towards infected people and their families should be removed.
It said faith-based organisations can, among other things, communicate appropriate messages about prevention of HIV/AIDS.
Kay Warren, executive director of the HIV/AIDS Initiative at Saddleback community church in the US, and wife of author of the Purpose Driven Life, offers a formula for congregation involvement.
The word CHURCH, she said, stands for 'Care for and comfort the sick'; 'Handle testing and counselling'; 'Unleash a force of volunteers'; 'Remove the stigma'; 'Champion healthy behaviour and Help with nutrition and medication'.
Some churches, she said, have given too many negative messages of "you are bad and sinful".
"But the real question is, how do we hold onto biblical principles while reaching out in love to others," she said.
CONTINUE
BY INGRID BROWN Sunday Observer senior reporter browni@jamaicaobserver.com Sunday, August 24, 2008
For three years, she found comfort in her church. So involved was the 41-year-old mother of three that she devoted herself to the choir and served as an usher, making several friends along the way.
However, all this started to change the day a less than sympathetic doctor bluntly told her she was HIV-positive before flouncing out of her hospital room.
Unsure what next to do, the mother, whose name we will not reveal, turned to her church for solace, but instead found rejection.
"I told my pastor's wife and she told her husband, who told the deacons, who in turn told their wives," she said.
Before long, almost everyone in the Pentecostal church knew and they slowly began to ostracise her.
"I just started to feel something was different. I would sit in a row and the persons near me would make some lame excuse to switch seats," she told the Sunday Observer.
"I would show up for choir practice and find out they had changed the day and no one informed me," she said.
The stares and whispers became unbearable, and eventually her pastor advised her that it would be best to relinquish some of her duties and allow persons time to adapt to her new status.
This lady's experience corroborates the findings of a Jamaican study that some religious leaders and church members continue to openly discriminate against HIV-infected persons.
The study, presented at the recently concluded International AIDS Society AIDS conference in Mexico, said that next to public health workers, religious leaders are the most discriminatory against infected persons.
Terry-Ann Smith-Frith, procurement officer in the Ministry of Health, who conducted the independent study, told the Sunday Observer that infected persons were not allowed to take communion in some churches where one cup is used for all members of the congregation.
They were also advised against getting married and, in some instances, not baptised in the church pool.
"One young lady had to go to the river to get baptised, as the pastor would not baptise her in the church pool with others," Smith-Frith said.
She said it was even discovered that some pastors did not want to officiate at funeral services for people who died from AIDS.
In addition, religious leaders are still not recommending condom use for prevention of the disease.
The situation is made worse as some infected Christians are shunned when they seek pastoral counselling.
"They are suddenly told they can no longer sing on the choir and that they must now sit in the back of the church," she said.
Pastor Percival Palmer of Wholelife Ministries admitted that discrimination is still very much a part of the church psyche, although perspectives have begun to change.
"Attitude is changing as the information is becoming more available and many persons involved in the HIV/AIDS fight are believers," he said.
"We still believe, though, that the HIV/AIDS disease is a lifestyle problem in the main, so we believe in abstinence, being faithful, and condom usage for persons who know that they are HIV/AIDS-infected," he told the Sunday Observer.
He said the church must respond with compassion and not condemnation, even when the lifestyles of the infected persons are known.
"We condemn lifestyles, but not individuals, because we are created in His (God's) image and likeness and we have to join the fight against HIV/AIDS with compassion and faith now," he said.
However, not all pastors share Palmer's view.
A Church of God leader in St Catherine, who requested anonymity, said pastors have to be compassionate, but they also must be realistic.
"We can't just push certain things unto our congregation, because persons need time to understand the issues about HIV/AIDS, and if they are uncomfortable using the same pool as someone who is infected we just have to respect their wish," he said.
This is especially so, he said, in a rural church like his, where most persons are not fully sensitised about the disease.
"The most some of them know is that when someone has AIDS they just wither and die," he said.
As for prevention messages being taught in his church, he said that will not happen anytime soon.
"We not sending any message to tell our little boys and girls that it is okay to go and have sex as long as they use a condom, because that would be saying sex out of marriage is okay," he said.
Bishop Howard Gregory, suffragan bishop of Montego Bay, said the Anglican church has always had a focus on HIV/AIDS issues.
"We have had the issue of whether persons can take from the same cup and that has been discussed and settled in congregations," said Gregory.
He said leaders who discriminate do not understand the nature of AIDS and how the virus is contracted.
This ignorance, he said, is due largely to the fact that HIV was first linked to homosexuals and was interpreted by many religious figures as the consequence of sin.
"There is a reggae tune which speaks about 'Jah lick them with diseases' and that, I think, is the philosophy which guided some of these persons," he said.
As for encouraging the use of condoms, Gregory said the Anglican church does not have a problem with it as long as it is used within the ambit of "responsible sexual activity and not just for any casual relationships".
John Hewitt, acting bishop of Bethel United Apostolic on South Camp Road in Kingston, said they have baptised infected persons in the church pool.
"We baptise people with AIDS in the same pool because we don't believe people can contract the disease that way," he said, adding that they even prayed for infected persons who returned to say they were healed.
He said they have also adopted a home for children with HIV, and have had health officials coming in to do sensitisation sessions with the congregation.
Hewitt said this is something they would encourage other churches to do, in addition to preaching abstinence before marriage.
The Caribbean Council of Churches, in one of its publications distributed at the recent AIDS conference, said attitudes of condemnatory judgement, negative discrimination and/or indifference towards infected people and their families should be removed.
It said faith-based organisations can, among other things, communicate appropriate messages about prevention of HIV/AIDS.
Kay Warren, executive director of the HIV/AIDS Initiative at Saddleback community church in the US, and wife of author of the Purpose Driven Life, offers a formula for congregation involvement.
The word CHURCH, she said, stands for 'Care for and comfort the sick'; 'Handle testing and counselling'; 'Unleash a force of volunteers'; 'Remove the stigma'; 'Champion healthy behaviour and Help with nutrition and medication'.
Some churches, she said, have given too many negative messages of "you are bad and sinful".
"But the real question is, how do we hold onto biblical principles while reaching out in love to others," she said.
CONTINUE