Murder Music Still available

here is another artist who has songs about killing gays and lesbians, below is the lyrics to "That's right"

Beenieman - That's Right Lyrics

Intro:

Zo, hey, zagga zing, hey, ziggy zagga zow!

Clap your hands to this, then get ready fi do all of it

Zagga zagga go na na na na na, all rudebwoy wave oonu hands up like this

Alright, cool

Chorus:

A from mi bun chi chi man and we go bun sodemite

And everybody bawl out seh that's right (It's alright)

And when mi bun hypocrite and we mi bun parasite

And everybody bawl out seh that's right (It's alright)

And when mi boom dung corruption wid a stick a dynamite

And everybody bawl out seh that's right (It's alright)

Mi go a stage show a DJ and tune yah last night

And everybody bawl out seh that's right

Verse 1:

Cause when we bun chi chi man nuttin nuh wrong

And when we bun lesbian nuttin nuh wrong

Bun a borrow taste and a bite nuttin nuh wrong

Bun Susan from she a sleep wid Sharon

And from yuh know yuh straight let mi see your two hand

Cause yuh nuh mix up inna nuh bangarang

Straight and di narrow road a dat mi deh pon

That he gwaan one leap to destruction, sing this song

Chorus:

A from mi bun chi chi man and mi go bun sodemite

And everybody bawl out seh that's right (It's alright)

And we go bun hypocrite and we go bun parasite

And everybody bawl out seh that's right (It's alright)

And when mi boom dung corruption wid a stick a dynamite

And everybody bawl out seh that's right (Bun Wey!!!)

Mi go a stage show a DJ and tune yah last night

And everybody bawl out seh that's right

Verse 2:

So when mi put a fire pon a few and everybody bawl (That's Right)

Bun a sodemite and everybody bawl (That's Right)

Bun a parasite and everybody bawl (That's Right)

Bun a bwoy wey meet anotha man dung a (Stoplight)

Nuff bwoy sell out fi get a piece a di (Spotlight

Da people dem a bawl and a shout (That's not right)

Give mi one a dem gal rather flop all di (Hot type)

Day and night now mi gal a long time

Chorus:

Cau when mi bun chi chi man and mi go bun sodemite

And everybody bawl out seh that's right (It's alright)

And we go bun chi chi man and we go bun sodemite

And everybody bawl out seh that's right (It's alright)

And when mi boom dung corruption wid a stick a dynamite

And everybody bawl out seh that's right (It's alright)

Mi go a stage show a DJ and tune yah last night

And everybody bawl out seh that's right

Verse 3:

Mi bun a bwoy from wey a blow anotha man flute

Person ago nyam cherry and fruit

Caught drop pants inna club a him a don yute

And seh that him a bad that was untrue

A chi chi baboon and chi chi tranquil

Try to send mi court fi get a one suit

But dem waan march and protest discue

Words sound and power mi put dem pon mute

Beenie Man a talk di truth

Chorus:

A when we bun chi chi man and we go bun sodemite

And everybody bawl out seh that's right (It's alright)

And when we bun hypocrite and we go bun parasite

And everybody bawl out seh that's right (It's alright)

And when mi boom dung corruption wid a stick a dynamite

And everybody bawl out seh that's right (That's right)

Mi go a stage show a DJ and tune yah last night

And everybody bawl out seh that's right

ENDS

Shockingly the "All Battyman fi dead song is still on YOUTUBE

also Buju Banton's Boom Bye Bye as well LINK I thought that these tunes would have been removed since the whole public outrage.


H

Live Nation cancels Buju Banton concerts

A series of US concerts by reggae star Buju Banton have been cancelled after protests from LGBT groups.

Banton was due to perform in Chicago, Las Vegas, Dallas and Houston.

However, promoter Live Nation has said they are cancelled and ticket holders will be offered refunds.

A campaign was organised via website change.org and more than 650 people complained to Live Nation, who own the House of Blues venues where Banton was scheduled to perform next week.

Banton's notorious 1990s hit Boom Bye Bye appears to incite the burning, shooting in the head and pouring acid over the faces of gay people.

In October 2006 two of his concerts in the US were cancelled after pressure from gay activists.

In July 2007 he signed up to the Reggae Compassionate Act, promising not to perform songs that advocate homophobia, in a deal brokered by Stop Murder Music activists.

He later denied that he had made any such commitment.

The Stop Murder Music campaign spearheaded by UK gay activist group OutRage! has brought about the cancellation of hundreds of concerts and sponsorship deals.

UPDATE: September 15, 2010

the Boom Bye Bye song is still available online on popular media outlet YouTube and Mr. Mark Myrie (Buju Banton) awaits trial for drug offenses in a Florida maximum security facility. The gay activists of course have been blamed for his troubles which include serious loss of income from cancelled performances etc.

Peace and tolerance.

H

Adolescent MSM in Jamaica HIV Risk, Homophobia and Gender Stereotypes in Relationships

Adolescent MSM in Jamaica-HIV risk, homophobia, violence and gender stereotypes in relationships
Presented by Nesha Haniff, Jamaica
Jamaica AIDS Support for Life, Senior Program Advisor, Kingston, Jamaica

The Abortion Issue: 'Conscience' should be unencumbered or unconditional

Abortion vs conscience

(a segway of sorts to abortion but a similar principle in terms of conscience is a problem here with the pending legislation (the abortion bill) with almost a theocratic dosage down our throats)

(Letter to the Gleaner 27.08.09)
Your Letter of the Day, August 6, titled 'Termination of Pregnancy Bill not punishment', penned by The Working Group For Women's Reproductive Health and Rights (WG), is deserving of comments.

Before commenting on the bill, may I express a few concerns on the depth of the abortion debate.

It would seem that a rational debate on abortion would not be complete without considering the impact of the practice of contraception on pregnancy and ultimately the birth of babies. And, the practice of contraception is not restricted to the usage of condoms and tablets. The range of devices is much wider, including from tubal ligation to abstinence.

To exclude the practice of contraception is to begin the debate at the advanced stage of the foetus, thereby concealing some of the fundamental arguments of abortion or other ways by which the desire of not having a baby is achieved. When placed under clinical microscopic examination, the sperm cells trapped inside a condom resemble swimming tadpoles (life-filled and searching for the egg of the female for the purposes of procreation).

One study has shown that one ejaculation of sperm contains over 1,300 sperm cells with the potential of creating as many foetus/babies. Imagine then the potential of a single sex act that produces 15 ejaculations (1,300 x 15 = 19,500 foetuses/babies). Further imagine the chance of survival of such a pregnancy! The carrier would likely burst asunder.

The study has further shown the largest number of babies born from a single pregnancy to be 17. None was larger than a thumb and all died shortly after birth due to their underdevelopment. On the other hand, single births produce developed, healthy and surviving babies more times than not.

The Proposed Legislation

When the sex act is looked at holistically, it drives us to the logical conclusion that to have developed, healthy and surviving babies, the potential of the sex act is drastically diminished internally. It discloses further, that abortion is not restricted to the insertion of medical instrument into the body and the removal of the foetus. The practice of contraception, which we have sugar-coated, commercialised, promoted and marketed as 'family planning', also has had the effect of interrupting or aborting the procreation process. Likewise, the intervention of nature (the drastic internal destruction of sperm cells to allow for the development, birth and survival of healthy babies) strongly suggests that abortion is a prerequisite for our survival.

"The proposed bill," says the WG, "acknowledges that the patient is at the centre of the debate and, therefore, the midwife or practitioner is obliged to refer the patient to another doctor who may provide the service."

Like Donovan Cole's 'Condoning terrible acts', page B8, The Sunday Gleaner, August 9, 2009, it is awkward and inconsistent to provide for 'freedom of conscience' not to perform abortions while imposing responsibility for providing referrals and information to other doctors from whom the service may be obtained.

'Conscience' should be unencumbered or unconditional. It should not be coaxed or trapped in a compromising position. Moreso, there seems to be no compelling reason to consider or treat one's legal right to abortion as a case of emergency, barring incidents of rape and life-threatening circumstances. It should be convenient and sufficient for the Ministry of Health to provide the public with information on the availability of the service and where it can be obtained. Places like post offices, hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and other medicare facilities, including private ones which wish to volunteer, should be sufficient outlets for the dissemination of referrals and information.

The proposed legislation should be reviewed with the view to absolving the pro-lifers from having anything to do with the commission of an abortion, including providing referrals and information as to where the service may be obtained.

I am, etc.,
Lionel Russell

Gay rights: a delicate issue

DIANE ABBOTT (see post on Minister's pink advocacy below)

Jamaica may find itself the subject of a drive by the British High Commission in Kingston to support gay rights. That is, if recent newspaper articles in Britain are to be believed. The Sunday Times newspaper here in London said a few weeks ago, "The gay Foreign Office Minister Chris Bryant MP is championing a controversial drive to fund equal-rights activists in homophobic regimes." The article went on to quote Bryant as saying, "It is completely up to staff in our embassies and consulates around the world to decide the most appropriate and effective way of making our case, but we do encourage this important work because British values are based on fair play and the protection of the individual's freedom. We are not naive about this work. In some places oppressive regimes make it some of the toughest work we do." According to the article, programmes on gay rights by High Commissions abroad could involve financing gay pride marches or financing legal challenges by local campaigners.

Apparently there will be money made available.

Even the British courts are taking an interest in attitudes to homosexuality in Jamaica. Last month, a 24-year-old convicted female drug dealer was in court arguing that she should not be deported back to Jamaica because she was a lesbian and her life would be in danger. She claimed to have had six lesbian affairs in prison and was now in a steady relationship with another female prisoner. Interestingly, the Home Office did not dispute the fact that the woman's life would be in danger if she returned to Jamaica as an open lesbian. Instead, the Home Office lawyer argued that the woman was not really a lesbian at all. They pointed out that the woman had been in sexual relationships with men in the past. And that it was a former boyfriend who introduced her to the drugs trade. The Home Office lawyer went on to argue that the lesbian relationships in prison proved nothing and said, "If she wanted to be sexually active, there was no other option; there was no other choice except celibacy."

It may be that the British High Commission will not have a drive on gay rights. The Sunday Times journalists obviously had sight of some sort of document, but they may be exaggerating the significance of what they saw. In any case, it is not difficult to imagine how a campaign on the subject of gay rights by the High Commission would be received by the Jamaican populace. Parliament is on its summer recess at the moment. But when I next see the foreign office minister appearing concerned, I will suggest that he meets with Jamaica nationals here in Britain to get a more nuanced view of attitudes to gay men and women in Jamaica. This is a delicate issue on which public opinion in Jamaica and Britain take widely differing views. There definitely needs to be more dialogue.

Homophobia in Jamaica

Diane Abbott

Jamaican society's stance on homosexuality continues to get bad press abroad. Most recently the New York Times ran an article on Jamaica entitled "Gays Live and Die in Fear in Jamaica". It featured a victim of violence called Sherman. The article said, "Even now, about three years after a near-fatal gay bashing, Sherman gets jittery at dusk. On bad days, his blood quickens, his eyes dart and he seeks refuge indoors.

"A group of men kicked him and slashed him with knives for being a 'batty boy' - a slang term for gay men - after he left a party before dawn in October 2006. They sliced his throat, torso and back, hissed anti-gay epithets, and left him for dead on a Kingston corner."

The article went on: "Sherman, meanwhile, is simply trying to move on with his life. But he said he will always remember how, after his attack, patrolmen roughly lifted his bloodied body out of their squad car when a man admonished them for aiding a 'batty boy'. A woman shamed them into driving him to a hospital; they stuffed him in the car's trunk."

The article also quotes Jamaican poet Staceyann Chinn - now living openly as a lesbian in Brooklyn, New York - who described how she was raped in Jamaica because of her sexual preference. The article quoted Yvonne McCalla Sobers as wellwho said, ''My thought is there are far more men having sex with men in this country than you would ever think is happening.'' There was the obligatory discussion of the homophobic lyrics of Jamaican popular music. And Dr Trevor Tulloch of St Andrew's Hospital ascribed the soaring level of prostate cancer in Jamaica to men being scared of the digital rectal examinations needed to diagnose it, he is quoted as saying, "because it is a homophobic society, there's such a fear of the sexual implications of having the exam that men won't seek out help''.

Because attitudes to homosexuality in Jamaica are so hostile, it is not sufficiently understood how damaging its stand on the issue is outside the country. Just a few months ago a boycott of Jamaican tourism and products like rum and Red Stripe beer was launched in a gay bar in New York. The organisers said, "Most people view Jamaica as a laid-back tourist destination. This easy-going image is betrayed by the immense brutality against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) individuals. Indeed, public officials, media, entertainers, and much of the population seem to celebrate homophobia, as if it is a national pastime. The anti-gay sentiments have become a frightening national psychosis that urgently needs to be addressed and treated. A boycott is an unfortunate measure that must be taken to influence Jamaican officials, so they will stop allowing murder and violence against GLBT people."

The boycott has so far been unsuccessful. But a country dependent on tourism cannot afford to ignore the fact that attitudes to homosexuality in other countries have moved on. There are probably as many people in Britain who are privately judgemental about homosexuals and lesbians as there are in Jamaica. But the British take the view that what people do in the bedroom is their affair. So gay marriage is legal and leading politicians in both the government and opposition parties have publicly acknowledged their sexual orientation and married their partners. It is difficult to imagine such a state of affairs coming about in Jamaica any time soon.

But Jamaica could do more to stress that despite the blood-curdling lyrics of much of its popular music, it is a more tolerant society than people think. And violence against gay people should be universally condemned.

Downing St responds to petition against deportation of gays

A petition on the Downing St website calling on the Prime Minister to stop deporting gays and lesbians to countries where they may be imprisoned because of their sexuality has prompted a response from the government.
4,595 people signed the petition.

It argued that "recent cases highlight the extreme danger lesbians and gays face because of their sexuality if deported to a number of countries. Sending people back to their possible death is totally unacceptable."
In its response the government said the issue was one of "the removal from the UK of gays and lesbians who have been found not to be in need of protection."
"Enforced returns to any country will only be undertaken where, after very thorough examination of the asylum claim, it is decided that the individual would not be at risk of execution, torture, unjust imprisonment, or other forms of persecution.
"Where an asylum application has been refused, there is a right of appeal to the Asylum Immigration Tribunal or an opportunity to seek judicial review through the higher courts."
The government also rejected the idea that gay asylum seekers be given an automatic right to stay in the UK.
"The government recognises that the conditions for lesbian and gay people in some countries are such that there may be individuals who are able to demonstrate a need for international protection.

"Instructions to decision-makers are clear that they may qualify for asylum on the grounds of persecution as a member of a particular social group.
"However, there can be no presumption that each and every asylum seeker of a particular nationality who presents themselves as being lesbian or gay should automatically be afforded protection in the UK.
"It is in keeping with the terms of the Refugee Convention that every case is assessed individually on the basis of all the available information against the Refugee Convention and European Convention on Human Rights criteria."

Last month immigration minister Phil Woolas faced criticism from gay activists after he published a piece on LabourList claiming that the Home Office is fair on LGBT asylum.
"Practically nothing written in the article matches the actual experience of LGBT asylum seekers at the hands of the Home Office and the UK Border Agency," said campaigner Paul Canning.

Psychologists repudiate gay-to-straight therapy

By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer David Crary, Ap National Writer Wed Aug 5,

NEW YORK – The American Psychological Association declared Wednesday that mental health professionals should not tell gay clients they can become straight through therapy or other treatments.

Instead, the APA urged therapists to consider multiple options — that could range from celibacy to switching churches — for helping clients whose sexual orientation and religious faith conflict.

In a resolution adopted on a 125-to-4 vote by the APA's governing council, and in a comprehensive report based on two years of research, the 150,000-member association put itself firmly on record in opposition of so-called "reparative therapy" which seeks to change sexual orientation.

No solid evidence exists that such change is likely, says the report, and some research suggests that efforts to produce change could be harmful, inducing depression and suicidal tendencies.

The APA had criticized reparative therapy in the past, but a six-member task force added weight to this position by examining 83 studies on sexual orientation change conducted since 1960. Its comprehensive report was endorsed by the APA's governing council in Toronto, where the association's annual meeting is being held this weekend.

The report breaks new ground in its detailed and nuanced assessment of how therapists should deal with gay clients struggling to remain loyal to a religious faith that disapproves of homosexuality.

Judith Glassgold, a Highland Park, N.J., psychologist who chaired the task force, said she hoped the document could help calm the polarized debate between religious conservatives who believe in the possibility of changing sexual orientation and the many mental health professionals who reject that option.

"Both sides have to educate themselves better," Glassgold said in an interview. "The religious psychotherapists have to open up their eyes to the potential positive aspects of being gay or lesbian. Secular therapists have to recognize that some people will choose their faith over their sexuality."

In dealing with gay clients from conservative faiths, says the report, therapists should be "very cautious" about suggesting treatments aimed at altering their same-sex attractions.

"Practitioners can assist clients through therapies that do not attempt to change sexual orientation, but rather involve acceptance, support and identity exploration and development without imposing a specific identity outcome," the report says.

"We have to challenge people to be creative," said Glassgold.

She suggested that devout clients could focus on overarching aspects of religion such as hope and forgiveness in order to transcend negative beliefs about homosexuality, and either remain part of their original faith within its limits — for example, by embracing celibacy — or find a faith that welcomes gays.

"There's no evidence to say that change therapies work, but these vulnerable people are tempted to try them, and when they don't work, they feel doubly terrified," Glassgold said. "You should be honest with people and say, 'This is not likely to change your sexual orientation, but we can help explore what options you have.'"

One of the largest organizations promoting the possibility of changing sexual orientation is Exodus International, a network of ministries whose core message is "Freedom from homosexuality through the power of Jesus Christ."

Its president, Alan Chambers, describes himself as someone who "overcame unwanted same-sex attraction." He and other evangelicals met with APA representatives after the task force formed in 2007, and he expressed satisfaction with parts of the report that emerged.

"It's a positive step — simply respecting someone's faith is a huge leap in the right direction," Chambers said. "But I'd go further. Don't deny the possibility that someone's feelings might change."

An evangelical psychologist, Mark Yarhouse of Regent University, praised the APA report for urging a creative approach to gay clients' religious beliefs but — like Chambers — disagreed with its skepticism about changing sexual orientation.

Yarhouse and a colleague, Professor Stanton Jones of Wheaton College, will be releasing findings at the APA meeting Friday from their six-year study of people who went through Exodus programs. More than half of 61 subjects either converted to heterosexuality or "disidentified" with homosexuality while embracing chastity, their study said.

To Jones and Yarhouse, their findings prove change is possible for some people, and on average the attempt to change will not be harmful.

The APA task force took as a starting point the belief that homosexuality is a normal variant of human sexuality, not a disorder, and that it nonetheless remains stigmatized in ways that can have negative consequences.

The report said the subgroup of gays interested in changing their sexual orientation has evolved over the decades and now is comprised mostly of well-educated white men whose religion is an important part of their lives and who participate in conservative faiths that frown on homosexuality.

"Religious faith and psychology do not have to be seen as being opposed to each other," the report says, endorsing approaches "that integrate concepts from the psychology of religion and the modern psychology of sexual orientation."

Perry Halkitis, a New York University psychologist who chairs the APA committee dealing with gay and lesbian issues, praised the report for its balance.

"Anyone who makes decisions based on good science will be satisfied," he said. "As a clinician, you have to deal with the whole person, and for some people, faith is a very important aspect of who they are."

The report also addressed the issue of whether adolescents should be subjected to therapy aimed at altering their sexual orientation. Any such approach should "maximize self-determination" and be undertaken only with the youth's consent, the report said.

Wayne Besen, a gay-rights activist who has sought to discredit the so-called "ex-gay" movement, welcomed the APA findings.

"Ex-gay therapy is a profound travesty that has led to pointless tragedies, and we are pleased that the APA has addressed this psychological scourge," Besen said.

Reject Transphobia, Respect Gender Identity: An Appeal to the United Nations, the World Health Organization and the States of the World

by Queer Without Borders Admin

An excellent statement that embraces all peoples of diverse gender identities and expressions and their rights to not be coerced by a Transphobic Society into a medical system and/or diagnoses that simply works to subjugate ourselves into State mandated concepts of gender and sex! As a result of these IDAHO 2009 actions, France on May 16, 2009 announced it will take Transgenderism and Transsexuality out of “mental disorder” category and on May 17, 2009 the Dutch minister of foreign affairs Maxime Verhagen acknowledged that the current Dutch law requiring irreversible sex reassignment surgery as a prerequisite for documentation changes, violates principle 18 of the Yogyakarta Principles (pdf) (the right to be protected from medical abuses).

Reject Transphobia, Respect Gender Identity:An Appeal to the United Nations, the World Health Organization and the States of the World
[from the International Appeal to reject Transphobia and to RESPECT Gender Identity]
Every day, people who live at variance to expected gender norms face violence, abuse, rape, torture and hate crime all over the world, in their home as well as in the public arena. Though most cases of violence never get documented, we know that in the first weeks of 2009 alone, Trans women have been murdered in Honduras, Serbia and in the USA. Trans men are equally victims of hate crimes, prejudice and discrimination despite their frequent social and cultural invisibility.
The basic human rights of Trans people are being ignored or denied in all nations - be it out of ignorance, prejudice, fear or hate and Trans people overwhelmingly face daily discrimination, which results in social exclusion, poverty, poor health care and little prospects of appropriate employment.

Far from protecting Trans citizens, States and International bodies reinforce social transphobia through short sighted negligence or reactionary politics.
Because of the failure of national law and social justice, in far too many States Trans people are being forced to live a gender which they experience as fundamentally wrong for them. In most countries, any attempt to change one’s gender can lead to legal sanctions, brutal mistreatment and social stigma. In other countries, legal recognition of gender change is subject to sterilization or other major surgical intervention. Trans people who cannot or do not wish to submit to this, cannot obtain legal recognition of their preferred gender, and are forced to ‘come out’ whenever they cross a border, run into a police patrol, apply for a new job, move into a new home or simply want to buy a mobile phone.
Contributing factors include that current International health classifications still consider all Trans people as mentally “disordered”. This outdated vision is insulting and incorrect and is used to justify daily discrimination and stigmatization in all aspects of Trans people’s lives.
Recently though in some countries with very different social and cultural contexts significant legal advances have been made. Following in the wake of bold judicial decisions, State action has led to increased acceptance of Trans people within their society. This demonstrates that understanding and progress is possible.

Currently Trans people everywhere in the world rise up to reclaim their human rights and freedom. They carry a unanimous message that they will no longer accept to be labeled sick or treated as non human beings on the basis of their gender identity and gender expression.
This is why we ask:
The W.H.O. to stop considering Trans people as mentally disordered and to promote access to adequate health care and psychological support, as desired by Trans people.
The United Nations Human Rights bodies to examine the human rights abuses that Trans people face around the world and to take action to combat these abuses.
The States of the World to adopt the international Yogyakarta Principles and ensure that all Trans people benefit from appropriate health care, including gender reassignment if they so wish; be allowed to adapt their civil status to their preferred gender; live their social, family or professional lives without being exposed to transphobic discrimination, prejudice or hate crime and that they are protected by the police and justice systems from physical and non-physical violence.

We call on the UN, the W.H.O. and the nations of the world, in adopting these measures, to refuse transphobia and welcome the right of their citizens to live fully and freely in their preferred gender, assumed as an expression of cultural freedom.

New HIV strain discovered

A new strain of the virus that causes AIDS has been discovered in a woman from the African country of Cameroon.

It differs from the three known strains of human immunodeficiency virus and appears to be closely related to a form of simian virus recently discovered in wild gorillas, researchers report in Monday's edition of the journal Nature Medicine.

The finding "highlights the continuing need to watch closely for the emergence for new HIV variants, particularly in western central Africa," said the researchers, led by Jean-Christophe Plantier of the University of Rouen, France.

The three previously known HIV strains are related to the simian virus that occurs in chimpanzees.

The most likely explanation for the new find is gorilla-to-human transmission, Plantier's team said. But they added they cannot rule out the possibility that the new strain started in chimpanzees and moved into gorillas and then humans, or moved directly from chimpanzees to both gorillas and humans.

The 62-year-old patient tested positive for HIV in 2004, shortly after moving to Paris from Cameroon, according to the researchers. She had lived near Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, but said she had no contact with apes or bush meat, a name often given to meat from wild animals in tropical countries.

The woman shows no signs of AIDS and remains untreated, though she still carries the virus, the researchers said.

How widespread this strain is remains to be determined.

Researchers said it could be circulating unnoticed in Cameroon or elsewhere. The virus's rapid replication indicates that it is adapted to human cells, the researchers reported.

Their research was supported by the French Health Watch Institute, the French National Agency for Research on AIDS and Viral Hepatitis and Rouen University Hospital.

Herpes increases risk of HIV exposure
A separate paper, also in Nature Medicine, reports that people with genital herpes remain at increased risk of HIV infection even after the herpes sores have healed and the skin appears normal.

Researchers led by Drs. Lawrence Corey and Jia Zhu of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center found that long after the areas where the herpes sores existed seem to be clear, they still have immune-cell activity that can encourage HIV infection.

Herpes is marked by recurring outbreaks and has been associated with higher rates of infection with HIV. It had been thought that the breaks in the skin were the reason for higher HIV rates, but a study last year found that treatment of herpes with drugs did not reduce the HIV risk.

The researchers tested the skin of herpes patients for several weeks after their sores had healed and found that, compared with other genital skin, from twice to 37 times more immune cells remained at the locations where the sores had been.

HIV targets immune cells and in laboratory tests the virus reproduced three to five times faster in tissue from the healed sites as in tissue from other areas.

"Understanding that even treated (herpes) infections provide a cellular environment conducive to HIV infection suggests new directions for HIV prevention research," commented Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.

That study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Tietze Foundation.

A condom specifically for anal intercourse?

IRMA chats up Dan Resnic of Strata Various Product Design about the ORIGAMI Condom - a new product in development designed specifically for anal intercourse.

IRMA - Tell us about this ORIGAMI condom you are working on. What is it? How is it different from other condoms?

DAN RESNIC - This is a radical new design concept, made of non-latex material and the first AI (anal intercourse) condom data ever presented to the FDA for review. The data will be used to help establish the first safety standards for a condom used exclusively for AI. ORIGAMI Condoms are designed foremost for the pleasure of both partners and simultaneously to improve safety. Its improved capacity for better sensation during AI is intended to increase consumer acceptability and to promote its consistent use among men and women currently at risk.

The non-latex material we developed is unique. It's been lab tested as a male condom against a leading brand of a male latex condoms. The ORIGAMI material had zero viral permability compared with the latex condom, which had 5% viral permeability. Viral permeability is tested by introducing virus smaller than HIV into sterile water inside the condom, suspended in sterile water for 72 hrs. The water outside the condom is then tested to detect virus that may permeate through the condom. The test is repeated in reverse, starting with virus outside the condom then testing for viral premeability in the opposite direction. The tests are repeated again with pinholes punctured into the condoms. Again, the ORIGAMI tested at zero viral permeability even with puncture holes while the latex condom failed. In addition, the new material will not degrade in sunlight as does a latex condom and, after accelerated aging tests, it is expected to offer an extended shelf life of 10-12 yrs.

Future condom studies currently under funding review include a new, reusable ORIGAMI elastomer material we developed that can be washed and dried in a washer/dryer at high temperatures and can even be sterilized in a microwave or boiling in water and air dried in sunlight without compromising its structural integrity. The latter could be especially significant in regions like Africa and India where cost and distribution can be issues that prevent consistent condom use.

Photos and further details will be made available following FDA pre-market approval.


I – Where is the research at the moment?

DR - Phase 1 research will begin next month, in July 2009, with the Behavioral Epidemiology Research Group at the UCLA Dept of Epidemiology, with co-Investigator Dr. Pamina Gorbach. R&D will be supported with the assistance of male and female consultants from design, medical and commercial sectors. The optimal design will undergo pre-clinical testing, with modified structural testing crietria appropriate for the higher stress in AI use. Clinical research will follow with study groups and data will be analized for final reports.


I – How are you collaborating with the NIH and UCLA? What is the timeline?

DR - As the PI for the project, I've awarded a sub-contract to UCLA, which will conduct the clinical research with volunteer couples who will test the condom in a unique study design developed by Dr. Gorbach, who heads the Behavioral Epidemiology Research Group at UCLA. The project has been funded by a substantial grant from the NIH. The study will run for 18-24 mos. starting July 1st. Subsequent Phase II research will take the project through to the end
of 2014, when the data can be reviewed by the FDA. Since there is no existing precedent the data cannot be reviewed under FDA's 510K application. Consequently, the process is much longer and much more expensive. The same is true of the ORIGAMI Female Condom we've developed. The FDA requires 3-4 similar products approved on the market before a similar device can be reviewed under a 510K application, which is typically a 90 day review process.


I – Why is it so important to have a condom specifically designed for anal intercourse?

DR- This is an excellent question. It would appear to many to be a frivolous and unnecessary product, however, the typical rolled condom design we are all familiar with, has not been tested for anal intercourse (AI), yet its the only means of protection available to men and women who engage in AI. The FDA states that condoms are the ". . . best available protection for anal sex..." although, to date, no data has been submitted to the FDA for review to support its use for AI.


I – Since unprotected anal intercourse is the most efficient means of sexual transmission of HIV, and since many people don’t use traditional condoms during anal intercourse each and every time, it seems odd that a condom like ORIGAMI hasn’t been thought of before. Why do you think that is?

DR- Inventive ideas for new condoms that address specific needs such as AI have been consistently inhibited by the high cost of R&D as well as the socio/political barriers that existed until 2008. It wasn't until the concept of a female condom emerged that it was even possible to consider an inseted anal condom. For many years people had tried using the female condom for AI but it's not strong enough and it's lacking the unique design features compatible with AI.

Essentially, condoms are tested and FDA approved for vaginal use only. The FDA is typically provided with testing documentation from condom manufacturers based exclusively on vaginal use, and consequently there are no established guidance documents available from the FDA for condoms used for AI. For many years, in the US and elsewhere, it was considered taboo to discuss AI. In recent years, the subject was discussed at a special summit conference conducted by the FDA, specifically intended to encourage manufacturers to produce condoms for AI, however, none of the manufacturers who attended the meeting followed through. No existing condom manufacturer would risk producing such testing data as the failure rate for breakage, leakage and viral permeability would be significantly higher than testing results for vaginal use.

The FDA relies on manufacturers to present data for their review. Unless a manufacturer submits data (of any medical device) for review, the FDA does not conduct independent testing. As a regulatory agency, they are authorized only to review data from manufacturers but the agency cannot conduct its own independent research to set guidelines. It would be cost prohibitive to cover all medical devices. FDA Guidance Documents are established over time based on existing products and related testing data provided by manufacturers. Regarding latex condoms, the most current guidance document for manufacturers was last updated with minor changes on November 14, 2005.


I – Next steps?

DR - We anticipate successful Phase I study data by June 2011, which we intend to follow with a larger, Phase II study. We will work closely with the FDA to help determine further testing criteria appropriate for condoms used for AI. For example, the breakage standards, not yet established for AI, will be significantly different from existing condoms designed and sold for vaginal intercourse. AI condoms must meet a higher safety standards than typical existing condoms that were originally designed in 1918 for vaginal sex.


Thank you Dan! We look forward to learning more about this important work.

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Gay Liberation Network - An Open Letter to Live Nation, Inc. Regarding Anti-gay "Murder Music"

by Gay Liberation Network ( LGBTliberation [at] aol.com ) Sunday Aug 23rd, 2009 12:44 AM

Live Nation is sponsoring a nationwide tour -- including San Francisco and San Jose -- of Buju Banton, who calls for killing Lesbians and Gays in the lyrics of his songs. Several years ago he was accused and acquitted of murdering a gay man in Jamaica.
Michael Rapino
President and Chief Executive Officer
Live Nation, Inc.
9348 Civic Center Drive
Beverly Hills, California, 90210

Dear Mr. Rapino:

Hopefully you are aware that Live Nation/House of Blues has booked Buju Banton for a nationwide tour, including a Chicago stop on October 1, 2009. Buju Banton is one of a handful of performers whose output has been labeled "murder music" for openly advocating the murder of Lesbians and Gays in the lyrics of their music.

House of Blues has faced protests before against its sponsorship of anti-gay "murder music"; yet it apparently persists in thinking that LGBT people should "tolerate" those who call for murdering us.

House of Blues/Live Nation would never book Buju Banton or any performer who advocated killing African Americans or Jews, and rightfully so. Why, then, is it okay for House of Blues to hire a musician who calls for murdering Lesbians and Gays? Why the double standard?

When Live Nation purchased House of Blues several years ago we wrote to your corporate office asking that Reggae Dancehall "murder musicians" like Buju Banton not be booked unless and until these performers renounce their past behavior and promise no more murderous lyrics going forward. Banton first signed then repudiated just such an agreement. This is particularly an issue in his native Jamaica where gays face a living hell due, in part, to performers like Buju Banton who stoke the flames of an already dangerous situation by singing their murderous music.

Perhaps his most notorious "kill gays" song is "Boom, Bye Bye" in which Banton describes shooting "battyman" (slang for a gay man) in the head, sometimes with an Uzi, an automatic weapon.

We call upon Live Nation management to do the right thing and cancel the Buju Banton tour. We will credit your company with the appropriate corporate response to irrational and murderous hostility toward lesbian and gay people. Should Live Nation not cancel Banton's tour, you will offer us no alternative but to go forward with plans to protest in as many cities as possible, including Chicago.

Sincerely yours,

Gay Liberation Network
www.GayLiberation.net

Note to readers:
We encourage those who are outraged by Live Nation's promotion of this viciously anti-LGBT tour that you contact Live Nation yourself and let them know how you feel about Live Nation's sponsorship of messages encouraging violence against LGBTs. You can call the Live Nation customer service line to complain at 800.431.3462 7 AM to 2 PM (PST) Monday thru Friday or email them at CustomerService@LiveNation.com

We encourage activists around the country to mount their own protests against murder music performances in their cities. Here is a list of Buju Banton's 2009 concert tour dates:

Philadelphia (Sept 12); Providence (Sept 15); Portland, ME (Sept 17); Revere, MA (Sept 18); Charlotte (Sept 23); Raleigh (Sept 24); Norfolk (Sept 25); Richmond, VA (Sept 26); Detroit (Sept 30); Chicago (Oct 1); Denver (Oct 6); Aspen, CO (Oct 7); Salt Lake City (Oct 8); San Francisco (Oct 10); Tallahassee (Oct 11); Jacksonville, FL (Oct 12); San Jose, CA (Oct 13); Charleston (Oct 14); Los Angeles (Oct 14); Raleigh (Oct 15)

The Gay Liberation Network (www.GayLiberation.net) will be producing posters and other publicity materials, and will be happy to share these with activists in other cities who wish to organize their own protests. Simply email us at LGBTliberation@aol.com
http://www.GayLiberation.net

Trans Cricket Team Win First Game

By Chris Jai Centeno

A cricket team made up of hijras -- the common term for South Asia's "third sex" population, most of whom identify as female -- played its first official match in Pakistan, scoring 65 runs to beat a local men’s team, reports the BBC.
Sanam XI ("sanam" means "beloved" in Urdu) beat the Olympians men’s cricket club in an exhibition game in Sukkur, in southern Pakistan.

"I want to dedicate our victory to Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry," Sanam Khan, captain of Sanam XI, told the BBC. "It is only due to him that things are changing for eunuchs in Pakistan."
Last month Chaudhry ordered the government to stop discriminating against hijras and paved the way for medical and public facilities to help them.

Hijras are largely shunned by society and many earn a living through sex work, performing at ceremonies, or begging -- though they are also considered sacred, as it is believed that they have the power to bring fertility and good luck to a birth or a marriage.

The Buggery Act in the early years (England under Henry VIII)

There was no royal or parliamentary law against homosexual activity in England until 1533, but a number of medieval legal sources do discuss "sodomy:.
Fleta, xxxviii.3: Those who have dealings with Jews or Jewesses, those who commit bestiality, and sodomists, are to be buried alive after legal proof that they were atken in the act, and public conviction"

[Fleta, seu Commentarius Juris Anglicani, (London: 1735), as trans in Derrick Sherwin Bailey, Homosexuality and the Western Christian Tradition, (London: Longmans, Green, 1955), 145]

Bailey notes that it is improbable that the penalty or burial alive was ever inflicted in medieval times [although Tacitus refers to it among ancient Germans in Germania 12].
Britton, i.10: "Let enquiry also be made of those who feloniously in time of peace have burnt other's corn or houses, and those who are attainted thereof shall be burnt, so that they might be punished in like manner as they have offended. The same sentence shall be passed upon sorcerers, sorceresses, renegades, sodomists, and heretics publicly convicted"

[Britton, ed. F.M. Nichols, (Oxford: 1865), Vol 1:41-42 and Bailey, 146]

Bailey notes that this implies a process in which ecclesiastical courts made the charges and convictions and the state put them into effect. There do not seem, however, to have been serious efforts made to put theory into practice. The preamble to the 1533 Law seems to make this clear.
25 Henry VIII. C6

Le Roy le veult"Forasmuch as there is not yet sufficient and condign punishment appointed and limited by the due course of the Laws of this Realm for the detestable and abominable Vice of Buggery committed with mankind of beast: It may therefore please the King's Highness with the assent of the Lords Spiritual and the Commons of this present parliament assembled, that it may be enacted by the authority of the same, that the same offence be from henceforth ajudged Felony and that such an order and form of process therein to be used against the offenders as in cases of felony at the Common law. And that the offenders being herof convict by verdict confession or outlawry shall suffer such pains of death and losses and penalties of their good chattels debts lands tenements and hereditaments as felons do according to the Common Laws of this Realme. And that no person offending in any such offence shall be admitted to his Clergy, And that Justices of the Peace shall have power and authority within the limits of their commissions and Jurisdictions to hear and determine the said offence, as they do in the cases of other felonies. This Act to endure till the last day. of the next Parliament"

[Bailey, 147-148, and H. Montgomery Hyde, The Love That Dared Not Speak Its Name: A Candid History of Homosexuality in Britain, (Boston: Little, Brown, 1970) [British title: The Other Love]

Note that the law only ran until the end of the next Parliament. The law was reenacted three times, and then in 1541 it was enacted to continue in force for ever. In 1547, Edward VI's first Parliament repealed all felonies created in the last reign [I Edw. VI. C.12]. In 1548 the provisions of the 1533 Act were given new force, with minor amendments - the penalty remained death, but goods and lands were not forfeit, and the rights of wives and heirs were safeguarded. Mary's accession brought about the repeal of all Edward's acts in 1548 [1 Mar c.1]. It was not until 1563, that Elizabeth I's second Parliament reenacted the law [5 Eliz I. C.17] and the law of 1533 (not 1548) were given permanent force.

In 1828, the statute of 1563 was revoked by a consolidating act, but the death penalty was retained. In 1861 life imprisonment, or a jail time of at least ten years, was substituted for the death penalty. All these laws were against buggery, and indeed the law of 1828 had discussed matters of proof in terms of penetration. Note that other sexual activities were not specifically criminalised.

In 1885 Mr. Labouchere introduced an amendment to the Criminal Amendment Act of 1885. It read:-

48&49 Vict. c.69, 11: "Any male person who, in public or private, commits or is party to the commission of, or procures or attempts to procure the commission by any male person of any act of gross indecency with another male person, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, and being convicted thereof shall be liable at the discretion of the Court to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years, with or without hard labour"

So for the first time private acts were brought under the scope of the law, as were acts other than anal penetration. This became the famous blackmailer's charter, and was the law used to convict Oscar Wilde.

It was the Act of 1533, then, which first made buggery an offense under English criminal law. This law survived in various forms England until 1967, although it was amended in 1861 to substitute life imprisonment for the penalties of death and forfeiture of property.
But the direct effects of this law were not restricted to England. Because of England's success as a colonial power, and its tendency to impose its entire legal structure on the ruled areas, legal prohibitions against homosexual activity derived from this law extended well outside England. In Scotland, for instance, (which has a separate legal system) the law was not changed until 1979. In many American states "sodomy" laws are still on the books, as also in former British colonies in the Caribbean.

The original document of 1533 survives - select the link for a a jpg image

.[ref. H. Montgomery Hyde, The Love That Dared Not Speak Its Name: A Candid History of Homosexuality in Britain, (Boston: Little, Brown, 1970)]

source: fordham.edu

Under Henry VIII, what was once the domain of ecclesiastical punishment became a parliamentary matter. Sodomy, or buggery as it was referred to then, became a capital offence. In fact, Walter Hungerford, 1st Baron Hungerford of Heytesbury, became the first person to be executed under the law in 1540, although it is interesting to note that Sir Walter was in fact implicated in an insurrection against the king.

Thus began in England, more than five centuries ago the buggery law.

Predator Paedophiles (Guyanese Editorial)

(In relation to their sexual offences bill debate)

There are reports that a 35-year-old man from West Berbice has been charged with raping and sodomising a nine-year old girl. It is alleged that the man was on bail for raping another 10-year-old girl and had also committed the act on many other girls of the same age group, with several of those incidents being settled out of court. The pattern of behaviour of the alleged perpetrator fits the classic profile of a “paedophile”.While the meaning of the term is “one who loves children” the behaviour is hardly as benign as it sounds, since the typical paedophile is totally obsessed with having sex with the juveniles – boys as well as girls. Even though we have been inundated over the last few years with reports of this bestial behaviour, we are only glimpsing the tip of the iceberg. Studies in the US show that for every instance where the paedophile is apprehended for raping a child, there are at least a hundred acts that did not surface or were hushed up.

From anecdotal evidence of adults recollecting their past, the reality for the Guyanese is no different.Paedophiles can be found in every demographic category: old, young, educated, uneducated, professional, non-professionals – and of all races, colours and creeds. Typically, however, the paedophile is male, single, seemingly fascinated with children – especially around puberty and targets shy, handicapped, and withdrawn children, or those who come from troubled homes. They work to master their manipulative skills and often unleash them on troubled children by first becoming their friend, building the child’s self-esteem.While the new sexual offences bill before Parliament addresses some of the issues emanating from paedophilic behaviour they do so in a generalised fashion. We believe that the matter is serious enough to warrant specific legislation.

Take the issue of bail: the above cited instance of an alleged paedophile committing sexual offences while out on bail is not the exception – it is rather the norm. This circumstance raises the larger issue of exactly how society is to deal with a crime that incarceration appears to have no effect in diminishing.
Because of the deep-seated nature of the paedophilic imperative, some in the medical community have begun to view paedophilia as a disease rather than a crime. They have amassed evidence that at least some violent and antisocial behaviour have genetic links and signposts, but have been unable to isolate a biological cause for paedophilia. In our view, it is a mistake to label a behaviour—even a behaviour with some biological and genetic determinants—a “disease” because it ultimately means abandoning the concept of volition altogether. To do so would place us on a very slippery slope - for if there is no volition where is the crime?

The repercussion from the activities of paedophiles reverberate so widely (as was explained above) that we need to even revisit the putative benefits of incarcerating the offender after conviction. In the developed countries, lifetime recidivism rates show that “rehabilitation” alone in jails have not been very effective for sex offenders, and we know that deterrence is unlikely when most offenders are able to “get away with” multiple acts before apprehension. Now it would not be practical from an economic standpoint to keep all convicted paedophiles locked up for life: the only treatment that works and is feasible is castration of male offenders.
While it may sound harsh, in an effort to stop male paedophiles, male child molesters have the option of being chemically castrated in several states in the US. “Chemical castration” is a term used to describe treatment with a drug called Depo-Provera – a common birth control pill for women - that, when given to men, acts on the brain to inhibit hormones that stimulate the testicles to produce testosterone. The only drawback is that the drug had to be administered monthly and may be counteracted. In Guyana, with so many of our beautiful children being exposed to these deviants, we propose that the procedure must be made mandatory on convicted paedophiles.