Meanwhile, in Senegal ......

International pressure on Uganda is important, but other nations remain havens of anti-LGBT oppression

by Cary Alan Johnson and Ryan Thoreson
Published on January 21, 2010, 5:58am

The global outcry against Uganda's "Anti-Homosexuality Bill" could not be more deafening. Opponents of the legislation have condemned the effort not just to put gays in prison, which is already the law in Uganda, but to further criminalize the ''promotion of homosexuality,'' require that suspected gays and lesbians be turned in to authorities, and to punish some individuals -- including those who are HIV positive or those euphemistically called ''repeat offenders'' -- with death.

The governments of Canada, France and Sweden have branded the bill wrongheaded. From Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to President Barack Obama himself, the U.S., a major foreign donor to Uganda, has made its disapproval of the legislation clear. Usually silent religious leaders, from Anglican and Catholic Church leadership to Saddleback Church's Rick Warren and other evangelical Christians, have condemned the bill's promotion of the death penalty, imprisonment for gays and lesbians, and the threat its provisions pose to pastoral confidentiality.

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe has expressed deep concern with the bill's potential impact on Uganda's heretofore successful HIV-prevention efforts. And while both the African Union and the government of South Africa have characteristically failed to condemn the bill, several important African leaders, including former president of Botswana Festus Mogae and UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa Elizabeth Mataka, have spoken out firmly and forcefully. If the bill passes in this firestorm of criticism, it certainly won't be for lack of unified, unequivocal condemnation.

This vehement response was absent less than a year ago and fewer than a hundred miles away, when the Parliament of Burundi amended its Penal Code to criminalize consensual same-sex relationships for the first time in its history. Nor was it conspicuous when Nigeria considered criminalizing attendance at gay-rights meetings or support groups in 2006. Now, horror at the cruelty of these new laws and growing evidence of direct involvement by the U.S. religious right is leading to a subtle, but significant, sea change. Local LGBT and civil-rights movements are finding the voice to condemn these horrible new pieces of legislation and the international community is standing its ground. Last month, the government of Rwanda dropped a proposal to criminalize homosexuality in the face of pressure from rights activists and HIV-service providers inside and outside of the country.

But while condemning new oppressive laws is important, it is just as important -- and perhaps more pressing -- to take measures to hold governments accountable for the daily violence and lifetimes of discrimination that LGBT people face in the more than 80 countries around the world that continue to criminalize homosexuality and the many more that impose penalties for those who challenge gender norms.

Take Senegal, for instance, where homosexuality has been illegal since 1965. The last two years have seen a dramatic escalation in homophobic persecution and violence, largely unnoticed by the international community and the world media. The country has experienced waves of arrests, detentions, and attacks on individuals by anti-gay mobs, fueled by media sensationalism and a harsh brand of religious fundamentalism. Police have rounded up men and women on charges of homosexuality, detained them under inhumane conditions, and sentenced them with or without proof of having committed any offense. Families and communities have turned on those suspected of being gay or lesbian. In cities throughout the county, the corpses of men presumed to have been gay have been disinterred and unceremoniously abandoned. As the international community has laudably warned Uganda on the progress of its nonsensical law, arrests on charges related to homosexuality in Senegal -- five men in Darou Mousty in June, a man in Touba in November, and 24 men celebrating at a party in Saly Niax Niaxal on Christmas Eve -- continue largely unnoticed.

Responding to the homophobic extremism in the Ugandan legislation is hugely important, but it is no substitute for a broad and unequivocal condemnation of sodomy laws and anti-LGBT violence wherever it occurs. When just such a statement condemning grave violations of human rights on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and calling for the end of criminalization was brought to the UN General Assembly just one year ago, only 66 of 192 countries voted for it. At the time, the U.S. was not one of them.

Even if the campaign against the Anti-Homosexuality Bill succeeds, homosexuality will continue to be illegal in Uganda -- just as it is in Senegal, where the lives of LGBT people are virtually unlivable. The test of our commitment to rights for all members of the human family, including LGBT people, is not whether we respond when the media turns its hot spotlight on a new, extreme piece of legislation. It is whether we are willing to commit our attention, resources, and political will in places like Senegal, where there are no cameras or reporters chronicling the impact of a decades-old law to hold us accountable. While the global sense of outrage at Uganda's bill is inspiring, it will be a missed opportunity if this spirited condemnation of homophobic violence fails to become standard operating procedure.

Cary Alan Johnson is the executive director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC). Ryan Thoreson is a research fellow at IGLHRC and co-author of Words of Hate, Climate of Fear: Human Rights Violations and Challenges to the LGBT Movement in Senegal. The opinions expressed here are the authors' and not necessarily those of the organization.

Gays Move to Ban Reggae/Dancehall in Germany says the Xtranews

In the January 21 – 27th edition of the Tabloid newspaper The Xnews has again taken a swipe at the GLBT activist movement with the Headline as outlined above. The lengthy piece took up two pages as they went into detail of the actions taken by selected German authorities against harmful music, x-rated materials, violent videos and extremist music.


The Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons a department in the government of Germany deliberated on whether or not to jump onto the Stop Murder Music Campaign. “Children and young people need to be protected from right winged extreme music hence the reason why (BPJM) indexes films, games and music, they also seek to educate the public on the importance of protecting minors from dangerous media.” According to the BPJM’s website.


The article continued that the BPJM has plans to monitor specific artists by limiting their CD distribution and possible full ban and removal of said materials from the market altogether. Last year the leader of the green party parliamentary group, one Mr. Volker Beck called on large internet sellers to begin removing the CDs in question from their sales inventory.


“Those in Jamaica who invoke hatred should not earn money with their music in Germany.” Beck said
In February there will be a panel discussion under the theme “Against Homophobia in art – but how? With invited representatives from politics, gay and lesbian groups, artist management and promoters.
“People will be discussing sustaining measures against homophobia in art. Our aim is to develop lasting strategies for the handling of controversial artistes between prohibition and dialogue” a quoted from a release Xnews said.
Since serious actions like the deportation of Sizzla after his arrest in Spain in 2008 and the visa problems faced by other acts like Bounty Killer, Vybz Kartel and Busy Signal and the most recent episode with Buju Banton in the United States many artists have almost become endangered species on the music scene as their material has become difficult to sell in some of these harsh territories.


“Dancehall artistes are being crippled by the violent tone of their music, countries are not accepting what they are selling. The question we need to ask ourselves is how can we the producers, the media, disc jockeys mold our artistes into good world citizens? Are the government and other stake holders willing to protect the industry for future generations?” Jeffrey Stephenson was quoted by the XtraNews.


The article continues by talking about the previous style of reggae where the messages were clean about love, respect and Rastafari. Mention was made of the Mayor of Berlin being openly gay and that he opposes the music altogether. The Europeans are not allowing any form of music whatsoever that evokes or incites violence in their territory. 


Anthony B is quoted to have said that Reggae has gone off message and doesn’t highlight the positives about Jamaica, food, sea sand and sun. In Europe the older artists are said to have the pulling power more than the artistes who now attract negative publicity. One insder was quoted as saying that the ban may not just be about anti gay music but also the messages about politics and antiwar sentiments which may be having an impact on the youth in parts of Europe.


Peace & Tolerance


H

The drip dry boyfriend vs. the ever increasing Jamaican Metro sexual

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men in pink once reviled and used as a marker for perceiving his homosexual status (without effeminate behaviour and other feminizing hints)

So on the weekend I found myself in a discussion at a Lyme of lgbt bloggers where the whole matter of men who are metro sexual are ever increasing here on the island vs. the drip dry male who just looks good despite his natural state, that is without the use of mountains of male grooming products and tight jeans/tops wearing proudly showing the endowed nipples and gifts from God.

The other bloggers asked me to raise the issue in a post to see what comes of it.

The issue came for mention when the guys and I were watching old episodes of Noah’s Arc where a scene had the character Wade in Noah’s bathroom applying facial creams much to Noah’s surprise and dismay somewhat, as the following scene showed Noah explaining his concerns to the other characters.

Interestingly Jamaican men gay, straight or bisexual as the case may be are increasingly conscious of there looks to the point that dancehall culture speaks to it in song about men competing with women over the skin bleaching creams and tight brand named expensive clothing lines worn today.

As we traverse the city streets here in Jamaica one wonders if we are really in a homophobic society as is often said. Gorgeous buffed muscular men attired in the once vilified tight jeans but carefully maintaining the deep voices and a “bad man attitude” to justify the masculinity with puffy or corn rowed dyed hairdos and manicured nails despite social class.

One member of the lyme group (I call him J1) said he didn’t mind his boyfriend being the metro sexual as he found it interesting and he thought it reinforced his homosexuality thus making him attractive in his eyes. The stereotype that gay men overcompensate in personal care with high maintenance which makes him stands out was an attraction factor for J1, the other guys disagreed and I wasn’t sure where I stood as I don’t have a steady boyfriend now and never really allowed it to bother me that much. The other guys (let’s call them J2 & J3) strongly disagreed and seem to play to the general Jamaican consensus that “man muss stay man” (men must be masculine and are to be seen as a real men) they felt that their “Men” must not use grooming products heavily like themselves or like women or look too effeminate as others gays looking on my berate their relationship as we say in Jamaica as “two pot covers slamming shut” 

(2 effeminate men in a sexual union is unacceptable and not logical) there must be a dominant man and a passive partner mimicking the heterosexual concept of relationship elements. But even as the landscape changes right before our eyes we now observe men having their hair done with extensions by the street side hairdressers and in increasing salons that are becoming unisexual, men wearing bleaching creams in public or on the streets as well is not a shocking phenom anymore

Are these brothas gay? Or is it a mix of tastes and cultures?

As we are so influenced by things from up north and elsewhere.

There may be a study available on this phenomenon I was told it would be good to see the findings (got to search for it)

Then again the converse may justify the attraction issues as some masculine (heaviots) guys really like their men queenie and deeply femme or as drag queens and it’s the feminine aspects of the behavior that becomes the basis for the hookup.

Some questions:

Do you think that your partner should be deeply masculine?

Or do you mind that metro sexuality is evident in your man?

Do you think that seeing the ways and idiosyncrasies of a metro sexual partner may make him seem less of a man?

Is not accepting metrosexualism these days non progressive in lgbt culture?

The effeminate behavior of ones partner may take some getting used to but when the period comes around to introduce your loved one to people you fear the reaction and have to relive the reality of it being present all over again for just that split second.

What’s on your mind about this?

(Public comments preferred) otherwise lgbtevent@gmail.com

H