Let he who is without sin... another post from "Pensivemoods"

Brian Paul, blogger on Pensive moods wrote the following:

Let he who is without sin...

I was a bit miffed by the tone of the pronouncements of my dear friend Maurice Tomlinson at his latest stand for tolerance in Montego Bay.

He and his colleagues staged what the Gleaner described as a 'peaceful protest' outside The Hilton Rose Hall, site of the Caribbean HIV/AIDS Regional Training Network, Caribbean Cytometry & Analytical Society (CCAS), Centers for Disease Control Third Joint Meeting and Eighth CCAS HIV/AIDS Workshop.

They were protesting the seemingly deliberate exclusion of Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) and organizations that work closely with them such as JFLAG and JASL from this important workshop.

I must admit that upon first hearing of this conference I was taken aback by its scale as at face value it seemed to spring out of nowhere, larger than life. I therefore expected that all the major players would be scrambling to participate. It was a surprise to learn that they were left out of the process.

The article went on to say:

The workshop was held under the banner, "Harmonising Quality Clinical Care and Laboratory Diagnostics on Behalf of Persons Most at Risk of HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean, however, international NGO, AIDS-Free World, and local partners from Jamaica AIDS Support for Life and the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians All-Sexuals and Gays were not invited to attend.

"No members of the Jamaican MSM community were invited to participate in this conference, despite the 2009 UNAIDS findings that the HIV prevalence rate among Jamaican MSM is 32 per cent against 1.6 per cent in the general population," lamented Maurice Tomlinson, legal adviser, Marginalised AIDS-Free World Group.

Tomlinson criticised the organisers, stating that the way they had gone about the workshop flew in the face of the internationally accepted principle requiring the Greater Involvement of Persons Living with HIV/AIDS in designing and implementing HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support interventions.

"While we hope the conference participants enjoyed their stay at the luxurious resort, we, therefore, question their commitment to the populations they purport to serve," said Tomlinson.

Que le fuq???

While I agree with his position in light of the facts, I can't help but point out that this is a criticism that is levelled at JFLAG and JASL quite frequently and that for many (myself included) I think this is a time for the major players to pause and reflect and remove the beam from their own eye.

The huge regional MSM community consultation that the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC) recently concluded at the Iberostar was by all reports a grand holiday for technocrats and NGO administrators and deliberately excluded those providing the true front-line services, including JFLAG's own crisis intervention officer with her immense practical knowledge of what is happening on the streets of Jamaica. CVC also deliberately excluded the street boys, the transgenders, the entertainment promoters (and I must disclose that I fall into this category lest I be accused of having a secret axe to grind) and the other allies that make up the rainbow coalition.

What kind of planning and strategizing can possibly take place without the input of those that live on the streets and do not live in comfortable offices or their passports?

How can the strategic plans emerging from such a regional meeting be worth the paper they are printed on if they exclude the input of those with first-hand knowledge of the major issues influencing the vulnerabilities of LGBTs?

These are the kind of questions we need answers to.

Because if the community is not satisfied that our 'leaders' understand the issues in their entirety, how then can we support a campaign for them to have their voice amplified at the highest level?

p.s. I guess the cat is out of the bag based on the headline "Gays Stage Peaceful Stand Against Discrimination". No more hiding behind AIDS Free World.