After another hiatus Miss Richards of the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship strikes again of course following on the recent news and ari time the Gay community has been getting in the challenge launched by a coalition of rights activists and AIDSFREEWORLD, The LCF were the ones who basically got the Buggery Law kept on the books in the late nineties when a more active Jamaica Forum for Lesbians Allsexuals and Gays JFLAG made a parliamentary submission.
At the recently held Common-wealth Heads of Government Meeting in Australia, among the issues was a call for all member states to repeal sodomy laws. The laws being referred to are found in 41 of the 54 member states. While the report calls for the repeal of these laws, it frames the issue as one of disease control, stating that such laws "impede the effective response of Commonwealth countries to the HIV/AIDS epidemic". The Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group is reported to have "blamed the British influence on the former colonies for high rates of HIV/AIDS.
Most of these countries outlaw homosexual practices, which the rival French empire legalised in 1791". The reference to France in this context is interesting, for if what I have been told is correct, in France, there is full access to all the antiretroviral drugs. Moreover, such drugs are free. One would expect to find that HIV/AIDS is a non-issue among homosexuals there. Spread among msm Instead, French researchers reported in the Lancet Infect Dis (October 2010): "HIV transmission seems to be out of control in the MSM population." Reports in medical journals indicate that this is generally the situation in Europe as well as Australia.
In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports: "The sexual health of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men in the United States is not getting better despite considerable social, political and human rights advances. Instead of improving, HIV and STIs remain disproportionately high among MSM and have been increasing for almost two decades." In light of the foregoing, it is inexplicable that leaders of countries which are experiencing these challenges would be trying to foist them upon other members of the Commonwealth. Should it not be the reverse?
S. RICHARDS
Kingston 10
ENDS
- Miss Shirley Richards
Why are you still linking HIV/AIDS to be a gay disease?
Antiretroviral therapy does not cure or definitively control the viral loads of infected persons even when they have found the comfortable cocktail mix or HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapies) that work for each person, strict adherence is also a KEY requirement. ARVs are not like diabetic or high pertension drugs where the three or four standards ones available for e.g Metformin can apply to almost everyone while it's just a matter of dosage levels and timing or where someone can miss some doses, it is far more complex than that with HIV. To simply suggest as you have that ARVS should fix the infection problem in MSMs is disingenuous. Access to ARV or HAART alone in your argument is after the fact where someone is positive already if you want to argue about ARVs as a prevention method which coincidentally is a debate raging in the certain parts of the research community about using ARVS for HIV negative persons to take prior to sex so as to mitigate a person contracting the virus then properly do so and get the facts before you pen these letters pleaase.
Men who have sex with men not only practice anal sex as you would like to believe but there are outercoursal practices as well though possibly lesser done in our highly sexualised society such as mutual masturbation and intercrural sex aka gay missionary which the penis is NOT inserted in the excretory orifice but placed between the legs as is commonly known on the streets as "leggins" which is also practiced by HETEROSEXUAL couples when the female is seeing her "monthly" but her male partner wants some sort of sexual play, this is then used as an alternative.
Yes the infection rates are high in the MSM populations locally and are expected to climb this year after a recent study but there are many interventions that are tackling that and also literally over the counter items and cleansing agents that can help to mitigate that which may include in the near future microbicidal technology that like some spermicides on condoms can kill viruses before during and after the sex act despite sexual orientation. Vaginal microbicides for example are already being tested and proven to a certain extent in the US and Africa which include elements of some of ARVs you alluded to (tenofovir).
The prevention messages and interventions on the ground are impeded by the law presently on the books simply because of the act of buggery the outreach officers, social workers and agencies cannot directly handle some of the advocacy issues that attend to these populations coupled with the stigma associated with the law and the Leviticusal rhetoric the religious fanatics throw at the same gender loving community, the difficulties encountered by individuals to access care and treatment despite some enlightenment .... theocracy has no place here Miss Richards. If we are out of many one people as a nation then let's live it instead of trying to cock block me or any other man (including non gay men who practice anal sex with men and other women) who wants to practice or live as a homosexual providing he is not interfering with others rights and privileges. What are you afraid of, do you think gay men in particular are somehow going to penetrate every butt they see or go after children especially boys when you know fully well that paedophilia is NOT the same as consenting same sex adults attracted to each other.?
Some people are gay ............. Get over it ..............
When last I checked however Jamaica was not named as one of those possible states to loose this funding avenue that the UK Prime Minister Mr. Cameron has proposed or threatened to remove. It seemed more targeted at African states and while it may seem as an imposition take a look at it seriously, the umpteen asylum seekers from that continent due to persecution because of stigma and homophobia, the violence in some instances far more pronounced and graphic than ours and to talk about imposition the use of powerful religious figures there funded by American conservatives to push the anti gay messages while reinforcing hate and then they like you say you are Christians, your purpose as far as I see it when one publicly accepts Christ is to win souls for the kingdom not pry through my keyhole or cockblocking, the particular "Sin" of the temperal body for that soul is not your concern, leave all judgement to God. I also suggest you do some proper research and analysis of the difference between a paedophile and hebephile and an adult male homosexual disinterested in boys or pre-pubescent persons or hire a non partisan expert in the social sciences or psychological fields to guide you and your team at the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship.
Peace and tolerance
H
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