Keep Those Beliefs To Yourself ... a response to president of the Jamaica Association of Guidance Counsellors in Education (Gleaner letter)

In response to the recent trope in the Jamaica Gleaner on Lesbianism in schools and this fear planted by someone who ought to know better as a Guidance Counselor but unfortunately has confused morality and the fear that same gender loving people somehow are out to change everyone to the same orientation a response come from a female who seems not a part of the community but believes she should not impose her Christian beliefs on others.

See the original Gleaner article as reposted here just two posts below or go HERE

A sort of "Keep it to yuself mentality in reverse, in a post on sister blog Gay Jamaica Watch and on here as well in two parts, Part 1 and Part 2 where it looked at how the dancehall and reggae industries over the years has reinforced this belief we must keep our "nastiness" to ourselves thus encouraging or legitimizing discrimination and homophobia.

The Letter writer wrote:

THE EDITOR, Sir:

Grace Kelly, president of the Jamaica Association of Guidance Counsellors in Education, must have acquired her PhD by doing vast amounts of research from undergrad upward, but now she posits arguments without the supporting statistics.

She should not make baseless claims about lesbianism, as she did inThe Gleaner on Wednesday, May 25. Is she serious? Where does she get her information from about lesbianism being 'unhealthy'? Why is lesbianism a 'concern' for educators? Why is it being equated to violence or drug use?

On the contrary, lesbians have the lowest incidence of STIs/HIV of all the sexual orientations, so please tell me what is 'unhealthy' about that.

I agree that there needs to be counselling around sex on a whole for all adolescents, as abstinence is the best way to go at their age. But she shouldl do not impose her personal beliefs on individuals.

"I am appealing to the young people that their bodies are temples of God, and it wasn't designed for homosexuality," she argued.

If you are a true Christian, you would know that Jesus is the final judge and jury. By the way, not everyone believes in your God, and that is reality. What basis are you going to argue from then?

I am, etc.,

SIMONE B.

nicki_90@yahoo.com

Tavern, St Andrew

ENDS

But the misconception of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual people being predators problem is a major obstacle for the discussion to continue.....

when members of the public see images such as this from cartoonist Lasmay and the whole awful events from the cases in the Catholic church how can we begin to break this and separate paedophilia, ephebophilia from adult same gender loving sexual relations issues? apart from continued information sharing but that seems too slow in penetrating this madness coming from persons who ought to know better.

Let's keep the conversations going and respond to things like that rubbish coming from the good Guidance Counselors' president.

Also See: No Reported cases of Paedophilia say local Catholic Diocese Representative

Taken from sister blog Gay Jamaica Watch March 2010

Newstalk Interview on Paedophilia and Issues 01.04.10 by glbtqja

Peace and tolerance

H

Bugchasers in Jamaica ??? man asks for the "gift"

Bugchasing is a slang term for the practice of pursuing sexual intercourse with HIV infected individuals in order to contract HIV. Individuals engaged in this activity are referred to as Bugchasers. Bugchasers may seek HIV infection for a variety of reasons.
Bugchasers seek sexual partners who are HIV positive for the purpose of having unprotected sex and becoming HIV positive; giftgivers are HIV positive individuals who comply with the bugchaser's efforts to become infected with HIV.

Bugchasers indicate various reasons for this activity. Some bugchasers engage in the activity for the excitement inherent in pursuing such a dangerous activity, but do not implicitly desire to contract HIV. Some researchers suggest that the behavior may stem from a "resistance to dominant heterosexual norms and mores" due to a defensive response by gay men to repudiate stigmatization and rejection by society.
Some people consider bugchasing "intensely erotic" and the act of being infected as the "ultimate taboo, the most extreme sex act left." A number of people who are HIV negative and in a relationship with someone who is HIV positive seek infection as a way to remain in the relationship, particularly when the HIV positive partner may wish to break up to avoid infecting the HIV negative partner.

Some workers in the US HIV community report that a number of younger people seek infection as a way to receive benefits, a "free ride," because they would qualify to receive Section 8, Social Security and other benefits from getting infected with HIV.Some contend that this behaviour stems from feelings of inevitability towards HIV among the gay community and the empowerment of choosing when to contract the virus.

Others have suggested that some people who feel lonely desire the nurturing community that supports persons with AIDS.
By design, bug chasing involves bareback sex, but members of the bareback subculture are not necessarily bugchasers. The difference is intent:

“In reviewing the scarce unpublished and published materials on bugchasing, as well as general healthcare speculations, a common theme appears- the lumping of bug chasers with barebackers...Although these two groups share some of the same practices, namely unprotected anal intercourse (UAI), there are distinctions that differentiate bug chasing...even though all bug chasers are indeed barebackers, not all barebackers are bugchasers.

Imagine my shock in here in Jamaica where we are more conservative to a point terms of sexuality even in same gender loving terms to hear or see someone express only they wish to be penetrated by a HIV+ man bare backed with sperm left in his rectum, this is the face of persistent social marketing both from the national level through the ministry of health and other private institutions and non governmental agencies.
The young man in a recent online group chat and subsequent one on one exchange was clear in his desire. He said he likes bareback sex and wished he could be in an orgy typed scenario with several HIV+ but healthy looking men as he feels he can survive the infection non the less, this is even after my trying to explain that there are different strains of HIV and that getting multiple infections can lead to a faster deterioration in health.

According to Wikipedia in the media there have been some references to this practice:
HIV positive man Ricky Dyer, who investigated the apparent bug chasing phenomenon for a 2006 BBC programme, I love being HIV+, said that an air of complacency about the realities of living with the virus may be one reason why infection rates have been rising.[18] However, the BBC also described bugchasing as more internet fantasy than reality, saying that, "Dyer finds that the overwhelming majority of the talk is pure fantasy." The article also quotes Will Nutland, head of health promotion at Terrence Higgins Trust, as saying, "The concepts of 'gift giving' and 'bug chasers' are definitely based more in fantasy than reality" as well as Deborah Jack, chief executive of the National AIDS Trust saying, "There is very little evidence of people trying to get infected with HIV."

In the Showtime series Queer as Folk a former student of Professor Ben Bruckner, asked Ben to infect him with HIV, wanting to experience "the gift." Ben refuses and writes a novel about the incident.
In the NBC series ER, season 7 episode 13 Dr Malucci treats a gay man who wants to contract HIV from his positive partner. Malucci asked they HIV- patient if he is 'bug chasing'

A character named Billy in a book by Dakota Chase called Changing Jamie is a bug chaser and attends a bug party in order to get "the gift" believing the man he has fallen in love with will accept him. He does test positive later in the novel, only to discover at the end of the book what a mistake it was.

This behaviour has been associated with some in the Caucasian bear MSM communities usually or even in some hobosexual groups as well now we see the tastes showing up here, maybe due to the fact HIV positive persons can now live almost ill free from opportunistic infections creating havoc running alongside HIV and decreasing one immune system.

Safer sex is still key but how do we meet this issue when it presents itself when would be participants insist on deriving "the gift" while enjoying themselves and thinking they are alright?

More is obviously needed to arrive at some workable solutions.

Peace and tolerance

H

Anti gays on a roll in the Gleaner

Two letters at once challenging LGBT life in Jamaica, have a look at them or follow the links:

Gay Campaign Must Be Spurned

THE EDITOR, Sir:
Homophobia is not as prevalent in Jamaica as G. George Wilson claimed in his letter to the editor, 'Homophobia a big problem', published Tuesday, May 24. In fact, it is rare.

The homosexual lobby often confuses homophobia (a medical term) with moral certitude in an attempt to paint religious people who reject homosexual activity (not the person) as having some kind of abnormal disorder. Dr Wilson should know better.Jamaica is a predominantly Christian country that does not accept the evil of homosexuality, and for good reason: there is no gay gene or gay centre in the brain.

If Jamaica "is out of step with other countries" in this regard, that is a good thing. Jamaicans do not want to accept any ideology that advances perverted sex acts under the false banner of "equality and justice". Good health counselling is aimed at curing homosexuals of their abnormal tendencies, not providing false reason to justify their behaviour.

Wherever homophobia does actually exist, it is only because certain homosexuals cannot keep their disordered tendencies to themselves. Should they do so, they would have no problem or fear of living in such a heavenly haven as Jamaica.

I am, etc.,

ARTHUR BAJEANI

arthurbajeani@gmail.com
Brooklyn, New York

and

Lesbianism, A Concern For Educators

Nadisha Hunter, Staff Reporter
THERE IS a growing challenge of lesbianism in the education system, educators have confirmed.
The Gleaner understands that the issue is on the increase in some institutions, especially all-girls.
President of the Jamaica Association of Guidance Counsellors in Education (JAGE), Dr Grace Kelly, said the matter is significant and calls for attention.

"There is a challenge in the schools and the guidance association is aware of it," she said.
"What we continue to do is to provide counselling and support for these children, and to ensure that we provide them access to proper information, and through the guidance and counselling sessions, the students are given an opportunity to understand and appreciate their sexuality," Dr Kelly added.

She noted that while it has not reached the stage where any matter had to be referred to a psychiatrist or psychologist, she was aware that cases have been referred to other persons in the education setting because of the nature.
no supporting data

The JAGE boss, however, said she was unable to say if this is widespread in the schools, as she had no data on the issue.

Dr Kelly argued that if there is need for a joint effort to do seminars and workshops on a larger scale to address the matter, the association would take the necessary steps to have it done.

She urged young persons to stop the activity as it is an unhealthy practice.
"I am appealing to the young people that their bodies are temples of God, and it wasn't designed for homosexuality," she argued.

"The bodies were designed differently so that a man and a woman can enter into sexual relationship in a healthy way when it is done in the boundaries of marriage, and school-age children should not, at this stage, be thinking about sex," she charged.

Jamaica Teachers' Association head, Nadine Molloy Young, said the association had heard about the issue, but had not got any formal complaints from any schools.

Radcliffe Virgo, a cluster leader for school support in the Ministry of Education's Region Four, also confirmed the issue, but said it was always dealt with internally by the various school departments.

"We know all over, and counsellors in the schools just deal with it. Sometimes when we meet in meetings and conference, we talk about it, and sometimes when we have workshops, we would look at ways to deal with the students," he added.

When The Gleaner contacted Colin Blair, director of communications at the Ministry of Education, he said the minister, Andrew Holness, would have to comment on the issue. Holness, however, said he had no comment on the matter.

nadisha.hunter@gleanerjm.com