New Ad Encouraging Families to Love Gay Children by JFLAG to Hit TV in August .... but

first a PRESS RELEASE from JFLAG
Kingston, Jamaica —July 28, 2011

“Homophobia must be eliminated [in Jamaica] immediately” was the rallying cry of Pamela E Bridgewater, the United States Ambassador to Jamaica. “The US Mission joins all partners in the fight against homophobia [because] as President Obama says, no one should be hated because of who they love,” she stated.

The US Ambassador was addressing a packed audience at the launch of ‘Unconditional Love’, a new public service announcement (PSA) featuring Christine Straw, former Miss Jamaica World and Miss Jamaica Universe, and her brother Matthew Straw on July 28, 2011. Heading the list of endorsees were Hilary Nicholson from Women’s Media Watch, Helin Jenkinson, First Counsellor at the European Union, Dr. Pierre Somse, UNAIDS Representative in Jamaica, Rob Fuderich, UNICEF Representative, Yvonne Sobres, Convenor of Family Against State Terrorism and a number of other human rights and HIV activists.

Unconditional Love tells a heart warming story of Christine Straw who declares her unending love for Matthew, her brother who is gay, while calling on Jamaicans to love their family members and friends who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT). “As Jamaicans we have to stop this stupidity of alienating our [people] because of their homosexual orientation,” stated Straw. “They are our brothers and our sisters and we must love them, no matter what [..] because they need support and encouragement,” she said.

In detailing the impact of homophobia in Jamaica, Maurice Tomlinson, Legal Adviser at AIDS-Free World (AFW) said his organisation was proud to support this collaborative venture which calls on all Jamaicans to live up to their world renowned culture of One Love. He stressed that members of the LGBT community must also strive to understand the source of the lack of knowledge of persons who stigmatize and violate their rights and hurt them. “The empowerment of these individuals is crucial for the breaking down of walls which prevent persons from seeing the true value of the contribution LGBT Jamaicans make to the society” Tomlinson said.

According to Dane Lewis, Executive Director at Jamaica’s only gay rights lobby, Jamaica Forum of Lesbians All Sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG), “it is our hope that this inspiring public declaration of love will motivate other families and friends of LGBT to share their stories of acceptance and that those who are on a journey to acceptance will be moved to love LGBT persons in their lives unconditionally.”

Dr. Pierre Somse of UNAIDS was insistent that Jamaica had to keep pace with the rest of the world and get rid of anything that might retard the gains made in reducing the spread of HIV over the years. “Homophobia is a major stumbling block to effective HIV interventions and unless we guarantee the human rights of homosexuals, all other populations are at risk,” Dr. Somse highlighted.

A similar sentiment was echoed by Yvonne McCalla Sobres of Families Against State Terrorism (FAST), “When the state ignores the harm and hurt being felt by any population, because of their difference this is tantamount to state terrorism. It cannot therefore be business as usual for us here in Jamaica”

Unconditional Love , is another collaborative initiative of J-FLAG, Jamaica AIDS Support For Life (JASL), the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC) and AFW aimed at promoting the human rights of persons who are members of the LGBT community by encouraging Jamaicans to be unreserved about who they love’. The PSA will hit TV screens and the internet immediately.

Link to PSA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhH6UhfEI-E

For interviews contact:-
Pierre Somse UNAIDS 960-6536-8 (office) or 919-8537 (cell)
Ian McKnight CVC 631-7299 (office) or 474-8847 (cell)
Kandasi Levermore JASL 978-2345 (office) or 875-2737 (cell)
Dane Lewis J-FLAG 978 8988 (office) or 875-2328 (cell)
Maurice Tomlinson AFW 784-0908 (cell)

Press Office at the US Embassy KingstonPress@state.gov

ENDS

One hopes that this is not the only video in this campaign as it certainly does not reflect the true demographic of LGBT people in Jamaica, in fact it may reinforce the "black stay back, brown stick around" culture on a national level and on an inter- community level it may reinforce the feeling that some Jamaicans are better off than others who live above a certain geographical boundary who can live a more north american utopia typed life while those who are below that are continually abused, beaten and suffer homophobia. Both persons here in fact are of Scottish heritage and often travel to those events overseas. The divide has always been an issue in our community it affects how we socialise and how even advocacy is dealt, this could be described as a formalization of that contemptuous and top down approach to how business is done. It is as if to say families do not exist elsewhere. Families also exist in the inner cities and middle class Jamaica, is JFLAG et al saying the "comfortable" should get more comfortably? what about the others who do not have this existence and experience everyday?

This also dropped when sections of the nation, media and academia are looking at the post traumatic effects of slavery right in the Emancipation/Independence celebrations when "blackness" is looked at more so than any time of year.

Sad that the latest attempt though noble misses the mark in my view really in gelling the community despite of social standing and to think this has the backing of groups like FAST, Families Against State Terrorism who know all too well that it is not a Miss Jamaica or her brother who are the real victims of violence let alone any form of direct harmful stigma and discrimination as class determines how one is treated.

See what you make of it.

Peace and tolerance

H

Asylum and “Credible Fear” Issues in U.S. Immigration Policy Report

Foreign nationals seeking asylum must demonstrate a well-founded fear that if returned home,they will be persecuted based upon one of five characteristics: race, religion, nationality,membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Foreign nationals arriving or presenting the United States may apply for asylum affirmatively with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in the Department of Homeland Security after arrival into the country, or they may seek asylum defensively before a Department of Justice Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) immigration judge during removal proceedings.Asylum claims ebbed and flowed in the 1980s and peaked in FY1996.

Since FY997, affirmativeasylum cases decreased by 79% and defensive asylum claims dropped by 53% by FY2009.Asylum seekers from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) dominated both the affirmative and defensive asylum caseload in FY2009. Five of the top 10 source countries of asylum seekers were Western Hemisphere nations in FY2009: Haiti, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Colombia. Ethiopia was the only African nation that was a top source country for asylum seekers in FY2009. Despite the general decrease in asylum cases since the enactment of the Illegal Immigrant Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA ) in 1996, data analysis of six selected countries (thePRC, Colombia, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Haiti, and Mexico) suggests that conditions in the source countries are likely the driving force behind asylum seekers.

Roughly 30% of all asylum cases that worked through USCIS and EOIR in recent years have been approved. Affirmative asylum cases approved by USCIS more than doubled from 13,532 in FY1996 to 31,202 in FY2002, and then fell to the lowest point over the 14-year period—9,614—in FY2009. The number of defensive asylum cases that EOIR judges have approved has risen by99% from FY1996 through FY2009. The PRC led in the number of asylum cases approved byUSCIS and EOIR over the decade of FY2000-FY2009. Despite national data trends that appeared to be consistent, approval rates for asylum seekersdiffer strikingly across regions and jurisdictions. For example, a study of 290 asylum officers whodecided at least 100 cases from the PRC from FY1999 through FY2005 found that the approvalrate of PRC claimants spanned from zero to over 90% during this period. In a separate study, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) analyzed asylum decisions from 19 immigrationcourts that handled almost 90% of the cases from October 1994 through April 2007 and foundthat “significant variation existed.”

Those advocating revisions of asylum policy have divergent perspectives. Some assert thatasylum has become an alternative pathway for immigration rather than humanitarian protection.Others argue that—given the religious, ethnic, and political violence in various countries aroundthe world—it has become more difficult to differentiate the persecuted from the persecutors

.Some express concern that U.S. sympathies for the asylum seekers caught up in the democraticpolitical uprisings in Libya and other parts of the Middle East, northern Africa, and south Asiacould inadvertently facilitate the entry of terrorists. Others maintain that current law does notoffer adequate protections for people fleeing human rights violations or gender-based abuses thatoccur around the world. Some cite the disparities in asylum approvals rates and urge broad-basedadministrative reforms. At the crux of the issue is the extent to which an asylum policy forgedduring the Cold War is adapting to the competing priorities and turbulence of the 21
st century

Read the rest below:

Asylum and “Credible Fear” Issues in US Immigration Policy