Gay Liberation Network Protests Beenieman's Chicago performance ...

Firstly here is the so called apology earlier this year despite today being the International Day of Tolerance take into consideration his unease in doing it, while trying to mask it clearly he was only doing it to appease the community here and abroad to ease the pressure off his back as artistes have been feeling the stop murder music campaign's repercussions from our years of agitation.

I am in total support of this move against Beenieman as he has not been genuine with regards to his less than conciliatory apology obviously to get in on a show in Amsterdam and subsequently other gigs thinking the apology would simply appease the gay community and stop the vigilance. Here is the arrogant Beenie in July of this year on television Jamaica's program Entertainment Prime in clear defiance saying he never apologized at all as public pressure grew on him after the sorry to gays video so in a bid to save his face he responded tersely proving his hypocrisy.

I suspected he was less than honest just by mere observance of the original apology video, his body language tells all. Many are complaining why he is being targeted again when he apologized without seeing the follow up video as posted above.

Here is the Jamaica Observer article on the issue firstly then see the GLN's statement from their Facebook event page on the matter.

Gays turn up heat on Beenie Man

Gays target Beenie ...AGAIN

DAYS after a scheduled performance in northern California was scrutinised by a gay rights group deejay Beenie Man is facing more pressure from the gay community in the United States.

The Gay Liberation Network (GLN) is protesting his November 22 performance at The Shrine in Chicago, citing Beenie Man's past criticism of homosexuals.
In a letter posted on the windycitymediagroup.com website, the GLN demands that Beenie Man's show be cancelled.

"I wish it were possible to say that this artist performs music that is simply engaging entertainment with a great beat and sometimes gritty lyrics. Sadly, this is not the case due to Beenie Man's history of frequent calls for violence against gays and lesbians. Such calls are anything but 'entertainment' when directed against a vulnerable and oppressed minority," read the letter.

The Shrine event is promoted by Ephraim Martin, head of the annual International Reggae and World Music Awards (IRAWMA).

Beenie Man has made attempts to mend fences with the enraged gays. He was one of several dancehall performers who signed the Reggae Compassionate Act in 2007, and recently issued a video apology to gay activists prior to his performance at the Rototom Festival in Spain.

But the GLN is not buying the gestures, claiming they are not genuine.

"Because of his advocacy of violence toward our people and his chequered and inconsistent relationship to the global LGBT community, we respectfully request that management of The Shrine show its respect for our community and rescind its offer to have Beenie Man perform at its venue. We would be happy to sit down with you to discuss this matter further," the GLN stated in its letter.

Beenie Man's show in Trinidad, California, at the Ocean Grove Lodge attracted mild opposition from the Queer Humboldt group.

Dancehall artistes Buju Banton, Capleton, Elephant Man and Sizzla have also had run-ins with gay activists in Europe and North America.

Sustained pressure from groups in both continents forced promoters to cancel several of their shows.

According to the GLN .........

Free speech is one thing, inciting MURDER is another. The notorious "kill the gays" performer Beenie Man is being given the stage at a near South Side venue called "The Shrine" at 2109 S. Wabash Avenue, Chicago.

Call / email / facebook "The Shrine" and demand that they cancel!

312.753.5700 / info@theshrinechicago.com

We wish it were possible to say that Beenie Man performs music that is simply engaging entertainment with a great beat and sometimes gritty lyrics. Sadly, he has a long history of frequent calls for violence against gays and lesbians.

Such calls are anything but "entertainment" when directed against a vulnerable and oppressed minority. Two of Beenie Man's songs call for "hanging lesbians with a long piece of rope," and "I'm dreaming of a new Jamaica, come to execute all the gays."

Despite years of appeals to change course, he has not repudiated these lyrics, and continues to sing them. In 2009 he performed a "kill the gays" song in the capital of Uganda, a country that has seen a wave of anti-LGBT violence stoked by local politicians and Western evangelists.

Under pressure, in recent years Beenie Man has at times sounded a conciliatory note. He even signed the anti-violence statement, The Reggae Compassionate Act (RCA), in 2007. However, he later denied signing the RCA.

As for any apology to gays, in a May 23rd video statement Beenie Man said, “I Never Apologize To Gays.” (http://urbanislandz.com/2012/05/23/beenie-man-i-never-apologize-to-gays/) . This summer, in what was billed as an "apology," he granted an interview to the national gay magazine, The Advocate. However, in the same interview he said that the only homosexual activity in his native Jamaica involved older, wealthy men preying on heterosexual youth. This narrative is not only directly contradicted by LGBT Jamaicans, but also uses the pretext of protecting youth from sexual predators as an excuse for the country's endemic anti-LGBT violence.

The Shrine has so far ignored the Gay Liberation Network's offer to meet with them to discuss these issues.

We urge you therefore to call and email them today to express your disgust with their giving a venue to a performer who repeatedly calls for lynching LGBTs or any minority. Please demand that they cancel the November 22nd performance of Beenie Man.

312.753.5700
info@theshrinechicago.com

For more information on Beenie Man, his lyrics, and the twists and turns of his often hateful relationship with the global gay community, go here:

http://my.firedoglake.com/heathen07/2012/07/06/who-is-beenie-man-and-what-is-he-doing-now/

Here is my audio commentary and the defiant Beenie.

a cartoon supposedly making fun of the issue

Meanwhile the venue had responded to GLN: go HERE

Another cartoon has come this time from The Observer's Clovis

LGBT leisure travel market set to spike .................... LGBT "friendly" resorts are here

Janet Silvera, Hospitality Jamaica Coordinator

The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) leisure travel market is set to reach a record US$181 billion in 2013, says a report from the recently concluded World Travel Market (WTM) in London, England.

The findings are based on the LGBT2020 research programme from leading global LGBT marketing specialist Out Now Global -http://www.outnowconsulting.com - which measures consumer spend, purchasing habits and brand preferences across 22 countries.

The new data shows a 9.7 per cent year on year growth in the LGBT travel market, up from US$165 billion in 2012. The findings come at a time when a few Jamaican resorts have become more accepting of same-sex couples.

The country is also labelled an 'adamantly homophobic nation', but research shows that there are a number of LGBT-friendly resorts in Negril, Port Antonio, Montego Bay, Ocho Rios and the south coast, which have been getting complimentary reviews from same-sex couples, jetting in and out of the island.

Tolerant industry

"Our hotels have always welcomed. We don't necessarily place ads advertising that we accept the LGBT, but we would never turn back persons because of their sexual preferences," said a Negril hotelier, who added that there is really no difference from how the LGBT market was treated by the average hotel 20 years ago.

"The industry has always been more tolerant than the rest of the society," said the hotelier, adding that there are many gays working in the tourism sector, so it's no big news.

Another hotelier says Jamaica is not ready for this market, which is a big mistake. "I have tried to target them in the past, but I have given up, because it's a hard sell, particularly because of our homophobic reputation," said the hotelier.

She said if members of the LGBT community were to turn up at her property they wouldn't be turned back. She admits that the market has huge potential of pumping foreign exchange into the island's coffers.

In the meantime, the Out Now reports list the USA market at the top of the league at US$52.3 billion, followed by Brazil (US$22.9 billion) and Japan (US$18.5 billion). Europe, it says, is a more important LGBT market than the USA with the total value of the eight most important markets in Europe being significantly larger than the US market (US$58.3 billion) and Latin America's most important three markets account for an additional US$36.0 billion).

Announcing the figures at WTM, Out Now Global CEO Ian Johnson said: "A number of different factors continue to drive growth in this sector. Many LGBT people have grown up experiencing things a bit tougher than most, so a difficult economy, and working to keep things moving in tough times, including our travel plans, is part of the modus operandi for many of us."

Johnson is quoted as stating that like many people, LGBT consumers are finding the cost of living tough and some are working two or more jobs to keep things together, but with dramatically fewer households with children, travel remains a viable option for more LGBT travellers and one that is still within their household budget.

"The LGBT community's resilience is matched by an expansion of product options which are tailored to meet LGBT needs. Today, there are more and more destinations, hotels and tour operators, all catering to the particular needs of our market, and that makes travel a very desirable leisure pursuit for all those who can afford it."

For the first time this year, Turkey and Israel were added to the LGBT 2020 survey, says Out for the first time this year. The new Turkey research data shows that this new market accounts for more than US$5.1 billion in annual tourism spending. Israel adds another US$1.1 billion to the annual value of LGBT tourism spending globally.

"Having identified a remarkably resilient potential customer base for 2013, now is the time for industry operators to really step up a gear and work to strengthen their market position," says Johnson.

To facilitate this process, he says, in a cost effective and genuine way, Out Now has developed a suite of new services to help the industry make that important change.

Time To Respect Gay Rights (Gleaner Letter) .............

Here comes another letter dealing with gay rights but I would much prefer a title that says respect people as people despite sexual orientation, we probably as a whole have to decide what we really want to push for rights only first or general respect and tolerance and when I say push I do not mean only demand it as is being portrayed by some LGBT activists but live it as well with each other and our fellow man, after all our motto says out of many one people. As the International Day of Tolerance also approaches (tomorrow in fact) this letter is timely.

Below is the letter shared from the Gleaner and a comment as well.

Time To Respect Gay Rights

THE EDITOR, Sir:

IF THE people in the video demanding the lynching of an individual on the University of Technology campus, who they alleged was involved in sexual act, represent the future of Jamaica then we are in a desolate place. Higher education imparts advanced knowledge and skills, develops your character and also enhances your self-esteem. You would be in a better position to make more informed decisions and bring about a great difference in your life. Watching these people at an institution reminds me of the lynch mob during Jim Crow.

My disgust is with the political directorate who remained silent on the lynching of members of the gay community, in particular the Honourable Portia Simpson Miller, prime minister of Jamaica. Mrs Simpson Miller, you are leader of the party of Michael Manley; this icon is best remembered for his relentless effort to address social justice.

The right to life, liberty and equal protection under the law is enshrined in the Constitution of Jamaica. Furthermore, Jamaica is a signatory to the United Nations Charter of Human Rights. If you cannot stand up for the most vulnerable in the society then Jamaica should remove its name from that document. Mrs Simpson Miller, if you are too timid or lack the political will to tackle big issues then you must resign because you have compromised the values and principles of the People's National Party.

The most homophobic country in the Western Hemisphere is not a label that Jamaica should be wearing as a badge of honour; it brings shame on the good name of the country. The Church is one of the organisations that are bringing shame on the country. Its silence is deafening when the most vulnerable is attacked, but it is vocal on issues of gambling. The Church has lost it moral compass; this silence is the antithesis of the values and principles espoused by the man the Church preached about.

We are living in a global village and the world is watching, and the image out there does not speak volumes of this nation. We need to grow and respect the rights of all people; we are living in a multicultural and diverse world.

Editor's note: An alliance of local church groups denounced the attack on the UTech student.

Clive George Mortley

Evilc25@gmail.com

ENDS

Here is the comment that got my attention, see what you maker of it:

The right of all individuals to live in peace and security is the basis of any civilized society.

To say the Church did not speak out on the Utech matter is not correct ! Yes the church will never be good enough until it embrace the lifestyle of certain people. Is that what the Church was commissioned to do ,or the Church is supposed to teach people God's ways ?
The Christian Churches will come under increased pressure in years to come . Will other religions be pressures in like fashion to bend likewise ?

The incident at Utech was unacceptable,but Jamaica is what it is today .

We know that outside,people are not keen when ordinary Jamaicans are mobbed or murdered,but just say the word '' Gay bashing .''and the whole world is down the throat of Jamaica,denouncing it as this and that !

We should hope that the world cares about the thousands of ordinary Jamaicans that are murdered and the many other female and children who are raped and molested as much as the immediate attention,once you hear the word '' Gay .''

The safety of all Jamaicans should be the concern of enforcement in Jamaica. Bad as Jamaica many seem,being a poor black nation,there are wealthy nations where you can't approach them with any such thing !
Right in the middle east ,some countries won't even permit the discussion of some life styles.

Yes Jamaica is bad but,we are trying and we want everyone to live in peace.

I can bet when the prime minister goes abroad ,before they ask her about the suffering and poor living conditions of many ordinary Jamaicans they will greet her with some question about Gay life style as they did with Mr Golding on BBC.

and we really don't want anyone to be harmed .

Yes the University needs to train the students to be tolerant,but what more can they do ?

Some equal outrage at the rape and murder of ordinary Jamaicans would be in order too.

here is another one this time opposing:

mwhip • 5 hours ago

• −

The Gays need to respect themselves too. Stop flaunting their unaccepted lifestyle, keep what they do in privacy because no matter how much human rights attention they get, their lifestyle will never be accepted by majority of Jamaicans.

In a previous audio post/podcast I had done I had hinted that the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship did not respond to the UTECH abuse matter I checked their website and found a short press release they placed there but one wonders if it is genuine given their recent posturings on homosexuality and maintaining the buggery law and if this so called concern and condemnation is just to appease the irritated gay lobby/community?

What do you think?

DOWNLOAD IT HERE

Nigerian Lawmakers move ahead on anti-gay bill ......

ABUJA (AFP) – Lawmakers moved a step closer Tuesday to approving a bill that would harshly crack down on gay rights, including banning same-sex marriage and public displays of affection between homosexual couples.

The bill which has already been approved by the Senate passed a second reading in the House of Representatives with an unanimous vote and will now see a clause-by-clause review in the chamber at an undetermined date.

“It is alien to our society and culture and it must not be imported,” House majority leader Mulikat Adeola-Akande said during debate, referring to same-sex marriage. “Religion abhors it and our culture has no place for it,” she added.

House minority leader Femi Gbajabiamila said the bill represents “convergence of both law and morality.” He said that same-sex marriage “is both illegal and immoral.”

Nigeria’s senate in November 2011 approved the bill that would make same-sex marriages punishable by up to 14 years for the couple and 10 for anyone abetting such unions.

It also set out a 10-year sentence for “any person who … directly or indirectly makes public show of same-sex amorous relationships”.

Gay organisations would also be made illegal, leading some to raise concerns over whether funding channeled through non-governmental organisations in Nigeria for AIDS treatment would be put in jeopardy.

A final House vote would come after the clause-by-clause review. President Goodluck Jonathan must sign off on the bill to give it final approval in Africa’s most populous nation and largest oil producer.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has already warned that his country will consider withholding aid from countries that do not recognise gay rights. The United States has expressed concerns over the Nigerian legislation.

Last year, US President Barack Obama ordered all government agencies that play an active foreign policy role to take steps to encourage foreign nations to put a premium on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights.

It is unclear why lawmakers have made such a ban a priority other than to gain popular support since gay marriage is not known to be prevalent in Nigeria and homosexuals are already harshly discriminated against.

Nigeria is a highly religious.

Meanwhile protests were launched in the US way back in November 2011 but it seems to no avail thus far, activists are still hitting at the moves by the Nigerian legislators there.

See more HERE

Letters & Opinions: Anti-gay Christians threaten free speech ............Christian Ethics And The UTech Beating.

Since the awful UTECH Physical attack of an alleged gay male student on November 2, 2012 this one does not seem to be a nine day wonder and it's good in a sense, here are some more opinions and letters worth considering, I for one have been doing more listening than commenting this time around as there is some balance I see coming through public commentators whether it is to suit the present case is another matter and is yet to be seen how it plays out. Here are two pieces one from each newspaper.

Anti-gay Christians threaten free speech.

Dear Editor,

The anti-gay religious extremists will stop at nothing as they resort to worshipping their anti-gay agenda while having forgotten about their Christian God.

Our television stations were recently threatened for having refused to air public service announcements (PSAs) about tolerance for homosexuals because they wanted to obey angry pastors. They also claimed the ads would break laws against homosexuality even though the Broadcasting Commission indicated that the PSAs do not breach any of their regulations or laws of Jamaica.

Do the views of selected groups of pastors now trump constitutional rights to freedom of expression and right to dissemination views and opinions in the media? Would the views of members of the LGBT community be taken into consideration if the anti-gay movement were to make any PSAs for themselves? This is certainly not fair and equal treatment, as the last PSA was amended taking into consideration the concerns of the stations.

The anti-gay Christian movement works tirelessly to victimise themselves and portray the LGBT movement as aggressors coming to take away their freedom of expression and religion in a desperate effort to make people feel sorry for them.

Are they really victims or just latent aggressors themselves? Just two months ago a British filmmaker in Uganda was arrested for airing a play about the conditions of gay people in the country and is now facing two years in a Ugandan prison cell. Moralists in Russia sued Madonna for US $10.5 million in August because she spoke up for gay rights and Ukraine's parliament currently has a bill to pass into law that would make it a criminal offence to air positive depiction of gays in the media.

The anti-gay movement in Jamaica and abroad has been either silent or has congratulated these countries for standing up against what they call "cultural imperialism", despite the fact that their buggery laws came from European nations. Apparently "freedom of expression" applies only to the anti-gay movement and Christian supremacists who are obsessed with homosexuality. This is definitely something for journalists to write about whenever they are ready to discuss the LGBT movement. There are two sides to every story. Agreed?

Admin Gay

Spanish Town

antigayfactcheck@yahoo.com

and

Christian Ethics And The UTech Beating

David Pearson, Contributor

I have been rather disappointed to hear much of the public reaction to the security guards' beating of the allegedly gay youth at the University of Technology (UTech) recently. I was in a restaurant watching the noonday news on one of our local TV stations when the video was aired publicly.

The vitriolic response of a patron mirrored that of a few young persons I had spoken with a few moments before - as far as the man and the students were concerned, the youth should have been killed. Many of those uttering such views couch their angry words in the language of the Bible.

As a Christian theologian myself, I find this particularly disappointing, since there is nothing Christian about that position, even if people quote the Bible to support their points. The discipline of Christian ethics shows clearly that such a position is decidedly not Christian. I wish to show that here.

When we speak of the discipline of ethics, we have in mind the examination of the processes that we utilise in moral decision making. There are various approaches to ethics, most with something of value from which we can learn. For instance, deontology is the approach that says we have a duty to always do what is right, like speaking the truth and protecting human life, because such is right.

DETERMINING WHAT IS RIGHT

Consequentialism says that we can know what is right based on actions that produce good results, while virtue ethics say that virtuous people can be trusted to do virtuous things.

Whereas all have weaknesses, just a bit of examination of each will see that they all have strengths. And there are more approaches to the subject of determining right and wrong, which will demonstrate the same truth. In some senses then, a best approach to moral decision making will draw on elements of many approaches to the task.

What is the difference with Christian ethics? Most Christian ethicists will admit that it is the person of Christ that makes Christian ethics different, even if some of its approaches to the subject might mirror that of other philosophies.

Christ is seen as the embodiment of God and His approach to moral decision making, and it is in Him that the Christian gets his/her clearest example of how to navigate the difficult decisions that confront us. With no biblical reference to Christ's confrontation with abortion or homosexuality, how then do we see in Him a paradigm to follow in our much more complex world today? Perhaps if we saw His general approach to right and wrong, we would get some clearer directions on the matter.

Maybe it would be good to point out what Jesus did not do when making ethical decisions. For instance, He neither mirrored His moral standards on that of the religious leaders/people around him, nor did He blindly or legalistically quote from the Old Testament.

STRAIGHTJACKET APPROACH

I find that many Christians follow precisely these approaches in a kind of straitjacket way in dealing with the troubling situations that face us. "The Bible says that homosexuals must be put to death (Leviticus 20:13). That UTech student should be shot!" "My church does not stand for such slackness! We are Bible-believing people who understand that homosexuality is all about people turning their backs on God and going after what is unnatural (Romans 1)." This was not the way of Jesus.

In her classic 1957 work, Christian Ethics, Georgia Harkness outlined the following: Jesus' ethics were totally integrated with His religion, meaning that He did nothing outside of His concept of God and His relationship to Him.

But as He did this, He placed a stress on "ethical and spiritual inwardness", meaning that external religious posturing was not part of His modus operandi. Whether it had to do with praying, fasting, giving to the needy, or doing any other religious duty, Jesus warned that the external demonstration of such was really nothing, if indeed it did not spew forth from an inward life committed to such.

Jesus was not surprised about human sinfulness. But He also knew the possibilities of 'the redeemed life', and He gave plenty opportunities for so-called sinners to walk the more righteous path through His acceptance of them. Zacchaeus, Levi, the Samaritan woman at the well, and the woman caught in adultery were just a few such.

Jesus could do nothing else with these, given His God-centredness, since such was (and is) committed to the supreme worth of every individual to God. Harkness concludes that with such in mind, Jesus' central teaching was the establishment of the kingdom of God, where everyone benefits from the kingdom's ethics.

WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?

Let us apply the above to the UTech situation. Reports suggest that the young man who was beaten by the security guards was alleged to have been caught in a 'compromising position' with another male in a bathroom at the institution. On being attacked by a mob, the young man raced to the security post for protection, where he was beaten by two guards.

Though many have rightfully called for the guards to be fired, at the least, many still believe that the youth should have been beaten because of his 'nastiness'. How would Jesus' Christian ethic respond? Here I suggest a few points:

1. Allegations are just that - allegations. I suspect that it would not have been a concern of Jesus that it was alleged that the young man was caught 'in a compromising position'. His greater concern would have been why people act on allegations without checking the facts. In fact, even without Jesus, we have a legal code that says that "all persons are innocent until proven guilty".

The administration at UTech must rightly be concerned about the possibility of illegal and maybe even immoral activities taking place on their compound, privately or publicly. But alleged lewd acts taking place behind closed doors must never be treated as seriously as proven public atrocities.

2. Jesus would never have quoted any legal code to pronounce judgment on anyone. The fact is that the powerful in society, wherever their power comes from, always find it easy to use the law to trample on the weak. The mob was the powerful on that night, as were the security guards. Together they found an immoral strength and used it on this young scapegoat, perhaps to salve their own waning ethical consciences.

David Pearson is acting academic dean at the Jamaica Theological Seminary. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and davynth@gmail.com.