Betty Ann Blaine & foreign religious zealots continue their paranoia & misrepresentations of male homosexuality

While today is the fourteenth anniversary of JFLAG's founding and Human Rights Day the quiet from them and the other local rights groups is disturbing to myself and a few others while the religious zealots as certainly they are not Christian in the true sense are on a major campaign to now paint homosexuality as enemy number one while dishonestly linking the orientation on a whole to paedophilia yet again. 

The bigger issue ought to be how to live in a pluralistic society as it is inevitable than launching a Jamaicanised version of the Ugandan anti gay strategies. They have been getting increased foreign support in cash and otherwise with a British lawyer urging them to fight to keep buggery on the books, a Singaporean anti gay activist last year who gave a lecture on so called real rights and how to watch the "gay agenda," a Jamaican couple who supposedly lost a bid to foster children in the UK after becoming complacent and not following the change in the law their while refusing to teach tolerance overall which includes that for same gender loving teens and children, Lawyers'  Christian Fellowship President Shirley Richards continued anti gay thrust and paranoia over future gay marriage rights agitation from local LGBT groups when no such rights were asked for, she also seems to support tacitly support the controversial Ugandan "Kill Gays Bill" see more here:

Shirley Richards support Uganda “Kill Gays Bill?”

It was only on November 25th that the now very active Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society, JCHS via a radio show confused homosexuality deliberately so it seems to push their anti gay agenda and the week prior to that, it was only in yesterday's Observer we saw another Jamaican this time a male teacher clearly showing his inability to adapt to rules in the UK education system complaining he was fired because he was a Christian and supposedly opposing homosexuality. See the story HERE, let us also not forget the Home and Family Life Curriculum Fiasco and the Reverend gentleman and Minister of Education's Pandering to the religious right sentiments more so than looking at the Urgent Need for Sex & Sexuality in our schools as I fear it is this lack of the subjects properly taught for generations why we have the levels of homophobia and homo-negativity. The gay lobby has been caught fiddling after all these years of struggle with the unexpected rise in power and presence by these groups of which I have been warning about for years, they became too complacent. Now comes another story this time in today's Gleaner: 'Shun Gay Lifestyle' - South African Pastor Warns Ja About Homosexual Lobby - 

Jodi-Ann Gilpin, Gleaner Writer ..............

A SOUTH African pastor on the weekend urged Jamaicans to become militant against acts of homosexuality, saying condoning such behaviours could lead to consequences of enormous proportions.Pearl Kupe, who is also an attorney-at-law, was speaking at an international conference on human rights, international law and the family, held at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston on Saturday.

"The LGBT group in South Africa doesn't only enjoy rights that every ordinary citizen has, but they have special rights and privileges," Kupe said.

South Africa's post-apartheid constitution was the first in the world to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation. In December 2006, the country became the fifth country in the world, and the first in Africa, to legalise same-sex marriage. The country is considered a haven for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community.

"What we are seeing here is a nation that is hungry for power and will do anything to gain such power, even if it means isolating themselves from moral standards," Kupe told the conference.She added: "They are willing to trade ethics, morality and values in exchange for global power and we cannot allow these things to infiltrate your country."

Jamaica's justice minister, Mark Golding, was guarded in his response when asked by The Gleaner to comment on Kupe's presentation.

"It's a very delicate issue because we don't want to endorse lifestyles that are not grounded in Christian values, but there are very compelling arguments on both sides," Golding said.

"On the table right now is the repeal of the buggery law which we have to carefully analyse, so I really don't want to say to much right now," he added. Kupe had used her presentation to appeal to members of the Church and civil society to help counter the spread of the homosexual lifestyle.

"We are not here by coincidence, this was ordained by God," Kupe said."We have to come together and get the stakeholders involved and mobilise the media because we can't leave here without coming up with a response plan because we are heading in a deadly direction."

Kupe said a LGBT charter, which is being considered in South Africa, is seeking to promote the universal acceptance of the gay lifestyle. She also claimed it is seeking to discredit anything or organisations that condemn homosexuality.

"What is happening now is that there is a strategy to get homosexuals in the schools and to also perpetuate homosexual propaganda at every opportunity," Kupe said.

"The LGBT is actually advocating for the teaching of homosexual behaviours in the schools, so I'm not just talking about education of homosexuals but making it an option in our schools," Kupe added.

The reverend lawyer also claims that homosexual behaviours are prevalent within places of worship.

"It is unlawful to discriminate against lesbian and gay men in church, mosque, temple, synagogues or other places of worship. This includes the right to worship at a place of their choice, right to be a member or a minister of religion regardless of sexual orientation," she said.

"But I want to make it clear that God is not a God of equality but a God of justice and, as Christians here in Jamaica, you have to make it known that Jamaica belongs to Jesus," she said.

photo not in original article ... added to make the point as it says

Children at risk

In the meantime, Betty Ann Blaine, convenor of Hear the Children's Cry, urged Jamaicans to say no to homosexuality.

"One of the threats to Jamaica is the argument to repeal of our buggery law, which is a challenge to all of us, not just Christians," Blaine said.

She added: "We can't possibly repeal the buggery law precisely at the same time when more and more of our children are being buggered."

During the run-up to last year's general election, Portia Simpson Miller, now prime minister, said she would support a conscience vote in Parliament on whether the buggery law should be repealed. Blaine said she is not prepared to sit back and allow Parliament alone to decide on the matter.

"I'm prepared to take this to the streets because the Parliament will not decide this. Any repeal to the buggery law must be be taken as a referendum and it's the people who must decide this," she said.

Jamaican gay activist Maurice Tomlinson yesterday described Kupe's address as "typical of the fear mongering that fundamentalists engage in to deny the human rights of homosexuals".

"Few, if any of their assertions, are supported by logic or evidence," Tomlinson said in an emailed response to The Gleaner.

According to Tomlinson, "Jamaica will continue to drive this vulnerable group underground with deadly consequences for public order and public health" if the human rights of homosexuals are ignored.

"Most tragically, homophobia forces some gay men to form relationships with women. This exposes the women, men, and any children of these unions, to untold physical and psychological harm. It is high time the Government showed leadership and put an end to this fanatical intolerance by reading down the anti-buggery law to decriminalise the private acts of consenting adults," Tomlinson said.

- jodi-ann.gilpin@gleanerjm.com

ENDS

So we continue to see the paranoia and the unfortunate and downright dishonest linkage between adult male homosexuality, privacy and paedohpilia but why can't we repeal or decriminalize buggery and also have protections that already on the books strengthened similar to how the Irish did by having a Child Defilement Clause added to their Sexual Offences Bill?

Was Mr Tomlinson's response adequate enough or did the paper just edit what they thought was needed?

What are Betty and these other foreigners afraid of?

As for Kupe's remark about special rights, aren't there special rights for persons with disabilities or other groups, even children who ought to be and are protected have specific rights and legislation that offer protection, so what is different for specifically worded codes for LGBT people given the sensitivities involved? The aforementioned Child Defilement Clause as suggested would be one such special right/protection in one.

Does anyone notice the constant use of the term "homosexual lifestyle" by these persons, what a bigoted strategy but I am not surprised as the mantra for the JCHS blatantly espouses theocracy where it says: "Working for a Jamaican society in which Judeo-Christian values nourish and enrich the social, spiritual, physical, emotional and mental health of all citizens." One of its founders Dr Wayne West operates a blog where he continuously says tolerance is equated to Jamaica accepting felching and fisting, another set of dishonest and unethical strategies to demonize male homosexuals via sexual practices when the contradiction sat right there on his blog where the overseas study's abstract he republished (he has posted many including very old ones) stated that it was a sub-group of msms who actually carry out such practices overseas more so in European cultures such as the biker and leather communities but apparently the attempt is being made to link those practices as normative in our gay culture, the depths these anti gay advocates will go to is disturbing.

Funny how years ago these same religious persons complained that the LGBT lobby had overseas aid and money and were importing a foreign lifestyle now it seems the religious right is actually using its own criticism as a strategy to push their gay agenda and all of a sudden these foreigners are not importing bigotry aided and abetted by so called Christians and a government who seems willing to roll over and have its stomach rubbed by these persons with tongue gleefully hung out like a happy dog.

Interesting also the hundreds of thousands spent on this campaign including expensive full paged ads in print media whilst the least amongst us just remains that, the least amongst us, what about our homeless and children, the boys who wipe car windows, the kids in lockups, do we see these so called religious zealots in the name of Christianity really helping those groups in a bid as they say for a healthy society? It is the things that are infront of us that must be addressed but if they have their way they'd be at our keyholes peeking to see who is pushing what in where. Sad for a country with a motto that says "Out of Many One People, rubbish, we are aeons away from such.

What would Jesus do?

HOMOSEXUALITY - A Biological Reality

HOMOPHOBIA - A Lifestyle Choice

Think on these things people, peace and tolerance.

H

additional reading: 

Rev Clinton Chisholm accused of pushing “bad science” in regards to ex-gay therapy

Gender Dysphoria Diagnosis to be Moved Out of Sexual Disorders Chapter of DSM-5 ....... The "D" Switcharoo?

image from GIRESUK

As transgender allies we continue to pay close attention to the new developments on the Diagnostic Statistical Manual, DSM 5 front a leading expert has provided more insight into the development of Gender Dysphoria to get a chapter of its own. 

The Gender Identity Disorder Reform Advocates reported that:

Dr. Jack Drescher, a member of the subworkgroup on Gender Identity Disorders of the DSM-5 Workgroup on Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders, confirmed on December 6 that the Gender Dysphoria Diagnosis will be removed from the sexual disorders chapter and placed in a separate category in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders:

GD is supposed to be placed in a chapter of its own, no longer linked with sexual dysfunctions and paraphilias (which will also have chapters of their own)

This reclassification, along with the change in title from Gender Identity Disorder to Gender Dysphoria, is a significant improvement in the diagnostic coding used for access to medical transition care, for trans and transsexual people who need it. Preceding diagnoses of Transsexualism/Gender Identity Disorders were grouped with “psychosexual” disorders in the DSM-III. They were briefly moved to the class of Disorders Usually First Evident in Infancy, Childhood or Adolescence in the DSM-III-R in 1987 but were returned to the sexual disorders chapter in the DSM-IV, and DSM-IV-TR. Community advocates and supportive medical providers have long raised concern that this placement was clinically misleading and reinforced false stereotypes about gender diversity. Gender identity is not specifically related to sexuality, sexual orientation or sexual dysfunction. Political and religious extremists have exploited the sexual disorder grouping in the DSM to sexualize gender diversity and defame trans people as deviant. Trans and transsexual individuals have consequently lost their jobs, homes, families, children, and civil justice.

The DSM-5 working group responsible for sexual and gender diagnoses hinted at a possible change in diagnostic placement in February, 2010, stating

The subworkgroup questions the rationale for the current DSM-IV chapter Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders, which contains three major classes of diagnoses: sexual dysfunctions, paraphilias, and gender identity disorders… Various alternative options to the current placement are under consideration.

The decision to separate the revised Gender Dysphoria category from sexual disorders is consistent with aprevious determination by the working group to remove sexual orientation specifiers from the diagnostic criteria. While many shortcomings remain in the proposed Gender Dysphoria diagnosis, this change in placement in the DSM represents forward progress for trans and especially transsexual individuals.

Unfortunately, the DSM-5 Task Force and APA Board of Trustees retained the Transvestic Disorder category in the sexual disorders chapter. Previous known as Transvestic Fetishism, it is grouped with paraphilic diagnoses such as pedophilia and exhibitionism and authored by Dr. Raymond Blanchard of the Toronto Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (formerly called the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry). 

This punitive and scientifically capricious category maligns many gender variant people, including transsexual women and men, as mentally ill and sexually deviant, purely on the basis of nonconforming gender expression. It is written to promote Blanchard’s unfounded theories of “autogynephilia” and “autoandrophilia” that conflate social and medical gender transition with fetishism. More than 7000 people have signed an online petition, sponsored by the International Foundation for Gender Education (IFGE), calling for the removal of this harmful diagnosis from the DSM.

Other activists are bemoaning the "D" word switcharoo and are not impressed just yet until Gender Identity Disorder is completely removed from the manual. The DSM 5 is slated for release May 2013. 

Planettransgender administrator Kelli Busey sounded off on the switcharoo:

"There are extremes in all communities and ours is no exception. Being radical it seems right that I occupy the one on the far side advocating for our removal lock, stock and barrel from the DSM-5.

I'm also open to others opinions and since it's such a hot button issue, one I felt needed our attention I created a Facebook event that was joined by five thousand people for conversation. Some against some for our removal and some in the middle, but all respected.

Did those of us who wanted our removal succeed? No, most likely we failed despite my best effortsat getting local people out from behind their keyboards. That was somehow my fault. Not the gay communities. We didn't take to the street at key moments and gain the spotlight as they did twenty years ago.

The facts.

The December first 2012 press release from the APA announcing the next bureaucratic step needed to publish the DSM-5 had been taken by the board voting it's approval.

And the world fell over themselves to announce trans people were no longer listed as "disordered" by in the DSM.

Did I miss something in that press release?

The Message From APA President Dilip Jeste, M.D., on DSM-5 offers no specifics, only justifications and denials regarding the process.

So whats up?

The often quoted Med Page published in May following the last public meeting reports what may not up:

"Gender identity disorder. Individuals who believe their biological gender doesn't match their gender identification will no longer be labeled with a disorder. Instead, if they seek psychiatric treatment, they can be labeled with "gender dysphoria."

The workgroup responsible for dealing with the hot-button issue considered a variety of other approaches, addressed later in this article. Ultimately they settled on a formal diagnosis -- potentially qualifying a patient for insurance-paid treatment if they want it -- but with a less pejorative name than "disorder."

So the name might change but what is the difference between the two words and what does it mean to trans people? The free medical dictionary defines....

Gender Identity Disorder:

"The psychological diagnosis gender identity disorder (GID) is used to describe a male or female that feels a strong identification with the opposite sex and experiences considerable distress because of their actual sex."

Gender Dysphoria:

"unhappiness with one's biological sex or its usual gender role, with the desire for the body and role of the opposite sex.

Not much difference between the two words is there?

Please understand this is just conjuncture since no further official information available until the DSM-5 is published in May 2013.
But given that one D word is being substituted for another what's the end result?

We remain pathologized by the APA

pa·thol·o·gize

/pəˈTHäləˌjīz/Verb

Regard or treat (someone or something) as psychologically abnormal or unhealthy

Which in my opinion denies us our rightful place among the worlds well adapted productive citizens.

So try as hard as I may I failed, kind of. Who knows. I did give space to those who wanted conversation. But most importantly, those who wanted our total removal from the DSM as well.But now its just a waiting game. The APA has what it wants, our undivided attention, our money, the guidelines to normality, acceptability and our chances at success in life.

ENDS

Certainly we are headed into interesting times as transgender activists especially in the US no longer are prepared to be relegated somewhere else anymore and are making their voices heard, LGB activists need to take note and align ourselves in their efforts if it is that we are working from a truly cohesive LGBTQ mantra if not say so, change organizations names if neccessary to reflect their true position and work within their own parameters and not use the call letters randomly to seem to be inclusive then silent on the other issues ...... take note. 

Our Jamaican advocates are guilty of this invisibility and commensurate reference convenience as not a peep has come from them since this important development has taken place, buggery is far more attractive and commands soundbites more than the struggle for our trans brothers and sisters.

also see on GLBTQJA (Blogger): Being Transgender Is No Longer A Mental Disorder ?. and APA Board of Trustees Approves DSM-5

and previous posts: Trans Depathologization: the spark of change and APA offers New Position on Transgender Care

additional reading: Trans Mental Health Study UK 2012

In Canada a Transgender Rights Bill was passed (waiting for royal assent to become law) in Nova Scotia protecting residents their from discrimination in employment and housing for those who have undergone reassignment surgery. See More HERE some say that yet have to see the terms “queen” and “denied GLBT rights” appear alongside each other.

Peace and tolerance

H

End Discrimination Against Sexual Minorities says the Gleaner's Associate Editor

Well he is a little late but better late than never and it is worth repeating the comparison between the University of Technology's alleged gay student physical abuse matter, the Home and Family Life Curriculum, HFLE withdrawal fiasco and the possible main reason for the nation's strong homophobic and homo-negative psyche hence negative behaviours towards LGBT people over the last three decades, the fifties, sixties, seventies and indeed the early eighties never had this kind of hate being spewed this excludes gender roles conformity in a sense, Jamaican males high valuation of machismo and effemphobia in the sense of the despising of anything that feminizes a man (attitudinally not aesthetically per say these days) is vehemently opposed and relegated to being or related to homosexuality. Notice when Jamaican men are arguing in public the first thing they draw as a weapon in the argument is to reduce their opponent with that word "Battyman" or "battyboi instantly challenging his opponents masculinity/reducing his perceived power or suggesting that he performs anal sex (fuck batty) relegating his opponent to the next degrading performer that of oral sex, so one is a "suck pussy" so and so, although the sting from the oral sex castigation has lost its effect in recent years as dancehall where it was once vilified has songs now openly advocating the act.

(photo not included in original article)

Here is Mr Byron Buckley's article firstly that appeared in today's Gleaner: 

End Discrimination Against Sexual Minorities

Byron Buckley

IF THE University of Technology (UTech) students were privy to a Health and Family Life Education (HFLE) class while in high school, they, perhaps, would not have been involved in inciting violence against a colleague allegedly caught in a homosexual liaison on campus.

The high-school HFLE curriculum, which aroused much public misgiving several months ago, promotes diversity in personality, shape, size, social status, ethnicity, religion, gender and sexuality. The document points out that "although it may be difficult to understand and empathise with the sexual desires, identities and behaviours of other people, it is important to respect that every human has the right to live free of stigma, discrimination, violence and oppression".

This is a national conversation that needs to take place - we cannot kill, beat or abuse people who do not fit our views of what is normal. What better place to start this discussion than among our youths in school? And, maybe, within a generation we will stop beating gay men and displaying high levels of interpersonal violence.But if public reaction to the curriculum guide on teaching sexual tolerance is any indicator to go by, the society will remain bigoted for a very long time.
The public furore over a classroom activity that allegedly promotes homosexuality is, in my view, an overreaction. The activity is part of a series of lessons that would have prepared students to handle that particular role play - something that is done routinely in a learning environment.

Does it mean that role-playing pregnancy in teaching safe sex means educators are promoting teenage pregnancy? Or role-playing drug abuse means approving drug use. Ridiculous! So why should role playing as a homosexual in a class about sexual diversity make one into a homosexual?Hysterics aside, many youths are more intelligent than their parents to appreciate role-playing. In fact, the curriculum encourages critical thinking on the part of students, who are free to agree/disagree with the topic. Students are also instructed to identify and write about the treatment of minority groups (people with disabilities, people of lower economic status, ethnic/racial minorities, gays, lesbians and transgender) in their communities.

In addition, the curriculum states that the objectives of the sexuality and sexual-health topic, 'Feeling Different', are for students to:

Evaluate their attitudes about sexual diversity.

Identify issues faced by adolescents who may not identify as heterosexual.

Acknowledge and show respect for all people, irrespective of their sexual orientation.

In a note to the teacher, the curriculum guide states: "Sexual orientation is a controversial topic. This activity is designed to promote understanding, acceptance and respect. While being sensitive to the community's attitudes, remember that young people need accurate information and an opportunity to discuss an issue that may be difficult for them."

WISHY-WASHY RESPONSE

This is clearly a sensible and reasonable approach to teaching a sensitive topic, and the Ministry of Education has fallen short in offering leadership in the public debate about the suitability of the curriculum. In this instance, as well as the case of the beating of the UTech student, the response from the minister, Ronald Thwaites, has been 'wishy-washy'.

The fixing of our social dysfunctionality - expressed in violence - must start in the schools! In fact, the HFLE curriculum addresses the topic of conflict management and resolution, as well as other useful life skills.Some people - parents and teachers included - confuse the 'acceptance' of differing sexual orientations with approval or agreement. Refusal to accept sexual minorities is dangerously homicidal. No wonder people resort to deadly violence against homosexuals. Of course, parents have the right to object to, and withdraw their child from, exposure to tutorial content they consider offensive, but these parents do not have the right to prevent other students from receiving this information.

To be fair to UTech, it, at least, has clearly established rules against the discrimination of students in residence on the grounds of sexual orientation. UTech's Resident Student Charter promises, among other things, to provide "non-discriminatory treatment to all students, regardless of age, ethnic origin, gender, religious belief, disability or sexual orientation (and) showing respect to the needs of our diverse community".

Maybe fate would have had it that the ugly incident occurred on UTech's home campus. The institution now has the moral obligation to help fix a national problem. In the wake of the incident, UTech announced that it will provide training in areas including diversity issues, crowd control, crime management, and customer service to all security personnel and other contracted employees.

The institution also announced that various groups from academia, staff and the student body would continue to have forums on "issues related to behaviour management, tolerance, diversity and sexuality, designed (in the long term) to influence a cultural shift and facilitate a more harmonious environment".

FIGHTING BIGOTRY

Readers should not misinterpret advocating against the discrimination of sexual minorities as this writer's endorsement or promotion of sexual promiscuity by either heterosexual or homosexual persons in public spaces. The law should take its course in these instances.The fight to eliminate sexual bigotry does not begin and end in the education sector. What is needed urgently is for organisations, perhaps directed by the Ministry of Labour, to promulgate diversity policies to ensure that persons do not suffer discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and other factors. In this regard, the Jamaica Constabulary Force must be commended for promoting diversity as part of its Ethics and Integrity Policy, published April 2011, that states, inter alia:

"Members, in dealing with members of the public, must act fairly and impartially at all times, regardless of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin/class, association with a national minority, disability, age, sexual orientation, marital or family status, property, birth or any other status. Any difference in treatment shall be required to be justified and proportionate."

This is a bold step forward for the Jamaican police, who have been accused by the gay/human-rights lobby for not treating seriously with crimes against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.As local HIV/AIDS-prevention advocates and health officials grapple with the negative impact of stigma in the treatment of men who have sex with men, the non-discriminatory approach by the police - ironically, the enforcers of the buggery law - is a welcome move. It's also an important step towards ending violence against sexual minorities.

Byron Buckley is associate editor at The Gleaner Company. Send comments to columns@gleanerjm.com and byron.buckley@gleanerjm.com.

ENDS

Please see my previous entries on the matters:

The UTECH gay student matter is no 9 day wonder 

Urgent need to discuss Sex & sexuality nationally part 1 

Urgent need to discuss Sex & sexuality nationally part 2

The UTECH Student Abuse and the podcast/audio-post

Also see: New sex education manual in two months and Defending Family Life Curriculum 

Podcasts and related audio:

Urgent Need to Discuss Sex & Sexuality Nationally  (Part 2)

"Str8up Talkshow" on Newstalk on controversial HFLE book with anal sex questions

Newstalk FM's Jerry Small on the UTECH issue (collective security point)

Happy that both issues are being kept alive as too many times we have nine day wonders for important matters and the mainstream media does not do the necessary follow up. The Minister of Education was more prepared to find scapegoats and motives imputing a "gay agenda" behind the questions in the manual while pulling this important resource from the schools and bearing in the mind argued guided imagery exercise was a private one between the student and the specially trained guidance counsellor exposed to the manual's outline and delivery methodology. Pandering to the religious powers? as he himself is a man of the cloth, what about separation of Church and state? 

Here was one of those religious zealots on the matter at the time: 

Shirley Richards on the withdrawal of the controversial HFLE curriculum/book

She was reponsible for the removal of the little protection in the Charter of Rights being removed that covered sexual orientation, however the cry for an end to stigma and discrimination due to sexual orientation is getting louder and from quarters unexpectedly for example human rights lawyer and one time anti gay marriage proponent Newstalk FM's Freshstart host Clyde Williams on nondiscrimination laws & msms

also ere is Arlene Harrison Henry on the International Day of Tolerance speaking in her capacity as head of The Independent Jamaica Council for Human Rights also calling for legislation separate from a buggery review as proposed by the current prime minister: 

Newstalk 93FM's Freshstart w/Arlene Harrison Henry on discrimination & tolerance

Peace and tolerance

H