J-FLAG finally shows open Support for the Constitutional Challenge to Buggery Law by Javed Jaghai

Why oh why has it taken so long for JFLAG to respond to repeated calls from frustrated community influentials to show their open support for the challenge by their own Education Officer Javed Jaghai is a mystery to us all objective thinkers but here comes a press release from them, too little too late if you ask me as it looks as if it is Javed and his team on his own doing this. It is unbelievable the step-n-fetch it modus operandi of JFLAG they always seem to be catching up with the rest of the community. 

Word of this case and that of Mr Tomlinson's tolerance ad matter have been in the public domain forever and it is now that JFLAG finally comes with a release, where is the leadership and taking the reigns? The limp-wristedness continues it seems. The release read as follows:

J-FLAG Supports Constitutional Challenge to Buggery Law

J-FLAG supports the constitutional challenge to the ‘buggery law’ by our Education & Outreach Officer, Javed Jaghai.

As Executive Director, I accompanied Javed to court on Tuesday, June 25, 2013 in order to get a first-hand account of the proceedings and also to explore the possibility for J-FLAG to formally join the proceedings in this landmark constitutional challenge. We will soon update you on the progress of this endeavour.

We were advised by our legal representative that the Chambers of Justice Carol Edwards would be too small to accommodate all interested parties and their lawyers, and as such we should try to limit the numbers of our supporters. This turned out to be true, and we had to move to a court room in order to accommodate the almost two dozen lawyers, including three Queens Counsels, and their clients.

The outside of the Supreme Court was full of media personnel who were eager for coverage of Javed and his team as they entered and exited the court. There was also a small but vocal group of women who expressed their opposition to any changes being made to the buggery law.

At last count there are eleven (11) interested parties opposing the claim who will be joining the Attorney General who represents the Government of Jamaica in constitutional matters such as this.

To this date they are:

1. Lawyers Christian Fellowship (LCF)

2. Hear the Children’s Cry (Betty-Ann Blaine)

3. Citizens for Truth and Justice (Catholics)

4. Love March Movement

5. Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society (JCHS)

6. Jamaica Association of Evangelicals

7. Ethiopian Orthodox Church

8. Independent Churches (Bishop Adegold)

9. Holiness Christian Church

10. Christian Brethren Assemblies of Jamaica

11. Church of God in Jamaica.

Note: The Marcus Garvey Movement has applied to be joined as well but that application has not yet been served.

Lead Attorney for the claimant, Maurice Tomlinson, agreed that the groups should be allowed to join in the matter since the case is of national importance and therefore all views should contend.

Essentially, Justice Edwards collapsed a number of the groups into one and called them ‘The Church’. Only LCF, JCHS and Hear the Children’s Cry will be heard separately.

The content of Javed’s affidavit was brought into question as aspects were said to be hearsay and were therefore deemed offensive to the rules of evidence. The judge requested that the affidavit be amended to remove the offending parts and re-submitted to the court by Friday July 5, 2013 . Another 3-hour case management session has been set for Friday October 4, 2013 to address the substantive administrative matters regarding the proceedings.

This is an exciting time for J-FLAG and the Jamaican Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender (LGBT) community in general as this case seeks to determine that the retention of the anti-buggery law in its current form is a contravention of our constitutional rights to privacy and equality before the law. The buggery law criminalizes certain sexual acts of consenting adults in private and this is something that J-FLAG and many of its partners in civil society finds to be an injustice and offensive to the concept of social equality.

We look forward to the resumption of this case and by our participation we expect to make an important contribution to the improvement of the quality of citizenship and life of LGBT Jamaicans.

ENDS

meanwhile here is the ED on radio last evening, an interview I missed with the new President of the Lawyers Christian Fellowship