“Thugs” is used in this sense to describe a hyper-masculine Jamaican man, there has always been a fascination with that type in the same gender male loving world outside of objectifying them with all other kinds of colloquial expressions over the years to describe them in the continuing search for identity I imagine. Word such as “Heaviots” “thuggy thug” “shotta or shottaz” (burrowed from dancehall implying gangster gun culture and its projected male strength) and newer classifications such as “dawgy” (a derivative of dawg (dog) from African American gang culture projecting masculinity or machismo) and “Fiyah” (fire) usually used to describe a male when one is not familiar with his name socially or an obvious Rastafarian male or previously metaphorically associated with anti gay male culture (“fiyah bun dem” – fire burn for them) have now come to represent the section of the MSM group. Male homosexuality in Jamaica has long been associated with effeminacy or feminine behaviour in men whether forced feminization (ballroom and drag culture/tranvestitism, preoperative trans-womanhood, female cisgender imperative) or unforced (innate) but we have seen a steady emergence of very masculine, typical hegemonic elements or hyper-masculine types and aesthetics creep into the culture and image and as such perceptions to me have been changing. Such change has reflected in public discourse, the subject matter in dancehall music and what I term the metrosexual revolution in male dress with several forms of attire that were once viewed as taboo and frowned upon now openly accepted including the openly done lightening or “bleaching” of the skin and the wearing of soft colours such as pink once viewed and to some extent still viewed as a female only shade.
Unlike their counterparts in a previous incident some years ago in the Denham Town area of Jamaica’s Capital Kingston that made tabloid news and was hot on the grapevine and where they used “street force” and their position of power in their community to avoid a community mobbing against them and another case in 2013 of a St Catherine gang leader who was charged for buggery after allegedly forcing new male recruits into becoming passive partners before enrolment and female common law partners for also allowing him to perform anal penetration on them two men in a St Catherine community in their mid to late twenties were not so fortunate in June 2013. Another such case was reported in Kingston earlier this year as well where a reputed gangster had to also leave his community and is now overseas supposedly cooling out as he was allegedly found naked in a series of photos that surfaced on the internet in the company of another nude man. He apparently had a male lover who took shots of themselves after a loving romp at this lover’s home but some reason the shots found their way to a popular blog then Facebook (since removed) allegedly due to a fallout between the two so an unwelcomed outing was the revenge tactic used to embarrass the thug and he now is paying a price. The accused exposer in the mean time is alleged to have been threatened several times by other men close to the situation and the exposed thug and is still in fear of his life, he has not ventured out much to any LGBT events and he plans and monitors his movements carefully so as to avoid being seen and informed on by the exposed thug’s cronies who seem to be everywhere on the lookout.
How the thugs who were caught
The lovers in St Catherine were reportedly caught after the grandmother of one of the men arrived unannounced at the home of one of the men bearing a message from a relative and ground provisions that she would normally carry as she attends a local church nearby as a member of the choir, reports from trusted sources suggest that the two men have arrived at the house earlier that morning from a street dance some miles away held the night before and are frequent patrons on the party scene in the area but many are shocked at the discovery of the two as lovers and speculation has been rife ever since as is usual in cases like this to determine that they were lovers all along at they were seen together quite often in a kind of Sherlock Holmes search for origin of their relationship. Jamaican men under normal socialisation circumstances are very homosocial and indeed do spend more time with each other than they even do with their opposite gender spouses save and except for sex which never usually lasts long according to some. Profiling such as was hinted to in the speculative behaviour of the community members in shock of the news is also not new, we have a way of “sizing up” individuals in this manner especially owing to the fact that the men do not match the stereotypical identity of being gay, the effeminate aura as hinted to in the introduction. With the shedding of the barriers that differentiate supposed easily identified gay men aesthetically as opposed to a heterosexual one such as low wearing pants complete with exposed anal crevices or boxers visible it is hard to “tell” who is or isn’t so hence the prolonged rehashing of persons’ activities to determine if they the speculators missed something in not seeing or suspecting the outed individuals were gay all along.
The men were said to be passionately making love complete with erotic sounds and were kissing allegedly when the grandmother of one made the discovery, a door apparently was ajar when she arrived unannounced and stood in shock (according to reports of her account afterwards) as the men kissed and caressed each other, it is also reported that one “sucked the nipples of the other” and he moaned as if he was a woman, the grandmother is also reported to have commented that not even in her day did she experience such feelings (probably referring to the eroticism between the two men of the moment in time when she arrived for emphasis) and was repulsed by what she stumbled upon. She reportedly barged in and among other things “plead the blood of Jesus” on them as they scampered to find their clothes, it is also reported that her grandson pleaded with her not to share her discovery but that was not to be, the out of area lover tried to leave in a hurry on his resident bro’s bicycle but that was not to be just yet as the elderly woman made an alarm thus attracting community members. Persons were said to have arrived armed with machetes and other devices thinking it was a robbery or untoward event at first while others looked shocked according to one of my sources, a video is said to have been taken by someone in the melee who had a phone of the elderly woman and persons verbally condemning the men as they left hurriedly on the aforementioned bicycle with one as a pillion being towed as stones, bottles and anything that they could find were hurled at them. Persons also seemed angry with themselves following the men eluding them. The seeming delay in the negative response from the community was beneficial in a way as it seems dotted with unusual pauses however maybe due to the disbelief by persons in earshot of the news and the men involved, under other circumstances where men were caught in the act the action would have been far more decisive and maybe more physical damage would have been the outcome especially in a rural community such as this one where this took place.
Because the men made good their escape it seems whatever remaining possessions were stolen including a phone that fell from the pocket of one of them, burnt or trampled on in anger I suppose as the mob could not get to personally inflict their version of jungle homo-purging justice even as the grandmother is incessantly quizzed and gladly provides information about what she stumbled on interspersed with raucous laughter and disparaging remarks including the infamous “battyman fi dead” ode and “dem a get too bright” (they are too open) with it from her captive audience. I am not surprised at this response in as far as the comments allegedly made are concerned rural areas tend to be behind when it comes to anti gay rhetoric and sentiments and since visibility of even perceived homosexuals is rare or persons therein regularize themselves so as to avoid scrutiny the fallout tends to be less than urban or more developed residential areas, I wonder what would have happened if the elder woman saw the men actually in a copulative or penetrative position? it may have be a worse situation since buggery is the crooks of the hardened anti gay positions and homo-negativity indeed homophobia.
Thankfully they were able to escape and use the delay window provided so to do but it raises some concerns I have had for some time regarding the dormant homo-purging sentiments lodged somewhere in our psyche and expressed in episodes of mob violence, it is that the national pressures on the economic front and feelings of sluggishness and non improvement can also be an added factor to that psychologically embedded rage that any “target” of least or less resistance that presents itself can become the punching bag to release those feelings? There are hardly any public instances or examples of LGBT persons who are targets of abuse in whatever forms resisting or retaliating so the perception of us as weak is strengthened with every story such as this one despite the “victims” displaying full masculine traits publicly but somehow weakened by the grandmother’s description of some feminization in their lovemaking actions hence they are no longer “man enough” and deserve expulsion.
Another incident that I can reference took place also in St Catherine nearing the dam head area in December 2012 by a man made irrigation canal an offshoot from the Rio Cobre River where two nude swimmers were also caught allegedly partner-masturbating did not get such a delayed response from irate persons for the most part squatters along the river who were summoned by the person who first saw them and if it weren’t for the arrival of police who were called and the men taking evasive action by swimming across the channel and making their way into thick prickle filled bushes it probably would have ended up far worse with ghastly consequences. The men were covered with cuts and bruises from making their escape. Nude swimming by men is now taboo these days at certain water sources nearing suburban zones, one tends to find that practice more so as one gets into deeper rural terrain. Instances of MSM outdoor sex in particular and persons being caught have not escaped the notice of this blog and is something worth exploring in a socio-anthropological context, the psychology behind the need for gay men in particular in cruising is interesting. There has always been a vibrant outdoor cruising population just observing from my own experience and it seems the practice continues. The University of Technology, UTECH student abuse case in November 2012 comes to mind.
A homosexual tolerance study was released some time ago in 2012 as done by Professor Ian Boxill of the University of the West Indies endorsed by JFLAG/AIDSFREEWORLD suggesting that tolerance was on the rise but recent homo-negative events including alleged beatings, more forced evictions leading to displacements and lesbian-negative atrocities to me suggest otherwise and the recent actions by religious groups. I still subscribe to the thinking that the nation’s psyche has embedded in it those hardened feelings and the right moments every now and again present themselves breaking the perceived supposed public tolerance restraint towards perceived homosexual(ity)s especially when unfortunate homo-paedophile action cases are conflated with consensual adult male homosexuality and seeing homosexuality as predatory behaviour. The legal challenges on now and their proponents and claimants must take into account that the change of the law or amendments won’t change the culture overnight, deeply engrained ideologies, religious imperatives, false dichotomies that LGBT rights agitation is anti-Christian by themselves bordering on moral nihilism and that those persons do not start a process then if it doesn’t produce the desired results simply hop on a plane to another country as many have asylum cases or citizenship changes in progress then leave the rest of us to face the music, the fight is going to get physical as blood is the ultimate price for freedom, it is not a matter of if it’s a matter of when. As visibility increases there are going to be instances similar in nature to the ones included in this entry and we must be prepared and forearmed.
The whereabouts of the two love makers is not fully known their last sighting was in Kingston by a friend, I presume they’ll have to lay very low for now, live it down and just try to adjust to their new reality, they may never be able to return home as I presume by now the other party being a non-resident but known elsewhere may have had his name mired in mud by now owing to the grapevine culture and might be better safer if he remains out of sight from his original jurisdiction. I understand all too well the feeling of being out of kilter from one’s own home and rejection or vilification by family and others, it is more egregious when said siblings or relatives castigate one with strangers. My own temporary displacement and legal woes in November 1996 is testament to those feelings and the long road it took for me (no formal LGBT agencies/psychosocial support around at that time) to reconnect with family and friends some today still maintain a distance but I have been able to return home prior to the passing of both parents (fences mended) and in my home. There is no place like home no matter what others think. The residents in my area have adjusted but there will always be a cloud I am aware but the only way to live down stigma and homo-negative perception is to exist; show them day by day that I am no different than anyone else if only separated by my sexual orientation and that we are not here to “homosexualize” others or condition children as imputed in the fear of us out there.
I hope I can meet the guys one day and talk to them about their experiences and recovery; too often we get the ghastly event details but not the road to recovery after their lives are interrupted.
Peace and tolerance
H
also see
Should we care about dancehall acts & rumours of gaydom?
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