Homeless MSM/Trans youth draw attention in New Kingston

As the public march progressed for the Endometriosis awareness day activities in New Kingston yesterday this was what was captured by a passer-by of some of our homeless/displaced gay/bi and transgender youths by the gully adjacent the old Super Plus Store next to Island Car Rentals, as you may have realised on this and on sister blog Gay Jamaica Watch, GJW the coverage on this particular group and their predecessors has been extensive for the past five years.

Of course the more privileged gay persons and snobs in our community may turn their noses and say the men are an embarrassment to the LGBT community while on the other hand some others (hypocritically so) may say they serve a purpose as they remind every day Jamaicans that gays exist but certainly this would not be the ideal image one would want to go out there. The toss up between public order, decency and survival has been a challenging one for this group as their numbers increase and while myself and others have not forgotten than more powerful advocates and agencies (namely Jamaica AIDS Support and JFLAG) turned their backs on this set of persons for many years (the closure of the Safe House pilot 2009 comes to mind) more could have been done if there was real interest in seeing a solution enacted to address this, instead we are left with images like this repeatedly.

It was earlier this month I blogged on GJW the following: New Kingston homeless MSM raided again by police a story that almost went unreported if it weren't for vigilant persons, the announced Dwayne's House homeless idea is still in the works as the men continue to occupy the gully.

The actual gully some years ago prior to its occupation now fully by the men as before it had the occasional substance users and female commercial sex workers therein.

Some of the comments from Facebook about the initial photo above make for disturbing feelings such as:

Suffice it to say that this issue needs to be addressed fully not by some half hearted half way house or nice public relations from guilty privileged gay advocates who do not want to get their hands dirty but are more about telling the world what they are doing than actually helping.

the previous Jamaica AIDS Support for Life office site (Upper Musgrave Avenue) where the Safe House pilot sat and was closed: Homeless MSM to feel the pinch as JASL issues ultimatum December 2009 where it all started downhill.

also see:
The toss up between MSM homelessness & public order makes news again

Shelter Coming For Homeless Gays reports the Gleaner

Kingston’s Homeless MSM challenges scream for proper attention

Unruly gays worry store owners ...........................

Homeless MSM in New Kingston arrested in raid for stolen goods

'Don't come back here' - Maxfield residents warn gay man after publicized eviction

The Safe House Background

Homeless impatient with agencies over slow progress of promised shelter

As for government shelters the previous Jamaica Labour Party, JLP administration had designated the old health centre on Upper King Street nearing the York Park fire station as a future shelter but is still unoccupied, I took some photos recently of the building now over grown with shrubbery and used by animals from nearby Flethcer's Land and possibly other persons as a garbage dump.

As this post was being prepared there was an all day session for general homeless persons at the Marie Atkins shelter on Hanover Street where food, blood sugar tests and other personal grooming stuff were being offered, some of the guys were encouraged to attend to make use of that event by the National Council on Drug Abuse, NCDA, I hope they did, their counterparts in St Catherine who are in the weed whacking project are still there rotating the machines and trying to earn some income from landscaping in certain communities. 

Others who are not there in the gully by on the mend while still displaced somewhat have benefited from a scholarship program by a group named Colour Pink where they are pursuing a catering course while also earning valuable information via my group Aphrodite's PRIDE Jamaica in the soon to be concluded phase one Entrepreneurship Training which commenced in August of last year funded by the UK Foreign Commonwealth Office, FCO.

More solutions are being formulated on my and that of the APJ's part while we seek funding and some work is also being done on GLBTQ Jamaica's part but we need funding support. The numbers reached by these efforts by small groups is a drop in the bucket compared to the magnitude of the problem which is islandwide.

Peace and tolerance

H

Grenadian Social Action Collective Challenges Caribbean to #BunDiscrimination

The online social collective Groundation Grenada recently launched an anti-LGBT discrimination campaign, #BunDiscrimination, collaborating with graphic designer Joshua Lu to create several posters featuring altered lyrics from popular songs to highlight the double standards at work. According to the organizers:

Our campaign -‘Discrimination is Discrimination’ – addresses the fact that most people in the Caribbean reject other forms of arbitrary discrimination; they understand why it is problematic and toxic for our societies. Sadly, the same understanding isn’t extended to discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity (SOGI). This is not to say that all forms of discrimination are the same or operate the same. There are, however, crucial parallels between various forms of discrimination that are often ignored. Our campaign visually juxtaposes discriminatory remarks in popular media in a way which makes the parallels apparent.

Some quotes from the GV interview include:

Groundation Grenada (GG): We’ve received both positive and negative feedback. The negative feedback consists primarily of what I perceive as closet homophobes emphasising the differences between discrimination based on sexual orientation/gender identity and race. Some are attempting to belittle the negative discriminatory experiences of Lesbian, Gay Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) people or suggesting that it falls below issues of race in some ‘discrimination hierarchy'. Some of our allies thought we should have included more text, making it explicit that we are against all forms of discrimination and explaining our campaign more because they felt that people may have misconstrued our intentions and thought we were advocating other forms of discrimination, thereby offending some viewers. We understand this, but we think that people will get the message without us having to be explicit. The title of the campaign, ’Discrimination is Discrimination’, helps to contextualize what we are trying to say. The ultimate message is that sexual orientation/gender identity discrimination is as bad as other forms of discrimination and while there is a shock value to the posters, we think by and large people conceptually understand our message. Otherwise, the feedback has been quite positive and individuals and organizations have been sharing the campaign across their social media platforms.

We were not consciously referencing the campaigns from overseas. The campaigns you refer to are campaigns to sanction artistes with homophobic lyrics. The lyrics [are] not our focus. We are not trying to bring awareness to the fact that some music in the Caribbean – as in other parts of the world – advocates violence against LGBTQ people, for the purpose of reprimanding artistes as a deterrent to them.

We wanted to use Caribbean relevant lyrics that many people, and particularly, a youth demographic, would identify with so that people would see how easily we normalise expressions of violence and expressions of discrimination against LGBTQ people and how much we are culpable in that normalisation. We wanted people also to interrogate why they were able to morally excuse lyrics which promote violence and discrimination against LGBTQ people and by extension, why they thought of sexual orientation/gender identity as different from other forms of discrimination, the expressions of which they would never endorse. The popularity of the lyrics was crucial to the campaign. The Indo-Caribbean woman who was jumping in a carnival band and singing Wanskie’s song must now be forced to think about her prejudices; same with the black man in the club singing Buju’s tune. They both may have experienced being discriminated against, depending on their other contexts, they would now be forced to think about the ways they endorse other forms of discrimination.

I think homophobia in the Caribbean is fueled by many things and that people are socialised into being homophobic. Children and people generally living in a space are constantly exposed to expressions of the values and attitudes of that space, which in many cases are internalised. Homophobia as a package is part of the value and attitude system of the Caribbean, expressed in many fora, including in popular media and internalised by people who don’t think about it critically. So popular media plays its part in fueling homophobia in so far as it parades value systems that are internalised. But we have to remember that the music reflects society. Families fuel homophobia a lot more than popular media does in my view.

One of their main upcoming initiatives is a collaboration with ARC Magazine called ‘Forgetting is Not An Option’. This multimedia cultural memory project focuses on the events and experiences surrounding the Grenada Revolution 1979-83. There are politics behind what gets remembered/forgotten and we found that the Grenada Revolution was slowly being forgotten, with many post-revolution born people remembering the demise of the revolution only. We want to keep its memory and the memory of other powerful Caribbean movements alive. It’s important to present an alternative historical narrative to the colonial and inept governance we largely experience. People need to understand their power, as well as their mistakes. We relaunch our open call to artists, writers, musicians etc. this month and the selected works will culminate in an interactive virtual archive, which will launch in March 2015 alongside a series of exhibitions and live events.

We are also organising ‘Groundation Radio’, a blog radio program to expand our platform and improve our outreach. We continue to publish creative and critical pieces from Caribbean and diasporic thinkers and writers on our website. See the full interview HERE from Global Voices.

Two cents:

I kinda like the idea or the replacement of offending lines in previous anti gay targeted materials but my call from back in the day still resounds, if theses artists want to reflect true change then they MUST discontinue or remove said offending materials from their repertoire altogether not just stop performing them to look good or to reduce the pressure placed on them by the lobby. They are still earning from the materials as with every click on sites as iTunes and so forth they need not perform the tunes to appease the gay lobby but profit from the tracks' availability none the less.

Remember that half hearted apology from Beenieman only to turn out to be a farce?

see:

Beenieman Says apology to gay community had no influence in his return to performing in the US

Not Impressed!!!! Beenieman ................... artist supposedly backtracks on gay stance but we must also be reminded of the overkill or overeach by advocates as well that can sometimes lead to a black eye for the lobby's goals that are genuine and not self serving for some powerful individuals in the mix)

see:

Queen Ifrica's "Freedom of Speech" & advocacy found wanting 

Peace and tolerance

H

Uganda and Nigeria: European Parliament calls for targeted sanctions over new laws

Today, the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning new laws to imprison lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals in Nigeria and Uganda. The resolution calls on the European Commission and Member States to take immediate action in the fields of political cooperation, aid, and asylum.

In December, Nigeria adopted the ‘Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill’; in January,the President of Uganda promulgated the ‘Anti Homosexuality Act (2014)’. Both laws foresee harsh penalties for people who ‘commit homosexuality’ (up to life imprisonment in Uganda, up to 14 years in Nigeria).

The laws will particularly impact those wishing to go to gay-friendly bars; attend meetings by NGOs protecting human rights; or receive information about HIV/AIDS.

With this resolution, the Parliament asks the Commission and Member States to step up their human rights dialogue with Uganda and Nigeria under the Cotonou Agreement, which organises political relations between the European Union and 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.

A human rights dialogue is scheduled with Uganda on 28 March. If it leads to unsatisfactory results, MEPs will ask the Commission to consider suspending Uganda and Nigeria from the Cotonou Agreement.

The resolution also calls for aid to be redirected away from governments, and towards civil society organisations instead.

The Parliament also suggested that Member States consider travel and visa bans for political and civil society leaders responsible for the passage of the laws.

Michael Cashman MEP, Co-President of the LGBT Intergroup and Rapporteur of the second revision of the Cotonou Agreement, reacted: “After 15 years of ACP-EU relations, we must admit that the Cotonou Agreement is failing human rights.”

“This house believes it is high time to take the next step, and consider suspending Nigeria and Uganda from the EU-ACP political dialogue.”

Ulrike Lunacek MEP, Co-President of the LGBT Intergroup, added: “These laws gravely undermine the most basic right of all: the right to life. We know that the mere examination of these laws has already led to deaths.”

“LGBT people in Uganda and Nigeria now live in a constant state of fear, just for being who they are, while we know that female and male homosexuality is not ‘un-african’ as some claim. It has existed and will exist in all cultures and societies.”

“The EU must take a strong stance against the governments and leaders behind these laws, while standing in solidarity with all the citizens of these countries.”

Read more:
Read the resolution on launching consultations to suspend Uganda and Nigeria from the Cotonou Agreement in view of recent legislation further criminalising homosexuality