Officers rescue alleged male fondler from mob

I heard about this incident via a text message but was not sure of it until it appeared in the Star yesterday as happened in St Thomas, it seems the eastern side of the island has been having its fair share of issues regarding sexual inappropriate behaviour the arrest of a pastor accused of sexual assaulting three girls in his church under the age of consent was the last major drama I heard.

see: Anti gay religious voices where are they? .... Pastor charged with sexual assault

That case was heard in court and his house was almost torched by angry residents also the church as well, another matter involving a man who is charged for buggering a teenage boy though unconfirmed is widely circulated and the man is said to be on the run.

The Star carried yesterday:

The police in St Thomas had to move swiftly earlier this week to rescue a man who is on a sexual assault charge, accused of fondling a young man's private parts.

Reports reaching The WEEKEND Star and the police are that residents in the Phanpret area of St Thomas have been threatening to attack and beat the 40-year-old man for the alleged assault.

granted bail

He was arrested and charged by the Yallahs police on June 30, for allegedly sexually assaulting a young man in the community. He was granted bail in the sum of $8,000 and booked to appear in court on July 25.

The charge comes against allegations that the man offered a young man accommodation at his home for a night after the young man failed to find a family member he was visiting.

They young man was allegedly awoken by the man fondling his private parts. An investigation by the police led to the charge being laid against the accused.

ENDS

Question is was the fondled man gay or was it an arrangement gone bad? Does this fondler have a mental issue for an urge to do so in public?

We may never know these things as incidents do not just happen like that as those of us who are experienced can attest to, there is far more to this than meets the eye.

One can recall the so called sodomatical attack case in 2009 with the subsequent murder of a priest in so called self defence (gay panic defence) as well - PRIEST'S FREAKY ACTS EXPOSED - Court hears accused pressured for sex

The details of the alleged intimate acts that took place between a priest and the man accused of murdering him were revealed yesterday in a document which was tendered in evidence and read to the jury.

The revelation was made during the trial of 25-year-old labourer Prince Vale of Tommy Hill district, Stony Hill, St Andrew, who is charged with the murder of Anglican priest Father Richard Johnson.

The priest was fatally stabbed on the night of November 12, 2006, at the Anglican church rectory at Stony Hill.

Deputy Superintendent Roy Boyd testified in the Home Circuit Court yesterday that on November 15, 2006, he interviewed Vale. He said attorney-at-law Arthur Kitchin represented Vale during the interview that was in the form of questions and answers.

Vale said he used to go to the priest's house and they would discuss work and Bible knowledge. He said that they would telephone each other as well.

Vale said during the interview, that on previous occasions when he went to the rectory, he and the priest watched television in the bedroom. He said they also watched 'blue movies'.

Questioned as to whether the priest had ever said anything to him about having sex, Vale said "yes". The accused man further said that the priest had asked him if mi could have sex with him, which he refused.

Vale told the police during the interview that on the night of the incident he went to the priest's house sometime after 9 p.m for a pair of pants and to discuss work.

He said that when he went to the house, the priest let him in. He said that he asked the priest for a drink and it was given to him.

After he tried on the pair of pants, it could not fit and he told the priest it would be better for him to keep it.

He said that after he took off the pants the priest tried to fondle him. Father Johnson, he said, touched his penis and chest but "I told him I was not in those things".

Vale said that the priest who was wearing a pair of shorts took it off and tried to make him touch his erect penis. Questioned further Vale said "mi put mi hand on it." Vale said that for about three to five minutes, the priest was trying to have intercourse with him but he told him to stop.

In response to the question "why did you stab Johnson?" Vale replied "mi never want him to ..... me." Vale said at the time when he stabbed the priest he had been lying on top of him.

Also see the Observer report HERE 

Back to the matter at hand though is public fondling though a sign of other serious mental issues with the foldler? This needs research I think

Peace & Tolerance

H

So The Gay Marriage Paranoia Spreads to Dominica?

I am not aware of any Caribbean state requesting or agitating for gay marriage rights or benefits.

see: More gay marriage paranoia & hijacking of the homosexual debate by fanatics

So the paranoia we saw earlier this year of jumping the gun to gay marriage when we cannot even get passed common sense and just reasoning on tolerance, privacy and an archaic buggery legislation has spread to Dominica as well, the last post on here we saw the Prime Minister there in 2013 with Dominican govt says no to changes to buggery laws .......... local homophobes reject "Homophobia" then speaking on the state-owned DBS radio Monday, said his administration’s position on the matter is stated in law “and this matter is still on our books and will remain there for the foreseeable future.” 

He added: “I respect the views of this new group. I understand from persons they intend to write to the government. We welcome their writing to government. We welcome meeting them as as a matter of fact. They are citizens of this country and they would like to express their views.

“But one has to look at the broader context of this request and it will be dangerous for the country to move in the direction of repealing laws against buggery,” Skerrit said.

He said that “as it is now anybody who wants to engage in whatever activities can do so in the privacy of his home. But one should not believe that the government is prepared or thinking of wanting to make this a public affair.”

Skerrit said he has not heard “any compelling arguments for it to be repealed and I don’t think any compelling arguments can be made for it to be repealed.” 

Now in recent days:

Dominica PM Roosevelt Skerrit

ROSEAU, Dominica (CMC) — The Dominica Government says it will not accept same-sex marriages, insisting the island will not follow other countries in doing so.

"I will make it clear that there are some things that this Government will not accept and we will never allow for the state to recognise same-sex marriage in our country. If other countries want to do it, that's a matter for them but there are certain guiding principles that we must follow," Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said.

The local group, Minority Rights Dominica (MiriDom), has been calling on the Government to re-examine the Sexual Offence Act of Dominica as it relates to buggery, claiming that the legislation "discriminates against people because of their sexual preferences.

"We are just asking that everybody be treated equally," the group said, adding that it was still awaiting correspondence from Prime Minister Skerrit on the issue.

But Prime Minister Skerrit said while he is willing to meet with MiriDom to discuss issues, concerns and recommendations. "I don't think any one group should impose any views on any other group.

"We are prepared to meet with MiriDom at any time. We will seek to contact them again and arrange for the Minister for Social Services and myself to meet and discuss with them."

The prime minister also dismissed reports that police were threatening to arrest people at their homes engaged in same-sex. "This has never happened in Dominica and I don't think that will be happening any time now or later," he said.

ENDS

also see: 

When did anyone ask for gay marriage rights in Jamaica when we can't get basic tolerance ......... more smokescreen to deny recognition

Earlier this month we also saw our own madness with the Methodist Church jumping the gun to say their priests won't be allowed to conduct marriages in some fear that that will be the next item to reform society. Fear is a hell of a thing and to think heterosexual religious folk mostly are defending stoutly the institution of marriage as they have a right to under the current definition of marriage as one man one woman yet the figures of divorce in Jamaica as of June this year makes me wonder.

 Source: Statistical Institute of Jamaica

Anglican Church in the Caribbean: No to Same Sex Marriages

Opposition sides with Govt on No to same sex marriage (PNP prior to the 2011 elections win)

Gay Marriage - An Invented Issue by the Christian right movement

Jamaica Council of Churches still not clear on the buggery law but resolute in opposing gay marriage

Promoting homosexuality? No, its about freedom of choice, privacy & tolerance

and

BUY NO RINGS, YOU WON’T WED; RELIGIOUS FEAR-MONGERING ON GAY MARRIAGE & THE BUGGERY LAW CONTINUES

Jamaican Artistes say Gay Marriage on 2014 Grammy Awards was too much

A response to Rev Carla Dunbar's stance on gay marriage

NY-Based Co-Founder of J-FLAG sees no need for same sex-marriage

Will same-sex marriages ever be accepted in Jamaica?

Bruce Golding's Waffle on Buggery

Government says there will be zero tolerance for gay marriages 2008 under the JLP's Bruce Golding

MoBay Church Fraternity Says No To Buggery Review

Minister of Education says no to condoms in schools & grooming of children to see homosexuality as accepted

Same-Sex Marriage A Misnomer, Fraud (Gleaner Letter)

Lesbian couple celebrate their marriage locally ..

PNP 2006, No plans to Legalise Same Sex Union in Jamaica(FLASHBACK)

No Same Sex Marriage says Prime Minister in Charter of Rights Bill Debate 2009

Gay Marriage posts on GLBTJA Wordpress: HERE

The False Dichotomy of the religious right on the LGBT advocacy Godlessness

Continued misconceptions of adult homosexuals being paedophiles

Peace and tolerance needed indeed at this time as arrant madness seems to take over and fear of what I am not so sure

H

3 LGBT Forced Evictions in Clarendon a Cause for Concern

It was only earlier this month this blog carried the following: Woman Labelled “Man Royal” Forced to Relocate from a St Catherine Community

Now Confirmed are these latest cases & outcomes:

Two gay men and a same gender loving female in her early 20s are the latest to join the numbers of persons being thrown out of their homes by family members in recent times; these are just cases that have come to hand, there may be more gone unreported or addressed elsewhere, this trio though all hail from one parish that of Clarendon with two from May Pen and one from a small district outside of the town. One of the three persons is now staying at an influentials flat in St Catherine until matters can be settled in a sense and as the female tries to arrange a ride to pick up her belongings as her mother has allowed some time for her to do so.

Other parishes have been seeing their own share of cases many unconfirmed but corroborated which leaves one in doubt yet but Portland, St Catherine, St Ann and St James seem to be the areas that have had the most instances of MSM mostly evicted and transwomen as well.

The SGL female case is the most recent of the three in Clarendon thanks to a friends of hers who alerted me as it was only last weekend when she returned from a sporting event only to be confronted by her mother who said she was told (and she always knew) that her daughter was on Facebook with other girls on photographs and that her lifestyle was wrong, persons have been feeding her information along the whole nine yards. According to the young lady involved she has had run-ins before with her father who resides elsewhere but those had died down somewhat, she was unaware however that other matters were apparently ongoing all this time that it could have led to an ultimatum to have her leave which surprised her. There was an argument some time before on other domestic issues but no hint was given as well to any discomfort of her perceived sexual orientation. We have seen so many cases as this one before where just on the face it it seems normative then comes the surprise.

The young lady who is employed has been making some adjustments in keeping her job while thankfully the news has not reached her employers or co-workers so I do not expect her to be homeless anytime soon which is good news and some relief as those numbers are spiralling out of control. One of our brothers, twenty three years old in this story though is not so fortunate, he was thrown out of his family home from February of this year and kept it down for some time but a lack of steady income and sustenance has left him no choice but to beg literally other community persons, he stayed at my house for a couple days in April but costs did not allow me to continue the assistance for a protracted period as many other community influentials have adopted a shortened assistance when available. Increased bills, a sliding dollar and fiscal prudence has greatly affected this informal type of crisis intervention or community based shelter assistance.

He as I prepare this post is now in Portmore for another short stay opportunity by a friend I begged until some other door is opened which is a difficult way to exist going from hand to mouth so to speak and leaves on feeling disheartened. Thanks so much to that friend (a regular reader of this blog) so much as he was aware of my issue last year in assisting another young man who did not last three days at my pad as he apparently found a thug in my area attractive and brought him to my home without my permission for sexual liaisons which did not sit well with me, so I had to evict him as a matter of principle. I have a policy of not dating or sleeping with “area men” they can become very “sprung” demanding thinking they have one over you.

The second victim in the trio eviction was outed by mistake he reported at home almost a year ago after he returned from a weekend out with friends; he reportedly had women’s clothes in his unpacked bag that he had left in his room on the floor, his mother apparently in causally tidying the house ran into the bag and its contents and waited on him to supposedly cross examine him on the clothes, he claimed she made remarks that he did not have a girlfriend so how could he have female clothes in his possession and for weeks the matter was repeatedly raised in some way, shape or form to his annoyance. Other family members who also told he said as he noticed attitudes from them when they visited or on the phone was distant or different than before.

Even after he discarded the bag and the clothes the matter was still raised and it was during those latter months that the indication that a separation was pending became apparent; the young man however did not take it seriously and thought she was only joking. It was a heated Sunday morning exchange however where the seriousness of the matter was brought home to him as an older brother spoke to him over the phone and warned him to just leave as their mother was not planning on having him stay. Fast forward to the present set of circumstances.

Third victim

Another male who was forcibly evicted in June of this year was also reported in the May Pen are. According to my sources the young man has been the brunt of teasing in his community for some time as he is said to be effeminate and has had run-ins with other community male members who often tell him to stay away from them or their sons implying homo-peadophile intentions by the man. The man who is said to be in his twenties was also slapped with an object of some kind as he left the home jeered and mocked by residents and told by family members not to return for his own safety. This case seems not to be one that was the causation of family members or siblings but more community influenced. As more details come forth and are relevant this post maybe updated but it is clear that this case exists as the female also was able to corroborate the matter as she heard of the issue but could not get in touch with the individual as it was sometime prior to her matter.

His actual whereabouts now is unclear as he was said to be in Kingston upon last check, I am not sure if he has joined the Shoemaker Gully population or downtown.

Forced evictions seem to be on the rise but not surprisingly as there is always a spike in times of heightened public discourse on homosexuality and especially the caustic, inciteful tone and colour of the issues in just four and a half weeks I would not be relaxed and expect to hear of more reports of such evictions. Sadly our goodly advocates who are more interested in getting sex education courses in schools while bypassing the legal authorities do not see a reason to have a proper catchment, half way house or transitional living facility for this kind of long-standing challenges knowing fully well that stigma and discrimination overall produces these visible consequences or displacements and subsequent homelessness.

Since 2014 more than 25 cases of displacements overall have come to hand and that does not include the unreported, unshared and reports to other agencies/individuals unbeknownst to myself. This is a worrying trend and I am particularly concerned about the numbers of lesbians/bisexual women who are factoring in the numbers and in residential areas at that such as Portmore and other housing schemes more so than lower socio economic zones where such evictions are expected due to the levels of homophobia or indeed lesbophobia therein.

Another unconfirmed report of a forced eviction had come to light in Portmore recently as well based on a television newsclip of a buggery arrest matter but details are sketchy as they are when doing this kind of investigative work. Police sources sometime clam up these days on such matters as they claim superiors do not want to create any panic or give persons ideas to incite violence or take matters into their own hands.

Thanks to the community folks who pitched in this time and please help where you can.

Be vigilant be safe

Peace and tolerance

H

A Response to a Gleaner Commentary: 'CAUSE' Editorials And The Culture War

I felt moved to respond to this commentary piece from one Alfred Sangster whose poorly thought through article just irked me as I sipped my tea this morning, I hope the Gleaner approves my comment but in case they do not it sits below the article excerpted:

'CAUSE' Editorials And The Culture War

By Alfred Sangster

The Gleaner editorial of July 03, 2014 asks the question, In whose CAUSE? and answers the question in the body of the editorial. Essentially, the editorial is sounding the battle cry against the consortium 'Churches Action Uniting Society for Emancipation' (CAUSE).The article attacks the evangelicals and is strong for the gay-rights movement. The war that The Gleaner has declared is against, "those who are intent on turning back a liberalism that sees same-sex orientations not as a fundamental right, but as an intolerable aberration." There has been a second supporting editorial of July 8, 2014 by The Gleaner titled: 'Good tactic, wrong CAUSE', which was obviously prompted by the fact that the CARICOM leaders at their recent meeting deferred approval of the anti-discrimination document (PANCAP) which has a strong gay-rights agenda. The successful lobby of over 140 organisations against the document must have sent a strong signal to the CARICOM leaders and a jarring message to The Gleaner writers as well!

This so-called culture war is driven by imperialists whose methods have been no different from those of earlier years. Jamaica has had its challenges of culture wars before with threats to life and liberty. The most recent historically was in the '70s when Michael Manley launched his democratic socialism - a cover-up for communism - on the Jamaican people. But Jamaica rejected this foreign imperialistic doctrine and the People's National Party was rejected in an unprecedented way. The Gleaner editorial writers seem to have forgotten their paper's history. It was the same Michael Manley who led a demonstration at The Gleaner's gates with the promised threat of 'Next Time'. The Gleanercried out to the country for help, and people rallied around and bought shares in the company. I was one of them.

WAKE-UP CALL

For our present time, the Brendan Bain issue was a new wake-up call to both the Jamaican society in general and the Church in particular. The communist threat, now history, has been replaced with a new imperialistic threat to the country in the militant gay-rights movement in what the editorial described as the new culture wars. This new value system is characterised by the cleverly disguised use of 'rights' to bypass existing laws and practical questions of right and wrong. In President Obama's reflections on racial and women's 'rights' on issues of freedom, equality and justice, he was correct and argued from the highest ethical and moral value system known to mankind. When he added the rights of homosexuals to his list of rights, he moved America down the slippery slope of moral decay. So the Christian community and many elements of civil society have risen to battle this new imperialism and its challenges. These are the issues and this is the CAUSE.

It is about a lifestyle which has the following sexual elements.

It is an unnatural lifestyle. The plant and animal kingdom have their male and female genders for propagation, renewal and replacement

It is an unhealthy lifestyle. The Brendan Bain statistics - internationally confirmed - noted the realities of the enhanced threat to sexual diseases

It is an unproductive lifestyle.

The gay lifestyle strikes at the heart of the family and the sanctity of marriage currently entrenched in the Jamaican Constitution as a union between one man and one woman, The buggery law is not about prying into people's bedrooms; it strikes at the root of the justice system and creates a false value system.

The firing of Professor Brendan Bain was just such an example. A large number of splinter groups described by The Gleaner headline as 'duppies' led to the false premise that Professor Bain had lost the confidence and support of his constituents.

STRIKES at NATION'S HEART

The gay lifestyle strikes at the heart of a nation's ethical, moral and spiritual value system.

The movement is characterised by some of the following elements.

The tactics of the imperialists remain the same as those of the old slave masters - use any available resource to subdue, or buy out the 'natives',

Use the media to induce 'the hate speech concept' and attack those who stand for Christian values.

Use underhand and deceitful methods to influence the young. The recent sexual material in the children's homes is an example. The interchanges between Carolyn Gomes, Kay Osborne and the Jamaicans for Justice raises the question as to who is telling the truth.

It is clear that The Gleaner editorialists have captured the imperialistic gay-rights agenda, quite the opposite of the struggles of the '70s. What is the policy of The Gleaner's board of directors on this issue? What of the voice of shareholders who supported The Gleaner in the '70s. We need answers.

ENDS

My response:

Dr Mr Sangster,

Please step out of the dark ages and step into the present reality, the procreation argument does not wash anymore as ONE person can be made produce and embryo via stem cell research/manipulation and other scientific methods for persons who cannot have children naturally or same sex couples who do not want to go the route of a surrogate.

Because you are not attracted to the same sex does not make it unnatural for someone's whose experience is different from yours but clearly you wish to IMPOSE your beliefs on others yet pretend that you hate he sin but love the sinner which is a silly argument.

Anal sex as implied in this poorly thought through and under-researched article is NOT the untidy affair as your active imagination would like to think as your mind seems stuck on the "sex of it" instead of the orientation of the individuals (mostly in this case gay/bi men) but bear in mind heterosexuals also practice anal penetration, some for contraceptive means as evidenced by medical doctors who have spoken publicly on the issue. Walk into any pharmacy and there are anal healthcare products similar to those that women use for their own issues.

Please list the actual page(s) that had the so called offensive lines in the JFJ sex education manual as I find many as yourself who are in strong opposition have failed miserably to be specific on that matter but are up in arms at a report by a newspaper, they did bypass the CDA but the reporting mechanism and monitoring visits by the CDA should have picked up in the 6 or 7 months the activity was taking place a point that I have yet to see you self righteous voices elucidate.

You wrote:

"The movement is characterised by some of the following elements. The tactics of the imperialists remain the same as those of the old slave masters - use any available resource to subdue, or buy out the 'natives',Use the media to induce 'the hate speech concept' and attack those who stand for Christian values."

Where is the proof of this when this very newspaper and others has allowed your piece to be published (as nonsensical as it is), so how can it be blocking freedom of speech and you, Rev Peter Espeut, Dr Wayne West, Shirley Richards and others over these many years have contributed articles and so on unimpeded or blocked by these so called imperialists?

The fact that a rally that basically incited hate & reawakened old homophobic feelings was even allowed to occur to supposed fight against as you put it "imperialists" when this is a MINORITY lest we forget is not clear to you yet? ..... it is interesting that very freedom of speech which you defend so stoutly is now being used by you and yours to suppress a minority, wow 15th century England all over again but this time in little Jamaica and then you claim the victim-hood card to justify your arguments ........ are you for real?

Finally stop clouding the atheistic or secularist push with that of the LGBT rights advocacy, not all voices who are atheist are homosexual that is what is causing a lot of this nonesense.

ENDS

also see

The Gleaner Editorial to Anti gay Group Jamaica CAUSE - Good Tactic, Wrong CAUSE

More Pastoral Inappropriateness & Under-aged Victims... Silence from The Selective Religious Anti Gay Fundamentalists?

Two Good Letters on Gay Person-hood & Paedophile Homosexuality Conflation

Jamaican Gay Unions? Hanna Says Ja Not Ready For Same-Sex Families Despite Int'l Redefinition

The Gleaner Editorial to Anti Gay Group - In Whose CAUSE?

Jamaica CAUSE issues Veiled threat to Govt to not Repeal The Buggery Law

Many more miles to go on understanding and just sheer sensible reasoning it seems

Peace and tolerance

H

Man reportedly mobbed while dressed as woman case heard in court

A woman and her two daughters accused of beating their alleged gay relative and biting him on his ear told the court that they never touched him and that he was beaten by a mob after he showed up at nine-night dressed like a woman.

Patricia Bignall, 51-year-old construction worker of Cockburn Pen in Kingston, is accused of using a stone to hit her nephew on his hand while one of her 19-year-old daughters, Carlene Thompson, is accused of holding the complainant's hand for her sister, Pollyanna Osbourne, to bite the complainant on his ears.

Bignall is also accused of threatening to kill the complainant.

The trio however denied beating the complainant, claiming that he was attacked by a mob of men who saw him in his female attire.

“A him come a de people dem nine night dress up like him a woman," Bignall said. “A de nine-night me deh when me daughter dem run come tell me say him dress up like woman and dem a beat him.

“My daughters then go up to him and say, ‘yeah man, you seet we tell you fi stop gwaan like girl’, and him say that im ago f... them up,” she added.

Bignall said the complainant then wrongly told the police that they were the ones who had beaten him.

“We didn't beat him and all him do a dress up like girl. Him a 29 and him put on uniform and gwaan like him a girl,” she said.

She also told the court that the complainant was a troublemaker.

“Up to yesiday dem charge him fi loitering in New Kingston, him lurking, him thief, this bwoy,” Bignall said.

The complainant however maintained that they had beaten him.

“Har daughter dem gang me a Three Miles and bite me behind me ears,” he said.

Bail for the three accused was subsequently extended for them to return to court on August 11 for trial.

According to the complainant in his statement, on June 10 around 11:45 pm he was at a nine-night in the community when his aunt approached him and told him that she heard that he wanted to beat her. The complainant denied the reports and told the aunt that there was nothing on her to beat.

The aunt reportedly got upset and started cursing the complainant who traded words with her, which resulted in her throwing a stone and hitting him on his hands before leaving.

Shortly after, the complainant was reportedly confronted by the sisters and was bitten on his ears by Osbourne after Thompson held his hands behind him.

The matter was reported and Bignall was charged with unlawful wounding and threatening the crown witness while the others were charged with assault occasioning bodily harm.

St. Kitts and Nevis PM Douglas defends PANCAP’s Justice For All programme

St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister the Right Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas has defended the “Justice for All” programme of the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP), saying it was not designed to encourage a re-order of the Caribbean society in a negative way.

According to the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC), a joint statement issued by 140 Caribbean organisations, which say they represent thousands of CARICOM nationals, made reference to an April 11, 2014 CARICOM press release which indicated that the regional leaders will be presenting for endorsement, several actionable recommendations on eliminating HIV-related stigma and discrimination.

The recommendations were made following a regional HIV consultation earlier this year.

In the statement, the regional groups including churches, the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society (JCHS), the Caribbean Centre for Family and Human Rights, Lawyers for Jesus and Advocate Caribbean, said the recommendations include repealing laws criminalising consensual sexual acts between adults and making sexual orientation a protected category for non-discrimination.

But Prime Minister Douglas, who has lead responsibility for health matters within the quasi-CARICOMCabinet, told (CMC) that he does not think that PANCAP was making any recommendation on issues such as same sex marriages.

“PANCAP has been saying for several years that if we are going to successfully fight the scourge of HIV and AIDS we need to make sure that we fight discrimination and stigmatisation,” said Dr. Douglas, adding “we have developed recently a programme called Justice for All which would have been taken to several Caribbean countries …hearing views on how they can reduce stigmatisation and discrimination.”

He said following the consultations, a report will now go before the regional leaders “to ensure that they are briefed on what is happening and whether they are ready to support the declaration.”

The regional groups said they are “alarmed that the leaders of the Caribbean are pursuing a demonstrably illogical path which with regards to sexuality seeks to define normal without reference to design.”

In a June 24 letter to the regional leaders and the CARICOM Secretary General His Excellency Irwin La Rocque, the organisations called for transparency and accountability in the discussions leading up to the formulation of the recommendations.

“We urge CARICOM heads of government to place the health and well-being of our societies as their top priority,” the statement said, adding “we also urge these leaders to desist from endorsing any recommendation which will fundamentally re-order society in negative ways that could jeopardise the future of our children and our region.”

But Prime Minister Douglas said while many people may have taken the declaration out of context and that issues such as “same sex marriage have never come up.

“We are clearly speaking of the issue of reducing stigma and discrimination against persons who are associated with HIV/AIDS,” he said, adding that the intention also is to ensure that those affected with the virus do not go underground but are allowed to receive proper medication and support.

also see:

Continued oversight or deliberate overlooking of Jamaican SGL Women in HIV Prevention?

Jamaica Increasing Funding For HIV/AIDS Programmes

13,328 Jamaican MSM Reached by HIV Prevention says report on National HIV Program ........ but

New Efforts To Halt Spread Of HIV Among Gay Jamaica Men

Concerns for HIV prevalence rate in MSM in Jamaica & connected matters

Health Minister Ferguson on WAD '13 & FBOs fear of a Buggery repeal with future parachuted gay marriage rights

Incestuous messes, poor NGO monitoring & ever deepening mistrust about "gay rights"

Why did CVCC & JFJ not Fund a Project/Home for Homeless LGBT Youth in New Kingston instead of the Children’s Home Fiasco ...........

YOUNG MSM/TRANSGENDER WANT TO BE TREATED AS CITIZENS NOT POTENTIAL HIV/AIDS VICTIMS from March 2014

HIV and MSM community: Should we care? — Pt 2

Layered Stigma among Health Facility and Social Services Staff toward Most-at-Risk Populations in Jamaica

Big AIDS fight boost - Ja gets US$3.8 million from US$7-b fund

2007 MSM Study Reminder

New HIV infections rising in region, Unprotected straight, anal and bisexual intercourse blamed 2011

Review condom policy for prisoners

Continued oversight of same gender loving women in HIV response

Stop Denying Homophobia! (Gleaner Letter)

The letter writer refers to an article from JFLAG's Programs persons and Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition CVCC (yes the group who funded the JFJ Sex Ed course that has only landed the struggle in more problems than solving any) board member Jaevion Nelson, you decide on this one readers, sometimes I have to wonder where some folks live? 

The referred article is in orange:

THE EDITOR, Sir:

This letter is in response to Jaevion Nelson's article 'Jamaica not as homophobic as portrayed' (Gleaner, July 3, 2014).

Two senior journalists - Gary Spaulding of The Gleaner and Karyl Walker of the Jamaica Observer - made some salient points at the press conference which was held last month by the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition about the portrayal of Jamaica as a rabidly homophobic place.

We supposedly come from and live in "the most homophobic place on earth". However, while there are scales to measure the people's negative attitudes towards non-heterosexuals, there is no real or accepted way - as far as I know - to determine if or how homophobic a country is.

What makes a country the most homophobic? Is it the murder of LGBT people (in one of the most murderous countries worldwide)? The impunity perpetrators enjoy (which is not uncommon to any one incident)? Is it the number of LGBT people who have had to seek refuge abroad? Is it the stories they tell (this is really what Karyl was getting at)? Is it the existence of an antiquated legislation that peers into the bedroom of consenting adults or the strident activism of an anti-gay movement that seeks to limit the rights and dignity of LGBT Jamaicans?

Unfortunately, what many people know about Jamaica is violence and that is often limited to homophobia. In 2012, I met a young man in York, England, who was terminally ill and had not been out of his house much in the last few years. He felt empowered to apprise me of how, in Jamaica, there is nothing but machete-wielding mobs lynching gay men. I tried desperately to convince him that there is another reality - not for everyone - but I was seemingly inept at doing so. Apparently, I didn't know what I was talking about. I've met so many others like this young man man who believe being LGBT in Jamaica is a death sentence.

DIFFERENT REALITY

I am not denying that many Jamaicans who are or perceived as LGBT are not subject to hostility on a daily basis. I'm not denying that many have had to seek refuge abroad or that a great many living in Jamaica aren't dying for an opportunity to escape. Many LGBT Jamaicans I know are imprisoned with fear and extremely anxious about being a victim of anti-gay hostility or violence. However, there are many who do not identify with the horrific stories that are told every day. I wish foreigners could hear this reality, too.

It doesn't help that we have been inundated with news reports and documentaries of people who have been harassed, beaten, displaced, made homeless, and murdered, among other things, over the last 10 years or so. There is a large community of LGBT people living in the gully in New Kingston. Almost a year ago, a homeless young man, Dwayne Jones, was murdered for not dressing as a biological male. This year, Tiana Miller, who is transgender, was denied entry into a soca party because the security said, "No cross-dressers are allowed".

However, in the middle of the hoopla, there is growing resistance - a fascinating resilience that shows Jamaicans are committed to working towards engendering the kind of society we want to live in and enjoy as human beings with dignity and with rights.

Many people have been enlisting themselves in a protest; are actively engaged in a movement that sees everyone as equal - that says sexual orientation, gender identity and/or gender expression does not determine how we treat each other.

There is progress and we must acknowledge it. We must promote this as a sort of passive resistance to the stereotype about Jamaica. There is value in ensuring that LGBT people, especially those who are young, are not victims of our insatiable appetite for the most horrific of gay experiences. And I am not saying there is no value in sharing these stories, but they can be inimical to our efforts, in that they can further imprison people and keep them in the shadows. I am not suggesting homo-negativity is a thing of the past in Jamaica, but proffering that there is a complexity; a multifaceted process that requires our appreciation to move forward with dignity and right.

Nelson is right that the every member of the LGBT community does not have a homogeneous, death-unto-you experience marked by violence. And true, there is no one way to measure homophobia.

However, here is the problem with his article. There is an implicit denial of the shared experience of fear members of the LGBT community undergo.

No matter how much you resist it, no matter how strong you try to be, if you are gay or bisexual in Jamaica, at some point, you are afraid. You are afraid of what your parents, or friends, will do. You are afraid of what the public will do. You police yourself to ensure you conform with the sex-role stereotypes. And, importantly, most LGBT persons cannot openly claim their sexual orientation without some reprisal.

Our society defends and supports such reprisals and this culture of fear. That is the indication of homophobia. It is foolish to look for violence.

We know there are laws that deny rights to this community. We know there are persons who actively support this system of discrimination and we know the community is marginalised. It is culturally accepted and defended. To say we are not as homophobic because there is nothing to measure it is just blind. It is foolish.

I do not think saying "all gay men and women don't have the same experience with violence" is the same as saying we are not a homophobic country.

What it does say is that the homophobia takes many forms, that it varies according to class and education. Ian Boxill has a study that proves this. Homo-negativity is alive and well and publicly showing itself. So for those gay men and women who do not experience it, good for you, but it does not alter the reality I have described and Jamaica's cultural position on sexual difference.

GLENROY MURRAY
jacques_lebeau@hotmail.com
Kingston

ENDS

It seems the younger ones who come into these organizations somehow get "infected" by the very mindset of the older heads. Where one would expect a change of new approaches we see a continuation of old ideologies pushed through new faces. 

Peace and tolerance

H

Gay Men Are Receptive to Sexual Health Info on Hookup Sites says Scottish Study

Something that most us from the front lines already knew in Jamaica but when oh when are our HIV prevention strategists going to finally be proactive or at least sensible to recognise what has worked and use them? Lest we forget we have 33/4% infection rate in MSM. 

On Facebook even now in on of my groups we often times raise such issues such as hook-up safety tips as recent incidents have raised some concerns and HIV safer sex tips in the heat of the moment, I can remember even the days of GLABCOM when the short lived blog was used to such effect as well. Now comes a study that help us to understand better.

A survey of men who have sex with men in Scotland has found that sexual health promotion is acceptable in online cruising environments such as Gaydar and Grindr, but that a significant minority of men object to health workers initiating contact with them while using these websites and apps.

The researchers from Glasgow Caledonian University make several recommendations for online health promotion with gay and other men who have sex with men. Their online survey was conducted with 1,326 men who were recruited through a social networking website (Facebook), sexual networking websites (Gaydar, Recon, Squirt) and sexual networking apps (Grindr, Gaydar).

Given the recruitment methods, it’s unsurprising that very large numbers of respondents used sexual networking websites (86.8%) and sexual networking apps (56.4%). Around four in ten respondents used one of these websites (38.0%) or apps (42.8%) on a daily basis.

Fewer respondents used BBRT and other sites focused on barebacking (14.7%), with only 4.6% using them every day. Unsurprisingly, unprotected anal intercourse was widely reported by men using these sites. But while it is often thought that they are mostly used by HIV-positive men who want to serosort, this survey found that a significant number of users of those sites believed themselves to be HIV-negative.

As expected, the websites and apps were primarily used for sexual reasons, but they also served a social purpose for some men, especially those living away from the big cities. The main reasons to use them were to meet men for sex, for dating and to swap erotic photos or messages, but around a third of men used sexual networking websites to make new friends or to be connected to the gay community.

‘Killing time’ was also a reason that a third of men used these websites and apps.

The researchers were interested in what kinds of health promotion interventions would be acceptable in these environments. Of note, less than 5% of website users and 2% of app users said they used these services to access sexual health information.

Few respondents objected to health workers taking a ‘passive’ approach. On sexual networking websites such as Gaydar, Recon or Squirt, 85.7% said it was acceptable for workers to have a profile or identity and to wait to be approached by users. Slightly fewer (74.5%) supported this approach on smartphone apps such as Grindr.

There was less support for a more ‘active’ approach, in which health workers approach participants and solicit engagement. On websites this was supported by 54.6% of respondents; on apps it was acceptable to 40.5%.

The researchers note that while the sexual nature of these online environments – and the higher rates of unprotected sex reported by frequent users - would seem to make them appropriate locations for sexual health interventions, proactive interventions may be met with resistance from some users. They say this resonates with research in public sex environments, which has found that specific social and sexual areas are delineated - sexual health promotion is only acceptable in the ‘social’ areas.

Utilising existing social spaces on websites or apps – or creating new ones – for health interventions may be culturally more appropriate than outreach within main areas, they argue. However it remains to be seen whether such an approach would be effective in reaching large numbers of men, especially those with higher-risk behaviours.

The authors also point to the importance of finding acceptable ways to interact with men on the specialist barebacking websites, who are likely to be at higher risk of sexually transmitted infections or of being involved in HIV transmission. Furthermore their qualitative research found that some HIV-positive men reporting these sites being important locations of community support (mentioned more often in interviews than websites established by health agencies.) While this role could possibly be harnessed, health organisations may be uncomfortable doing so. “Orthodox public health systems may have trouble engaging with the transgressive sites favoured by some gay men with HIV,” the authors comment.

Men responding to the survey supported sexual health promotion in various online media – around half said they would be likely to use an app allowing a 1-2-1 chat with a sexual health adviser (52.7%) or a service which would send a text message when it’s time to go for a sexual health check-up (49.4%). The latter was most acceptable to men who would benefit the most – those who reported unprotected sex with multiple partners and those who did not report annual HIV and STI testing.

But the researchers urge local health bodies – such as those who commissioned the research – to collaborate with and promote existing sexual health websites, rather than to create new local services.

They also suggest that sexual health promoters should consider how the negotiation of safer sex occurs in digital settings, where more direct negotiation is possible than in face-to-face encounters and intentions can be signalled by profile options. Health promotion could provide guidance to men who have sex with men on minimising the risks of online cruising - addressing issues such as managing information and disclosure; dealing with truth, ambiguity and omissions within online relationships; and the transfer of relationships from the digital to the physical world.

References

Frankis J et al. Social Media, Men who have Sex with Men and Sexual Health in Lanarkshire: quantitative report. Glasgow Caledonian University, 2014.

Frankis J et al. Social Media, Lanarkshire Men who have Sex with Men and Sexual Health: An Experiential Qualitative Analysis. Glasgow Caledonian University, 2014.

also see:

13,328 Jamaican MSM Reached by HIV Prevention says report on National HIV Program ........ but

New Efforts To Halt Spread Of HIV Among Gay Jamaica Men

Concerns for HIV prevalence rate in MSM in Jamaica & connected matters

Health Minister Ferguson on WAD '13 & FBOs fear of a Buggery repeal with future parachuted gay marriage rights

Incestuous messes, poor NGO monitoring & ever deepening mistrust about "gay rights"

Why did CVCC & JFJ not Fund a Project/Home for Homeless LGBT Youth in New Kingston instead of the Children’s Home Fiasco ...........

YOUNG MSM/TRANSGENDER WANT TO BE TREATED AS CITIZENS NOT POTENTIAL HIV/AIDS VICTIMS from March 2014

HIV and MSM community: Should we care? — Pt 2

Layered Stigma among Health Facility and Social Services Staff toward Most-at-Risk Populations in Jamaica

Big AIDS fight boost - Ja gets US$3.8 million from US$7-b fund

2007 MSM Study Reminder

New HIV infections rising in region, Unprotected straight, anal and bisexual intercourse blamed 2011

Review condom policy for prisoners

Continued oversight of same gender loving women in HIV response