Sexual assault of a same sex nature part 2

also see part 1 from 2013 HERE

As April is observed on this blog as Sexual Assault Awareness Month and also recognized in the United States where many of my readers hail and who encouraged me to mark the activities locally; some responses have come in via social media and by phone (the number located on the blogs 1-876-799-2231). Two respondents have shared their issues less than twenty four hours after the previous post to mark the awareness activity for 2016. I reminds me of the need for trustworthy spaces to air such issues as persons seek outlets to share and find if ever some emotional release.

Both respondents also granted permission to share the central issues from their experiences on here as well to whom I am very grateful, while observing the sensitivities involved I think it is important to raise the issue to indicate they are happening and out of sight is not necessarily out of mind; and that they read the original post on the subject for this year. Many suffer in silence or feel they have nowhere to really vent or share their concern. There is also deep mistrust indeed under reporting of such matters and even as more visible advocates are out there these days while commendable some persons see such advocates as unapproachable; a sentiment ringing out more and more in recent years and is as old as the life of advocacy itself since the nineties. Some persons are seen as cocky and standoffish and too ‘up there’ to identify with such issues or give a listening ear. Both respondents expressed such sentiments; I guess image is everything that is something that really needs to be addressed; the vain displays via social media can be a turnoff to many who want to reach to real people and not superficial appearing individuals via their social media profiles.

In each case the assault if not abuse was of a same gender nature and stemmed from a date gone overboard by the perpetrator who it seems misinterpreted their friendliness and or familiarity as an open initiation to sex or entitlement. 

The first case involves a long term dating couple who had been seeing each other for some time but also had intermittent hints of subtle demands for sex as a way to end the dating cycle. After an evening out on the town with all the pleasantries a working professional in her mid twenties was ready to call it a night and was expecting a chivalrous end to the date only to have groping and insisting by the date who was described as a stud that she wants some of the ‘sweet stuff’

Upon refusal things got far more physical and the think you’re better than me’ philosophy presented itself in the conversation wrapped up in an entitlement mantra as seen or displayed by misogynistic men in Jamaica. So because the aggressor was known to the impacted woman and slightly intimate the suddenly the latter is obligated to ‘let off a ting’ or give up her body to consummate whatever the aggressor thinks is happening or they are together all of a sudden in terms of a permanent relationship. Things got really rough after a while but thankfully never went to the stage of full rape but the woman was assaulted none the less. The matter was not reported to the police but she was considering it and wondered if there was any legislation that would protect her; I suggested yes as a previous case had intimated regarding a so called lesbian who was charged for assault after using a bottle to penetrate another female. She has not seen the aggressor in person and several attempts by same to contact her via Facebook has subsequently blocked her and has gone as far as to change her number. She is even considering relocating to a new address just to avoid impromptu visits by the aggressor. I suggested if it gets really weird or stalking becomes the means to pursue her then a police report is definitely in the works if not a restraining order of some kind. She sounded more upbeat by the end of the exchange none the less and is trying to move on with her life she says.

In the second matter it is a more midterm relationship issues involving non consent or forced sexual advances. Both women cohabit in the home of the impacted lesbian for less than two years and while there was some sexual activity based mostly on consent or some light aphrodisiac resistance as foreplay things got testier as time progressed. The impacted woman shared that the partner would demand sex almost immediately via phone or social media and upon arrival at home the demand was expected to be met; when not met the aggressor goes into ‘take it’ mode with occasional struggles that do not go to a full rape. However one moment led to a full assault in her eyes as she was pinned down for a few minutes as the aggressor kissed and attempted to undo her blouse etc. Since then the women were not on speaking terms and a third party was made aware of some of the challenges who in turn offered temporary shelter until she was able to fully relocate to another rented premises. The matter was not reported to the police as usual the fear is perceptions are that the cops may not be equipped to address such matters given the sentiments on homosexuality generally and exposure to family and others.

The near misogynistic appearing practices by some women especially studs and butch identified in a kind of masculine and manly experiences in same gender loving women populations is a bit disturbing to me; they adopt almost totally the attitudes of some men in Jamaica or their bravado to project strength on their partners or prospect and the age old entitlement phenomenon sets in. There are some outlets to assist women to navigate those issues thankfully as some training have been ongoing with even non LGBT outfits for women. It seems maybe some awareness campaign is needed or fine tune the ones already out there to let women know there are such outlets with confidential operatives to share and work out solutions.

Most of us can only offer emotional support and encouragement towards moving on while addressing the concerns including safety. It is hard to measure how deep these sensitivities lie as well as I still suspect some under-reporting is still at work.

Peace & tolerance

H

Activists, operatives seem unapproachable, slacktivism or activism?

In the last four years or so Jamaican LGBT rights/visibility has gotten a major boost on many fronts, commendable indeed that public advocacy is on but there is a way in which the more things change the more they stay the same. JFLAG and indeed other new outfits all have a public face to boot and I and other older operatives both locally and abroad did not think for one minute to show our faces back in the day, we all should remember what happened to Gareth Henry when he spoke up on Brian Williamson’s murder, the Monarch Pharmacy/Macey Grey mobbing incident and the subsequent police harassment as he pushed his public advocacy work on behalf of the J, death threats and such.

But there has always been and continues to be issues of perceptions of unapproachable activists, the gulf between the executive types personalities versus the frontline street based grass roots individual and whether who is more valid, credible or qualified to speak on in this case homophobia and related matters. The insulated operative just by virtue of class continue to lead the pack which is understandable to an extent as they can place themselves above the earthy homophobia and not engage the issues directly but from reportage out there but there is a way in which a kind of essentialism if not territorialism or elitism with bouts of condescending tones have set in; they can bring a higher visibility to the issues but my lord!. One blogger on his Facebook page for example recently lamented that he is not a paper pusher sitting at a desk embroiled in preparing studies of the lower classes for intellectual sporting but gets a better feeling by being on the street. Then there is the ongoing but old rift between the newcomer or newer generation of activists, bloggers and volunteers of NGOs versus the still active older far more experienced functionaries; and the appearing resistance from the latter to the former with the latter being somewhat brash and impatient with the former dismissing those valuable sometimes real world experiences as a learning template.

A disturbing report suggested that a present day advocacy officer recently suggested that former operatives who live abroad especially should not comment on local issues; suggesting thus that they do not qualify to do speak on such matters despite their numerous years of real world experience versus the more precky administration restricted advocate. I want someone to directly try that stunt with me and some folks need to remember that they are still on a learning curve. It took a lifetime for some persons to learn and have a grasp of the issues and are still learning as nothing remains constant; but such persons are in a far better position to address some issues with authority than others bearing in mind this is not a competition but more about continuity a virtue that has been starving for some time.

A 2014 article from Big Think spoke to the issue of social media activism and related matters excerpted in part:

"Many of us have fallen victim to it: changing our profile picture to those white equals signs atop a red background because someone said that it meant you support marriage equality, sharing the now-infamous #Kony2012 video that no one ever watched in full, or reposting the Huffington Post article only because the title was too witty and relevant not to.

Social media might be said to revolutionize political activism, connecting us to like-minded peers in previously inconceivable ways. The hive is easier to stir than ever before. But these technologies have a much darker side. Facebook activism amplifies harmful underpinnings of capitalism. It drastically alters how we conceive of ourselves. And ironically, Facebook does harm to the social causes offline that we champion online. Why? Social media platforms transform social issues into cultural capital: issues become labels of political alignment and lend an appearance of social awareness attached to a digitally curated self. They become a means to the end of social gain, rather than of social change. 

Through social media, we engage in personal branding. We cultivate a name and image that we can manipulate for social gain: “likes,” retweets, comments, and shares—rather than real change on the ground—become our primary goal. We choose how we desire to be seen by others and then manipulate that artificial “self” in accord with our known, or desired, audience.

No self-presentation through social media can be fully genuine. The prospect of social rewards always taints that decision-making process. Individuals cultivate their amplified selves on such platforms by sharing a given set of signifiers to attach to their “profile” through the sharing of news articles, the act of ‘liking’ pages, or re-posting other people’s writings. There is a hyper-awareness of our image in the eyes of others; whether consciously or not, our profiles become a self-promoting narrative. 

The Perils of "Slacktivism"

And the end-goal of this online “activism” is typically limited to raising awareness. As valuable as it is to widen people’s understanding of the world, no tangible change flows from awareness alone. In addition, many online activist campaigns reveal their true colors when they raise awareness of convenient untruths.

These examples of “slacktivist” rebellion from current events are prevalent within social media, especially (but not exclusively) among the liberal class who claim to advocate for social justice. The irony lies in the fact that when the labels of “rebel” enters popular culture and “trendiness,” it becomes conformity. The idea of rebellion becomes another commodified modifier to one’s online self. “Rebellion” acts as a signifier to denote a sense of global awareness and a self-directed, educated position within the subject matter. Despite the appearance of rebellion in this public display of a seemingly more radical opinion, the individual is doing just the opposite. We are always keenly aware of our audience; often that audience is one of similar opinion, as that audience is comprised of “friends” or “followers.” 

Individuals craft their public selves and accompanying opinions to obtain social reward from a positive response from their followship. Social issues and critique become buzzwords or clickbait. They function as modifiers for that online public self, and lose their rebellious force. Those issues become objects used to accumulate cultural capital in exchange for social reward. In this process it becomes apparent that both the public self and the social issues become commodified to achieve an end reward that’s external to the function and existence of the commodity.

This isn’t to say that all that happens on these platforms is negative. With this new form of media and communication, there are many liberating and redeeming qualities that arise from these platforms, including the newfound ability to bridge conversational gaps and the opportunity for a larger number of people to engage in a conversation and disseminate knowledge and opinions relatively freely. Social media is fast, easy, cheap and, in one sense, democratic. 

Every now and again present day realities just slaps one in the face as Miss Diana Ross in her song “The Boss” said ‘...stood right up in my face ....’ and such was the case that I was forced again to look at this business of social media to include adulation seeking bordering on a kind of narcissistic complex, persons presenting false bettered images and perfect philosophical positions of themselves than who they are in actual reality, camouflaging reality and an ever increasing patting on the back slaps in the face (in the minds of some onlookers) or applauding activists or activism from just mere announcements, lovely photos at a workshop or conference and such. To put it bluntly one lesbian said it quite boldly in words to the effect as to why some gay rights people inna Jamaica a move so like dem a foreen and a show off so .....? (why are some gay rights activists operating as if they are abroad and being boastful or showing off?)

I think what that lesbian’s comment was alluding to is that human rights activists have become so self absorbed and do not know how to celebrate success or achievement or highlight work done without making it into a song and dance, or without hubris and vain imagery. Such perceptions of bragadociousness/arrogance seems to be rubbing some persons the wrong way an already old challenge of under-reporting issues was another lesbian’s comment that made me take a look at the aforementioned issues more seriously barring mistrust as to where to turn, she reached out to someone regarding an issue she had that individual in turn reached out to me, in our conversation it was clear very quickly that the issues were out of my league in as far as expertise; I suggested to her to make a report at one of the leading NGOs to which she paused as we spoke over the phone; the hesitation was so real to me one could cut it with a knife. The exchange recommenced but she was politely resistant to my suggestion when it was repeated, when I pressed her as to why, then came the bombshell where she said she did not feel that some NGOs or operatives are approachable and indeed would not be able to identify with her issues on the basis of class and perceived lack of experience in other words too young in her eyes to understand matters. I was stunned but I should have expected it as that perception is as old as I can recall; but here I also thought with the myriad of avenues available for reaching out it seems said avenues are occupied by gate blockers (if you will) indeed gate keepers more so than facilitators in terms of perception by those seeking redress or just a listening ear.

How does one celebrate genuine success while sharing them publicly and use it as motivation without it being seen as arrogance is a thin line to me. That is why I am a little selective as to what goes on my wall; filtering who sees what is also practice I use with regards to my Facebook page in particular.

There seems to be some unsupervised social media management on the part of the NGOs and their staff etc even with regards to operatives personal pages; it is also tedious in the line between personal and the professional regarding online personas; the recent tiff between two particular persons though passed for some time has left bitter butter memories in the minds of some I was also told by the respondent as she like many others including myself read the tweets and Facebook battle in shock and some dismay; image is everything and if said operatives are busy suring up professional profiles whilst forgetting that their very actions online and persona can be linked to the organizations they are attached. I never use my personal Facebook page to throw barbs at anyone or group and if I have something to comment on or critique I do so with my blogs and identify for the most part specifics via quotes and related media. I do not even have a personal Twitter page but the GLBTQ Jamaica account where my entries are filtered coupled with my DJ stuff. Owing to the fact that the posts and such are public operatives need to remember ones online mannerisms and behaviour can be scrutinized and seen and help to form impressions from the very populations they are sometimes tasked to engage. One needs to be very circumspect even with one’s personal page, Twitter or Instagram accounts.

A word to the wise is sufficient I guess I am going to hear that bloggers (as said to others as well) are telling others what to do but those who are irked by years of experience brought to bear may have a prickly experience henceforth as such advice, suggestions etc. will continue I imagine.

Peace & tolerance

H

Ethics of Emergency Access to Unregistered Medical Interventions & Clinical Trial Designs ........

also see: New single-tablet HIV treatment Genvoya wins FDA approval

Ethical considerations from Bio Ethics Professor

Udo Schuklenk

The mass media excitement about Ebola has receded. The 2014-2015 West African outbreak has been brought under control not thanks to the deployment of successful treatment regimes, because there are none that are known to work. I participated recently in an international meeting of experts debating the ethical and methodological issues pertaining to trial designs for emerging infectious diseases like Ebola. It was both astounding and also immensely frustrating that to a large extent the controversies that exercised the minds of the delegates of this meeting exercised the minds of many an AIDS activist and clinical trials’ expert prior to the advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy, a good quarter of a century ago.[1] [2]Are placebo controls an ethically defensible methodological tool when patients face a terminal illness? Different alternative trial designs involving placebo controls, adaptive trial designs, and multi-stage approaches involving active controls were discussed during the meeting. The heated nature of some of these debates reminded me strongly of the passion that was on display during the early HIV trials. It turns out, despite decades of informed debate about these issues, a number of significant normative questions have not been settled.

A cluster of difficult ethical questions that engendered justifiably a lot of debate has to do with the use of placebo controls in trials involving patients facing a very high mortality risk (some in excess of 90%) and a fast-acting infection resulting in the death of these patient within 2-8 days after admission to a treatment centre. This scenario mirrors the sobering reality faced by a subset of Ebola Virus Disease patients. This issue was already highly contentious during the early HIV trials, and then patients and clinical investigators were faced with a virus that was nowhere near as fast-acting as the Ebola virus. The ethical conflict that arises here is this: We know that those randomized into the placebo arm face the same greater-than-90%-risk of death within a few days as those who receive the standard of care treatment. In some trial design the placebo control arm could be identical to the gold standard of (unsuccessful) clinical care provided in a particular clinical setting. Given that those who are randomized into the arm featuring the unregistered medical intervention might do better, or might do worse, or might do roughly as badly as those in the placebo control arm, the ethical question remains whether a trial design featuring a placebo control is ethically justifiable, given the almost certainty of imminent death faced by those randomized into the placebo arm. During the meeting I alluded to earlier a fairly contentious debate arose also over the question of whether trials producing less reliable results than placebo controlled trials might be acceptable under such circumstances.

What exacerbates the ethical challenges for those who undertake such trials is that their trial participants are arguably not true volunteers. Their – dying - trial participants are not given the opportunity to choose between participating in the placebo controlled randomized trial versus accessing the unregistered medical intervention on their own volition outside the trial process. It is perfectly conceivable that some patients might choose to participate in such trials in order to facilitate the development of a successful intervention capable of helping future patients like them. Or they might accept that there exists true clinical equipoise between the trial arms and they might be volunteering to be randomized under such circumstances. In the absence of alternative access routes to the unregistered medical intervention, we can never be certain that the patients agreeing to be randomized are not simply responding to what constitutes a coercive offer.

Clinical investigators colluding in this process, and arguably benefiting from it, are not absolved of their ethical responsibilities because they did not create the regulatory frameworks that gave rise to the problem. It is true that they did not create the regulatory framework under which they operate, but they undoubtedly benefit from its existence. We could respond to this kind of argument by pointing to the societal need for sound trial designs and the detrimental impact of permitting patients to access unregistered medical interventions outside the clinical trials’ system. The likely impact of permitting patients access, as a senior biostatistician attending the workshop rightly pointed out to me, would be a significant slowing-down in the trial recruitment process. Some trials might never be able to recruit sufficient patients, because most patients might be voting with their feet and opt to take their chances with the unregistered medical intervention. Surely that is not quite what is in the best interest of any society battling an emerging infectious disease such as Ebola. Does this justify coercing dying people into particular trial designs? I do not think so, but this is a contentious issue where reasonable, well-informed people can justifiably differ. A WHO panel looking at this question argued that while it would be ethically defensible to offer emergency access to unregistered medical interventions to Ebola patients, this should be subject to that emergency access not slowing down trial recruitment.[3] The panelists (not featuring a single expert or disease survivor from the affected countries) took a policy line here that mirrors US regulations. Other countries, including Canada and South Africa do not make this a threshold condition for emergency access. As it is with these sorts of panels, the advice it rendered on this controversial topic is not actually reasoned for, so policy makers and regulators as well as patient rights advocates aiming to balance the competing interests of access versus trial recruitment in a fair manner will be left wondering about the ethical reasons for this policy stance taken by the WHO panel, assuming there are any.

There are other ethical issues that arise in this context: Some experimental agents existed at the time only in insufficient quantities, for instance ZMapp, an unregistered medical intervention composed of monoclonal antibodies, was only available in very limited quantities. In light of this situation, is it acceptable to prioritize patients in comparable clinical circumstances who are willing to be randomized in a placebo controlled trial over patients clamoring for direct emergency access, given that the available quantities of this unregistered medical intervention would have been used up in the placebo controlled trial?

And here is another difficult question: While the AIDS activists of days gone by were highly educated about their disease and about the available unregistered medical interventions considered for expanded access programs, this is not quite the case with regard to the average West African Ebola patient. These patients were unlikely able to provide valid first person informed consent, because they were unable to demonstrate a reasonable person understanding of what was known about the unregistered medical intervention, about their options and so on and so forth. This is the case both because of educational limitations as well as disease progression. Are short-cuts to informed consent ethically justifiable under such circumstances? Given that time is of the essence and proxy consent might not be feasible due to family members being deceased or in a far-away village, are our informed consent requirements reasonable under such emergency 
circumstances?

[1] U Schuklenk, C Lowry. 2009. Terminal illness and access to Phase 1 experimental agents, surgeries and devices: reviewing the ethical arguments. British Medical Bulletin 89: 7-22.

[2] U Schuklenk, C Hogan. 1996. Patient access to experimental drugs and AIDS clinical trial designs: ethical issues. Cambridge Quarterly of Health Care Ethics 5: 400-409.

[3] WHO. 2014. Ethical considerations for the use of unregistered interventions for Ebola virus disease. WHO: Geneva 2014: p. 5.
More HERE

Barbee's lesbian scene music video "Babylon ' still creating a stir?

In July of this year recording artist Barbee created a stir with her same gender intimate scene in a music video to support her song "Babylon" and at that time all kinds of things were said of her including whether or not she like some others were or are  capitalizing on or exploiting lesbophobia (greater homophobia) nationally to attract attention. 

The Star News had carried a piece on the issue as well:

Recording artiste Barbee recently premiered an explosive video for her new single, 'Babylon', which sees her pushing sexual limits. In the video, Barbee is seen engaging in a sexual romp with a female in a steam room.

Barbee said she was at ease with the video, and felt empowered and confident to share the "truth" with her fans. She also reiterated that, as a woman in the industry, she would not like her intellect to be negated based on the video concept.

"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone," she said.

Crowned 'Reggae Pop Princess' by talk show diva Wendy Williams, the recording artiste and songwriter is fresh off her European and Australian tour.

No stranger to the Jamaican musical landscape, Barbee first emerged working with artistes such as Junior Kelly, with whom she recorded the hit single Missing You. The song received airplay in the Caribbean and overseas, and reached number one on Jamaican charts.

Barbee's other popular recordings include Paddy Cake and Give It Up, collaborations with dancehall icon Beenie Man. She followed up with successful records, Love You Anyway and Feel So Good.

Barbee said she is ready to carry her love for music to new horizons and is working with Grammy award-nominated producers The Exclusives and the island duo, Rock City, who penned the megahit, Man Down, for Rihanna.


She continues to book shows worldwide, recording in Los Angeles, Atlanta and Jamaica. Barbee will also be launching her line of studio-quality headphones, Barbee Everting Pretty Headphones, which will be released soon.

ENDS

Fast forward to recent times and the comment thread in several dancehall groups and social media are still raging surprisingly; this one has not gone down as another nine day wonder as Stylysh and Ishawna's sujourn into public displays of affection experiment went and then it essentially died down after a while with both artistes benefiting in the long run it seems.

see:
We're not lesbians - Stylysh clarifies song with Ishawna .......... And So What if They Were?

Dancehall Act Stylysh says Lesbians Linked her on Instagram after Secret Lovers' Song Controversy meanwhile the comments have been scaving such as:

"a weh some sodomite gal nuh gwey wid dem nastiness  ...... "

"a dis dem wan promote inna dancehall now ....... suck pussy oman"

"dem gal yah fi dead like dem battyman fren dem .........."

And so on some of which are too ghastly to share here but it just goes to show the level of hate embedded in the national psyche and all one needs is a story or event to reignite same. Whether the sojourn is a way to get more attention that may translate into sales in a slumpy music market is not clear to me or is it a genuine openness for same gender love is not open; lesbians overall have had a more tolerant response nationally than us their male counterparts and the strongest evidence of this is in the adult entertainment industry.

Strip clubs since the late nineties mostly have been offering sometimes live on stage sex between women with added features such as Heineken content poured into vaginal orifices and such or dildos/strap-ons used in the act; the use of toys however reinforces the stereotype of SGL practicing women (gay or not) as looking for an alternative from non performing men who cannot get said women aroused (so they fake it) as a result women switch to each other, in essence an almost granted permission so conditional tolerance. In a sense the live sex scenes has helped in HIV prevention strategies on the ground in terms of condom usage displays and safer sex drawing from recent memory when myself and my team in my HIV work years asked models to play their part after some training so as to bring a real world experience to the work.

Changing hearts and minds is so urgent these days for any credibility to emerge and to strengthen advocacy's call but with recent episodes of elitism showing up its ugly head parading as concerns for governmental non intervention again I am not so sure right now. See: Jaevion Nelson: PM Must Find Alternate Ways To Support LGBT Community (Gleaner Nov 2015)

flashback: Jamaican Homosexuality & Class Issues 2009

Peace & tolerance

H

Case update: Chopping incident, relocation, truth telling & unneeded attention

from: Woman assumed to be a lesbian chopped viciously allegedly by neighbour  2015

Once I find out that a case has too many clouds surrounding it and it cannot be substantiated based on the original report then my support will vanish, as simple as that, we must be as truthful as possible as reports be they in mainstream media or alternate ones it does have an impact on the hearts and minds we want to change or evolve on LGBTQ life.

When I and many others read the article in the Jamaica Observer complete with photos of a young lady earlier this year we were left almost siding with her and concluding that the matter was a horrible lesbophobic one. Upon reflection and perusing the story several times over it was clear something was off. Some were up in arms about the matter suggesting she did not deserve the attack by another tenant which also included myself hence my posting of the story in full on the incident at the apartment complex in Kingston one the Boulevard to be precise. The moral of the story is just to speak the truth from the beginning, if persons expect support and assistance it cannot be on the grounds of embellished stories, all out lies and irresponsible behaviour, then one claims victim-hood afterwards.

Chopping her may have gone to the extreme and I am in no way condoning her attackers or giving justification to the violence despite the cloudy nature surrounding the victim but one must be careful sometimes not to attract unneeded heat.

The LGBT community/advocacy collectively is already bedevilled by accusations of lies by antigay voices and homophobes and a poor but all important credibility factor in crisis communication from public advocacy and such twists and turns do not help any, we MUST be truthful to all concerned including the alleged report made to a NGO as well. Do not for one minute believe that a story in a newspaper and other platforms help to paint a greater picture of the struggle and hence affecting the very tolerance and rights we demand. Credibility in the all important crisis communication component of public advocacy is still seriously damaged and need all the help it can get.

However new information has come forth that seems to put the case in a whole new light and the subsequent removal of the ‘victim’ and her partner on Friday July 3rd who she is also accused of physically abusing as evidenced in loud arguments and multiple visits by other parties and police from other precincts. The court case seems to have fizzled as persons who once supported her have simply pulled back, the accused woman (an introverted person) has since kept the cameras in the all access points on the passageways and had threatened to sue the ‘victim’ for all kinds of things. The victim has been also accused of being a known troublemaker when it comes to rent payment and poor social skills from other apartment complexes she once resided. She has been named a troublemaker prior to this matter.

With that track record I am not surprised as previous occurrences with other persons in a similar vein with cloudy track records and tainted socialization histories have only sought to cause challenges for themselves and others. The very police officers who turned up in the initial chopping furore were not from Half Way Tree’s precinct as is relevant but instead were from Portmore’s 100 man station who turned up for a favour requested by the victim as one of the female cops owed the young lady some $40,000, so in lieu of payment they would adjudicate the matter but since that the cops have neatly removed themselves from the issue after seeing her behaviour and learning of her history and perceived sexual orientation.

The victim now removed from the complex is also accused of removing without clearing her rent obligations owing for some several months but other residents were said to have literally rejoiced as she left claiming the place will be quiet again. Sad that some of us sometimes attract unneeded heat to ourselves and then when we get into the heat itself we try to play the victim card. Several other run-ins and ghastly unmentionables have been leveled at the now relocated victim as well which are hard to substantiate but it does not auger well for her case as I hinted to above persons who were on her side and who also reside on the complex have since changed their minds in the negative. The smoke surrounding this matter has made her case untenable in my eyes and she will definitely not get my support in as far as her twisting of her story.

While it is understood navigating life in Jamaica is not easy as LGBTQ persons it was a bit strange at first when I saw the initial story in the Observer of all places as same gender loving women never normally are so abused outside of corrective rape but not as choppings of attacks but I guess one should have taken the accusation with a grain of salt.

Each case must be taken on its own merit and proper investigations as best as possible done to establish truth telling and hence strengthening the cause and correctness. It was only late last year a group of MSM sharing another apartment in Kingston also had to relocate most quickly as loud behaviour, multiple visitors and poor social skills lead to a clash with irate neighbours who complained their residency was obstructed by their actions. We must understand that persons are not obligated to “accept us” and because one resides in a middle class neighbourhood it is assumed persons will do so mimicking an American middle class construct.

Again the moral of the story is sifting for truth and lies, if we want tolerance we must also live and let live, respect goes where it comes from, do not do things to further sully the look and feel of the struggle overall.

A word to the wise is sufficient.

Peace and tolerance

H

suggested additional reading:

GAY & BISEXUAL INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE, HOMOPHOBIC INCIDENTS & CRISIS COMMUNICATION 2014 from sister archive blog on Wordpress.

Bisexual asylum seeker has deportation flight cancelled .... appeal for June 17

As we continue to track this story from the UK some good news at least for now has come forth regarding Orashia, Jamaican Orashia Edwards is appealing rejected claim for asylum after tribunal alleged he was ‘experimenting’ and had been dishonest about his sexuality, this has been a concern for many years when I handled some cases at my time at JFLAG and other private ones. I wonder though since bisexuality is not as widely discussed as homosexuality why this challenge presents itself in this case?

The business of credibility is so crucial in asylum matters but one hopes Orashia is truthful or at least he seems so for now.

Orashia has a point on the part of the high publicity this matter has received and he maybe marked if after he is sent back here and local media picks up on it.

Going back to Jamaica would have meant death (Gay Times UK)
Orashia was released from Morton Hall detention centre where he was taken over a month ago. Inside detention he allegedly received death threats because of his sexuality.

He was being held there because an asylum tribunal refused to accept that he was bisexual.
Speaking to the Guardian from dentition, Orashia accused the Home Office of handling his case unjustly. The tribunal rejected his claim that he had been in a relationship with a man in Antigua.

“They said I was lying about my sexuality because I couldn’t remember details of the relationship.”

“I couldn’t tell them his date of birth, all I could remember was his star sign. He wrote a letter confirming that we had been in a relationship, but they refused to believe that we had been more than friends.”

Orashia said he is “relieved to be back home with friends and family and hopes his asylum claim will be granted soon”

The believability factor usually raises its head and non effeminate behaviours are sadly used to profile applicants allegedly by the Home Office as an old case comes to mind where a judge literally told a man he was not 'camp' enough to convince him. Added to that are the dishonest folks who make it bad for persons with genuine appeals as they work the system sometimes aided or urged by dubious solicitors to gain stay in the UK.

The UK's Guardian reported:

Immigration authorities have cancelled the deportation flight of a Jamaican asylum seeker who faced removal from the UK after the Home Office refused to accept he was bisexual.

Orashia Edwards, 34, had been held at Morton Hall immigration removal centre in Lincolnshire after being detained during a scheduled meeting with immigration officials. His family were told he could be deported at any time from 5 May, but Edwards was instead detained for nearly a month before being released pending a further appeal against his rejected claim for refugee status – the latest in a series of prolonged periods in detention.

He has been involved in a protracted battle with the Home Office after an asylum tribunal rejected his application, saying that he had been dishonest about his sexuality. But Edwards criticised the decision, claiming he had been the victim of institutional bias because of his sexuality.

“I think they are prejudiced against bisexual people,” Edwards said. “They say I have choices, that I could choose to be with a woman. Maybe if I had lied and said that I was gay things would have been different, but I’m just being honest. For years I was in denial about my sexuality, it took me so long to be honest with myself – I like men and I like women.”

Edwards’s asylum tribunal also alleged that while he had been sexually active with men, he had been “experimenting” with his orientation and was in fact heterosexual – an argument dismissed by bisexual activists as a common discriminatory trope.

“I’ve been in relationships with men and women since 2003,” Edwards said. “If I had been experimenting then maybe I would have slept with a man once and never gone back, but I’m bisexual, it’s who I am.”

He added that he believed his life would be at risk if he returned to Jamaica, where violence against gay, lesbian and bisexual people is widespread and sexual activity between men remains illegal under the country’s anti-sodomy laws.
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“I won’t survive if I go back,” Edwards said. “The media coverage of my case means that my picture and my story are all over the Jamaican media. Once you are perceived as homosexual or bisexual you are branded for the rest of your life.

“Even while I was in detention, the other Jamaicans there were saying that they could go back, but I couldn’t. It just wouldn’t be possible for me. I think that the Home Office staff are trained to reject anything they’re told. I’ve given them all the proof I can of my sexuality and they still refuse to believe me. I don’t know what more I could do.”

Edwards had submitted intimate pictures of himself with another man to support his case for refugee status, a practice that campaign groups have criticised as an example of endemic mistreatment of LGBT people in the asylum system.

Edwards’s partner, Michael Mardel, echoed his allegation of prejudice on the part of the Home Office and insisted he had not been dishonest about his sexuality. He said: “I’ve known Orashia for over two years, and to put it bluntly there is absolutely a sexual element to our relationship.

“Orashia has stayed the night at my house. He is absolutely not lying about his attraction to men. Our families have also become close, we have a genuine relationship. I think that the Home Office doesn’t understand the concept of bisexuality. They seem to think that you have to be one thing or the other, they don’t seem to accept that you can be attracted to both genders and that it’s not an either/or thing for everybody.”

Edwards’s mother, Vienna Brown, said she was overjoyed at her son’s release, but added that she remained nervous about the eventual outcome of his case. “I got an email from Orashia’s solicitor saying that he was going to be released, but it wasn’t until I heard the knock at the door and opened it and saw him there that I really believed it,” she said.

“I just fell to the ground and thanked God, because I’ve prayed so hard to have my son back with me. I’ve hardly slept since he was detained. I just hope that this will lead to more good news and that he’ll be allowed to stay in this country with his family and his friends.”

Edwards will bring an appeal against the rejection of his asylum claim, on 17 June. The Home Office has previously stated that it does not normally comment on individual asylum cases.

ENDS

1. Sign his petition

2. Watch & share the campaign film

3.  visit Defend Orashia Facebook

Obama Hails Jamaican Lesbian Advocate's Work

The timing of this recognition could not have been more opportune as April is also Sexual Assault Awareness Month in some jurisdictions. 

Congrats to Angeline Jackson firstly but I am a bit disappointed that more mainstream media coverage of this recognition is not forthcoming or evidenced, is it due to the sexual orientation of the lady in question who has been hailed by President Obama?

Then again I should not be surprised the omission or overlooking of LGBT matters has been a feature of our media landscape for decades since organized public advocacy from the days of Gay Freedom Movement in the 70s. 

During a town hall meeting with young professionals and students for the most part in attendance the visiting US president who seemed quite comfortable sleeves rolled up and connected with his captive audience. 

President Obama told young leaders at the town hall meeting at UWI that we should care about the rights of every human being 

"..........regardless of who they love" 

while highlighting the difficulties Angeline Jackson experienced growing up as a lesbian in Jamaica and her work in ensuring that people get a better quality of life

"no matter their colour, class or sexual orientation can live in equality."

See the full clip of the LGBT reference and Angeline's work.

“As a woman and as a lesbian, justice and society weren’t always on her side,” said the president. “But instead of remaining silent she chose to speak out and started her own organization to advocate for women like her, get them treatment and get them justice and push back against stereotypes and give them some sense of their own power. And she became a global activist.”

“More than anything she cares about her Jamaica and making it a place where everybody, no matter their color or their class or their sexual orientation can live in equality and opportunity,”

some of the other reactions that was in the audience when the matter was mentioned to which Miss Angie responded.

The faces of some of the audience members sadly shows we have a long way to go change hearts and minds.

QCJ shared their two cents on the Professor Bain matter

QCJ's survey they had done: 

click for more: 

Quality of Citizenship Jamaica (QCJ) launches LBWSW Needs Survey 2013

Her most recent appearance was at meeting in the US:

The plight of gays in paradise

Church offers venue to discuss LGBT treatment in the Caribbean

Angeline Jackson is co-founder of Quality Citizenship Jamaica QCJ filling the longstanding gap of lesbian invisibility over the decades of formalized gay rights advocacy that focused more on MSM population challenges. Her rape case from 2009 that the president referred to was carried on this blog during my time at JFLAG when she made the report and afterwards with the court case.

Then of course due to the nature of the case and the psychological concerns for such victims the report was a bit subdued as present cases also are treated so as not to have the client relive too much of the horrifying event.

QCJ has also been responsible for enacting a long standing recommendation/suggestion of self defense classes for same gender loving women to mitigate assaults as best as possible.

Jackson told the Washington Blade a few hours after Obama’s speech that his remarks “give me encouragement.”

“It also in some ways provides a validation for what I have been doing because it’s rough and moving forward with LGBT rights in Jamaica is certainly not going at rapid speed,” she said. “This mention, speaking about (my work), mentioning my name, speaking my work and mentioning my orientation brought to light the issues of the LGBT community because it brings a personal story, it brings a human to the conversation, so it’s not just them, it’s not just an abstract person. It becomes a person that they can recognize.”

Jalna Broderick, who co-founded Quality of Citizenship Jamaica alongside Jackson, was attending a meeting in D.C. when Obama spoke at University of the West Indies.

Broderick told the Blade during a reception at the Human Rights First office near McPherson Square where she and advocates from Belize, St. Lucia and the Dominican Republic were highlighting efforts to expand LGBT tourism in the Caribbean that she was crying when she watched Obama’s speech on YouTube.

“It is amazing to be recognized by anybody,” said Broderick. “It is even more amazing to be recognized by a man who is the leader of the free world.”

“In your country that is so homophobic she has been mentioned as a young woman, a woman, an LGBT activist, a lesbian, a survivor of sexual violence,” she added. “These are the things that we fight for, you want recognition of the issues and solutions to the problems.”
also see: 

Sexual Assault Awareness Month ... 2013

Serial rapist gets 29 years in rape ring, Look out my sisters 2009

Lesbians becoming increasingly nervous

"Corrective Rape" in Jamaica? ..... Yes 2009

When is rape a “sexual depravity” and not just “an unfortunate and tragic event” 2009

Accused serial rapist on the run has been cut down 2011 - alleged mastermind behind some of the corrective rape cases and other assaults on women in St Catherine and nearby parishes then.

“Corrective Rape” continues in 2010

"Corrective Rape" continues in 2010 part 2

Ragashanti contributing to growing public lesbophobia?

a podcast I prepared in 2010

Bisexual Teen Killed due to her Sexual Orientation? ......... Father says yes 2015

More same gender loving women being forcibly evicted


Jamaica lesbians suffer from under-reported violence but whose fault is that ??

Woman Labelled “Man Royal” Forced to Relocate from a St Catherine Community

another podcast I had done back in the day (3 years ago) when invisibility or oversight of lesbian issues:

Now that visibility has increased in the last two years and has been given a shot in the arm by this recognition by no less a person than the most powerful man in the world I hope we can capitalize on it to bring to bear credibility on crisis reporting in as far as lesbophobic/homophobic crimes. GLBTQ Jamaica & Aphrodite's PRIDE Jamaica has worked with QCJ as well and recently held a stakeholders meeting with documentary producer (Taboo Yardies) Selena Blake on a recent visit by her.

Again congrats to Miss Angeline who has risen from victim to advocate and effectively so.

UPDATE April 10, 2015

also

her comments on the recent heckling of the PM in new York by overseas based Jamaican activists

Peace and tolerance

H

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