Consideration of Outcome of Universal Periodic Review on Jamaica and the Charter of Rights .....

The Human Rights Council on March 17, 2011 adopted the outcomes of the Universal Periodic Review on the Marshal Islands, Croatia and Jamaica.

Phillip Muller, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Marshall Islands to the United Nations, said the Government accepted the recommendations on ratification or accession to the main international human rights treaties and underlined the serious need of technical and financial assistance in properly implementing them. Lack of resources was the reason why the establishment of a national human rights institution was not being considered at the moment. The Marshall Islands also accepted the recommendations on the promotion of human rights, addressing domestic violence and other issues affecting women, children’s rights, socio-economic development and climate change. The Government was disappointed that only one nation in the Universal Periodic Review had responded to issues raised regarding climate change impacts.

Wayne McCook, Permanent Representative of Jamaica to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that in the implementation of the recommendations Jamaica was guided by the interests of all Jamaicans which in some cases meant that it would be best to reinforce existing mechanisms rather than to establish new ones or to undertake new international obligations. Jamaica had worked to adopt an overall strategy to eliminate practices constituting discrimination against women. While there was no single institution in Jamaica dealing with the issue of human rights, the mandates of several entities were established with portfolio responsibilities to enhance the promotion and protection of human rights and were strong and effective. The Government recognized the urgent need to address conditions in prisons and lockups and had pursued efforts for the construction of new prison facilities and privatization of prisons.

In the discussion on Jamaica, speakers looked forward to continued progress on reforming the justice sector with an emphasis on increasing respect for the rule of law and human rights among the police forces. Also, speakers welcomed the efforts to combat discrimination based on sexual orientation and urged Jamaica to repeal sections of the law that criminalised same-sex activities. Speakers noted the progress made in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, poverty reduction, education, access to public and reproductive health, malnutrition and hunger and their progress in the protection of children against ill treatment and exploitation. A speaker was disappointed that Jamaica had rejected the moratorium on executions, the commutation of all death sentences to prison sentences and the abolishment of the death penalty.

Speaking in the general debate on the Universal Periodic Review of Jamaica were Algeria, Morocco, Cuba and the United States. The non-governmental organizations that spoke during the discussion were COC Nederland and Amnesty International.

The Council then adopted the outcome of the Universal Periodic Review on Jamaica.

In his concluding observations Mr. McCook thanked the delegations and stakeholders groups that had spoken and those delegations that had recommended the adoption of this report and those who mentioned other advances and progress in the Millennium Development Goals. Jamaica reiterated its position as stated in its national report: there was no legal discrimination against persons on the basis of their sexual orientation, and the Government of Jamaica condemned such discrimination.

They underscored the provisions of their constitution which addressed the guarantees of any citizen and the possibility for them to appeal violations in court. Concerning the justice and law enforcement reform, they were improving prison conditions and the training of officers in these institutions. They had also increased the training in law enforcement. Moreover the Government had established an independent commission on investigations that investigated abuses. Jamaica thanked the members of the Council for the attention paid to the review of Jamaica and wished to remind them that the list of recommendations in the numerical count may be misleading as some recommendations were repeated. Jamaica recommended that recommendations be clustered in a thematic way. Jamaica had clearly indicated those recommendations that they rejected and those accepted.

Consideration of Outcome of Universal Periodic Review on Jamaica

WAYNE McCOOK,

Permanent Representative of Jamaica to the United Nations Office at Geneva,

said Jamaica attached great importance to the Universal Periodic Review process and it took note of the positions and views of many stakeholders summarized by the Office of the Human Rights Commissioner in documentation presented at the Working Group stage of Jamaica’s review.

Jamaica had implemented or was in the process of implementing many of the goals reflected in the recommendations and was guided by the interests of all Jamaicans which in some cases meant that it would be best to reinforce existing mechanisms rather than to establish new ones or to undertake new international obligations. Jamaica was reviewing the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment with a view to taking a decision on its ratification.

Consideration was also being given to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances, the United Nations Convention related to the Status of Stateless Persons and to the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Jamaica took its obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women seriously and had worked to adopt an overall strategy to eliminate practices constituting discrimination against women.

The Government was not in a position to sign and ratify the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Jamaica accepted the recommendation on timely submission of reporting obligations to United Nations treaty bodies but it was important to note that human and resource constraints impeded the timely submission of reports by developing countries.

Extensive work had been done with regard to the amendment of the Constitution to provide for “A Charter of Rights and Freedoms” and the Government remained committed to the implementation of this important instrument which would be submitted to the Jamaican Parliament on 29 March 2011. While there was no single institution in Jamaica dealing with the issue of human rights, the mandates of several entities were established with portfolio responsibilities to enhance the promotion and protection of human rights and were strong and effective.

These bodies included the Office of the Public Defender and the Independent Commission of Investigation. Institutional mechanisms, such as the Bureau of Women’s Affairs and the Child Development Agency, already existed for advancing the special concerns of women and children.

The Government recognized the urgent need to address conditions in prisons and lockups and had pursued efforts for the construction of new prison facilities, including the issue of privatization of prisons, but noted that these initiatives might be constrained by the severe economic and financial conditions facing the country. The Government had also developed a new regime for the management of juveniles in the care of the state and an existing facility was being renovated."

ENDS

Notes:

One wonders if the rush by the Jamaica Labour Party government to pass the almost twenty year document that is to replace section three of the constitution and which was passed with so much ease in our parliament history wasn't a diversion to meet this review and to impress the UN while by passing the sexual orientation discrimination issue both at the UN level where voted no to remove sexual orientation as a reason for judicial killings and at the local level the exclusion of any hints to the same Charter of Rights banded about above by the Permanent representative which not only excludes recognition and rights to same gender loving persons but the disabled as well.

You be the judge.

Peace and tolerance

H

Internalized Trans-Phobia

As we continue to put together the references to Transgender health and related issues here is a piece by Psychotherapist and Gender expert A. B. Kaplan officially a Licensed Psychotherapist practicing at

113 University Place #1008,

New York, NY 10003
(212) 358-1884

info@amikaplan.net
Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis

Some areas of specialty Include:

● issues of assertion
● overcome fears about speaking up
● change entrenched roles in relationships
● be able to put your agenda out there
● gay, lesbian issues and transgender issues
● relationship help, couples problems

Training

New York State Licensed Clinical Social Worker - LCSW
MSW from New York University
Post Graduate Psychoanalytic Training: Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Study Center Graduate.

Affiliations
Clinical Director of New York Psychotherapy Collective .
World Professional Association for Transgender Health

A.B. Kaplan

What is it and how do you get it?

Internalized trans-phobia refers to feelings some people have inside about their being trans that they might not even be aware of. It refers to how some people hate that part of themselves and are ashamed of it. The phrase comes from the similar experiences of gay folk who sometimes have “internalized homo-phobia”.

How does this happen? This happens because of discrimination, ignorance and stigma in society against people who display gender non-conforming behavior. In other words against men and boys who appear feminine or girls and woman who appear masculine or “butch” or people who are more gender-queer and don’t appear to be completely male or female.

Historically, trans-folk have been the butt of jokes, been made fun of, laughed at, been misunderstood and have been the object of derision and violence. Transgendered people have been seen as “less than”.

This attitude has been widespread and so to finally arrive at the idea that this could be you; that you could be a member of this hated group can be very scary. Not only that, but by growing up in a culture and society where this attitude is common, you take it in and part of you believes it whether you want to or not. This can happen because we often learn the attitudes and beliefs of those around us before we become self-aware enough or wise enough to start questioning them. We often learn these things from trusted people around us – parents, teachers, church leaders, etc. so that we tend not to question them. We learn that a certain group of people can be mocked before we know that we are in that group – and then we are stuck in the position of hating something about ourselves.

Sometimes the messages or feedback we get from parents and teachers when we are very young contribute to feeling bad about being gender variant. Like a parent disapproving of acting too “boyish” or “girlish”. These messages can be very quick and subtle, like a Mother telling her young son not to “stand like a ballerina”.

This is what causes internalized trans-phobia.

What are the effects of Internalized Trans-Phobia?

Feelings of hate and shame for yourself which you might not even be aware of can result in low self-esteem and depression. They can cause you to feel uncomfortable, embarrassed and inferior, even unlovable. They can make you feel like hiding a big part of yourself or pretend to be someone else. They can make you to not want to be around people, to withdraw or be a loner. These feelings can certainly make you feel very unhappy and angry. Some people take a long time to come out as trans because they have so much internalized trans-phobia. It can hold you back in life, not only in terms of finding a way to be the gender you are, but in many areas of your life such as forming deep and satisfying connections to others.

Sometimes internalized trans-phobia can keep you from connecting with other trans-folk. When one has a deep hatred of the gender-queer inside it can get confusing to be around other trans-folk. You may see them in the way you learned early on – as freaky, or not good-enough in some way. The negative feelings can get pushed outward in this way.

What can you do about it?


The first thing to do is to try be aware of it. Try and acknowledge it if you have it. This is hard to do because we usually automatically try to avoid things about ourselves that we are embarrassed about. One can feel ashamed of being ashamed! It gets complicated so it really helps to have a therapist who is knowledgeable about gender issues to do this work with, but a supportive friend or a support group can work too. It helps to have lots of people in your life who are supportive and positive about your being trans. It takes time to “undo” deep down beliefs about gender-variant people, just like it took time to get them.

More

Internalized transphobia is quite common in the transgender community. That is why even transgender people are more comfortable with “passable” than “non-passable” individuals. Until we can accept our own transgender feelings, we will not be able to accept others with transgender attributes.

The Pink Report on JFLAG's handling of the Charter of Rights issue

The Pink Report on March 27th published it's opinion on the handling of the Charter of Rights issues since recent days as it was passed by the Parliament with an overwhelming vote of 51/60 with one abstention and 9 members of Parliament absent during vote as the Bill moved across the floor. I don't normally republish stuff from the Pink Report but I found it refreshing to see their seeming stepped up agitation on advocacy issues which makes me hopeful of things to come, here is the piece in full or follow the link to their blog on Wordpress.

J-FLAG Response Disappoints

By PINK Report

In response to questions posed by the Pink Report concerning J-FLAG’s Advocacy Programme, The Executive Director of the entity has responded by saying “with respect, it’s the PINK REPORT” on JFLAG’s own Facebook Group page. We here at Pink are not sure of the meaning behind the statement, however, do note that it came after questions were raised about the credibility and thus veracity and accuracy of the Report’s Saturday publication entitled Under Attack Part II: Parliamentary Committee Briefs raise questions about JFLAG’s Advocacy by one of its (JFLAG’s) own volunteers/employees.

We here at the Pink Report would like to point out to our readers that the information provided in the above publication was taken from the official report of the Parliamentary Committee on the Charter of Rights and from JFLAG’s own website (which incidentally was emailed to us by the Executive Director). As a consequence if JFLAG is raising questions about the truthfulness and credibility of its own information and that of the Parliament of Jamaica, Pink in no way can be held responsible for that. Indeed the very accusation by JFLAG and its agents may take us down the dangerous path of second guessing every piece of information and literature coming out of JFLAG, a path that we are not remotely interested in contemplating. Rather we will take the statement as an unfortunate emotional reaction that even without the request of forgiveness, we shall like good Christians turn the other cheek forgive, forget and move on! Notwithstanding we would like to submit to JFLAG that a Warmingtonian response to questions is not in the best interest of the organization or any Human Rights lobby group for that matter.

The specific instance of which we speak pertains to a Facebook conversation regarding a JFLAG poll question “Do you agree with the question/statement: why discussions in its Group Page on Facebook have focused mainly on requesting information regarding Human Rights abuses but no articulation of what those Rights are or what JFLAG intends to do with the information if and when given!” Please note the text of the following conversation:

RY: DB (JFLAG representative), I actually thought that to myself… I just never expressed it. All I ever see is request for information.

DB: Scroll down on the wall

RY…take a look at the discourse about the constitution and charter of rights…I myself made suggestion on how particular persons may apply for redress based on their violation/abuses. There are contacts for agencies who can assist. When you have that, then tell me that all you have seen is request for information.

The response from the JFLAG representative has the same material effect as Shut UP, and might we add GO TO HELL. Pink views this is as remarkably abusive and raises questions as to whether the entity genuinely cares for feedback from its own constituents. We publicly implore JFLAG to reign in and train its volunteers/employees on appropriate etiquettes as it regards treatment of clients. We also kindly request adressing the issues raised in the Saturday article in a forensic and professional manner. We still do hope for a response to the questions raised! We had hoped that by raising these questions, JFLAG would have responded by highlighting the work they have been doing behind the scenes. Indeed the opportunity was theirs to point out that they have been coordinating responses with other Human Rights organizations due to the very present dangers of being the public face of homosexuality.

They could have even indicated that that there has been an attempt to get a newsletter off the ground, the efforts of which the PINK Report was to be a part of but has failed to live up to its commitment in this regard and that activities are being planned to ensure that content is added to their website to ensure that community members are better informed about activities they undertake. It is to be noted that Pink regards the 2001 written submission as conforming to the highest standards of advocacy on the matter of Rights. What confuses us is, what could have possibly occurred such that the Committee could have been left with the impression that JFLAG was willing to barter inclusion of rights protections for minorities with repeal of buggery and related laws and what has been done since 2001 to educate members about inter alia the Charter and Rights in general. We ask not for mendacity or barbed attacks but a proper distillation of the entity’s work programme, JFLAG will note that it is not the questions that will embarrass us but the answers.

Looking to the Future At the core of the debate is the Charter of Rights! The Bill is now at the floor of the Upper House, the Senate. Whilst the Leader of Opposition business in the Senate, Senator A.J. Nicholson has already indicated the total support of the PNP benchers he has called for a complete discussion on the Bill’s provisions among the Senators. This delay represents the last real opportunity that JFLAG and the wider Gay community has for initiating amendment to the Bill, which we are aware of. We humbly submit that the time has come for all members of the community to unite behind whatever initiative that JFLAG chooses to engage the Members of the Senate. We propose that a Great Email Campaign be done where persons directly email senators with content to be provided by JFLAG.

In another matter, we here at Pink do sympathize with the young lady from the UWI who was the victim of a cartoon attack. We, however, congratulate her on her fine electoral victory nonetheless. We hope that she will view this challenge not as a set back but as an opportunity to use her time in office to sensitize persons about respect and tolerance for persons of minority orientations including that of gender classifications. We note that the report indicated that the young lady in question was open and out prior to her election and as such her victory possibly marks the first time in Anglophone Caribbean History that an openly homosexual person has been elected to office. This is yet to be substantiated, however, it should be celebrated.

Jamaican Born serial rapist aka The Night Stalker finally nabbed .... described as Bisexual by The Jamaica Observer

LONDON, United Kingdom (AP) — A London jury today convicted one of Britain's most notorious serial rapists, who preyed on the elderly for nearly two decades and may have assaulted scores of victims.
The jury at Woolwich Crown Court found Jamaican-born Delroy Grant — dubbed the 'Night Stalker' — guilty of 29 counts of attacks on 18 elderly men and women between 1992 and 2009.

Police say the number of Grant's victims is thought to be substantially more than that. Officers have looked into 203 offences as part of the investigation.
Judge Peter Rook called the offences "of the utmost gravity" and said Grant could be handed a life sentence on Friday.

Grant stood motionless in the dock with his head bowed as the foreman of the jury delivered the verdicts. An elderly victim and several relatives looked on and smiled from the public gallery.
Police called Grant's offences some of the most "awful and disturbing crimes" Scotland Yard has ever investigated and the prosecution in the case called the attacks "the stuff of nightmares."
The attacker broke into homes, cut phone lines and crept into the bedrooms of his elderly victims during ordeals that lasted for hours. The victims were mostly elderly women; many were blind, deaf or had conditions including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

The 53-year-old Grant, a former cab driver and home-care aide to his second wife, was arrested in 2009 following one of Britain's longest running manhunts, codenamed Operation Minstead.
The Metropolitan Police task force formed Minstead — a randomly generated name — in 1998 to find the man.

After a series of interviews with victims in southeast London over the years, a pattern began emerging.

The telephone lines of the victims' homes were often disabled, and fuse boxes tampered with. Some described a person in a mask, waking them up by shining a flashlight in their faces.
More than 2,000 DNA samples were collected as part of the investigation, and in 2006, detectives travelled to Trinidad and Barbados after testing suggested the attacker might have Caribbean ancestry.

Branding Grant a "perverted, callous and violent individual," the head of the Metropolitan Police's homicide and serious crime unit said Friday his arrest and conviction allowed thousands of people in London to "go to sleep without the dreadful thought they would be preyed upon."
Still, Britain's police watchdog apologised for missed opportunities to catch Grant, saying the hunt to catch him was undermined by "basic policing errors."

The Independent Police Complaints Commission said a poor response to a burglary and confusion over a suspect — which saw the wrong man's DNA studied — prevented arresting Grant sooner.

"It is clear that a simple misunderstanding had horrific consequences," said Deborah Glass, the watchdog's commissioner for London.

Andrew Hadik, a senior lawyer with the Crown Prosecution Service, said the motive for Grant's crimes might never be known, because he had "steadfastly refused to admit any responsibility or to show any remorse."
At the time of his arrest, Grant said that police should not bother taking his fingerprints because he "always wore gloves."

ENDS

The Telegraph in the meantime covers the issue:

By Martin Evans, Caroline Gammell and Heidi Blake

Warm, charming and always friendly he was apparently a devoted carer to his wife Jennifer, who was paralysed as a result of multiple sclerosis.
He followed cricket, liked to fish and enjoyed community barbeques where he would share jokes and reminisce about his childhood in Jamaica.

But today that respectable image lies in tatters after he was convicted of being the notorious Night Stalker - one of the most prolific sex offenders of modern times.
For almost two decades Grant stalked the streets of south London at night burgling, raping and sexually assaulting the elderly.

He is known to have attacked more than 200 times, but police fear the toll could be much higher as many of his victims were simply to ashamed to come forward. (click linked names above for full article)

(UPDATE March 25th):

A reader left this interesting comment in the initial post here as was headlined "Jamaica Born Bisexual ............" I have since renamed it removing the bisexual link, I am aware that you my readers are on target and can spot the infractions without my prodding ... yeaahhhh! keep the vigilance up and thanks for keeping me on my toes as well

The comment was as follows:

"Hey, I am a frequent reader of this blog but this is my first comment.

Again I see where J'can news is trying to spread ill of the LGBTQ community. The Observers news report is the only one that stated that Grant is "bisexual". No other news report stated that. The other reports payed more attention to the fact that he was a Jehovahs Witness & not one of them said a BISEXUAL Jehovahs Witness.

The closest thing Grant would be called is a gerontophile. He raped and sexually assaulted ELDERLY people. He preyed on the ELDERLY and took advantage of their fragility. Yes, some of his victims were male but there was no gender motivation. Additionally, all his victims were white but there aren't any reports that state he was a RACIST. Why? Because race wasn't his motivator. Grant was looking for EASY victims and elderly people were most vulnerable."

ENDS

Interestingly it was the Jamaica Observer who used the Bisexual line in their lead story for this case probably it worked in a sense as if it were headlined to hint to homosexual then it would unearthed other kinds of reactions to which we are accustomed, the paper has been also coming for some criticim following a previous story where the word "homo" was used in the headline:

"Man before court for killing alleged homo"

Appeared on March 21st in the online edition of course using such words if it were overseas heads would have probably rolled for it but such is the seeming immaturity or bias of our local media which are used sometimes to sell papers, lgbt stigmatised sensationalist tones even from so called respectable media houses are not uncommon.

Peace and tolerance

H

Parliament Passes Charter Of Rights .......

by Daraine Luton, Gleaner Senior Staff Reporter

PARTISAN POLITICS found no place in the House of Representatives yesterday when it became apparent that members have successfully taken a giant step towards amending the Constitution.

Even before Heather Cooke, clerk to the Houses of Parliament, could announce the passage of the Charter of Rights in the lower house at 5:59 p.m., members rose in one accord, thumping desks and smiling gleefully. They have been able to complete a journey of constitutional amendment which began in the 1990s.

"Unity is strength," shouted West Portland representative Daryl Vaz, applause drowning out his voice.

The Charter of Rights, which required a two-third majority of the vote, received unanimous support from the 51 members who were present for yesterday's sitting.

Eight members of parliament - Dr Peter Phillips, Natalie Neita Headley, Olivia Grange, Michael Peart, Dean Peart, Dr Patrick Harris, Roger Clarke and Kern Spencer - were absent from the vote.

The South West St Catherine seat is the only vacant one in the 60-seat house of representatives.

Even before the vote, Prime Minster Bruce Golding was revelling in the moment. He said the Charter of Rights, which is to replace Chapter III of the Constitution "represents what our people are entitled to".

Human-rights obligation

The Charter of Rights places on the State an obligation to promote universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and freedoms for all persons in Jamaica and affords protection to the rights and freedoms of persons as set out in those provisions.

The Charter of Rights dictates that Parliament shall pass no law and establish no organ of the state which abrogates, abridges or infringes the fundamental rights of citizens.

Meanwhile, the House also passed another constitutional amendment which is intended to nullify the Pratt and Morgan ruling of the United Kingdom-based Privy Council.

Based on the Pratt and Morgan ruling by the Privy Council, a condemned man cannot be executed if his process of appeals lasts more than five years from the date of his sentencing. The amendment has removed the five-year stricture making it easier for the carrying out of capital punishment.

Central Kingston Member of Parliament Ronald Thwaites abstained from voting on the amendment.

The House was, however, plunged into laughter after East Hanover MP Dr D.K. Duncan voted for the amendment, going against his conscience.

"I am sorry. I made a mistake," Duncan said after he enquired if he could change his vote and was told no by Speaker Delroy Chuck.

The Senate is to vote on the constitutional amendments before the parliamentary year ends in just over a week.

If the amendments are not approved by the Senate then the process would have to be re-started next parliamentary year.

daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com

ENDS

Notes:

Never forget these two folks who are mostly responsible for the removal of the draft clauses from old version of The Charter of Rights that offered some protection to lgbt people though not directly stated as such at the time, they feared that the then clause would leave room opened for gay rights groups and others to challenge full legalization of homosexuality and the sanctioning of gay marriage in their eyes:

Anti Gay and restorative therapy advocate Rev Al Miller (right) who is scheduled to return to court today for aiding a fugitive, pastor of Fellowship Tabernacle Church, confers with always panicking Shirley Richards of the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship (LCF), as Church leaders and the LCF joined forces and urged the Joint Select Committee of Parliament, which is examing details for a new Constitution, to allow the group to make a presentation on the proposed Charter of Rights in March 2006. - Rudolph Brown/Photographer Gleaner

See the Observer's take on it here:

PASSED! - 51 MPs vote in favour of Charter of Rights Bill

"The Bill, which has been before Parliament for nearly 17 years, provides for the protection of property rights; protection from searches; respect for private and family life and privacy of home and of communication; and the entitlement of every child who is a citizen to publicly funded education, in a public education institution at the pre-primary and primary levels, among other things.

The JLP, in its manifesto leading to the 2007 general elections, had pledged to seek entrenchment in the Constitution of a new Charter of Rights to guarantee the fundamental rights of every citizen and establish a Citizens' Protection Bureau. The bureau is expected to have expanded powers to defend the rights of and secure redress for citizens whose constitutional rights may be violated.
Commenting ahead of the historic vote yesterday, Simpson Miller said the Opposition had decided to take the high road as far as completing the discussions on the Charter was concerned.

"The Charter of Rights and Freedoms was started by our administration... and the present Government completed the charge. In our almost 49 years of Independence we have never had an amendment of an entrenched Constitutional provision largely because an Opposition could not resist using the effective veto to reflexively frustrate the policies of the Government of the day and I am pleased to declare that this Opposition is going to take the historic and progressive decision that we are putting principle and the interest of the people above party politics," she said."

Meanwhile Letter writing campaigner and activist returned to business after a short hiatus following a threat issued to him via email, he contended in his last letter to the Gleaner that:

".............Ideally, this charter should be as inclusive as possible and create a framework for a consistent approach to the rights of all Jamaicans, including the minority of those whose sexual orientation currently makes them vulnerable to hate crimes and other forms of institutionalised discrimination.

Currently, institutionalised discrimination is inconsistent in Jamaica. On the one hand, Section 13.1 of the 2004 revision to the Public Service Staff Orders - which has the force of law - prohibits discrimination in the civil service on the grounds of, inter alia, sexual orientation. On the other hand, the proposed charter, which will govern all other Jamaicans, contains no such grounds for non-discrimination.

Further, the proposed charter re-entrenches the country's 1864 anti-buggery law, despite the fact that this law has been held to constitute discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation by treaty bodies to which Jamaica has subscribed.

Whoever drafted the 2004 Public Service Staff Orders understood that no good purpose could possibly be served by criminalising the private lives of consenting adults. This progressive and enlightened view needs to be reflected in the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms."

I am, etc.,

MAURICE TOMLINSON
maurice_tomlinson@yahoo.com
Montego Bay

Observer: Man before court for killing alleged homo .... gay panic defense again .....

Source: Jamaica Observer

A painter accused of killing a man who made sexual advances towards him was offered $300,000 bail when he appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court Friday.

Kevon Martin, 33, of Spanish Town Road in Kingston, was arrested and charged last November for the stabbing death of 59-year-old Steve Lindo at his (Lindo) home on Eastburn Road, Kingston 2.
The accused, who is charged for murder, was offered bail by Senior Magistrate Judith Pusey, despite objection from the prosecution on the grounds that Martin had no permanent address.

But the magistrate, after looking at the statement, said that based on the Crown's case, Martin was acting in self-defence.

However, before Martin was offered bail, he was abandoned by attorney Linton Walters who was assisting him, after he insisted that he wanted to speak directly to the judge.

Martin, despite being instructed that he should let his lawyer speak for him, told the judge that the lawyer told him that the police could not find anyone who knew him from the address he gave them and that could not be true.

According to the accused, he was coming from the bathroom when Lindo held onto him saying that he must have sex with him. In the ensuing scuffle, he stabbed the deceased.
According to police reports on November 7, 2010, the accused went to visit Lindo at his home and a dispute developed between them after Lindo reportedly made sexual advances towards Martin.
It is reported that a fight ensued in which Martin used a scissors to stab Lindo several times in his chest, back and neck.

Following the incident, Lindo, who was found semi-nude and bleeding profusely, was rushed to the Kingston Public Hospital where he died while undergoing treatment. Martin later turned himself in at the Rockfort Police Station.

Martin, when he was being cautioned, reportedly told the police: "Officer me neva know him stay suh. A check me come check him cause him use to live on Spanish Town Road where me and mi girlfriend live."
Martin is to return to court on March 31.

ENDS

Note:

The Gay Panic Defense.

The Gay Panic defense was popularized in 1995 after Jonathan Schmitz, a guest on the American Jenny Jones talk show, murdered Scott Amedure, who confessed he had a crush on Schmitz during the show. Jonathan was not successful in the defense because there was no immediate response. This means Jonathan should have immediately murdered Scott to get off on the murder charges, instead he waited three days.

So as we continue to watch the trends out there another story implying gay panic defense as the reason to snuff out another human being's life is presented to us via the Jamaica Observer, this story is not known to many in the community so we have to rely on the word of the paper for now.

As the story reads the perpetrator apparently was forced to have sex by the deceased, one wonders what person in their right mind in today's caustic homo negative Jamaica would lure another man in their midst and be so daring to force them to have sex? worse yet in that section of Kingston which is surrounded by depressed communities, covert gangs and violence, you may have guessed by now that I don't believe the gay panic excuse unless further credible evidence can be brought to bear.

One whiff of someone being gay or making advances in such communities may lead to death or at best beatings except for those persons who are "born and grow" or native residents from birth who may be allowed some leverage to exist due to family, gangster or community connections. There are known or suspected persons in these depressed areas who survive but no outsider can come forward to accuse them of homosexuality in their own space that is a privilege left to the long term residing residents.

Sadly our advocacy structure hardly follow up on these cases as there are little resources for them and also bloggers like myself to unearth the real truth to the allegations. Let us try and watch this one carefully and make note.

Be safe out there

Peace and tolerance

H

A response to: The Butch Dynamic/Mystique a problem? post

In one of the responses to the post below a lesbian blogger gives her take on the issue and the points raised in my post. Photos were added by me to enhance the discussion.

Post republished with permission

Cherie wrote:

"Howieeee! It's Cherie.

I read your post re: butch/femme mystique. It was good reading. I was considering your question of whether the national obsession with masculinity, associated societal beliefs and rules that govern them are some how rubbing off on the lesbian sisters who identify as butch or stud?How could it be otherwise? I can not speak to what might make it so that some women have a yearning for the masculine model of behaviour (dress etc); and I accept it is being as natural as liking the colour pink or not. But the basis of my response is this: butch women might not necessarily want to BE men, but they have a yearning for the masculine model of behaviour.

Therefore definition of "butch" is a woman whose behaviours are modeled off masculine behaviours and this will be true across any culture. Sooo, it follows that the butch behaviour would be affected by and shift with the larger societal beliefs and understanding of what it is to be masculine. Bearing in mind also that this is a general commentary, there are many butch women who only exhibit certain masculine behaviours while there are others who feel it necessary to do everything like a man would do it.

This distinction also raises another significant question about physical appearance and how heavily it features in how lesbian women are labeled. But that is too big for right now. Mi brain start twist up as I think of it. Think of men who are content to be taken care of - if a stud choses that role... is she still a butch because she walks talks and dresses like one? Or is she a femme in butches clothing? And a femme who fucks and functions like a butch but is completely feminine in her outward appearance?

I had few and far between girl on girl experiences while I iden

tified as Bi; so really and officially I largely consider my current relationship my initiation into the lesbian world.
One of the things I'm being educated about is the spectrum of gender identity. I don't think that a lesbian HAS to identify on - and stick to - either side of the masculine:feminine ratio. My take is do whatever makes you happy, and I took it for granted that it was like that in the community, but I'm figuring out that there are rules and expectations about how you're expected to behave based on how you look and identify.

For myself I look like a femme but don't necessarily behave as

one in our relationship while my girlfriend looks like a butch but doesn't necessarily behave like one in our relationship. It's very fluid and we're happy with that.
I can't see it being any other way; so when she commented to me the other day that she's happy to be able express her feminine side in our relationship I was a little surprised. When I asked her why she thought something like that's a big deal she explained that in the past she's had women lose interest when she behaved less aggressively. Wow.

For a minute I thought that was really whack cause I think it's acceptable to want what you want and be who you are. But I gather it's not really ok in some areas of the community. There are some women who identify as very butch, and some women who want only that; and some women who identify as super femme and some women who want only that. I think that's ok. Where we run into trouble is by not talking about it before we enter a relationship ,we get our wires crossed and end up with a woman who's a poor match and we create situations where women feel like they can express only one extreme of their aggressive/submissive self.
Before she and I started dating we had conversations about our expectations; she expressed certain "butch tendencies" that I explained I wouldn't find satisfactory in a relationship and told her what my ideal situation is and she did the same thing. We discussed what would make us most comfortable in our relationship and we still continue to talk about it.

In that way, I've come to be with a woman who is (and is happy to be) a great balance on the butch femme scale for me rather than the extreme butch I first started talking to and would not have been very comfortable in a relationship with.

I'm sure this isn't going to be true to every situation, but it kinda shows how important it is to talk about what's important to you on this scale, and to make room if necessary for each of you to flex whatever muscles - or not - you desire.
So, I think we should put it like safe sex, on a list of things you need to discuss before you make that big step into a relationship."

Cherie ENDS

Thank you Cherie for responding and allowing the views to be shared.

Then there are others who do not take kindly to "labelling" behaviours or identities in the community whether for purposes of separating behavioural differences in the groups purely in a level of recognition or those who use such labelling for destructive and discriminatory purposes as we do have inter and intra community discrimination especially intertwined with socio economic class and scholastic achievement in all spheres of Jamaican LGBTQI life. I however try to use the various descriptions purely out of an academic purpose so we can easily identify groups, individuals or behavioural trends for greater understanding.

Let's continue brainstorming and talking.

Peace and tolerance

H

The Butch Dynamic/mystique becoming a problem?

A Butch is a lesbian that appears to be more masculine—in their clothing, their attitude, hairstyle, etc. Sometimes fits the stereotype that people may have about lesbians—that they all like to work on cars, wear short hair, and act in a stereotypically masculine manner.

A Stonebutch or “Butch Plus”.
Some stonebutches are almost aggressively masculine, and may fall just short of being transgender. Other stonebutches may prefer to pass as men, or live as men, but still be considered a butch stonebutches do not permit themselves to be touched intimately. They instead derive pleasure from making love to their partners, who often identify as stone femmes. Some butches may also choose to use male first names and pronouns, because while they do not identify as men, neither do they consider themselves women. Yet often they still identify very strongly with the lesbian community.

In recent months we have been watching a steady stream of discussions, opinions and complains locally from varying quarters in the lesbian and bisexual women communities chief among them are the increased reports of abuse verbally, stigmatization, profiling and otherwise towards women who present aesthetically as masculine which all of a sudden has become a problem for some men in Jamaica. Same sex attracted women never had so many problems navigating sexuality in this complex society now there are issues of clothing stores refusing to sell a woman a pair of male jeans within the last week this kind of open discrimination was unheard of before. Is this a result of the moves towards full metrosexualism in Jamaican men? when a popular dancehall DJ can openly defend skin bleaching and full body tattooing which was once relagated to gays in years gone by the change is rather rapid and dramatic, the same DJ as in Vybz Kartel commented at a recent lecture on the University of the West Indies campus what was taboo will soon become widely accepted. One wonders if he contemplated that homosexuality will be in that mix?

One butch sister complained that at a central location in Kingston recently she was verbally abused by men as she beckoned to another female she was waiting for to go about their private business. Another woman was harassed by a taxi driver in the same area as he drove his car almost in her path. In previous posts here we examined the fact that most women who were butch identified were sometimes considered "one of the boys" given our homosocial trends Jamaican men get together and the butch sisters never really experienced major lesbophobic problems as late as 2008 until we started to see the increase in cases of corrective rape, beatings and forced evictions to include both femme and butch sisters as victims in a bid by their attackers to straighten them out. Historically from I can recall I have always seen butch identified women even at my primary school there was one who was the physical education teacher and coach and she had cordial relations with the male students and other male members of staff as far as we could see. There was a popular female police officer who was assigned to the bike teams and when she rode around it was fascinating to most onlookers to see her strut her stuff with broad shoulders and a husky voice with her gun embedded on her holster. 

It may look attractive to some men for the sake of having a "buddy" of sorts but then there is the ever constant reminder that it's a female by either the aesthetic or physical features that are feminine including cleavage which cannot be hidden for some. What triggered this post also was my witnessing a butch taxi driver recently who plies a route in Kingston and how she seemed quite comfortable with the boys chatting and idling on the terminus dodging between cars calling for passengers while she had a stick of marijuana rolled and stuck behind her ear, it was clear that some onlookers by the nearby taxi stand were obviously captivated watching this woman being one of the boys but there were no open lesbophbic remarks. When examples of some of the opposing gender norms appear in public most persons are indeed fascinated until some fool takes it to another level.

Inter-community issues

The concept of butch and femme identities have long been hotly debated within the lesbian community, yet even achieving a consensus as to exactly what the terms "butch" and "femme" mean can be extraordinarily difficult. In recent years, these words have come to describe a wide spectrum of individuals and their relationships. It is easiest, then, to begin with an examination of butch-femme culture and meaning from a historical perspective.
Butch and femme emerged in the early twentieth century as a set of sexual and emotional identities among lesbians. To give a general but oversimplified idea of what butch-femme entails, one might say that butches exhibit traditionally "masculine" traits while femmes embody "feminine" ones. Although oral histories have demonstrated that butch-femme couples were seen in America as far back as the turn of the twentieth century and also in Jamaica to a certain extent it is the late nineties to present working-class and bar culture that most clearly illustrate the archetypal butch-femme dynamic.

Then there are the issues of some butches get strong criticisms of being to "manly man" or "man royal" many soft femmes (pardon the labels) and more mixed soft thugs remark that if they wanted a man they would have gone to find one and are not looking for a replacement, so one could conclude that even if a same sex attracted woman wants another female as her romantic interest with her butch mystique and all she must not seek to replace that attraction or distort it with being to masculine in dress and attitude. Some butches respond by saying that's who they are take it or leave it and why not if one is seeking a dominant partner. Question is, is the national obsession with masculinity, associated societal beliefs and rules that govern them are some how rubbing off on the lesbian sisters who identify as butch or stud? The stigmas that affects butch identified sisters seem to be coming to a head with the walls closing in. As more butch identified women are becoming targets for violence one response is self defense classes offered by a new lesbian owned entity Couture Elements for a relatively small fee concerns have been raised especially during International Women's Day activities.

Butch-Femme net http://butch-femme.net/Butch/BF/ says:
“To the mainstream dyke world, Butches are often seen as "men" or as selling out to the enemy. Butch energy is often read as male energy because it is closer to what we consider male energy than it is what we consider female energy. We are sometimes seen as oppressors of Femmes who they see as "tools of the heterosexual patriarchy" because they are feminine and often don all the feminine accouterments such as makeup, long fingernails, and high heels.”
The butch-femme dynamic is well known among lesbians. The most well known combination is a butch with a femme, although it’s not impossible for a butch to be with another butch, or a femme to be with another femme.

According to GLBTQ social sciences encyclopedia, In recent years, "pansexual" and "polysexual" have joined "bisexual" as terms that indicate women's attractions to more than one gender. Another indication of that fluidity is the fact that one cannot always tell simply by looking whether a lesbian identifies as butch or femme. Butches are not necessarily tops; femmes are not necessarily bottoms; and butches and femmes are no longer expected to date only each other.

Trends that are to be watched.

Peace and tolerance.

H

International Women's Day 2011 ......

International Women's Day Centenary sees largest ever activity

IWD Press Release

London, March 2, 2011: March 8 sees the highest level of global women's activity ever witnessed as groups celebrate the International Women's Day centenary.

The first International Women's Day events were run in Austria, Denmark, Germany and

Switzerland in 1911 and attended by over one million people. 100 years on, International Women's Day (IWD) has become a global mainstream phenomena celebrated across many countries and is an official holiday in approximately 25 countries including Afghanistan, Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam and Zambia.

8 March sees extensive global women's activity. Performer and social activist, Annie Lennox, will lead a mass march across London's Millennium Bridge for charity. In Washington D.C. over a thousand people will descend on Capitol Hill demanding a better world for millions of marginalized women and girls around the globe.

A major international businesswomen's conference will be hosted in Sydney, Australia. Schools and governments around the world are participating in the day. Trade Unions and charities are campaigning. Global corporations are hosting conferences and distributing extensive resource packs. The United Nations Secretary-General delivers a formal message. The United States even designates the whole month of March as Women's History Month as officially proclaimed by President Obama on February 28, 2011.

International Women's Day is a global celebration of the economic, political, and social achievements of women past, present, and future. However, activity has not always been on the increase. Australian entrepreneur and women's campaigner Glenda Stone, who founded the http://www.internationalwomensday.com website, a global hub of events and information, said:

"A decade ago International Women's Day was disappearing. Activity in Europe, where International Women's Day actually began, was very low. Providing a global online platform helped sustain and accelerate momentum for this important day. Holding only a handful of events ten years ago, the United Kingdom has now become the global leader for International Women's Day activity, followed sharply by Canada, United States and Australia. 2011 will see thousands of events globally for the first time."

More recently, social networking websites like Twitter, Facebook and Youtube have also helped fuel International Women's Day activity. Generally the day has moved away from its socialist Suffragette beginnings to become more mainstream in celebrating women's achievements. Women's rights campaigners, however, continue to remind that vigilance rather than complacency is essential in striving for women's equality.

locally in light of the recent problems some lesbian and bisexual women have been encoutering that of verbal attacks by mostly men in public spaces a self defense course has commenced in Kingston (March 6th 2010) via Couture Elements, there have been some reports of some of our Butch oriented sisters being profiled in public spaces and harassed, one woman was literally almost run over by a taxi man in Half Way Tree while hurling insults at her. Many fear that the recent Buju Banton verdict may have sent some of his groupies into a feeling of exacting some kind of revenge of persons who do not fit the gender norms aesthetically. There are also reports of some gay men particularly the homeless and displaced brothas who are being targeted by groups of thugs in sections of Kingston who claim the gay activists overseas set up Buju Banton to destroy him because of the Boom Bye Bye song so battyboi muss feel the pinch.

An Open Mic session is planned for Wednesday March 9th at 7pm in Kingston to discuss famous women, past present and future and look at some of the issues facing lesbian and bi-sexual facing women...in the now!

Read and come prepared to share what you know/learnt about women, come express how you feel about your special woman and the women in your life.

Meanwhile The theme for International Women’s Day this year is ‘Education and Training: Decent Work for Women’.

Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Olivia Grange will lead a delegation to the service which begins at 8:30.
In addressing this year’s theme, Minister Grange says although statistics show that there are more women with degrees and that women graduate from tertiary institutions at higher rates than men, women still struggle to get decent work.

Noting that a stop needs to be put to this practice, Minister Grange indicated that this year’s observance of International Women’s Day will address the issue in a big way.

meanwhile: SMACK in the middle of Princess Street, downtown Kingston, business is booming for a set of hairdressers, nail and other beauty technicians. Among the women doing what's seen as traditional women's jobs is Samuel Blair, a versatile male hairstylist and 'eyelash technician' who goes by the name 'Gabriel'.

Gabriel said he's a self-taught hairstylist who has been working on Princess Street for the past three years.

Notice how the camera man zooms in on the stylists thumb ring, what are they trying to do? advertise that he is gay because of our stupid belief that it represents homosexuality or some declaration, even if some gay persons wear this so called identifying mark not all persons who wear a ring on their thumb are gay, sections of our media has such a long way to go in adjusting their behaviour and stop pushing stereotypes and such.

Peace and tolerance

H