Havana Times’ Dmitri Preite Samsonov interviews blogger and activist Yasmin Silvia Portales Machado

The readers of Havana Times probably know Yasmin Portales from her recent initiative in support of the LGBTI* community in Cuba: “The Rainbow Project” (Spanish: Proyecto Arcoiris). But the fact is that Yasmin a multifaceted activist and blogger, a defender of freedom of speech and of women’s rights and “peripheralized” groups (excuse me, a better epithet didn’t come to mind) – referring to people such as those of African descent or members of the LGBTI community.

A social activist who defines herself as a feminist and a Marxist, she signs her e-mails with a phrase by Carlo Frabetti: “Engels couldn’t have said it clearer: the first form of exploitation, the basis of all others, was the exploitation of woman by man; but not even Marx listened to him.”

HT: Yasmin, you begin one of your last posts with the brief and definitive sentence: “I’ve reached the saturation point. I have political rights, I have civic duties, I have a problem with the legal system of this country.” How do you generally assess the current situation in Cuba, particularly around the issue of people who are LGBTI?

YASMIN SILVIA: I can’t tell you how I “generally assess the current situation in Cuba,” because I don’t see it. Our “friends” of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union accustomed us to a lack of transparency, and our enemies from Washington prevent me/us from rightly knowing where we’re heading. For me this moment is, along with everything else, pregnant with hope. The president’s speeches refer to battles in his (our) hidden war with the bureaucracy and that it’s necessary to spell things out “slowly and carefully” to fix the government. But honestly, I don’t know where that combat is taking place or who’s winning. But judging by the newspapers Trabajadores from Bayamo, and Juventud Rebelde in the column “Acuse de Recibo,” the bureaucrats are racking up points.
In short, I don’t know where we’re going; I only know that I can’t stay still, because this is my government too, right?
In the specific case of politics among LGBTI people, diversity is flourishing, which is something good. In this way we’re struggling to learn how to respect ourselves in our sexual and political diversity. We are learning to debate with solid arguments in the face of a social norm that discriminates against us, while internally the LGBTI community has barely begun to think of itself as members of a citizenry with full and equal rights.

HT: How is all of that related to the “Project Rainbow” that you’ve just started? What do you think can be done?

YP: The Project Rainbow is precisely that: an initiative to unite LGBTI people around the idea that we should renovate resources so that our demands for recognition and protection before the Cuban government are heard. We are activists who, with differing educations and life experiences, have wound up assuming anti-capitalist, anti-patriarchal, anti-discriminatory and environmentalist positions. From that political profile we are assuming dialogue with the government and civil society, and that will mark the way in which we are organized, act and propose alternatives.
Basing oneself on the exercise of critical reading, I believe that one can do a lot to recover historical memory and spread understanding of the current laws that establish our rights. Moreover, such readings can promote solidary action in diverse types of professional networks. All these fields of action are open. They’re natural spaces for the work of fraternal community organizations. In this sense of “scope,” Project Rainbow is only a small droplet in a potentially fertile sea of diverse associations. It’s not only an initiative of people with the desire to act; it’s also an invitation to action from distinct socio-cultural perspectives.

HT: How does this initiative differ from other ones? For example, those sponsored by CENESEX, the government organization that works around all issues related to sexuality; or the recently begun Observatorio LGBT de Cuba, whose logic seems to be in tune with that promoted by some anti-government opposition groups.

YP: I said it synthetically in a blog post that touched all this off, but I’ll try to explain it better: HxD, Oremi, the TransCuba project (I’ve just discovered that they have a blog, great!) belong to CENESEX. They’re part of the strategy of social networks that the institution has been promoting for almost a year to increase the capacity of its activists to organize themselves and to have an impact on the LGBTI community. Although it would be interesting to find out how much CENESEX has been energized based on this relative autonomy of its activists, none of the three groups are independent. Let’s say that they’re in line with the government (which isn’t good or bad per se), and as such it’s fair that they respect the policies of CENESEX, the tacit and/or explicit limits that the center maintains as a state institution.

On the other side is the “Cuban Observatory for the Rights of the LGBT Community” (a long name, right?). I agree with the blogger “Paquito el de Cuba” in seeing that the problem isn’t that they promoted a very well publicized “Gay Pride Parade” and could convince just nine marchers to participate (because with few people major changes have occurred). The problem is the way Leannes Imbert and his colleague Ignacio Estrada query CENESEX, assuming the position of a frontal attack and negating its merits, which has nothing to do with my idea of an appropriate debate on the means and objectives for struggling against discrimination.

Outside of that, there’s no known concrete action proposal by the Cuban Observatory for the Rights of the LGBT Community in which they’re contributing something new. There’s nothing that legitimizes them as true activists with well-conceived actions.

HT: Speaking of CENESEX (which operates under the Ministry of Health, or MINSAP), do you think that it’s legitimate to treat the issue of LGBTIs and the issue of gender generally as a matter of “public health”? Do you have any alternative ideas in this respect?

YP: For me it’s not legitimate, in principle, that issues of discrimination on the basis of one’s sexual orientation or issues of gender identity are in the hands of a health agency, yet in its field CENESEX has won the right to express itself and make proposals. Here’s a little history:
The way in which CENESEX arose within the framework of MINSAP is related to its origin, which was the Commission for Attention to Transsexual People, and which was around in the 1970s. Currently, part of its work continues being public health-related because it’s true that people who are transsexual and intersexual need support and accompaniment in dealing with the health care system and because medical consultations for people or couples with sexual dysfunctions are the responsibility of MINSAP. I have no doubt that sexual and reproductive health are public health concerns.

However, the Center has gone from arguing over the relevancy of overcoming certain pseudoscientific visions about sexuality in the Cuban health care system to sparking social debate concerning the social and political rights of the victims of hetero-normality. It’s an enormous qualitative leap that it has assumed because no other institution in the country has been able to take on such a challenge. But that no one else could, or wanted to, assume the problem, doesn’t mean that CENESEX is the most suitable to address it. On the other hand, it does indicate that they have courage, ethics and a sense of duty. Those are merits that no one can deny the CENESEX collective.
The fact is that Cuba — its legal, institutional and political part — isn’t designed for the systematic exercise of social criticism from the position in which we LGBTI people find ourselves, the exercise we can label as “politics of identities.” Our institutional designs have to group you as a part of a government-dependent organization or atomize you to the extreme, because in the official logic there’s only one identity: the national one. So, without transforming the model that governs the policies of Cuban associations, we couldn’t break out of the CENESEX-MINSAP orbit relating to matters of hetero-normality, just as we were unable to escape the CITMA (Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment) – MINCULT (Ministry of Culture) orbit regarding race-related issues.
That is my proposal, which admits that people not only link up due to professional, spiritual or political, reasons, but also because they’re united as victims of discrimination, and that’s a reason to come together. It’s a legitimate method for emancipating ourselves.

HT: Yasmin, you identify yourself in your e-mails as a “Marxist, feminist blogger.” What does that triple identity mean to you? Is it perhaps a triple project of resistance?

YP: This is the first time I’ve stopped to look at it like that! Resistance? Yes – that’s one way to put it. When I conceived of it, it was more a matter of how to explain it to people that certain matters shouldn’t be played with in your presence. To me, one doesn’t play around with money, the class struggle, patriarchy or freedom of speech. You can talk but you don’t play. These are words that came to me years apart.
To believe in Marxism at the end of ‘90s, when I entered the university, was an “antiquated” position, unless you planned to pursue a political career. I began very successfully as a student leader, but I realized over time that I didn’t want to be a “leader,” but a “Marxist intellectual.” I was in an intense “Young Pioneer” phase, stuck in “We will be like Che” and without the capacity for negotiation.
Being a feminist in Cuba has never been “politically correct.” I took offense when Julio César Guanche called me that in 2002. To calm me down he told me, “You’re a feminist, you just don’t know it.” Only after reading certain writings, seldom recommended to marriageable young ladies sheltered in their homes, I had to agree with him. Up until then I didn’t know I was actually a feminist.
To be a blogger — defending my/the right to express personal reflections in a public space — generates a lack of understanding in a culture whose informational paradigm is based on a monopoly. Since 2005 I haven’t stopped running into people who ask me “So you put your thoughts there for everybody to read them?” To which I respond: “Of course. Isn’t that my right?”
This is connected with resistance, isn’t it?

HT: By the way, in your opinion, what’s the limitation of Cuban feminism?

YP: Cuban feminism? That’s the first news I’ve heard it exists. For me there are Cuban feminists and there’s a women’s movement in Cuba, but as for a specific line of explanation concerning the relations between the genders from a specific sociocultural perspective (like black feminism, Islamic feminism, one that’s different or radical feminism), it doesn’t seem that we have something like this on the island. Maybe you should adjust the question.

HT: Ok – what are the limitations of Cuban feminists?

YP: The logic of feminism is so revolutionary that it doesn’t fit into the structure of the Federation of Cuban Women. Like anti-racism and LGBTI activism, it remains in institutional limbo. And in Cuba, this is equal to political limbo and permanent suspicion. That’s why, though there’s a great team of women and men with excellent preparation in matters of gender whose actions barely go beyond the limits of academia. These people could do so much in social politics, public debates or managerial strategies!

HT: At the 2011 Social Forum of the Critical Observatory, you introduced the notion of a “personal political agenda.” What does this involve? Can there exist such “agendas” within the customary calls for revolutionary unity in Cuba? Also, I’d like you to talk a little about what your own participation in the Critical Observatory Network has meant to you.

YP: Tell me something, is that phrase going to continue sticking with me for long? Frankly, I’d hoped they would have keyed in on other parts of the presentation.
You have to realize that the phrase was used in a context of confrontation. I explained the confrontation between a paradigm of control over pre-Internet knowledge and the possibilities for exchanging experiences as well as the establishment of resistance with the resources of the Internet.
“Personal political agendas” are not things that emerged with the web; this refers to peoples’ identities, how much they’re willing to invest — materially, spiritually and temporally — in their dreams for public space. What the network facilitates is the search for peers who may help you in involving with issues such as changing the educational system, organizing an initiative around non-violence or repairing the neighborhood cultural center.
Of course such a thing can exist within a revolutionary unity; we’re people, not objects, therefore we have goals, opinions and perspectives. All of that makes up people’s “personal political agendas,” which is summed up through a process of constant negotiation with whoever accompanies us on the path to action. To me, a person without a “personal political agenda” has stopped dreaming.
That’s what I like about the Critical Observatory Network: it brings together people who dream. My experience with those who make it up, people from diverse fields of knowledge, is that they don’t give up trying to transform ways of doing things or the spirit of those who do. With more or less sophisticated languages, joining the Network implies a daily commitment from people to work for emancipation, transcending the cultural logic of the late capitalism in which we live and outlining of a new paradigm – one that I call communist.
I know that everything doesn’t work as well as I would like. There are external pressures, the social logic in which we live, as well as internal contradictions in which we members all fall into as we attempt to act, which slows down our advance. However the Critical Observatory Network isn’t above me, it’s within. That’s why it suits me.

HT: In that same Critical Observatory Social Forum, a brief video was filmed where you argue with great emphasis and emotion that “the revolution has to be taken to its final consequences.” What is a/the revolution for you? Is it commitment to a historic leadership, a government, a tradition of struggle? – or does it mean not giving into enemies “not even a little”? Or is it something more than that?

YP: Can you copy the video for me? The problem is that I don’t have access to YouTube…

HT: Me neither, Yasmin. We don’t have the bandwidth for that. But there’s a copy around here on a pin drive…

YP: Well, seriously: What is a Revolution? You saw me looking like Rosa Luxemburg or Alexandra Kollontai? How do I define revolution? More or less, I know that it’s a process, a sociopolitical one, that always brings with it a little bit of blood and a few decapitations – to make it clear that we’re talking about something serious. The idea is to change the whole economic system in a short period of time to satisfy the needs of a class, which up until then has been deprived but wants its part of the pie…its part of the means of production.
That’s how it is, revolutions are forward movement. The model can only call itself that if the class that takes power is wider and more democratic than the one beheaded. That’s what guillotines and firing squads are for. Revolution has to succeed at implanting a new logic, one that’s more flexible and more efficient in its mechanisms of satisfying the needs of society as a whole. The revolution has to be able to explain the world and justify itself in an almost coherent way. Do you like that?
Therefore, revolution involves the commitment to ideas, with models of the country and the society that you try to concretize. Commitment is not to a group of people, no matter how much you respect them, nor to the government’s model, because it can become obsolete.
Commitment is to a tradition of struggle for independence, sovereignty, the emancipation of people and everyone’s access to what humanity’s knowledge can offer so as to make life full – physical and mentally. The commitment is to social justice, not personal comfort.
Of course, what I’m describing is a process marked by the violence of classist confrontation. That’s why someone once said that we will leave prehistory behind when we supersede capitalism. There’s an enemy with as many faces as illusions of domination — capitalism is the first economic system that succeeded in making autophagy a virtue — and not giving it “even a little bit,” is complicated. This implies making ideas essential but practice very reflective. One of the few things that I’m sure of is that to stop in the process of forging change is to give them the advantage.

HT: How are you able to reconcile motherhood, marriage, family life and economic difficulties with that agenda? And, well, what’s the idea of family that you profess?

YP: That’s like asking the centipede which leg it uses first to dance. Every day, Roge (my husband, Rogelio) and I try to coordinate our work schedules with our son’s care. The rest we come up with as we go along.
What’s my idea of family? It’s supposed that the family is a genetic condition, but death, poverty or extreme intolerance can force you to have to build your family from scratch. In general terms, I believe that a family consists of those people with whom you have such an intense positive sentimental bond that you prefer to have them close to you with certain regularity. They are people who you know and accept as they are – even above ideology. They are people for whom you would run risks and who you consider when you make plans that affect life, such as bringing about a revolution or organizing a girl’s “Sweet ‘Fifteen’” party at the Hotel Nacional.

HT: Could you tell me about your experience as a blogger…about the Bloggers Cuba collective? What’s the profile of your blog and why does it have such an unusual name?

YP: I became a blogger in September 2005 because I wanted to have a place online for my demons, for the dirty stories that I compulsively wrote but didn’t have anywhere to publish. Gradually an explicit political practice emerged in the content of those posts, because just being a blogger is already a political gesture. Back then it was rather a solitary matter. I came to Bloggers Cuba through Boris Leonardo (who blogs at “Los rumores”), and starting from there the experience became rich thanks to an internal discussion about what it is to be a blogger in Cuba, and because I collided with comments and what other people “expected” to be written from Cuba. Anyway, I tried to function in a way so that the commentators wouldn’t put the screws on, because they accused me of being a “state security agent” and other nonsense.
As for the profile of my blog, to begin with, there are three of them.
I started up Palabras robadas (“Stolen words”) in September 2005. It’s dedicated to “fanfiction.” It’s basically homosexual erotic literature, but there’s something political in it because in those stories I often begin to speculate about what is a relationship between a couple, what is family and what is power or obsessions, all these being topics of feminist thinking, as you can imagine.
In 2006 Bubusopia emerged. At first it was a blog for gathering news, but later I convinced Roge to fire off his political diatribes in posts. At the moment I’m publishing very little on that site.
It wasn’t until 2007 that the third site arose. It was first called himself Solo mis palabras (Only My Words), until one day I thought it sounded like a teenager’s diary name, so I looked for something abstract. The title “En 2310 y 8225” refers to the geographical coordinates of our house. It’s a personal and reflective blog of my interests, opinions, sentimental jolts and academic readings. If we were to label it, it will be “Marxist and feminist,” like me.

HT: There’s talk in Cuba of (self-described) “revolutionary bloggers” and “alternative bloggers.” Similarly, there is “a merciless digital war” being waged, at least according to the sides in that conflict: the alternative and the official sides – or, inversely, between good Cubans and the enemy’s mercenaries. On which side of that dispute do you place yourself?

YP: On neither, of course. This war is invented and maintained by people who live off of war, whose goal is war, not peace. That’s why they’re determined to move Cuban blogs under the same dualist premise that marks our politics, along with the rhetoric of violence and threats they use in other older fields. These people choose to forget that the nature of blogs is diverse, like the people who generate them.

HT: You participated actively in the controversy unleased as a result of Ted Henken’s research on the Cuban blogsphere, which also involved Havana Times. Why such an emotional defense of an initiative that you don’t belong to? What are your desires for the Cuban blogosphere and for each of the groups that comprise it (according to Ted Henken)?

YP: You see, it’s like in the poem by Bertolt Brecht that ends, “And then…they came for me…And by that time there was no one left to speak up.” As part of Bloggers Cuba (BC), I share with HT the vocation to engage in civic journalism from platforms open to the public’s involvement, with the objective of diversifying the vision that we have of our society inside and outside of Cuba.
The people in the previous response (those on one side or the other living for war), they don’t want these alternatives. They know we’re putting their hegemony in danger. So defending HT from persecution and attacks on its credibility is a minimum common sense reaction. We are close as bloggers, claiming the right of the people with HT to exist – as long as it’s not proven that they’re agents of the CIA effectively involved in subversion acts against Cuba. This support is to defend the right of all of authentic civil society to exist, and that includes me. Did you think I did it as a do gooder?
Following this logic, the only things I want for the Cuban blogosphere is for its bandwidth to increase, the prices of spare parts to go down, the migration to open-source software to be generalized and that we learn how to respect bloggers’ and commentators’ opinions — sexual, political, economic and aesthetic…in short, their ideologies.
In terms of Ted Henken’s research, I’ve already solved that problem: I’ve done my own.
To me, the Cuban blogosphere has four parts: exiled, “insilio” (“in-xiled”), official and resistance.
The “exiled” are those who migrated and work against the government, therefore they extend their objectives and belligerency to the blogosphere.
I owe Isbel Alba Duarte for the term “insilio” (“in-xiled”), which refers to the blogs of those who reside in Cuba and oppose the government.
The blogs in exile and in insilio can be contrasted to the “Bloggers of the Revolution,” which can be called “official” for their hard line in defense of the identification of Cuba with the current government.
I’m adding to these terms the category of “in resistance,” referring to the small niche of people who work inside and outside of Cuba attempting to unmask the previous dualist tradition. This category operates for emigrants and residents, and it is expressed above all in thematic choices and focus. For more details, see my report: “Voces femeninas en la blogosfera cubana. ¿Cambió algo más que el soporte?” (Female voices in the Cuban blogosphere: Did more than just support change?)”, presented in June at the Universidad de Madeira.

HT: What will be the next actions of Project Rainbow and of Yasmin Silvia as a blogger?

YP: Project Rainbow is consolidating. We’ve already had a working meeting and now we have to come to a consensus on the founding document. Also, we’re thinking about initiatives to foment international and national LGBTI historical memory in Cuba. This is something we consider basic for our long term objectives. We’re in agreement that a community without consciousness of itself cannot act autonomously, nor can it affirm or deny its representatives. To be legitimate — politically speaking — we therefore need a community that is aware.
As a blogger, then…you know that even when I was little they told me that I was always quarrelsome. The thing is that I can’t just turn the other cheek, and the blog is one way for me to strike back.
For the original report go to http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=48707

Homosexual relationships devastating (Observer Letter)

Dear Editor,

Jamaicans are not immune from the rolling tide that is shaping the debate on homosexuality in our world. The article, "Gay TV advert angers clerics" in the Sunday Observer of August 7, 2011, and other postings in the Gleaner leave no doubt that the tide is on the shores. Buoyed by recent successes, especially with the passage of same sex marriage law in New York, the local lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders believe the time is ripe to test the waters.

Who wants to deny love among family members? Is it love that is being projected here or is it a lifestyle? No church leader or member can promote hate of anyone and call themselves a follower of Jesus.The Bible teaches that He died for all sinners because of His great love. Still, sin is the act that is unacceptable, homosexuality and other deviant behaviours are called sin. Loving each other is good, but it's hypocritical to pretend that acceptance is the same as love. It is impossible for a Christian to accept homosexuality as lifestyle because the Bible clearly states that it is a deviant behaviour.

Who wants to deny love among family members? Is it love that is being projected here or is it a lifestyle? No church leader or member can promote hate of anyone and call themselves a follower of Jesus.The Bible teaches that He died for all sinners because of His great love. Still, sin is the act that is unacceptable, homosexuality and other deviant behaviours are called sin. Loving each other is good, but it's hypocritical to pretend that acceptance is the same as love. It is impossible for a Christian to accept homosexuality as lifestyle because the Bible clearly states that it is a deviant behaviour.

It is not homophobic but a belief that is grounded in the truth of the Bible. Far from being irrelevant and antiquated, the Bible's warning regarding homosexuality are eerily relevant and up to date. The book of Romans aptly describes both the perversion and the penalty: Their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. And receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due (Romans 1:26-27).

It would be difficult to miss the relationship between homosexuality and the health crisis in the black community in the US.

AIDS is advancing in that community among young black homosexual men than any other sector of the population. The homosexual lifestyle causes a host of complications including haemorrhoids, prostate damage and infectious fissures.

This is just scratching the surface. Non-viral infections transmitted through homosexuality activity include gonorrhoea, chlamydia and syphilis. Viral infections include herpes and hepatitis A and B. While there are obvious moral and medical problems with sexual promiscuity in general, it would be homophobic in the extreme to obscure the scientific realities concerning homosexuality.

It is a hate crime of unparalleled proportions to attempt to keep the population in the dark concerning these issues. It does not need a degree in physiology to realise that the human body is not designed for homosexual relationships. Spurious slogans and sound bytes do not change the scientific reality that homosexual relationships are devastating not only from psychological but also from a physiological perspective.

I am suggesting that Pamela Bridgewater keep her opinions to diplomatic issues between her country and Jamaica.

Ray G Stennett
ray4rs2000@aol.com

Gay man marries transsexual woman in Cuban first

In July 2011 I had carried a hint to this story here entitled

Trans-homo Couple Plans to Wed on Fidel Castro’s Birthday in Cuba

Now it has come to pass:

By Jeff Franks of Reuters Canada

Gay rights activist and dissident Ignacio Estrada and transexual Wendy Iriepa hold hands during their wedding in Havana August 13, 2011.REUTERS/Desmond Boylan
HAVANA (Reuters) - A gay dissident and a transsexual woman married on Saturday in what was said to be a first for Cuba, then draped themselves in the rainbow flag of gay pride and rode through the streets of Havana.

In a simple civil ceremony surrounded by much hoopla, Ignacio Estrada, 31, and Wendy Iriepa, 37, signed a marriage certificate, exchanged rings and kissed before a state official, who wished them much happiness.

It was not technically a same-sex marriage, which is prohibited in Cuba, and drew no interference from authorities

because Iriepa is legally a woman after undergoing Cuba's first state-sanctioned sex change operation in 2007.

But the wedding, held on Fidel Castro's 85th birthday in what the couple had called a "gift" to the former leader, was aimed at advancing homosexual rights in Cuba and tinged with politics as some of Cuba's best-known dissidents participated and U.S. diplomats attended in a public show of support.

Wendy Iriepa arrives for the ceremony.
Photo: Jonathan Wolfe

It also signaled changing attitudes on the island, where homosexuals were placed in camps in the 1960s for being "counterrevolutionary" in a part of history that prompted a mea culpa from Fidel Castro last year.

Applauding supporters, a throng of reporters and dozens of curious Cubans awaited the couple as they arrived at a government marriage office in the Havana suburbs.

The bride, wearing a strapless white wedding dress, made an exuberant arrival in a 1950s Ford convertible, sitting up on the backseat and holding the gay pride flag high with both hands as she smiled with happiness.

"I'm very happy and very nervous," the statuesque Iriepa said as she stepped down from the car. "This is really the happiest day of my life."

Wendy Iriepa and Ignacio Estrada exchange rings in Havana.

Photo: Jonathan Wolfe

'A STEP FORWARD'

Estrada, decked out in a white suit and red tie and arriving separately in a white Mercedes, said he was also happy and nervous, but that the day's importance extended beyond him and his bride. "This is a step forward for the gay community in Cuba," he said.

The couple met three months ago and fell in love, said Estrada, who has AIDS.

After the ceremony, they had their photographs taken in front of a two-tiered wedding cake, kissed again and then followed Cuban tradition by riding through the streets in a convertible, the horn blaring a few notes of wedding music.

The only difference was the rainbow flag they draped across their shoulders.

They were to honeymoon in an undisclosed location.

The reaction of Cuban onlookers, who crowded the sidewalks and watched from apartment windows, ranged from applause to derisive laughter to bewilderment.

"What does she have here, mami?" a young girl asked her mother, putting her hands to her chest.

"I don't think they should be able to marry. It goes against nature," said middle-aged Iris Gonzalez, who also asked "Where did she get those breasts?"

Prominent dissident bloggers Yoani Sanchez and husband Reinaldo Escobar participated in the wedding, while Laura Pollan and Berta Soler, leaders of the dissident Ladies in White attended.

"We are very happy with what has occurred today. A big step in a small Cuba," Sanchez twittered from the ceremony.

The United States government has spoken of giving financial aid to gay dissidents as part of its long-standing campaign to promote political change in Cuba, but it is not known if money has begun to flow.

Notably absent was Mariela Castro, Cuba's biggest proponent of gay marriage and daughter of Cuban President Raul Castro.

Mariela Castro, who heads Cuba's National Center for Sex Education, said earlier she had not been invited to the wedding, but congratulated the couple.

Iriepa recently left a job at the center.

(Editing by Todd Eastham)

Gay rights activist and dissident Ignacio Estrada and transexual Wendy Iriepa salute waving a LGBT flag from a convertible car after their wedding in Havana August 13, 2011.REUTERS/Desmond Boylan

Talk 'bout what you love (Observer)

WELCOME back, family, friends and fans. I can't believe a whole week has swept by us and here we are once again.

Some of you must tire of reading about my total ignorance of current affairs with my BlackBerry being my main information source, but that's just how things cook up in Elva Land so bear on with me for a few minutes.

Some righteous individuals decided to advocate for a public ban on an alleged commercial the JIS has plans to air or is airing on television depicting a homosexual couple. Whether this is so or not I have no idea. My beef is neither with the JIS nor the sanctimonious saver of the world who drafted the mail, but with individuals on my messenger service who took it upon themselves (some of them who sin more than Satan himself) to forward it to me. I am not a homosexual advocate nor am I saying the lifestyle is moral or justifiable, since only God can judge us, but I was not in favour of the tone of the broadcast which suggested that we needed to stand up for our rights as Jamaicans and call for a ban of the ad, since it was going to plunge us as a nation into the pit of hell. Now the last time I checked, the motto said 'Out of many, one people," so go figure.

That is what I got from the broadcast and remember, I am not the sharpest tool in the shed, so maybe I interpreted it wrong.

A Bible verse was also cited which alluded to such persons being stoned in the book of Leviticus. What struck me as funny is, from my Sunday school memory, the stoning punishment was rampant throughout the books of the Old Testament, being applicable to men who stole; coveted their neighbour's wife or that woman at the well who was engaging in the world's oldest profession. How come none of those other ungodly 'abominations' were listed in the broadcast? It just didn't seem fair. The way I see it, sin is sin and he who is without sin, and only he, can cast stones. Based on the Bible and its teachings that I grew up on, homosexuality is against God's law, but I don't see it as the main contender for what is destroying the fibre of our beautiful little island.

Are homosexuals or a homosexual lifestyle responsible for the national debt; garrison in-fighting; corruption in high and low places; the increasing crime rate; the devaluation of the Jamaican dollar; Air Jamaica's sale; bad mind?... well, you get the picture.

I think we should strive to fix the major problems our country faces by acting less selfishly; insisting our children get an education; demanding better services from our elected officials; and taking pride in ourselves as Jamaicans -- gay or straight. Send out a BB broadcast about that if you dare! Since I'm on a roll here, let me add that homosexuality has always been around, hence the town of Sodom; it is nothing new. What is new is the emphasis we have placed on it in this country over the last two decades.

When I was growing up, there were persons living among us known as 'Maama man' or the female version 'Man Royal'. They went about their business just like everyone else, they weren't the centre of attention and dancehall/reggae music and our culture focused and fostered man to woman relationships. Nowadays, as a member of the female species, I have to wait for an allotted segment to 'bruk out' at a party, because all night long the music being played is about men, whether bad man, gunman or gay man.

And they do appreciatively hog the video light, sometimes bouncing away the true divas, because they are the feature act. My granny used to say "shoemaker talk bout shoes". Shouldn't our social commentators, be they selectors, artistes or BB broadcasters promote that which they know and love? This homophobic obsession is probably what led to the JIS' alleged acknowledgement. I can't blame them if that is the case; since they must be royalty the way we focus on the lifestyle of that group. Kudos everyone, if a so it really go, mission accomplished!

Correct me if I'm wrong but is there a separate hell for homosexuals? Last time I checked all sinners whether thieves, murderers, liars, drunkards, overeaters and fornicators are going the same place come Judgment Day to spend an eternity together, so we might as well start living good with each other from now or get right with God, obey ALL his commandments in order to enter Heaven and avoid the bangarang.

Well, that's my time, I've officially run out of allotted space to prattle on, so I'll end here. Hope you got the point.

Tweet me @ElvaJamaica or send comments via email
"mailto:elvachatalot@yahoo.com" elvachatalot@yahoo.com.

Ian Boyne on ....... Storm Brewing Over Gay Ad

Ian Boyne, Contributor

It's an indication of our backwardness, appalling intolerance and bigotry that an ad calling for "unconditional love" of our homosexual family members and friends is unlikely to be shown on local television because the stations are just too scared to show leadership in this area.

The decision-makers there know better, but they also know Jamaica, and they know the backlash and outrage that would overwhelm them if they dare transgress in this area. It's profit over any principle of pluralism, and concern for ratings over reason. I understand their dilemma. I am taking daredevil risks with my own popularity and 'ratings' for writing this column. It takes courage to write any such lead in a Jamaican newspaper, for it is bound to generate rumours that I myself am gay, bisexual or at least uncertain about my own sexuality.

For in the thinking (I need a better word!) of large numbers of Jamaicans, for me to even dare to suggest that an ad 'soft' on homosexuals should come on television in this Christian, God-blessed country must be an indication of a perverted, sin-sick and debased mind. Homosexuality, I have always maintained, is not a subject that can be rationally discussed in Jamaica, for even among well-schooled people, emotions completely drown any semblance of reason.

Palpable fear

The one time I could ever interview some gay people on 'Religious Hardtalk', they had to be from overseas, and I had to say several times during the show, "Don't bother to come down here at TVJ, for this show is taped and the guests are already back home!" For it would be life-threatening for them to stay in the island for the luxury of watching the show here, as I could not guarantee their safety to the airport. (After all, doomsday preacher Michael Lewis had to wear disguises on the streets of Jamaica before he left for the United States (US), and his sin was just proclaiming passionately that Jesus would return on May 21!)

Last Sunday, the Observer, in a page-one story, 'Gay TV advert angers clerics', reported the difficulty gays and non-gay civil libertarians had been having in getting a public service announcement carried even after a public launch involving US Ambassador Pamela Bridgewater and others from the international community.

It is to our shame that Jamaican gay people cannot come on television, show their faces, debate their homosexuality with heterosexuals, go back home in peace and to their jobs and live normal lives the next day. If we lay claim to being a pluralistic, democratic society and not an autocracy like Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Burma, Pakistan, Nepal, Afghanistan, gay people should be free to express their views without fear of violence, harassment or victimisation.

But what about the view that homosexuality is against Jamaican law and, therefore, it would be improper to show such blatant disrespect for Jamaican law by parading gay people on air, or showing an ad effectively calling for a softening of attitudes to these persons engaging in lawbreaking? First, it is not homosexuality that is illegal, but buggery or anal sex. Lesbians cannot be punished under our buggery laws.

Hypocrisy regarding lesbians

So, from a Christian point of view, Jamaican law does not really reflect, absolutely, the biblical prohibition of same-sex intimacy. It leaves out lesbians, and my information is that lesbianism is growing by leaps and bounds in Jamaica and is reportedly prominent in our high schools - unfortunately, in my view.

And why, I ask our passionate anti-gay men, are they generally so soft on lesbians and don't treat them and despise them the same way they despise gay men? If you are talking about morality - and especially biblical morality - you have to be consistent. If it's a cultural matter now - and there are some interesting sociological theories on how male homosexuality offends our notion of masculinity - well, stop citing morality and the Bible. (Ever notice how these fornicating, adulterous 'old dawg' men like to rush for their King James Version of the Bible in condemning homosexuality? Why don't they apply that same Bible to themselves?)

So the argument about 'not promoting something which is illegal' does not hold water. A homosexual man can avoid buggery but is still, in the biblical and scientific definition, gay. (Those who know their Bible know it condemns sexual lust, not just physical penetration outside of man-woman marriage.) So then, would you be okay with homosexual men who are not engaging in buggery coming on television to be interviewed? No, you would not, and it has nothing to do with law - it just has to do with prejudice and emotion.

Besides, isn't ganja smoking against our law? Do we, as journalists, interview people on television who openly admit to smoking ganja and hence to breaking the law? Do the decision-makers at our television stations not carry artistes who smoke ganja? Some are even carried smoking weed and puffing the smoke in Babylon's face!

There's another point. There have been many laws which have been and are unjust and immoral. Apartheid was law in South Africa. It was unjust and immoral. Slavery was legal in many societies. So was discrimination against women. (This continues in some societies today.) It was once illegal to sell liquor, to criticise the king and other public officials (the sedition law). Interracial marriage was illegal in some places, and so was divorce.

Free speech

The fact that something is illegal should not prevent lobbyists in a democratic society from speaking out for change. I am a free-speech libertarian, and here I am going to part company with perhaps most gay people who, if they had their way, would become the new oppressors and opponents of free speech. There are gay people who believe religious people should not have the right to call homosexuality an abomination and an evil which will be punished with everlasting hellfire. Though I don't believe in everlasting hellfire, I believe preachers must have the right to say that homosexuals will burn in hell forever if they don't repent of their sin of homosexuality.

Homosexuals and other opponents of free speech will call that 'hate language' and would seek to ban it, calling attention to the 'emotional hurt' and 'pain' such language causes to people. And lest you think I am inconsistent, I also believe racists should have the right to publicise their racist views too. The Ku Klux Klan should have the right to promulgate their racism, and the Aryan Brotherhood and racist Christian Identity movement should be free to publish and broadcast their sick racist views to whomever would listen. To quote that memorable phrase representative of free-speech philosophy, the answer to hate speech is 'more, better speech', not censorship and repression.

I detest how the gay lobby has manipulated language to classify any opposition to homosexuality as 'homophobia'. That's absolute nonsense. There are rational, sophisticated people who believe homosexuality is morally wrong and philosophically and theologically unjustifiable. (As much as arrogant gays find that hard to believe). I, personally, believe that if the Bible is read as authoritative, and if any plenary inspiration is ascribed to it, you cannot come away with any justification whatsoever for homosexual conduct.

In my considered opinion, the Bible condemns homosexuality and homosexual practice. I believe it is a fruitless attempt to try to use the Bible to show that God has no problem with homosexuality. I have read the finest exponents of pro-homosexual biblical exegesis and hermeneutics and I find them utterly unconvincing. For anyone who wants a thorough and comprehensive refutation of any attempt to harmonise the Bible with homosexuality, I recommend Robert Gagnon's masterpiece, The Bible and Homosexual Practice', as well as his indescribably devastating anti-gay hermeneutics website.

Tolerance isn't endorsement

Gay people need to learn that tolerance does not mean endorsement. Many of them seem to believe that those of us who are free-speech and civil-rights libertarians are still 'victims of prejudice' because we still see homosexual practice as sinful and against the will of God. I am prepared to debate with any homosexual on philosophical and theological grounds to show why I reject homosexual practice. I find most of their arguments justifying homosexual behaviour as gnawingly simplistic and a violation of a cardinal principle in philosophy: You can't derive 'ought from is'. The fact that you have these desires, impulses and drives doesn't mean that they should be satisfied. In other words, because something is natural does not mean it is necessarily moral.

I recommend to my gay friends evolutionary psychologist and atheist, Professor Steve Stewart-Williams', Darwin, God and the Meaning of Life: How Evolutionary Theory Undermines Everything You Thought You Knew. It's priceless. See, especially, the chapter 'Remaking Morality', which notes: "Several of the alleged ethical implications we've considered so far rest on a hidden assumption: The idea that if something is natural, it must be good."

We need to embed in this society what the philosopher John Locke called "toleration". We need a pluralistic democracy, not just an electoral democracy such as we have. I would describe what we have as an illiberal democracy. Our tribalism affects our politics, our sociology, our religion - everything. (I mean, we had one man calling for the resignation of our governor general because, as a conscientious Seventh-day Adventist, he felt bound, or so we surmise, to be absent from Independence ceremonies. In this bigoted, intolerant and illiberal society, diversity and difference must be punished and banished).

Some of us will have to step out of that cocoon and show some leadership at some point. The Gleaner has already called for the decriminalisation of homosexuality. We might not agree with the paper, but we must concede it is showing guts in this intolerant society, and a courage that elude its counterparts in electronic media. But then the masses watch far more than they would care to read.

We must reach a point in this country where we can discuss homosexuality rationally; though perhaps not in my lifetime. Gay people, though, must understand that "unconditional love" does not mean unconditional acceptance of their sexuality. That's another form of bigotry.

Ian Boyne is a veteran journalist. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and ianboyne1@yahoo.com.

ENDS

TVJ RESPONDS:

UPDATE 18.08.11

Here is a response to the piece

Disgrace And Travesty

THE EDITOR, Sir:

IAN BOYNE in his column, 'Storm brewing over gay ad', on August 14 stated the following: "Some of us will have to step out of that cocoon and show some leadership at some point. The Gleaner has already called for the decriminalisation of homosexuality. We might not agree with the paper, but we must concede it is showing guts in this intolerant society, and a courage that elude its counterparts in electronic media. But then, the masses watch far more than they would care to read."

It seems that Mr Boyne may be suggesting that some in the electronic media (CVM and/or TVJ) are shying away from airing the gay-friendly ad because of the public opprobrium that may be directed at the various television or radio channels. I wasn't aware that there was some brouhaha within media boardrooms regarding sanctioning the airing of the ad.

It is a disgrace to, and travesty of, the notion of a free press for CVM or TVJ to stonewall the efforts of the gay lobby. To the point, when did the electronic media become a repository for the collective prejudice of Jamaican society? The ad in question is entirely innocuous. It is one that every reasoned Jamaican, especially Christians, should advocate. The ad only asks that family members show love to their gay relatives. Isn't this consistent with the Christian ethic of love - the same love shown by Jesus to the woman at the well? The ad, as I've seen it, is not asking Jamaicans to accept homosexuality. Contrarily, it begs for unconditional love, in spite of human vices.

The Church is gravely mistaken that the ad is a duplicitous tactic to normalise homosexual behaviour. And, for the Church to lend its voice to its opposition ironically obstructs, rather than aid, the principle at the heart of the Judeo-Christian message. For the church to sound such a false alarm is nothing but a transparent attempt to stir a tempest in a teapot.

I sincerely hope the electronic media - radio and television - find the ethical and political willpower to stand on journalistic principles and give the people equal opportunity to have their voices heard, no matter how unpopular those voices may be.

J.D. Lewis

Kingston

also see

Shame On Boyne For Giving Mixed Signals

10 men to avoid list for women slams metrosexuality

A list as prepared by Nadine Wilson of the Jamaica Observer's "All Woman" feature slams metrosexuality in men and advises that women should avoid such men. Is this a backlash of sorts of the continued metrosexual revolution in Jamaica where men have become so vain for want of a better word in appearances and have taken on tabooed practice to enhance if not over exaggerate their appearance. Bleaching and tight/close fitted pencil foot made pants are in, of course those were once vilified under pain of death or a proper beating from a mob as punishment if one broke the rule.

FOR some women, the journey to finding Mr Right is so tedious, that some, out of pure frustration, just settle for the first guy who comes along. But no matter how desperate you become, there are some guys that you'd best be warned to stay away from. While they might be okay to date and have as friends, you are practically setting yourself up for disaster if you choose to make husbands out of them.

Certainly leading the metrosexual charge is non other than former skin bleaching opponent and self described teacher "teacha Addi" Vybz Kartel (photo) men everywhere now have either totally mimicked his look or have burrowed and improved upon them so much so that the previous stereotypes on male homosexuals have been shattered and maybe new ones are being written as we look on as history unfolds before us.

have a read of Miss Wilson's list and see if it makes sense, the metrosexual adage is number 5 on the list:

10 Men to avoid

1. The man who refuses to grow up. He seems more compatible with your seven- year-old than with you. Yes, his boyish charm is very appealing, but how does that compensate for the fact that he is perpetually unemployed and only spends money on video games, pizza and beer? If he is constantly conning you out of your rent money which he uses to pay for video games, how do you suppose he will handle paying mortgage and utility bills when you decide to start life together.

2. The man who won't be fruitful and multiply. If a man tells you from the onset that he does not want to get married or have children, do not start a debate, just move on. His statements are not meant to challenge you to be the one woman who can change his mind. If you decide to move on with him, you should do so with a clear understanding that you probably won't ever get a ring or get your 2.5 kids.

3. The man who is damaged. His sad story of his ex's betrayal 10 years ago is so touching that it pulls you in. But even after a few more dates, the main topic during romantic evenings out is the compromising position he saw his girlfriend and best friend in. If you stick around for another year, you'll come to find out that he has already committed himself to not caring about anyone ever again.

4. The green-eyed monster. He has an issue with the way you dress because it is too revealing; he has a problem with you smiling with your male co-worker and he doesn't like your family because he believes they are a bit too nosy. Don't even go any further with him, just move on.

5. The metrosexual. He spends more time fluffing his hair and keeping his skin supple than you do, and you can't help but feel ugly standing next to him on the social scene. He is always impeccably dressed and most of your arguments so far have been about him taking over the mirror and taking up too much space on the bathroom vanity.

6. The commitment-phobe. He already has six children by six different women. His disappearing acts remind you so much of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde — today he is here and tomorrow he just conveniently disappears. He shows no intention of introducing you to his friends and family and refers to you as his "fling".

7. The one who's already taken. Do you want to be a mistress or a wife? If he is still sharing a bed and breakfast with his wife, then it means that his love is already invested elsewhere. He will probably say that he is getting a divorce, but if you decide to go forward with him, prepare for the possibility of that divorce never coming through. You could save yourself a lot of hurt by just finding someone who's available.

8. The mama's boy. Every other sentence for him starts with "I like my mama's..." and he takes issue with how you wash, cook and clean because you do not do it like his mama. He talks to his mother several times a day, but when it comes to calling you, he doesn't have any credit. It seems as though there is only one woman for him, and it's certainly not you.

9. The bad boy. The fact that he breaks all the rules and is recklessly dangerous might at first thrill you, but after a while it is bound to wear you down. If you decide to make life with him, prepare for many visits to the courthouse or worse yet, living like a fugitive. You might be able to tame him, but what if you aren't, are you prepared to communicate with him through a jail cell?

10. The one with the wandering eye. A leopard can't change its spots and neither can you change the behaviour of a cheater. If he is the type who flirts with girls or checks out the waitress in your presence, that is all the more reason to believe that he cannot help himself.


Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/allwoman/10-men-to-

Transgender Film Gun Hill Road Features Transgender Actress

FOR someone whose only acting experience was playing a Boy George lookalike in a high school production of the musical “The Wedding Singer,” Harmony Santana is having an incredible year. Ms. Santana is making her big-​screen debut in Rashaad Ernesto Green’s coming-​out drama “Gun Hill Road,” which had its première in January at the Sundance Film Festival.

Last month the movie made a splash on the gay film-​festival circuit, opening Outfest in Los Angeles and closing Newfest in New York. It opens commercially in New York on Aug. 5.

meanwhile

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Athletes Increasingly Accepted As Trans Policies Lag

The Outgames Human Rights Conference is a three-​day series of presentations taking place during the second annual GLISA North America Outgames – “a celebration of sport, culture and human rights” — held in Vancouver, BC, Canada, between July 25 – 31, 2011. On July 26, I joined a group of more than 20 leaders from athletics and academia at an all-​day session on homophobia in sports and transgender athletes.

The topic is timely: 2011 has already proven to be a watershed period for LGBT visibility in athletics, with more than 25 sports figures publicly coming out before June.

The morning workshop was facilitated by Jennifer Birch-​Jones, Lead for the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women in Sports and Physical Activity (CAAWS)Addressing Homophobia in Sports program. High-​level executives, LGBT athletes and organizers of recreational leagues engaged in frank discussion and interactive exercises, and at the end of three hours, two things were clear: the sporting world is increasingly looking for ways to include its lesbian, gay and bisexual athletes; and the issue of transgender athletes is more complicated.

First, the good news. In the working groups I participated in, the topic of trans athletes came up organically, the product of genuine curiosity and a desire to improve policy. The issue of trans participation is complex because of the physiological changes associated with sex reassignment. Put simply, testosterone is a banned substance, so beyond discrimination and transphobia, female to male (FTM) athletes face performance restrictions. The very process of transitioning requires attention to competitive advantage and sporting fairness.

Sports organizations may have an easier policy position in including male to female (MTF) transgender athletes, and those who do not seek hormone treatment. The presenters characterized this latter group as undergoing a “social transition” – they present themselves as the gender with which they identify, but don’t take hormones or undergo surgery. A recent example is Kye Allums, a transgender FTM basketball player on the women’s team at George Washington University, who came out in 2010 and with the support of his team, finished the season.

The inclusion of trans athletes is going to take time, education, and a policy shift but the push for a working model has begun. Afternoon session facilitators Dr. Pat Griffin and Helen J. Carroll presented their report, “On the Team: Equal Opportunity for Transgender Student Athletes”, which documents policy recommendations and best practices for transgender inclusion in student athletics.

The sports programs at high schools and colleges feed into professional sporting associations. The inclusion of trans athletes at the school level bodes well for inclusive policies shifts in the future.

Read more HERE

Certainly there are some good developments though slow in coming overseas in the transgender arena, we are yet to see any major thrusts locally, our leading transgender activist is not getting the desired support as expected despite eloquent lip service from the antiquated and politically twisted advocacy structure in various press releases and reports but no direct engagement or interventions to include that demographic in LGBT rights and forumatic activity. Some engagement has come from a small entity that being in the form of Couture Elements/The Underlined Response but not as nearly as enough to bring the issues squarely in the public domain.

Also see a recent radio discussion linked below with the leading voice locally "Laura" on NEWSTALK 93FM's "Love and Sex" with Dr. Karen Carpenter who is an internationally respected Clinical Sexologist who has been sympathetic to the cause, also on that program which was entitiled "Was I Born in The Wrong Body? was world reknowned Dr. Susam Volker:

Radio program "Love & Sex" on Sexual Identities & Transgenderism (Were you born in the wrong body?)

Transgender/transexual discourse ...... Open Mic Open Soul 22.06.11

Peace and tolerance

H

Ragashanti suggests JFLAG for job seeking "Butch" lesbian

Controversial and sometimes lesbophobic media personality, Anthropologist Dr. Kingsley "Ragashanti" Stewart suggested to a supposed lesbian letter writer to his weekly Star News and website column in seeking a job while declaring her orientation and identity under same letter.

Since his move from mainstream radio that of NEWSTALK FM and Nationwide radio under questionable circumstances some say and due to pressure from quarters in the media landscape he has found a home with his growing popular online show where previous restrictions as to content cannot be applied. His own sexuality has been questioned by his listenership as his semi effeminate style and twists of the colloquial , his appearances on controversial roots play actor Keith "Shebada" Ramsey's parties has many walking with a magnifying glass looking for the slightest hints in our prying eyes society as profiling is how many determine questions to ones orientation. His steamy and racy, suggestive commentary is a hit with gay and straights alike and he has accommodated some LGBT persons on his shows a few times with the outcomes sometimes not as balanced as one would have hoped but opinions vary within the LGBT body politic.

Whether the J will be able to help get a job for this letter writer and several other same gender loving seekers well that's another matter as many expectations we have are not forthcoming in reality from them.

Have a read below of the piece:

Butch and looking a job

with Ragashanti

Tambareen Fambily an Mix Up nation bless up unu self to warra warra! Lol! An big up all listeners pon Tambareen Radio ova mixupyaad.com. Right ya now mi naa hitch, a straight to di letta dem mi say:

Butch and Looking a Job

Raga, why can't I get a job and I'm qualified? I'm a lesbian, a butch. If u don't know who that is, it's a woman one dat people call a 'man-royal'. I've being looking a job for ova 2 yrs now and it proves to be unsuccessful. I even went as far as to do some interviews and they all wanted a full image ofma-self. I gave them the pictures. One of my interviewers called me one day, however, to say that the post for the job I was seeking was not vacant anymore. About a week after, my gut feelings told me to give the organisation a call to find out if the post was really filled, only to find out that the post was still open. But I still have a positive mind and I know dat one day I'll find a good job. And I'm not gonna change who I am to please people. People sit and judge us every day and then they say that Jamaica is a good place. I'm not telling you to accept homosexuals, but jus treat dem with equality and respect as if they weren't homosexuals. Why can't I get a job?

Your email requires a response on several levels:

First, be careful that you do not believe that the TOTAL reason for you not getting a job is SOLELY due to you being a gay woman who has a culturally defined look of a man ('man-royal'). Unemployment in Jamaica is pretty high. Many people cannot get jobs, not just gay people. Jamaica is filled with qualified university graduates who are unemployed. Unemployment abounds in the areas of menial jobs to skilled and highly specialised professions.

I know of unemployed helpers and I know of unemployed doctors. It rough pon a whole heap a people out deh. So be careful that you don't go thinking it's just a gay discrimination issue. Don't believe that each time you don't get a job is due only to you being gay, because if you do so, then you will not be motivated to improve the other areas that will increase your chances of getting a job.

Second: while it is the case that unemployment affects many, it is TRUE that homosexual women and men do suffer discrimination in the workplace based on their sexuality. To put it bluntly, most Jamaicans do NOT like gay people, and this fact negatively influences the hiring process for employment. Therefore, given this reality, are there things you could do differently that will increase your chances of securing employment? Can you make changes in your career search that will not make you feel like you are changing to please people who do not like you because you're gay?

Remember, most people seeking or keeping a job have to adjust to certain pressures, whether or not they are gay. In order to excel in job interviews or to keep their jobs, they have to dress appropriately, speak in a particular manner, present themselves professionally, etc. So please make sure you're making the critical behavioral and presentational adjustments that are required of ALL job applicants.

Third: while some jobs require behavioral adjustment and presentation that might run contrary to who you are as a gay, butch woman, there are other jobs that are more accepting of you just as you are. For example, there are some community-based, social-work jobs that are LESS preoccupied with the sexuality and presentation of applicants and employees. However, it will be up to you to decide if you would like to do those types of jobs.

My advice would be for you to contact the Jamaica Forum of Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays (JFLAG) and explain your situation to them. Even if they are not able to immediately guarantee you employment, they should be able to competently advise you on the best steps forward.

In the meantime, NEVER GIVE UP!! Bless up.

Reach Ragashanti at mixupraga@gmail.com or PO Box 5866, Liguanea PO, Kingston 6.

Insensitive parents & Displaced MSMs part 2

In part 1 way back in 2009 we looked at some cases and reports that came to light then and a flashback story that was disturbing where a father outed his son at a prominent high school only to watch other students beat him mercilessly fortunately he was rescued by some staff members present and a few well thinking students who literally used their bodies to block or absorb some of the blows.

See more Here: Father encourages students to maul 'gay' son at Dunoon Tech

Also Here: Insensitive Parents & Displaced MSMs part 1

In recent weeks a series of complaints and expressions have been forthcoming from mostly early male teens and a couple of same gender loving females as well with one case reaching a drastic point where a nineteen year old woman was forced to leave under the watchful eye of her stepfather, others have not gotten so bad in the ladies department but persons are uncomfortable in their family homes or places of shelter with other siblings. The age old problem of improper monitoring and securing of cellphones, personal computers/laptops and blackberries have also contributed to unwarranted outings and exposures with one male being prayed for in earnest by a weeping mother and the good book thrown at him while she insists his life is all wrong and he must accept God or burn in hell.

Hope remains while company is true and another 20 year old has been fortunate to have a good circle of friends who offered temporary crisis shelter as he makes the transition from a "bitter" set of parents while fortunately landing a job recently, he was outed due to prying eyes on his computer where his brother glanced male images scantily clad and made a report to their mother. He said he has been meeting hell ever since and was glad when he reached out he got the response from "true" friends, a type he said was hard to find in times of trouble. Privacy is a major problem even in the family home and as previous posts have brought to bear it is an issue of protection of ones space and equipment and others around are questioning,

"why don't you have a girlfriend (boyfriend)?" as the case may be

"why are you always on your computer?"

"when you on your phone why are you whispering?"

One other male was unfortunate as he was caught in the act of a version of phone sex which led to a heated argument and hence the rest of the family having him off as the "nasty battyman" or black sheep of the brood. At some point I believe we all have our "outing" moments but for some it comes pretty early and they do not know how to cope in most instances. Another new entity in advocacy is already seeing it's fair share of displacement drama as it is not only lower to middle income homes that have this perennial problem although the outcomes maybe less dire than those of their lower socio economic counterparts, exclusion from a will, trust found or funding for a car or tertiary education maybe removed or given with great hesitation are miles away from an embarrassing community move in full view of onlookers jeering or a full homophobic attack with persons suffering blows.

Some sort of sensitization program must be in the works either through JFLAG albeit their stewardship is under serious criticism or the new entity The Underlined Response which seems more geared towards grassroots work in seriously marginalised populations. Outlining how persons can cope with displacement, networking, psycho social support and other avenues where persons can turn to must be in the back of the community's mind where stuff hits the fan.

So far as hinted above the informal community crisis interventions response works well but I still say we need a fixed residential typed space for temporary sheltering for individuals displaced or made full on homeless with the proper amenities, staff and support systems for rehabilitation and assimilation to general society. There was once a short lived group of Parents for Lesbians Allsexuals and Gays PFLAG Jamaican chapter/version where it has gone we may never know, it was designed to include supportive parents and guardians for LGBT children and adolescents with some outreach to parents who engage in displacing their own children due to Stigma, homophobia, intolerance of suspected orientations and perceived lifestyles, there was also a small mentorship idea that was floated during the former life of the GLABCOM, Gay Lesbian, Bisexual, Community steering committee as forming part of the peer education drive under targeted interventions division of Jamaica AIDS Support for Life, whether such programs still exist they must be a secret.

Talk therapy was also suggested by a Psychologist when the matter of interventions for this group was raised some years ago in the PFLAG/GLABCOM talks specifically on a pro bono basis as recovering displaced persons may not have the financial resources to offset private sessions. These are ideas that can be floated again either in existing structures if they are willing to accommodate them or new entities seeking solutions. Let's continue to watch and thanks to the persons for contributing to this post. through sharing aspects of their stories.

Peace and tolerance

H

Homophobia In Reverse (Gleaner commentary) and a response

Devon Dick

LAST MONTH, head of the Organised Crime Investigation Division (OCID), Senior Superintendent of Police Fitz Bailey, claimed that persons in homosexual relationships are the main perpetrators in the illicit lottery scam. Bailey asserted that his observation was based on data collected by OCID about perpetrators in this particular activity. This information about their sexual orientation was offered by them.

Some groups objected, labelling his statement as irresponsible and discriminatory as the sexual orientations of alleged criminals are irrelevant, and saying they further serve to stereotype persons. In response, the Police High Command issued an apology.

If Bailey came to the conclusion that participants in a homosexual lifestyle are the main perpetrators in the illegal lottery scam based on prejudice or based on deportment, then he should be disciplined. However, Bailey's interview appeared without prejudice. It should not be surprising if persons in homosexual relationships volunteered the infor-mation to OCID. Last year, I recall Dr Her-bert Gayle, University of the West Indies lecturer, speaking at a men's breakfast at Boulevard Baptist Church, stating that there is a growing acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle among ghetto youths.

Advocating tolerance

Additionally, at a recent comedy show, Owen 'Blacka' Ellis, returnee from Canada, advocated tolerance of the lifestyle. And more and more persons are coming out of the closet and speaking about their experience. It appears that homophobia is in reverse. This trend tends to support Bailey's claims that his comments were based on data.

Unfortunately, we are not a data-based society. There is no strong tradition and appreciation of research, much less original research. Some journalists and columnists are prone to make statements which are not based on data or supported by information. There is nothing wrong with stating, if true, that most of the lottery crimes are committed by persons in homosexual relations.

Delroy Chuck, then an academic, wrote in his book, Understanding Crime, that the majority of persons in the prisons were from impoverished backgrounds with low educational status and single-parent families with poor housing solutions. Statements of the findings of such research should not and cannot be classified as irresponsible, discriminatory and stereotypical.

On August 4, 2011, The Star stated that AIDS is on the increase among gay and bisexual men in the United States. This is based on a government report. Are we going to claim that the publication of this data is irresponsible, discriminatory and stereotypical? No.

Proper analysis necessary

What is therefore needed is an analysis of Bailey's data. Why are persons in homosexual relations prone to be in illegal lottery scams? Is it because they are faced with discrimination at the workplace and cannot get or retain a legitimate job? Or are they suffering disproportionately because of the economic hardships? Is it that their lifestyle requires big bucks?

Additionally, some persons who appear to be sporting a homosexual lifestyle have been noticed to shop in groups. Is it that they are proud of the lifestyle and want to flaunt it, or are they afraid of violence and feel safe in a group? It seems to me that there needs to be more research done on persons within this community.

Years ago, a young man from the inner city, in responding to my article, said that in Jamaica, persons in homosexual relationships who are from the upper classes and play significant roles in society are accepted; but not so for those from impoverished backgrounds. Is that true?

Unfortunately, what seems to be happening is that persons who are sympathetic to the lifestyle are getting oversensitive to any data on the homosexual community, which is a kind of reverse homophobia. They are intolerant of other views or any negative perception of homosexuality, as if there is any one or any group that is perfect.

Rev Devon Dick is pastor of the Boulevard Baptist Church in St Andrew. Comment to columns@gleanerjm.com.

UPDATE: August 15/08/11

A response in the Gleaner

Dick's Comments Were Justified

THE EDITOR, Sir:

I smiled somewhat after reading Elvena Williams Reittie's letter to the editor on August 12, in which she bashed the Rev Devon Dick about not declaring his position on homosexuality.

From my understanding, Rev Dick was not speaking on the topic of homosexuality itself. Rather, his intent was to identify, or at least to encourage us to analyse, the comments of Senior Superintendent of Police Fitz Bailey, which linked persons in homosexual relationships to the illicit lottery scam, to ensure he was not being irresponsible or biased in his assertions.

Ms Reittie's letter further shows that there will be no balance on this issue of homosexuality, for if gays are identified as being responsible for wrongdoing, they argue that they are being singled out, discriminated against, and the subject of abuse.

On the other hand, when well-thinking people like Rev Dick take a view to say it is not simply because of who you are but rather the activities you are engaging in, he is accused of not being Christian enough or compromising.

I do not support the homosexual lifestyle; however, this does not mean that each time I see the word I begin a crusade or pronounce hellfire on these individuals. Being humane or impartial to a gay does not change or conciliate my view on the matter.

Instead of an apology for the comments made by the SSP, what the Police High Command should have done was to release the data from which the SSP drew his conclusions. This would have provided more clarity and support for his arguments. Allow the facts to speak for themselves.

To Rev Dick, continue to enlighten our darkness through your well-written columns and sound doctrine.

ANN-MARIE PATRICK

Little London, Westmoreland