Cherry Bomb: "Gay and Religious"

Even though it's a lesbian discussion the topic is a great one hence the post.

Curacao Pride Week 2009

Foko Pride Curacao Facebook
FOKO thinks the Aruban Gay Pride Parade would be a great opportunity to bolster and coordinate gay activism in the Dutch Caribbean. Maybe a Curacao delegation could participate in the Aruban Parade September 13, and an Aruban group could come to Curacao Pride September 21-27

Selective resistance on issues

Interesting cartoon appearing in today's Observer - it captures the thinking of the present scenario in which the US authorities requiring a known JLP activist from the Tivoli gardens area on extradition for crimes in the that country.

The comment where the US insists on "cleaning the trash" implies foreigners doing what should be done.

I posted this to show and compare the resistance to LGBTQ advocates from outside Jamaica insisting on tolerance and the changing of the buggery laws is vehemently resisted by the public yet there is a deafening silence so far to the US request ..... although media reports suggest persons in the political directorate and in the stronghold of which he is in charge of are restive.

What a difference in the reactions eh?

A silent subtle consent to known "dons" maintaining power even when they are wanted in other countries but because they have money to spend in the garrisons they control people ignore the wrongs they do, but for freedoms and liberties for other Jamaicans we blast it in the name of correctness.

Jamaica is an interesting place.

Peace and tolerance

H

LGBT rights group's conversations with the faithful now available online

America's largest LGBT rights organisation has announced the release of a unique online collection of meditations on religious belief.
The Human Rights Campaign complete Out In Scripture collection is available on their website, www.hrc.org/Scripture.

For the past three years, week-by-week, the HRC Religion & Faith programme has provided conversations on Bible passages from more than 100 scholars and pastors representing 11 denominations.
"Over the years my spiritual life and preaching has been transformed by Out In Scripture," said Harry Knox, Director of HRC’s Religion and Faith Programme.
"This is one of our signature projects.

"As editor Sidney Fowler said, 'The Bible is not about beating you up, but lifting us all up. It includes the seeds of liberation and justice.'
"Be prepared to be transformed as well."

The collection includes 175 conversations that span Bible readings organised according to the Revised Common Lectionary, which is used by many Christian denominations to guide worship and preaching.

"This unique collection showcases the extraordinary momentum we’re seeing by people of faith committed to LGBT equality," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.
"Through this resource we are helping to assure that no one will again have to choose between who they are and what they believe."

Spanish gay group correct (Letter to the Gleaner editor 29.08.09)

THE EDITOR, Sir:

REGRETTABLY, the Spanish gay- rights group is correct in its assessment of Jamaica, and its call for a boycott at a time when we can least afford it should have been anticipated.

Those most hateful of gays are the ones closest to being gay themselves. This is true and many men will kill someone who calls them homosexuals, usually because it is so close to the truth.

We have policemen, preachers and politicians inciting violence against gays, many of whom are genetically predisposed to homosexuality and did not choose that way of life. Think for a minute. Who would choose to risk death, persecution, prosecution, shame and all that comes with being gay?

low production

We are producing nothing sensible for export, and remittances are down. Can we really afford a blow to tourism, regardless of how small? I would suggest the government make a statement to the effect that violence and discrimination against gays will not be tolerated and is punishable by law. That is the right thing to do.

We cannot expect to live in the global human community when so many of us are behaving like brutish animals, and we cannot continue to play hypocrites with God's will. The commandment to 'Love thy neighbour' does not specify heterosexuals only.

Wake up Jamaica and smell the coffee. Let's check ourselves and correct ourselves before we wreck ourselves. And Mr Chief Servant, it starts with you.

I am, etc.,

Anonymous

St Elizabeth

Back to reality indeed

no more Bolt excitement (except for the Grand prix event goin on) bills are due and money is scarce ..... the distractions are over folks. While teachers plan to strike just at the commencement of the new school term..... a wah dis fadda?

Victory! AEG Live and Live Nation Silence Murder Music Tour, Cancel Buju Banton Concerts

Performances by "Faggots Must Die" Singer Canceled in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Dallas and Houston


LOS ANGELES, Aug. 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AEG Live/Goldenvoice (producer of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival) and Live Nation, parent company of House of Blues, all announced last night that they have canceled their respective concerts by Buju Banton. The cancellations followed a huge outcry from people all over the country, angry that these companies were promoting a singer whose lyrics glorify the murder of gay people.


Banton was to perform at Los Angeles' Nokia Club (Oct. 14), in San Francisco (Oct. 10), Philadelphia (Sept. 12) and at the House of Blues in: Chicago (Oct. 1), Las Vegas (Oct. 15), Dallas (Oct. 20) and Houston (Oct. 22).


"I hope this victory sends a deafeningly loud message to other promoters and concert venues, that singers who glorify violence against LGBT people, or any group of people, should never be welcomed," said L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center Chief Executive Officer Lorri L. Jean. "It shouldn't be necessary for us to pressure promoters to do the right thing; people like Banton should never have been booked in the first place."


Hours after the Center issued a news release yesterday morning and launched a Facebook group: "Cancel Shows for 'Faggots Must Die' Singer," hundreds responded with phone calls and email messages to the companies and signed the Center's online petition, demanding that AEG Live/Goldenvoice and Live Nation cancel the concerts. Gay Liberation Network, based in Chicago, had been protesting against Live Nation for a week.


Through his music, Banton promotes a culture of violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, singing in his most notorious song "Boom, Bye Bye" that "faggots get up and run" when he comes, that "they have to die," and that he will shoot them in the head or "burn them up bad."


"In his home country of Jamaica, Banton and his fellow performers of 'murder music,' have helped to create and sustain a culture in which violence against LGBT people is not only tolerated, it's sometimes celebrated," said L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center Chief Executive Officer Lorri L. Jean. "The Center is an ardent supporter of free speech and artistic expression, but we cannot--and will not--tolerate speech in any form that promotes violence against LGBT people."


In 2004 the House of Blues responded to pressure from the Center and the LGBT community, eventually canceling a concert at its West Hollywood venue by Capleton, a reggae singer who also promoted violence against gay people. And just a year later, the company eventually agreed to cancel a West Hollywood concert by Sizzla, a performer who sang lyrics that included: "I go and shoot queers."

Related Story

also The Highlands Nightclub cancel Buju Banton show

my two cents: wow even after so many years of his "Boom Bye Bye inna Battyboi head" lyrics Buju is still feeling the pinch of the Stop Murder Music Campaign, although at the recent album launch he urged gays and str8s alike to listen in and said it was for everyone. Almost an image repair attempt if you ask me but it seems it hasn't worked.

So it go yah sah (that's how it goes)

H

Gay rights: a delicate issue

DIANE ABBOTT (see post on Minister's pink advocacy below)

Jamaica may find itself the subject of a drive by the British High Commission in Kingston to support gay rights. That is, if recent newspaper articles in Britain are to be believed. The Sunday Times newspaper here in London said a few weeks ago, "The gay Foreign Office Minister Chris Bryant MP is championing a controversial drive to fund equal-rights activists in homophobic regimes." The article went on to quote Bryant as saying, "It is completely up to staff in our embassies and consulates around the world to decide the most appropriate and effective way of making our case, but we do encourage this important work because British values are based on fair play and the protection of the individual's freedom. We are not naive about this work. In some places oppressive regimes make it some of the toughest work we do." According to the article, programmes on gay rights by High Commissions abroad could involve financing gay pride marches or financing legal challenges by local campaigners.

Apparently there will be money made available.Even the British courts are taking an interest in attitudes to homosexuality in Jamaica. Last month, a 24-year-old convicted female drug dealer was in court arguing that she should not be deported back to Jamaica because she was a lesbian and her life would be in danger. She claimed to have had six lesbian affairs in prison and was now in a steady relationship with another female prisoner. Interestingly, the Home Office did not dispute the fact that the woman's life would be in danger if she returned to Jamaica as an open lesbian. Instead, the Home Office lawyer argued that the woman was not really a lesbian at all. They pointed out that the woman had been in sexual relationships with men in the past. And that it was a former boyfriend who introduced her to the drugs trade.

The Home Office lawyer went on to argue that the lesbian relationships in prison proved nothing and said, "If she wanted to be sexually active, there was no other option; there was no other choice except celibacy."It may be that the British High Commission will not have a drive on gay rights. The Sunday Times journalists obviously had sight of some sort of document, but they may be exaggerating the significance of what they saw. In any case, it is not difficult to imagine how a campaign on the subject of gay rights by the High Commission would be received by the Jamaican populace. Parliament is on its summer recess at the moment. But when I next see the foreign office minister appearing concerned, I will suggest that he meets with Jamaica nationals here in Britain to get a more nuanced view of attitudes to gay men and women in Jamaica. This is a delicate issue on which public opinion in Jamaica and Britain take widely differing views.

There definitely needs to be more dialogue.

Are pentecostal leaders secretly questioning biblical view of homosexuality?

clicking image for original post on gay christians watch blog

According to Anthony Venn-Brown, a certain mega church pastor now lurking in the shadows, is questioning whether culture and history carry more authority than the Bible on the issue of homosexuality.

What’s more the unnamed pastor (location also withheld) says more evangelical/pentecostal leaders are “discussing” the same thing. If that’s true —and without any intervention— gay christian heresy may find eventually find a more welcome home among pentecostals than it currently does in the Episcopal church.

Venn-Brown, the ex-ex-gay turned life coach, whom we wrote about back in April 2008, posted a letter on his blog he alleges is from a “mega church pastor” who expresses an all too familiar line of heretical reasoning popularized by gay christian theology.

“We are very encouraged to find that there are a growing number of Evangelical/Pentecostal leaders who are willing to question firstly, if their attitude toward gay people has been Christlike and secondly if possibly our teachings about homosexuality have been more influenced by a cultural mindset and personal biases than a genuine reading of the scriptures in the light of historical/cultural contexts and with a sound knowledge of the original languages.”

H

Jamaican Columnist Speaks Out against Antigay Violence

Jamaica is a nation where antigay vigilantism is culturally accepted; authorities leave violence unpunished; and no GLBT organization can meet in public, hold events, or advocate publicly for justice and equality. In Jamaica, it takes courage to simply say “no” to violence.

Columnist Diane Abbott of The Jamaica Observer on Sunday wrote a column citing numerous recent reports of antigay murder and vigilantism. She warned that public denial of the severity of such violence harms Jamaica’s reputation.

Because attitudes to homosexuality in Jamaica are so hostile, it is not sufficiently understood how damaging its stand on the issue is outside the country.

A U.S.-based, pro-equality boycott against Jamaica was put on hold earlier this year when J-FLAG, Jamaica’s GLBT organization-in-hiding, withheld its support.

Nevertheless, Abbott says Jamaicans should learn from the boycott and from numerous reports of antigay violence:

The boycott has so far been unsuccessful. But a country dependent on tourism cannot afford to ignore the fact that attitudes to homosexuality in other countries have moved on. There are probably as many people in Britain who are privately judgemental about homosexuals and lesbians as there are in Jamaica. But the British take the view that what people do in the bedroom is their affair. So gay marriage is legal and leading politicians in both the government and opposition parties have publicly acknowledged their sexual orientation and married their partners. It is difficult to imagine such a state of affairs coming about in Jamaica any time soon.

But Jamaica could do more to stress that despite the blood-curdling lyrics of much of its popular music, it is a more tolerant society than people think. And violence against gay people should be universally condemned.

We Are Born To Be Lovers...Love Knows No Gender

by Alternative Lifestyle Federation Aruba

We are born to be lovers. We are not meant to be alone. Basic to who we are as human beings is the instinct to reach out from ourselves to care for, nurture, empower and protect those we love; and, it is basic to each of us to desire and accept the care, nurture, empowerment and protection from those who love us. To love is to be connected, to be in a mutual and equal relationship others. Out of such love grows intimacy, friendship, marriage, family and community.

Our love is embodied. Our sexuality is the physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual capacity to give and to receive love. Having affectionate feelings for another is not enough. We cannot love intimately and truly without our whole selves, without our bodies. Love must be physical as well as emotional, intellectual and spiritual.

The capacity to love is not just a gift from God, it is God's presence alive and active in our very beings. We embody God when we love. To be a lover is what is meant when we say we are created in God's image. To be a lover is to know God. There is no such thing as an unholy love.

Love knows no boundaries, no barriers, no limits. It is the nature of love to push us out of selfishness, fear and ignorance to overcome boundaries and barriers in order to love another person.

Love is free without restraints. Loving someone intimately is a human right that cannot be regulated by law, religion or culture. There is no government, no religion, no cultural custom that has the authority, the power to tell us who we must love intimately. And, there is no government, no religion, no cultural custom that has the authority, the power to tell us we cannot love someone intimately because of her or his race, ethnicity, religion, class, family or gender. To love someone intimately is to be connected to that person on a deep and spiritual level that defies and ignores all social categories and classifications of people.

Let no one tell you that your love is unnatural, immoral, unhealthy or sinful because your love does not conform to their prejudices and fears. Love between persons is more than normal, more than wholesome: it is divine.

Trust you love. Believe in it. It is love that makes a marriage and a family, not government and not religion. Honor your love as precious and innately holy. Don't wait for others to honor it. Your love does not depend upon someone else's approval or acceptance. And, the more you honor your love, the more others will understand your love and honor your love.

Trust your love. Believe in it and you will change the world!

Adolescent MSM in Jamaica: HIV Risk, Homophobia, and Gender Stereotypes in Relationships

Adolescent MSM in Jamaica-HIV risk, homophobia, violence and gender stereotypes in relationships
Presented by Nesha Haniff, Jamaica
Jamaica AIDS Support for Life, Senior Program Advisor, Kingston, Jamaica
Source & Reading

Bash Back!: The New LGBT Activism?

By Julie Bolcer

Details magazine offers a provocative, if at times strained, feature on the “fearsome gay gangsters of Bash Back!” the “elusive band of transgender anarchists, radical sex workers, and queer troublemakers" who explicitly reference violence as an answer to oppression. The group has gained notoriety in the past year for in-your-face protest tactics that leave some members of the LGBT establishment feeling deeply uncomfortable.

Journalist David France travels to the “end of a dead-end street” and passes “restless dogs and rusty cars on cinder blocks” to reach the railroad tracks in Lansing Mich., where he meets leaders of the “most notorious” chapter of Bash Back! The fast-growing group claims chapters in 15 cities, with actions that have included gluing shut the doors of a Mormon church in response to the church’s financial support for Proposition 8 in California.

“Founded just over a year ago,” France writes, “the group adamantly opposes what it calls the 'gender binary system' that classifies people as either male or female. Most members consider themselves neither or both. It's anti-establishment, anti-military, and anti-marriage -- or anyone. What Bash Back! supports is gender self-determination, lots of sex and pornography, and confrontation as a first resort -- a necessary response to violence.”
France focuses on the Lansing chapter, whose members staged a high-profile demonstration at their city’s Mount Hope Church shortly after Prop. 8 passed in November. They chanted “Jesus was a homo,” flung condoms, and kissed at the church altar. The action resulted in a lawsuit brought by the church, which claims that Bash Back! blocked access to a house of worship and thereby violated parishioners’ constitutional rights.

The feature positions Bash Back! in the confrontational vein of gay liberation groups from the era of Stonewall and Harvey Milk. It also discusses how their club-wielding approach and overt references to violence seem to have “struck a chord” with more mainstream LGBT rights organizations.

my two cents: I am partially in agreement in terms of self defense reasons for such a radical approach. LGBT people in our context who have to survive on the streets already use this kind of radical mechanism for their own protection as the streets are mean as we all know. Maybe if gays in Jamaica stop the "in-fighting" and devote a cohesive approach to securing the group's survival as a whole then many of the instances of homophobic violence could be avoided or the recovery exercise for victims of such violence would be easier in as far as crisis intervention strategies are concerned.

H

When it Comes to Peddling Hate Music, iTunes Appears to Be Selective says a blogger

By Sonia Scherr
Hatewatch at SPLC

“Let’s see out the Fuhrer’s dream/To break the back of the eternal jew/Rid the world of the evil we’ve seen/Make it safe for me and you.”— From “Under the Hammer” by Brutal Attack“When the battle is over and the victory is won/And the White man’s lands are owned by true white people/the traitors will all be gone.”— From “White Warriors” by Screwdriver

If you thought such unabashedly bigoted music was available only from underground sources, you’d be wrong. With a few clicks at Apple’s iTunes website, Internet users can buy albums and songs from white supremacist groups such as Bully Boys, Final War, Stormtroop 16 and H8Machine.

But what has one iTunes customer particularly incensed is that the website has apparently removed homophobic songs by reggae artists, but left the white supremacist music. Galen Andrews, who lives outside Des Moines, Iowa, told Hatewatch that he thinks all hate music should be pulled from iTunes. “It made me sick,” he said of the white supremacist music. “I think it’s irresponsible of iTunes to offer that kind of music. I don’t like the fact that they’re selling racism for profit.”Among the anti-gay songs no longer available on iTunes are Buju Banton’s “Boom Bye-Bye” and T.O.K.’s “Chi-Chi Man,” Andrews said. ITunes, which bills itself as “the world’s most popular digital media player,” did not respond to several phones messages and E-mails seeking comment. However, it’s not the only mainstream music distributor selling racist and offensive tracks.

Although Amazon.com did not return a phone message, it also peddles music from many of the same white supremacist bands. An Amazon.com spokeswoman told Fox News earlier this year that third-party companies were selling the tracks through its website, but declined to elaborate. A spokesman for CDBaby, which distributes independent music, told Hatewatch that the company doesn’t ban artists based on content, though it donates profits from music it deems racist to anti-hate organizations....(Remainder.)

SOURCE

Is douching all its cracked up to be?

A Mothership Blog Post (add this blog to your bookmarks)

It is generally considered good manners to present your partner with a clean bottom before getting fucked. However, is it necessary to clean yourself internally by douching before a nice juicy cock finds itself up there? Not always, and some, including the charity Gay Men Fighting Aids, would advise not at all.
The fact is that douching can irritate the lining of your rectum and bowel and make it more susceptable to infection and injury, even if you only use plain warm water*. The lower bowel and rectum are coated with anal mucus which help to protect you and to lubricate the passing of faeces.

When you douche, you wash away this protective coating, and this means that your rectum has no barrier to protect it from injury, infection or irritation caused by the fucking.

The primary purpose of your bottom is to pass faeces from the body (really!). As you digest food and it passes through the digestive system, slowly more and more water is absorbed from the faeces by the bowel and this absorption process even continues in the rectum.

Importantly, douching can make the transmission of STDs and HIV more likely because without the anal mucus the direct contact of the sperm or infectious agent with the lining of the rectum will make it more readily absorbed. Also, there is a greater chance of injury and the resultant small cuts and abrasions give an easy route into the bloodstream.

Won’t anal sex be a bit messy if he hasn’t douched?
The main thing is that the passive partner empties his bowel by taking a dump before sex (he can wash his bottom externally after) - then, most often any penetrative sex is fairly clean.

Bear in mind that even douching isn’t 100% clean - in fact the water can cause more faecal matter to break free or dilute. The fact is, you’re fucking his arse - what do you expect? As one of our members said on the Mothership gay forums “If you play with fire you’re going to get burnt, if you play with bums don’t be surprised when you get shit”!

That’s disgusting!
Is it? Poo is just a natural product of his body. If you can desensitise yourself a little to the natural feelings of revulsion that are programmed into us, you’ll find it won’t put you off so much. It is important that both partners are comfortable about not douching - the passive guy may be put off as much as the active guy because he may feel humiliated or worried that his bottom isn’t clean inside.

It’s still disgusting!
Do you enjoy rimming? Fact: even if you rim a spotlessly clean arse you are still consuming microscopic traces of his shit, and if he hasn’t washed his bum you’re eating a lot more, so it is a matter of perspective. As a side issue if you do rim other guys you should get hep A and hep B vaccinations from your local GUM clinic.

No, I will carry on douching (and I’ll never rim again!)
Fair enough. Many guys have douched successfully for years with no problems and if your partner uses a condom you protect yourself anyway from the most serious STDs. There are also times when you may be particularly anxious to create a good first impression - like a first date - and will only be comfortable if you douche. Understood, but in that case use a condom - it is the combination of barebacking and douching that is particularly dangerous - and add into the mix sleeping with a new partner and you could be putting yourself at greater risk of HIV.

When you douche be very careful if you use a shower head - the pressure and temperature can be unpredictable. Preferably use a hand held bulb douche or a gravity fed douche. Never use any detergent or soap as this may irritate your sensitive insides - only plain warm water. As I’ve stated, know that you are at greater risk of picking up STDs and HIV after douching, so condoms are even more important. Finally, use a gentle lubricant that does not irritate your arse.

Informed Choices
Enough has been written elsewhere about the dangers of germs and hepatitis A and B from poo, and of not using a condom. You can make your own informed choices. If you’re not informed you can get informed at the excellent GMFA website.

by David Abrehart

* Source GMFA

Caster Returns home to Glory

Tell Me Pastor recomends Restorative Psychology to Lesbian

Tell Me Pastor recomends Restorative Psychology to an alleged Lesbian letter writer to his column, I was of the opinion that sexual identity but not orientation can be changed through psychotherapy or reparative therapy and that there could be serious consequences later in life if those supressed feelings are held in too long.

It is not considered a disorder as there is no scientific data to back this up. It is designated as inborn by leading clinical psychologists and the organizations such as the American Psychiatric Association. By instilling shame in a person you can get someone to supress their feelings which is far different from the deeper developmental levels of orientation.

Here is the letter and his response to the alleged writer, I still feel in many instances these are fabricated letters to create an aura with anti gay overtones. Read and decide for yourself please.

Can I change my 'homo' ways?

Dear Pastor,
I have been a lesbian for the last seven years but every time I attempted to change my lifestyle, something comes back in my way. People should stop judging homosexuals because they don't know why they have become what they are. Is it possible that I can change after so many years?
S., Jamaica

TMP answers:

Dear S.,
I do not believe that anyone is beyond God's deliverance. It was not very long ago, I saw an interview on television of a man who said he was a homosexual but he has now given up that lifestyle. I understand that there are organisations in the United States of America whose main purpose is to help people who are desirous of changing their lifestyle as gays. Those who are leaders in some of these groups are former homosexuals.

God can deliver

In America the 'Ex-Gay Ministries,' is big. I suggest, therefore, that you do your own research. You have been a lesbian for seven years but God can deliver you as he has delivered others. You will not receive help if you do not have the desire to change your lifestyle, but you do seem to have the desire to change.

May I suggest further that you make an appointment to see a Christian counsellor and ask him/her to help you. In the meantime, read your Bible, go to church and pray everyday. Do your best to stay away from those who would encourage you to continue to practise homosexuality.

Sex identity and Caster Semenya

Yvonne McCalla Sobers (Families Against State Terrorism Jamaica)

The investigation into World Games gold medal winner Caster Semenya has raised issues of how to define male and female. It has also drawn attention to discrimination against those whose sex identity is not easily classified by society’s standards.

According to medical science, every foetus starts out with no sexual distinction. The default position is said to be female, and the foetus becomes male as a result of an interplay of hormones in the womb between conception and the seventh week of the pregnancy. If the foetus has an unusual level of certain hormones, or an unusually high or low ability to respond to the hormones, then intersex may result.

When the child is born, doctors will look at its external reproductive organs to decide whether “It’s a boy” or “It’s a girl.” Doctors usually have to decide on how small a penis needs to be before it is classified as a clitoris, or whether an unusual combination or parts and organs leans to male or female. However, variations in internal reproductive organs might not be noticed till puberty. Doctors are therefore highly likely to disagree about how to define male and female, and their decisions are arbitrary at best.

An adult may therefore be born with anatomy that doesn’t fit the usual definitions of male and female. Person A might look female but was born with a penis. Person B might have genitals that are in between male and female: a large clitoris, a tiny penis, absence of a vaginal opening, or a scrotum that resembles labia. Some cells may have XX (female) chromosomes, and others XY (male); someone with XX chromosomes can be born with genitals that appear male. In any event, the sizes of breasts, penises, clitorises, scrotums, labia, testes and ovaries vary a lot. In addition, Person C might be male by physical and bio-chemical tests, but consider herself to be a female imprisoned in a male body. The reverse is also true.

Intersex is not always evident. It may manifest as infertility, or as a male whose haemorrhoids curiously bleed every 28 days. For some persons, intersex is discovered if an autopsy takes place, or they may live and die and never find out.

In small communities in the Dominican Republic and in Papua New Guinea, there is a condition that causes children raised as girls to become male. During puberty, the children’s male hormones cause the penis to grow, and male sexual characteristics to develop. The men assumed male gender roles, married , and fathered children.

Most societies, however, view intersexed persons with aversion if not hostility. As a result, those whose identity, appearance, or behavior fall outside of conventional gender norms can face hostility even from their own families. They face the choice of trying to live in a body and with gender roles that not congruent with their gender identity. Their distress can be increased by the need to find resources for hormone treatment and for social support. The shame and guilt associated with the discrimination places intersexed persons at risk for committing suicide. Data show that at least 50 per cent of intersexed persons in the US have attempted suicide least once by their twentieth birthday.

Whether or not investigations show eighteen-year-old Caster Semenya to be an intersexed person, having her sexual identity placed under public scrutiny must be traumatic for her and her family. She has reportedly been “crudely humiliated” in the past, and some of her fellow athletes in Berlin have spoken out against her. However, if she survives this attention to her genitalia with her psyche intact, then her situation could serve to open opportunities for enlightenment on a topic that is usually taboo. This could be a chance to learn to accept differences.

Elephant Man Not Wanted - The Latest in a Line of Homophobic Artists to Not be Embraced Abroad

source: Jamaican-slang

Elephant Man was dropped from the performance roster at this year’s Caribana Festival in Toronto due to his extremely homophobic lyrics. This is just one of several artists to suffer some sort of ban outside of Jamaica because of negative lyrics against the gay community with some of the lyrics promoting violence. Buju Banton’s “Boom Bye Bye” was banned from several radio stations in North America because the song was very offensive to gays. The truth is that being gay in Jamaica is not easy. PERIOD. In many cases, gay Jamaicans are “in the closet” because being gay is just NOT embraced by most groups in Jamaican society.

Rastas make it clear that homosexuality is forbiden and is subject to death. Dancehall artists like Elephant Man and T.O.K. have songs that blatantly diss homosexuals. You might ask, why is there so much anger and hate against homosexuals?
Jamaican lesbian activist Staceyann Chin believes the following explains why homosexuality is so taboo in Jamaica.
The macho ideal is celebrated, praised in Jamaica, while homosexuality is paralleled with pedophilia, rapists,” Chin said. “Markers that other people perceive as gay — they walk a certain way, wear tight pants, or are overly friendly with a male friend — make them targets. It’s a little pressure cooker waiting to pop.

Even though many of the other caribbean islands are very conservative, Chin goes on to say,
(But) what stands out about Jamaica is how absolutely, head-in-the-sand unwilling the authorities have been for years to acknowledge or address homophobic violence,” he said. “Most notably, three successive governments have completely, utterly, publicly refused even to talk about changing the buggery law — which expressly consigns gay people to second-class citizens and paintstargets on their backs.

The other thing that is not brought up by Chin is the African influence in Jamaica. Most African communities in the African Diaspora are very homophobic. For example, The Source magazine ran a piece on trying to find out who the gay rapper was. Even though, there are gay rappers, none that are openly gay are in the mainstream. Many believe being a homosexual rapper or athlete goes against the idea of being a thug or being tough. Additionally, Rastas and others continue to support the argument that it is not natural.
Although this is a much deeper issue worth exploring in depth, I think it is important that people new to Jamaican Patois and Jamaican Slang get familiar with some of the words typically used to refer to gays.

Here are some of the main words:
Chi Chi Man
Batty Bwoy
Fassy

To read more about being gay in Jamaica, click here. And here is the song that cause Elephant to get banned from Caribana.
Elephant Man - Log On

Sodomy Laws in the Caribbean

source: http://www.sodomylaws.org/
White = Legal Red = Illegal

Countries with information gathered:

Bahamas Barbados Cayman Islands Cuba Jamaica Puerto Rico St Lucia

Listed in the following order: Country /Lesbian/Gay Male /Maximum Penalty

Antigua & Barbuda: Legal Legal

Netherlands Antilles: Legal Legal

Aruba: Legal Legal

Bahamas: Legal Legal

Barbados: Illegal Illegal Unknown

Bermuda: Legal Legal

Cayman Islands: Legal Legal

Cuba: Legal Illegal 1 Year

Dominican Republic: Legal Legal

French Guyana: Legal Legal

Grenada: Legal Illegal Unknown

Guyana: Legal Illegal Life

Haiti: Legal Legal

Jamaica: Legal Illegal 10 years / hard labor

Martinique: Legal Legal

Puerto Rico (USA): Legal Legal

Saint Kitts and Nevis: Not available Not available

Saint Lucia: Illegal Illegal 25 years

Suriname: Legal Legal

Trinidad and Tobago: Illegal Illegal 10 years

Turks and Caicos Islands: Legal Legal

Gay Liberation Network - An Open Letter to Live Nation, Inc. Regarding Anti-gay "Murder Music"

by Gay Liberation Network ( LGBTliberation [at] aol.com ) Sunday Aug 23rd, 2009 12:44 AM

Live Nation is sponsoring a nationwide tour -- including San Francisco and San Jose -- of Buju Banton, who calls for killing Lesbians and Gays in the lyrics of his songs. Several years ago he was accused and acquitted of murdering a gay man in Jamaica.
Michael Rapino
President and Chief Executive Officer
Live Nation, Inc.
9348 Civic Center Drive
Beverly Hills, California, 90210

Dear Mr. Rapino:

Hopefully you are aware that Live Nation/House of Blues has booked Buju Banton for a nationwide tour, including a Chicago stop on October 1, 2009. Buju Banton is one of a handful of performers whose output has been labeled "murder music" for openly advocating the murder of Lesbians and Gays in the lyrics of their music.

House of Blues has faced protests before against its sponsorship of anti-gay "murder music"; yet it apparently persists in thinking that LGBT people should "tolerate" those who call for murdering us.

House of Blues/Live Nation would never book Buju Banton or any performer who advocated killing African Americans or Jews, and rightfully so. Why, then, is it okay for House of Blues to hire a musician who calls for murdering Lesbians and Gays? Why the double standard?

When Live Nation purchased House of Blues several years ago we wrote to your corporate office asking that Reggae Dancehall "murder musicians" like Buju Banton not be booked unless and until these performers renounce their past behavior and promise no more murderous lyrics going forward. Banton first signed then repudiated just such an agreement. This is particularly an issue in his native Jamaica where gays face a living hell due, in part, to performers like Buju Banton who stoke the flames of an already dangerous situation by singing their murderous music.

Perhaps his most notorious "kill gays" song is "Boom, Bye Bye" in which Banton describes shooting "battyman" (slang for a gay man) in the head, sometimes with an Uzi, an automatic weapon.

We call upon Live Nation management to do the right thing and cancel the Buju Banton tour. We will credit your company with the appropriate corporate response to irrational and murderous hostility toward lesbian and gay people. Should Live Nation not cancel Banton's tour, you will offer us no alternative but to go forward with plans to protest in as many cities as possible, including Chicago.

Sincerely yours,

Gay Liberation Network
www.GayLiberation.net

Note to readers:
We encourage those who are outraged by Live Nation's promotion of this viciously anti-LGBT tour that you contact Live Nation yourself and let them know how you feel about Live Nation's sponsorship of messages encouraging violence against LGBTs. You can call the Live Nation customer service line to complain at 800.431.3462 7 AM to 2 PM (PST) Monday thru Friday or email them at CustomerService@LiveNation.com

We encourage activists around the country to mount their own protests against murder music performances in their cities. Here is a list of Buju Banton's 2009 concert tour dates:

Philadelphia (Sept 12); Providence (Sept 15); Portland, ME (Sept 17); Revere, MA (Sept 18); Charlotte (Sept 23); Raleigh (Sept 24); Norfolk (Sept 25); Richmond, VA (Sept 26); Detroit (Sept 30); Chicago (Oct 1); Denver (Oct 6); Aspen, CO (Oct 7); Salt Lake City (Oct 8); San Francisco (Oct 10); Tallahassee (Oct 11); Jacksonville, FL (Oct 12); San Jose, CA (Oct 13); Charleston (Oct 14); Los Angeles (Oct 14); Raleigh (Oct 15)

The Gay Liberation Network (www.GayLiberation.net) will be producing posters and other publicity materials, and will be happy to share these with activists in other cities who wish to organize their own protests. Simply email us at LGBTliberation@aol.com
http://www.GayLiberation.net

hmph

Congrats to our World Championship Team

it's not all about Bolt, let's remember the other athletes too, Melanie Walker (female on right featured akimbo) in particular has been trying for the title for some time and she finally got it. Possibly the cartoonist is also saying that older folks pay attention to the older athletes while the youngsters are enthralled with Bolt, present day stars.

Keep Law Out of Gays’ Bedrooms (FLASHBACK)

(a poignant article published way back in October 31, 2004 but tenets expoused are still relevant I think)

By Dwight Bellanfante, Observer staff reporter

THE law has no business in the private bedrooms of consenting adults, such as homosexuals and prostitutes, former attorney-general and justice minister, Dr Oswald Harding is insisting.

Harding remains unconvinced by the argument that the law should be used to enforce moral codes, and argued that the private activities of consenting homosexuals and prostitutes should not be criminalised.

Harding, who was attorney-general and justice minister and later foreign minister in the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) administration of the 1980s, is basing his argument on the findings of the Wolfden Committee in Britain in 1954. He noted that the report recommended by a majority of 12 to one that homosexual practices between consenting adults in private should no longer be a crime. And it unanimously recommended, he said, that in the case of prostitution, though it should not itself be made illegal, there should be legislation “to take it off the streets” on the grounds that public soliciting was an offensive nuisance to ordinary citizens.

Harding was delivering the inaugural lecture of the Institute of Law and Economics at the PCJ Auditorium in Kingston last week.

He further posited that the Wolfden Committee’s report reflected those of noted philosopher John Stuart Mill in his Essay on Liberty to the effect that the function of the law “is to preserve public order and decency, to protect the citizen from what is offensive or injurious, and to provide sufficient safeguards against exploitation or corruption of others, particularly those who are vulnerable because they are young, weak in body or mind or inexperienced”.

His comments have a particular relevance in today’s Jamaica, and internationally, against the background of current topical debate about the banning of Jamaican entertainers for anti-gay lyrics. The issue of same sex marriages has also featured prominently in the run-up to the American presidential elections.

Homosexual acts are deemed illegal in Jamaica under existing buggery laws, while prostitution is officially outlawed, though often winked on.

During his address, Harding also echoed the Wolfden Committee’s basis for the recommendation for relaxing laws against homosexual practices on the grounds that: “There must remain a realm of private morality and immorality which is, in brief and crude terms, not the law’s business”.

The position of the American Law Institute was also used to bolster the argument that consensual relations between adults, in private, should be excluded from the scope of the criminal law.

In its 1955 draft model penal code, that body recommended that: “No harm to the secular interests of the community is involved in a typical sex practice in private between consenting adult partners, and there is the fundamental question of the protection to which every individual is entitled against State interference in his personal affairs when he is not hurting others”.

Elaborating on his position, Harding explored the contrary positions of Lord Devlin who challenged the notion of value-free law, noting that “the suppression of vice is as much the law’s business as the suppression of subversive activities”. He further suggested that the lack of a common morality promoted social disintegration, “so that society is justified in taking steps to preserve its moral code as it does to preserve its government and other essential institutions”.

But Harding turned that position on its head by pointing to the lack of supportive evidence, as well as by a comparison with a state (Nazi Germany) that had actually sought to enforce moral codes and beliefs, with disastrous consequences for itself and humanity.

“It would have been helpful if Lord Devlin had provided examples of some modern societies which have disintegrated because of the loosening of moral bonds. And it might be a better thing for some societies to disintegrate by loosening its moral bonds. Nazi Germany comes to mind, those societies disintegrate from within more frequently than there are broken up by external pressures,” said Harding.

He also explored the changing notions of public decency and how the public’s views towards certain moral issues had changed over time.

“That there are changes in the moral standards is visible all about. The fact that some pay lip service to an official sexual morality does not disguise the changes.

“The explosion and proliferation of massage parlours, as advertised in our local newspapers, speak to new practices in the contemporary social reality,” said Harding. In summation, Harding offered a position on the length to which the law should go in enforcing morality.

“It is not the function of the law to intervene in the private lives of citizens or seek to enforce any particular pattern of behaviour further than to preserve public order and decency and to protect the citizen from what is offensive or injurious and to provide safeguards against exploitation and corruption of others,” he said.

A wheel barrow for our medals in Berlin? LOL

wicked ones from Lasmay, boi we need the comic relief, trust mi

Senegal: New arrests and convictions for same-sex relations; pattern of persecution continues

August 20, 2009

Media Contact: Hossein Alizadeh, 212-430-6016, halizadeh@iglhrc.org

(New York, August 20, 2009)- The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) and Inner Circle are outraged at reports that a 17 year-old Senegalese man will stand trial on August 24 for sexual acts "against nature" and that two other men were convicted on identical charges during the week of August 10, 2009. The three men, all from the town of Darou Mousty, in Louga, Senegal, were arrested and detained for alleged same-sex relations on June 19, 2009, together with a fourth man whose status is currently unknown. The first two men were sentenced to two and five years in prison respectively. Reports indicate that denunciations from neighbors were the only evidence against the men.These are the latest in a pattern of arbitrary arrests and detentions based on perceived sexual orientation in Senegal, a country in which same-sex relations are illegal, homophobia is widespread, and incitement toward violence against those perceived to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender is often encouraged by politicians and religious leaders."This is yet another indication that gay men and those perceived to be gay are in grave danger in Senegal," said IGLHRC executive director Cary Alan Johnson. "The arrests violate both international and African human rights law. Unpopularity is never a justification for abuse."Human rights abuses related to sexual orientation and gender identity in Senegal have accelerated since February 2008, when 10 people were arbitrarily arrested and charged with "homosexuality, incitement to debauchery and corruption of good behavior," after popular tabloid Icône published pictures of a ceremony to affirm a gay relationship. In a separate incident in August 2008, two men were arrested at their home in Dakar for "homosexual marriage" and also charged with "acts against the order of nature." In December 2008, nine members of AIDES Sénégal who were participating in an education workshop to combat HIV and AIDS were arrested and sentenced to 8 years in prison for "indecent conduct and unnatural acts" and "conspiracy." The Court of Appeals in Dakar overturned their conviction in April 2009.Violence and official persecution of those perceived to be LGBT is also evidenced by several disturbing incidents in which the graves of men perceived to be gay have been desecrated and their bodies exhumed.

In May 2009, the body of 30-year old Madièye Diallo was dug up from his grave in the town of Thiès. After his family re-buried him, his body was exhumed again and dumped outside the family's home. Finally, family members buried the body in the grounds of their own house.Religious and political leaders in Senegal have stoked the flames of hatred. In recent months, representatives from both sectors have loudly condemned same-sex practicing people. Addressing the release of the December 2008 detainees, Massamba Diop, the Imam of Pikine, told his congregants that: "the judge was too lenient, we should have killed them." In May 2009, Prime Minister Souleymane Ndiaye Ndéné asserted that "homosexuality… is a sign of a crisis of values" in Senegal and that the Senegalese government would become more involved in future attempts to repress and punish same-sex relations."The Imam of Pikine is inciting his congregation to murder," according to Imam Muhsin Hendricks, Director and Spiritual Advisor of the Inner Circle, an Islamic human rights organization based in South Africa. "But the Quran instructs us in Surah 2:179 that 'in the law of equality there is the saving of life, o you men of understanding so that you may restrain yourselves.'"Under Article 3.913 of the Senegalese penal code, homosexual acts are punishable by imprisonment of between one and five years and a fine of 100,000 CFA francs ($200) to 1,500,000 CFA francs ($3,000). Both IGLHRC and the Inner Circle have called for the repeal of this legislation, which empowers police and other authorities to abuse, harass, extort, and imprison those whose sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression challenges social norms.#####

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission's mission is to advance human rights for everyone, everywhere to end discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. A non-profit, non-governmental organization, IGLHRC is based in New York, with offices in Cape Town and Buenos Aires. http://www.iglhrc.org/The Inner Circle's mission is to empower and raise conciousness around gender and sexual diversity by engaging faiths and beliefs, encouraging independent reasoning and collaboration, especially with Muslims who are queer and the local, national and international Muslim community. Based in Cape Town, South Africa, the Inner Circle was founded in 1996 and officially registered as a not-for-profit human rights organization in 2004. http://www.theinnercircle.org.za/

First Generic Atripla Approved for Developing Nations

The first generic version of the fixed-dose combination tablet Atripla (tenofovir, emtricitabine and efavirenz) has been granted tentative approval by the Food and Drug Administration for use in resource-poor countries where the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is scaling up access to antiretroviral (ARV) therapy.

Tentative approval means that the generic tablet is chemically equivalent with the safe and effective brand-name version and that its developer, Matrix Laboratories Limited of Hyderabad, India, has good standards in manufacturing. Tentative approval is granted in order for a generic drug to be sold to programs participating in PEPFAR; it will not be sold in the United States or most other industrialized nations.

This is because the patents that protect brand-name Atripla will not expire before 2017 and are still held in countries not included in the PEPFAR program.Though generic versions of other HIV drugs have been granted tentative approval by the FDA, this is the first version of Atripla—a preferred treatment combination recommended by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services—to be given the green light. The new generic will likely expand treatment choices for people in developing countries, where options are often limited.

Religion as divisive (Letter to the Gleaner Editor 19.08.09)

THE EDITOR, Sir:

I write in response to the description of religion as divisive by a letter writer.
It is interesting how human beings are; we will quote aspects of the Bible that support our doctrines or views, while conveniently ignoring other areas which pose a challenge or appear hard to explain.
Where do we get the notion that it is acceptable to tell others that what we believe is right and that unlike views are wrong? Who are our teachers? Who coined the Bible? How do we know what we know with reference to the Bible or how do we know that what we read is interpreted the way it was meant to?

superior being
One may call me simplistic but I think what is more important is that we acknowledge that there is a superior being who must be worshipped and we should use our God-given wisdom to fathom what is good from what isn't and live accordingly. Jamaica is predominantly a Christian nation which is as divided as the religion itself.
A nation which relies so much on religion, particularly Christianity, is definitely at a disadvantage when efforts are made to coalesce.
I am, etc.,

Shauna-kaye Brown
shaunabrown2005@yahoo.com
Cedar Valley, Sligoville PO
St Catherine

Sissies and Gay Male Childhood

Sissy as a term for an effeminate male developed from its use as an affectionate variant of "sister"; it then came to be used as a disparaging term for boys who behaved like girls. The American Heritage Dictionary defines sissy as "a boy or man regarded as effeminate."
The term is pejorative, and its use as such has powerful effects on male behavior generally. It serves as a kind of social control to enforce "gender appropriate" behavior.

Indeed, so strong is its power that, in order to avoid being labeled a sissy, many boys--both those who grow up to be homosexual and those who grow up to be heterosexual--consciously attempt to redirect their interests and inclinations from suspect areas such as, for example, hair styling or the arts toward stereotypically masculine interests such as sports or engineering. In addition, they frequently repress--sometimes at great cost--aspects of their personalities that might be associated with the feminine.
At the root of the stigma attached to sissies is the fear and hatred of homosexuality and, to a lesser extent, of women. Certainly, much of the anxiety aroused by boys who are perceived as sissies is the fear (and expectation) that they will grow up to be homosexuals.
The stigmatizing power of the term has had particularly strong repercussions on gay male behavior, as well as on the way that gay men are perceived, both by heterosexuals and by each other. Some gay men respond to this stigma by self-consciously adopting stereotypically masculine attributes; others, however, defiantly identify as sissies (or their adult cousins, "queens") and exaggerate their feminine traits, at least while they are in the company of other gay men.

Sissies and Gay Male Childhood
In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) voted to remove homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses. In 1980, however, when the APA published a new Diagnostic and Statistics Manual (DSM III), in place of homosexuality was a new diagnosis, "Gender Identity Disorder in Childhood," also known as "Sissy Boy Syndrome." To be diagnosed with the disorder a child must strongly identify with the opposite sex, and he or she must also behave in ways associated with the opposite gender. Many researchers and activists have taken issue with "Sissy Boy Syndrome" as merely a replacement for homosexuality in the APA's manual and as yet another attempt to pathologize gender variant behavior.
Many gay male autobiographies recount childhood incidents in which the author is singled out as a sissy by other children or adults because of perceived effeminate behavior or characteristics. In his memoir, Young Man from the Provinces (1995), Alan Helms writes, "I began to realize that I was the worst thing any American boy can be--I was (I can hardly bring myself to write the word) a sissy."
Although effeminate behavior in childhood is by no means exclusive to men who grow up to become homosexual, and not all gay men were regarded as sissies as children, being perceived as a sissy is nevertheless a common experience among gay males. This suggests some connection between what is typically regarded as "inappropriate" gender expression in childhood and a later expression of homosexuality. Recognizing oneself as a sissy is sometimes the first step in recognizing oneself as a potential or actual homosexual.
Being regarded as a sissy by peers or by family members is most often a painful experience. The insistence on gender-specific behavior is pervasive and overwhelming in most societies, and young men and boys who are effeminate are often severely stigmatized and, sometimes, physically and mentally abused.

Sissies and Identity
The negative attitudes toward sissies in mainstream culture is also carried over to some extent into gay male culture. In a widely broadcast 1996 episode of Public Radio International's This American Life, syndicated sex columnist Dan Savage noted the prevalence in gay male personal ads of self-descriptions and descriptions of desired sexual partners that reject effeminacy in favor of "straight-acting/straight-appearing" or "masculine" men.
These terms that explicitly deny the effeminate not only suggest that in the gay male world masculine or butch men are considered more sexually desirable than sissies (at least by gay men who place personal ads), but they also indicate a distaste for effeminacy itself. This distaste may reflect mainstream attitudes, but it is often rooted in internalized homophobia.
Indeed, in the gay male world, behavior and identity based on gender is nearly as polarized as in heterosexual culture. Gay men classify themselves using terms such as "butch" or "flamer," "top" or "bottom," "macho" or "queen." These designations of personal identity are sometimes not only expressions of personal style and preferences, but also a kind of political statement, indicating an individual's place on a spectrum of gender nonconformity.

Continue 2
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source: glbtq (USA) social science page
Brandon Hayes
Claude J. Summers

Same-sex dancing ... what's up with that? (Gleaner Article)

(sometimes I wonder if journalists and or newspapers don't have anything better to do)

Keisha Shakespeare-Blackmore (GLEANER ARTICLE)

Dancing has been a major part of the Jamaican culture. In times past, when you went to a party, men and women danced as couples. But nowadays, on the party scene, you find that more and more men prefer to dance in groups together, on one side of the room, while women gyrate with one another elsewhere on the same dance floor.

This pictured scene is becoming more popular at parties
This trend is rather puzzling to those who still hold traditional views about dancing. Some people cannot comprehend why men would prefer to dance by themselves while women would 'rub up' against each other as opposed to 'dropping legs' together the old-fashioned way.

Is this gay?

The growing practice has given rise to much discussion. It is believed that there is more to it than meets the eye. It leads some to question whether those engaging in the new habit are gay?

Melissa Williamssays as a society we are very hypocritical because if we see two men dancing in a sexual manner, we may even want to beat them up but, if two women do the same thing, it is more readily accepted.

"We should also beat the women who dance with each other. There are many lesbians out there but we can't be sure if these dancing partners are lesbians or just girls having fun. It is wrong and I have a serious problem with it," says Williams.

Billy Black, on the other hand, does not have a problem with women dancing with each other. He says if the girls dancing together in a sexually suggestive manner are good looking, it's OK.

"I blame the pink shirt, scarf-wearing men who dance with each other, leaving women to turn to dancing with their friends," says Black.

Though Black has no qualms about females gyrating with each other, he has major hiccups when it comes to men doing the same. "I believe they are all gay and it's just wrong," he adds.

Sandra Jamesconcurs. She says men dancing with men is a big no-no. "I don't condone it, nor do I agree with women dancing together, I strongly disapprove of it," says James.

She says that occasionally women dance with women very innocently but now they have taken it to another level. "When one girl bends over another and dances very close to her in a sexually suggestive manner, it is absolutely disgusting! I hate to see it. Plus, these days it seems as if they want to force their lifestyle on to others," she adds.

She further points out that if they are lesbians, she wants no part in it and believes they should stay in their own little private parties.

The question then is, do you see something wrong with men dancing with men and women dancing with women? Send your response to lifestyle@gleanerjm.com.

Names changed

Imposition, Bribery or foolhardy - UK Minister takes ‘pink diplomacy’ to anti-gay nations

A gay Foreign Office minister Chris Bryant is championing a controversial drive to fund equal-rights activists in homophobic regimes.

British missions in countries such as Jamaica, where homosexual acts are punishable by long jail terms, and Nigeria, where they can lead to the death penalty, are being encouraged to “support progress” by financing gay pride marches and legal challenges from local campaigners.

As well as targeting Commonwealth countries, “pink diplomacy” will extend to eastern Europe, where gays have suffered brutal attacks from far-right groups. Opportunities to tackle discrimination in ultra-conservative nations, such as Iran, are also being considered - cautiously.

The move risks a backlash from countries where support for homosexuality runs contrary to state teaching and religious beliefs.

The fact that the initiative is being promoted by Bryant, a former Anglican curate, could exacerbate things. He was ridiculed for sending a picture of himself in his underpants to a friend via a gay dating website six years ago.

Bryant, 47, said: “It is completely up to staff in our embassies and consulates around the world to decide the most appropriate and effective way of making our case but we do encourage this important work because British values are based on fair play and the protection of the individual’s freedom. We are not naive about this work. In some places oppressive regimes make it some of the toughest work we do.”

Bryant thanked Robin Barnett, the ambassador to Bucharest, for attending a gay pride march in the Romanian capital that had previously been targeted by thugs hurling fireworks and stones. A 2008 study by the European Commission ranked Romania as the most homophobic in the European Union.

Officials confirmed this weekend that the new policy included financial backing. A Foreign Office briefing document sent to British missions, said Colombia, Egypt, Ghana, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Nigeria and Uzbekistan were “countries of particular concern”.

SOURCE

Hating homosexuals ..... down-low business (Letter to the Gleaner Editor 15.08.09)

I am shocked to see how many of our men are having relations with both men and women. This is the reason homosexuals are hated in our country.


I think most people could handle the fact that a guy is guy if he stayed with men only. But too many of them are not really gay, they are just male whores and are practising this behaviour for what they can get from the men the go with ... pimps and sluts.

I am so sad that my wonderful 'manly' nation is competing with San Francisco.

I am, etc.,
Joan Lloyd
joanplloyd@aol.com
-END-

my two cents:
I disagree this is not reason why gays are hated in this country, the so called hate is nothing more than an excuse to mask or hide one's true desires and intentions after all if one hates something so much one doesn't give that thing so much attention.

It was only yesterday while having lunch with some friends we discussed this very thing. We examined dancehall culture and its seeming hatred or obsession depending on how you view it with a proported hated lifestyle.

Yes transactional sex is a part of it in order to get gifts and such but that is just a fraction of it as far as I am concerned, many of these "fly guys' or heaviots as they are known are really gay or bisexual but are just scared to confront their own identity. To hold up a mirror to ones self is not something Jamaicans in general are comfortable with, we are good at wearing masks and revolving them when needed.

As for the line where she says a people are comfortable: "I think most people could handle the fact that a guy is guy if he stayed with men only" that is so off it if for the reason of remaining downlow why most men who have sex with men practice bisexuality so as to mask their homosexual actions, the shame factor is still strong in our society. For a man to live alone or with other men and not have girls or women visit for sex is a no no hence the illegal evictions that happen in certain sectors of our society.

Neighbours literally watch how you live in certain communities and if you don't have a female companion or "slapping a gal" (sleeping with a girl) in the community than you are frowned upon. You must have a girl or else you may find yourself a victim of homophobic violence.

I can understand that the writer is merely expressing how she understands it.

Weh unu tink?

Lata

Peace and tolerance

H

Kissing Men Walk Free

Two men of Montego Bay addresses were questioned and released by the police on Sunday after they were observed passionately lip-locking inside a car along the Bull Bay Road in Lucea, according to the Star News.

Allegations are that about 1:30 a.m. the police observed the men making out in a white Toyota Corolla and approached them. A source told THE STAR that the men began "fixing up themselves" when the police approached the vehicle.

One police source said that the men were not charged, as there was no legal grounds on which to do so.

An attorney with whom THE STAR spoke said that the only possible charge that the men could have faced was that of gross indecency, under the outrages on decency section in the Offences against the Person Act.

That clause of the act states that any male person who, in public or private, commits, or is a party to the commission of, or procures or attempts to procure the commission by any male person of, any act of gross indecency with another male person, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, and being convicted thereof shall be liable at the discretion of the court to be imprisoned for a term not exceeding two years, with or without hard labour.

The lawyer, however, continued that applying the gross indecency charge may be very subjective, as the relationship of the men, type of kiss and other factors may have to be brought into consideration.

Has the church lost its conscience?

(I am not a fan of Betty Ann Blaine but she has hit something here also see my post on What is the church really about? I think she has once again ignored the tolerance component as it relates to non christians, why not pray for the young men who did this awful crime?)



Betty Ann Blaine

I'm not sure what it will take to awaken the Jamaican church. Nothing seems to be able to wrest the most powerful institution in Jamaica outside of government from its comfort zone of edifices and edicts - not the wanton and widespread murder and abuse of women and children; not the dastardly displays of immorality; not the deepening despair of poverty and dispossession. None of those things have been able to move the church to collectively emerge from its deep malaise. So now the violence is inching closer and closer to its doors.

The alarming incident reported in the news a few days ago in which a 13-year-old girl was abducted from amongst a group of children while inside a church building, and while participating in a Christian summer camp, is a very serious matter for the church in particular, and for the rest of the society in general. That criminals armed with guns could contemplate and execute such an assault is in and of itself cause for concern. Since time immemorial, the church, both in the physical and spiritual sense, was always considered sacrosanct. It was generally understood and accepted that the church was the holiest of all places, and that everyone who walked through the church door ought to behave in a manner befitting the holy sanctuary. There was
even a time when people spoke in hushed tones inside the church, except when repeating words of, and about God. Everyone understood that the church was God's building, and that reverence for God was paramount.

Not only was it reported that the criminals entered the church and robbed the young children of their possessions in the wee hours of the morning (approximately 1:00 am), but they also did the unthinkable: they reportedly snatched an innocent child in full view of everyone, took her into the bushes and raped her. I'm told that she was already in bed and asleep when the assault started.

This is no longer a joke, Jamaica, and the matter goes beyond church buildings and Christendom. To brazenly and wantonly commit that type of crime sends a loud and clear message that the criminal elements of this country are not afraid to attack innocents, whenever and wherever they choose, and that not even children inside of a church are exempt. The assault not only speaks to the blatant disregard for God's house and for the smallest and weakest amongst us, but it is an ominous sign of the deepening levels of anarchy that have enveloped the country. I'm not sure what it will take to rouse the church, but clearly this latest incident ought to elicit some type of response from the sleeping giant.

I have never been able to fathom why the church in this country remains so silent and so docile in the face of the unrelenting attacks against our children. Outside of its own pulpits and sporadic public statements here and there regarding casino gambling (which by the way has become a dead issue for the church) and abortion, and the nice speeches at prayer breakfasts, the collective voice of the church is largely non-existent. Not even the alleged rape of a minor by a visiting clergyman from overseas produced a response from the church. The silence continues to be deafening.

When one considers the historical and current activism of the church in other parts of the world and juxtaposes it to that of the Jamaican church, it as different as chalk and cheese. It was church groups like the Quakers who were at the forefront of the abolitionist movement to end slavery wherever it existed. It was Archbishop Desmond Tutu and other church leaders who struggled relentlessly until the evil Apartheid regime in South Africa was toppled, and it is church members in Chicago today who are the ones walking the streets of that city, day and night, confronting the criminal elements who have been preying on young children.

It might be instructive for the church to heed the words of Martin Luther King, Jr, himself a pastor, when he reminded the congregation that, "When the man in the parable knocked on his friend's door and asked for the three loaves of bread, he received the impatient retort, 'Do not bother me, the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed, I cannot get up and give you anything.' How often have men experienced a similar disappointment when at 'midnight they knock on the door of the church'? Millions of Africans, patiently knocking on the door of the Christian church where they seek the bread of social justice, have either been altogether ignored or told to wait until later, which almost always means never."

King continued, "In the terrible midnight of war, men have knocked on the door of the church to ask for the bread of peace, but the church has often disappointed them... In a world gone mad with arms build-ups, chauvinistic passions and imperialistic exploitation, the church has either endorsed those activities or remained appallingly silent. And those who have gone to the church to seek the bread of economic justice have been left in the frustrating midnight of economic privation. In many instances the church has so aligned itself with the privileged classes and so defended the status quo that it has been unwilling to answer the knock at midnight."

As King's words continue to resonate almost 50 years after he spoke them, the question that keeps coming forcefully to my mind is, has the Jamaican church lost its conscience?

With love,
bab2609@yahoo.com

'Ridiculous' rise in HIV/AIDS cases among deaf

Officials say messages not impacting some

Rhoma Tomlinson
Officials at the Jamaica Association for the Deaf and the Jamaica AIDS Support are reporting a "huge" increase in the number of deaf persons contracting the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) and engaging in risky sexual behaviour.
Reports of loose, multi-partner, unprotected sex, and what Jamaica AIDS Support officials call "inter-sexing", which involves homo and bisexual intercourse, have emerged, as the organisation grapples to deal with the growing number of deaf clients on its hands.

Executive Director of the Jamaica AIDS Support (JAS) Stacy-Ann Jarrett said that while there were no statistics to support specific numbers, cases have been "growing ridiculously", among all their target groups which include homosexual men, commercial sex workers, children and deaf persons. She confirmed that the organisation had been seeing a worrying increase in the number of deaf persons contracting the disease.
"We've learnt that this group is involved in a lot of inter-sexing and bi-sexuality. They seem to be a lot more sexual and don't have the same kind of discrimination; they don't seem to have the same kind of hang-ups about sex... We've realised that HIV and AIDS messages are not impacting on them. They seem to have a lot of myths. We've started having counselling with deaf same-sex practitioners," she said.

She fingered the recent recession as a possible reason for the increase in the number of HIV infections among deaf commercial sex workers. "We had two commercial sex workers before the recession, now we have nine and this is within seven months."
The Jamaica Association for the Deaf says it too has no official statistics on the number of deaf persons with the disease, but Public Relations Officer Marcia Anderson confirmed that a "huge number" of deaf persons were contracting the disease and "quite a number of them are commercial sex workers". She said once the cases come to their attention, they do what they can through their social services department, then turn them over to the Jamaica Aids Support.
The situation is worrying officials at the association so much, that they have intervened to lift the awareness of HIV and AIDS among the deaf community. The organisation has launched a series of HIV prevention workshops, dubbed "Reducing HIV Vulnerability in Deaf Children" which uses dance and signing to spread the message of safe sex among especially school-aged deaf persons. A recently-concluded training programme, held at the Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf in Knockpatrick, Manchester, saw 25 teaching assistants being trained to take the message into schools which accommodate students with hearing impairments.

The HIV Prevention message will be spread through a series of choreographed dance programmes, which Mrs Anderson told the Observer will be entered in the Jamaica Cultural Development Committee's (JCDC) 2010 national dance competition. The best pieces will be chosen, and taken to the deaf community across the island, through its schools. Mrs Anderson said the project has the backing of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), which pumped some $1.3 million into the programme.
Meanwhile, the Jamaica AIDS Support says it is working hard to dispel what Ms Jarrett calls the many myths plaguing the deaf community, which she insists is fuelling the rapid rate of infection among the deaf. "They have severe self-esteem issues, the deaf are constantly recording issues of sexual abuse. That is a big demon that plagues that group. So our support group work with them focuses on self-esteem building," she said.

She said deaf clients have even reported being preyed on in their churches, by adults. "Some are taken out of church, and taken around a corner and somebody says to them, 'I want sex', if you're being preyed on in this manner, how are you going to negotiate condom use?" She told the Observer that in addition to deaf persons, Christian married women were emerging as another vulnerable and neglected group. "They have a challenge insisting that their men use condoms". She said the organisation has not yet figured out how to reach this group.
She told the Observer that her organisation had yet another problem group on its hands - it recently found a group of homeless gay men living on the streets. "We found about 15 of them in the Kingston and St Andrew area. Their families have thrown them out. Some of them are not even gay, but they were suspected homosexuals and they were beaten out of their communities. "
She said, given its limited resources, the JAS can only meet their basic needs of a bath and a meal. "Most of them are illiterate, they have no skills. What is particularly painful to me is that many of these people don't live beyond the day. They come in and they go back out by 5pm, because we don't have anywhere to put them. When they leave, you can't know if they're coming back, you don't know if you're going to see them again."