Hypocrisy, Continued damage control via stands or a genuine call for inclusiveness in western Jamaica?

Gays Stage Peaceful Stand Against Discrimination

Hypocrisy eeeh? do you find this ironic that Maurice Tomlinson and the contemptuous incestuous associated groups now complain that the ongoing HIV conference in Montego Bay by stating that the way the organizers had gone about the workshop flew in the face of the internationally accepted principle requiring the Greater Involvement of Persons Living with HIV/AIDS in designing and implementing HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support interventions yet they exclude voices in an insular advocacy structure.

here is my short audio response to the stand:

On Stands and Inclusiveness 28.08.11 

Was this stand a quickly utilized damage control feature to soften the furor over the homeless MSM civil disobedience actions taken this very week August 23 and 24 after the very groups in this stand banned several of the men from getting care and treatment services for supposed "bad behaviour" so in other words screw them this stand also took place while the ban on the men is still in force and all in the absence of any resident social worker or psycho social services with only one crisis intervention officer serving the entire island.

see more here or posted below: The dark side to the homeless issue .............

Mr. Tomlinson was quoted as saying "While we hope the conference participants enjoyed their stay at the luxurious resort, we, therefore, question their commitment to the populations they purport to serve," yet when they practice the same purposeful exclusions to the lgbt community, influentials and dissenting voices some talk about it it is ignored as well, the groups have no moral authority to cry for inclusiveness when just look at how the organizations treated with the msm homeless matter as the latest glaring example, the same persons demonstrating here have pushed away the least amongst us as they are an impediment to the superstar staus quo that must be maintained, have a read of the piece below and decide for yourselves.

WESTERN BUREAU:

Lamenting the absence of Jamaican men who have sex with men (MSM) from an international HIV/AIDS workshop that was on at the Hilton Rose Hall, Montego Bay, gays here staged a peaceful stand outside the gates of the resort last Wednesday.

Bearing placards which read "Homophobia breeds homelessness", "Homelessness breeds HIV & AIDS", and "Stop Homophobia", "Stop HIV & AIDS", the small group sought to draw attention to the plight of homeless Jamaican men who have sex with men and are vulnerable to HIV.

The men stood outside the Hilton Rose Hall, which was the site of the Caribbean HIV/AIDSRegional Training Network, Caribbean Cytometry & Analytical Society (CCAS), Centers for Disease Control Third Joint Meeting and Eighth CCAS HIV/AIDS Workshop.

The workshop was held under the banner, "Harmonising Quality Clinical Care and Laboratory Diagnostics on Behalf of Persons Most at Risk of HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean, however, international NGO, AIDS-Free World, and local partners from Jamaica AIDS Support for Life and the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians All-Sexuals and Gays were not invited to attend.

"No members of the Jamaican MSM community were invited to participate in this conference, despite the 2009 UNAIDS findings that the HIV prevalence rate among Jamaican MSM is 32 per cent against 1.6 per cent in the general population," lamented Maurice Tomlinson, legal adviser, Marginalised AIDS-Free World Group.

Tomlinson criticised the organisers, stating that the way they had gone about the workshop flew in the face of the internationally accepted principle requiring the Greater Involvement of Persons Living with HIV/AIDS in designing and implementing HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support interventions.

"While we hope the conference participants enjoyed their stay at the luxurious resort, we, therefore, question their commitment to the populations they purport to serve," said Tomlinson.

The event reportedly boasted a top-notch programme with internationally acclaimed speakers, yet claims that it remains relevant to the everyday practice of HIV/AIDS care providers in the Caribbean and beyond.

The meeting opened on August 21 and ended last Friday, August 26.

ENDS

The groups have NO ethical or moral authority let alone credibility to ask for inclusiveness this is just one big hypocrisy to get a shoe in to access funding as word has it that funds presently by the groups here are running low. This homeless issue needs addressing by the very group founded to deal with advocacy which is JFLAG as birthed from the parent NGO Jamaica AIDS Support for Life in 1998.

also see my commentary on the recent MSM civil disobedience and the cold response from the organizations in that protest above:

Other sides to the msm homeless saga part 2 

These persons have no shame, this is a dark week for our history, a disgrace indeed.

Many of the homeless men came from a party DVD going public as highlighted in this video report from 2009 when JFLAG kinda still meant something and even then the cracks were widening.

The hypocrisy continues as for overseas matters especially in Belize these same Jamaican advocates talk about bringing everyone to the table but locally they DO NOT practice what we preach.

from the debate in Belize on the Buggery Law:
Maurice Tomlinson, AIDS Free World
"This is about bringing everybody to the table, not leaving anybody out. Because when you exclude people, that is when you provide an opportunity for harm and hate and disease to spread. And these diseases don’t generally stay within the vulnerable groups."

Also what is also of  interest is the seeming competition with all kinds of agencies including governmental arms outside of the LGBT advocacy structure now jostling for creating programs for this group, all of a sudden homeless msms are now the next big thing to use as lightening rod for funding. This kind of opportunistic way or advocacy is just a disgrace.

Let us also put into perspective the 2007 MSM survey that suggested homelessness and HIV were closely related issues:

Another instance of the hypocrisy was when we unfortunately lost diva Charms who was found dead, the J released some press release at the time, go here for a post entitled "And The Machinery"  for more. A pilot housing project called the "Safe House Project" which was closed due to "bad behaviour" by the occupants led to the present major problems we now see with very little done by JFLAG to stop the implosion of the project hence leading to ostracism by the advocacy structure itself.

also see: MSM Homeless Issues from 2010 on this blog and The Quietus (safe house project closes)

and  Response to the Shelter issue from a concerned advocate

Think on these things people, listen to the audio commentary

Real Advocacy or Not (the audio) 

UPDATE September 23

Real Advocacy or Not Part 2 -  Transgender Influentials shafted 

Peace and tolerance

H

click the "Homeless MSM in Jamaica" tab immediately below for previous entries on the subject