First off here is an audio commentary on the issues
The Gleaner this time has taken the lead in this matter and using the same description towards the men as was used a year and a month ago by the Jamaica Observer on August 23/4 when Jamaica AIDS Support for Life was the agency doing the kicking out, this is following the third stand off at the Jamaica AIDS Support for Life Offices at 4 Upper Musgrave Avenue on September 21, 2012 for almost four hours that the police and the King Alarm security team had to be called in and the avenue was cordoned off at both ends after a shot was fired by the security team in the ground hence making the area a crime scene once a shot is fired.
This coming also on the backdrop of the September 6th discussion on CVM TV where JFLAG was noticeably absent from the mix on this important matter and barring any serious effort to address this long standing issue since 2007 when the initial explosion of the population.
here was my two cents on that at that time:
What is also disturbing is that the photo used on the website of the paper that had the faces of the persons blurred to protect their identity was now removed even though that photo has nothing to do with the story at hand as that was taken from the police raid at Club Heavens some time ago. Rowdy behaviour or bad behaviour just does not happen in a vacuum and while not excusing the men's attitude we must be cognizant that change will not happen overnight but who has the time to get their hands dirty with some real work for a change than just letter writing and over intellectualized meetings?
Here is the article from the GLEANER today
Uncontrollable gay men wreaking havoc on residents of New Kingston have been abandoned by the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-sexuals & Gays (J-FLAG) - the group that was formed to represent the homosexual community in Jamaica.
The revelation was made by a J-FLAG representative at a recent meeting in the New Kingston area.
The meeting was called by city officials concerned about the action of homosexuals behaving badly and selling sexual services on the streets of New Kingston.
During the meeting, which was closed to the media, Dane Lewis, a J-FLAG representative, dragged the unruly young gay men over the coals for not behaving themselves.
"We have tried to conduct a drop-in centre on a number of occasions, but we don't have the skills set and resources to deal with it. What we have decided is that we have to stop it ... because we don't have the staff capacity to manage it," said Lewis.
He explained that after three attempts at conducting a drop-in centre for the homeless gays, J-FLAG threw in the towel because it became unmanageable.
"We are on our knees," said one of the street gays as be begged J-FLAG to reconsider.
But Lewis was adamant.
"All you guys have done is traumatise the staff. We have to get security, not just for persons outside but for you guys."
According to Lewis, he has been forced to constantly reassure the staff that everything will be okay when the homeless gays come on to the property.
"We have decided that carrying out an intervention like that is not possible," added Lewis, who accused some of the men of coming to the J-FLAG compound and "violating the space".
One of the men, who seemed to be a leader in the group, argued that J-FLAG and Jamaica Aids Support (JAS) were not treating them the way they should.
Happy hand
"J-FLAG and JAS need to put out a more happy hand and love us like we are one happy family," he argued.
Among the city officials at the meeting was Kari Douglas, councillor for the Trafalgar division, who urged the young men to take responsibility for themselves.
She argued that while the State could offer some assistance to homeless persons, able-bodied individuals must take responsibility and ease the burden on the country's already strained social safety net.
The meeting was also attended by Julian Robinson, the member of parliament for the South East St Andrew constituency that includes New Kingston and its environs; Angela Brown-Burke, mayor of Kingston, and Commander Christopher Murdock, head of the New Kingston Police.
A representative of the JAS and a group of approximately 20 homeless gay men, many of whom appeared to be in their teens and early 20s, were also in the meeting.
It was pointed out that the young men were congregating and committing lewd acts on open lots across New Kingston.
For the most part, the gay men pressed home the need for skills training, food, clothing and shelter.
"The schooling is not going to be enough. We need meals and a drop-in centre. Some of them don't have clothes. Where are they gonna sleep and get food," asked a member of the homosexual group.
However, Brown-Burke scoffed at their demands, as she argued that they were lacking a sense of responsibility.
"Be careful because we don't want to think that there is a sense of obligation," said Brown-Burke who was supported by Robinson.
The MP charged that the raucous behaviour of the homosexuals, which includes fighting and flamboyance, in the neighbourhood had to be addressed.
"We have to tackle frontally the behavioural issue. Many people in Jamaica face similar challenges and don't behave in the same disruptive manner," said Robinson.
He added: "It is a police problem, it is a residential problem and it is a business problem."
Terrible behaviour
Murdock told the gathering that the group's behaviour in the open lot across from the Canadian High Commission was terrible.
He also mentioned that a male New Kingston resident was assaulted while walking to an automated banking machine.
"Each of these young men needs to take a hard look at themselves and see if they can behave in a civil manner," the policeman said.
By the end of the meeting, the group of gay men promised that the public will see a change in their behaviour.
"We trying to keep it at a level. No excitement and the boy dem not going to wear any more drag clothing. As I promised, you will see a little change," said a member of the group.
Uncontrollable gay men wreaking havoc on residents of New Kingston have been abandoned by the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-sexuals & Gays (J-FLAG) - the group that was formed to represent the homosexual community in Jamaica.
The revelation was made by a J-FLAG representative at a recent meeting in the New Kingston area.
The meeting was called by city officials concerned about the action of homosexuals behaving badly and selling sexual services on the streets of New Kingston.
During the meeting, which was closed to the media, Dane Lewis, a J-FLAG representative, dragged the unruly young gay men over the coals for not behaving themselves.
"We have tried to conduct a drop-in centre on a number of occasions, but we don't have the skills set and resources to deal with it. What we have decided is that we have to stop it ... because we don't have the staff capacity to manage it," said Lewis.
He explained that after three attempts at conducting a drop-in centre for the homeless gays, J-FLAG threw in the towel because it became unmanageable.
"We are on our knees," said one of the street gays as be begged J-FLAG to reconsider.
But Lewis was adamant.
"All you guys have done is traumatise the staff. We have to get security, not just for persons outside but for you guys."
According to Lewis, he has been forced to constantly reassure the staff that everything will be okay when the homeless gays come on to the property.
"We have decided that carrying out an intervention like that is not possible," added Lewis, who accused some of the men of coming to the J-FLAG compound and "violating the space".
One of the men, who seemed to be a leader in the group, argued that J-FLAG and Jamaica Aids Support (JAS) were not treating them the way they should.
Happy hand
"J-FLAG and JAS need to put out a more happy hand and love us like we are one happy family," he argued.
Among the city officials at the meeting was Kari Douglas, councillor for the Trafalgar division, who urged the young men to take responsibility for themselves.
She argued that while the State could offer some assistance to homeless persons, able-bodied individuals must take responsibility and ease the burden on the country's already strained social safety net.
The meeting was also attended by Julian Robinson, the member of parliament for the South East St Andrew constituency that includes New Kingston and its environs; Angela Brown-Burke, mayor of Kingston, and Commander Christopher Murdock, head of the New Kingston Police.
A representative of the JAS and a group of approximately 20 homeless gay men, many of whom appeared to be in their teens and early 20s, were also in the meeting.
It was pointed out that the young men were congregating and committing lewd acts on open lots across New Kingston.
For the most part, the gay men pressed home the need for skills training, food, clothing and shelter.
"The schooling is not going to be enough. We need meals and a drop-in centre. Some of them don't have clothes. Where are they gonna sleep and get food," asked a member of the homosexual group.
However, Brown-Burke scoffed at their demands, as she argued that they were lacking a sense of responsibility.
"Be careful because we don't want to think that there is a sense of obligation," said Brown-Burke who was supported by Robinson.
The MP charged that the raucous behaviour of the homosexuals, which includes fighting and flamboyance, in the neighbourhood had to be addressed.
"We have to tackle frontally the behavioural issue. Many people in Jamaica face similar challenges and don't behave in the same disruptive manner," said Robinson.
He added: "It is a police problem, it is a residential problem and it is a business problem."
Terrible behaviour
Murdock told the gathering that the group's behaviour in the open lot across from the Canadian High Commission was terrible.
He also mentioned that a male New Kingston resident was assaulted while walking to an automated banking machine.
"Each of these young men needs to take a hard look at themselves and see if they can behave in a civil manner," the policeman said.
By the end of the meeting, the group of gay men promised that the public will see a change in their behaviour.
"We trying to keep it at a level. No excitement and the boy dem not going to wear any more drag clothing. As I promised, you will see a little change," said a member of the group.
ENDS
Frankly speaking the Mayor or the others in attendance do not have any authority to dictate to or ask the men simply change their behaviour, they are not psychologists or behaviour change experts it is only JFLAG who has the responsibility to set up proper social interventions, the professionals required and support staff to deal with this issue when they know fully well that displacements and homelessness are consequences of homophobia especially in young adults yet no serious attempts were made to improve on the so called three attempts to have a drop in centre without the necessary psycho social support to engage the men over time in a sustained and clinical setting towards goals and obectives. This is a shame that the J seeks to use the very stigma and discrimination from the public to avoid responsibility here as far as I see it.
Clearly this is just an attempt to shed the real responsibility as outlined above even though they have announced some new shelter idea as to whether the older members of the populations will be engaged in any way is anybody's guess.
More to come on this as I have been doing some rounds and carefully examining points of view on this since the story broke, I am not going to simply take the word of the Gleaner or JFLAG as previous experiences have brought to bear, I am saddened that the lives of the men mean nothing to the agencies and more so just for meeting targets and making the men expendable for just incidents reports when they get into problems, one would have thought that the repetitive media attention would have made the need to solve this long standing problem tantamount to other things. All that this is to me at this juncture is payback for the standoff aforementioned in the introduction.
Long term engagement with the men in a controlled space is only solution to this, the longer we wait and pussyfoot is the more downhill things go and may very well cloud the very advocacy for the repealing of the buggery law that seems to be the bigger and all important prize than a few dutty battyman who are blocking that work when the men aren't ivy leaguers or middle class Jamaicans, is this elitism here or snobbery at work as well?
Let us not forget one of JFLAG's mantra:
" ...... holds the vision to move forward in a spirit of oneness, love, dignity and respect towards the establishment of a Jamaica, and world, devoid of prejudice, injustice, discrimination and oppression."
Long term engagement with the men in a controlled space is only solution to this, the longer we wait and pussyfoot is the more downhill things go and may very well cloud the very advocacy for the repealing of the buggery law that seems to be the bigger and all important prize than a few dutty battyman who are blocking that work when the men aren't ivy leaguers or middle class Jamaicans, is this elitism here or snobbery at work as well?
Let us not forget one of JFLAG's mantra:
" ...... holds the vision to move forward in a spirit of oneness, love, dignity and respect towards the establishment of a Jamaica, and world, devoid of prejudice, injustice, discrimination and oppression."
Where is the oneness, where is the dignity for the men and as for injustice?!!!!
Meanwhile a UK based site with links to local advocates has sought to report the matter in a different light, an expected damage control attempt?
CLICK:
Anti-gay hate forces closure of Jamaica gay homeless center Jamaica's only drop-in center for homeless LGBT youth was closed due to anti-gay sentiments by local authorities and media
A blatant lie as the comments on that page will bring to bear, this dishonest attempt to divert responsibility has not gone unnoticed.
Peace and tolerance
CLICK:
A blatant lie as the comments on that page will bring to bear, this dishonest attempt to divert responsibility has not gone unnoticed.
Peace and tolerance
H
click the "Homeless MSM in Jamaica" tab immediately below for previous entries on the subject
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