Homeless MSM make news again ....... for all the wrong reasons

The last time we heard of the men in New Kingston was via both television stations in December 2012 and the embarrassment in the eyes of some the men bring towards the community, the crisis communication as well by the gay lobby namely JFLAG has also been brought into question once again in the latest story as presented on CVM TV and published in today's Gleaner as the main headline:

December 21, 2012 I also shared with you on GLBTQJA Wordpress the anxiety from sections of the homeless community regarding the promised homeless shelter from JFLAG: 

Homeless impatient with agencies over slow progress of promised shelter

The latest issue has been building from just after the last main coverage as mentioned in the introduction and internal conflicts between the men along with the weird group dynamics add insult to injury meanwhile the public's patience is running out with the men and also the female commercial sex workers on Ripon Road as recent radio talk show commentary is proving, callers especially persons identifying themselves as residents nearing the areas where the groups congregate are up in arms and are asking for some sort of loitering law to control the flow of persons such as the MSM.

Meanwhile the St Catherine population has been getting some assistance from an interfaith group who hosted a treat in the last holiday season. Please see HERE for more.

Here is the story from the Gleaner today:

Gays Wreak Havoc - Cops Say Homosexuals Too Much To Handle In South East St Andrew

Gary Spaulding, Senior Gleaner Writer

Police personnel assigned to the St Andrew Central Division are admitting they are at their wits' end in their bid to apprehend members of an ever-increasing group of self-proclaimed homosexuals who are allegedly wreaking havoc in the Golden Triangle and New Kingston communities of South East St Andrew.

Senior superintendent in charge of the St Andrew Central Police Division, Fitz Bailey, told The Gleaner that neither the residential community nor the business district has been spared the "wrath" of some of these individuals.The Gleaner was called to a section of the community on Wednesday night where the situation exploded.

When contacted, Bailey confirmed that "there was an incident there".

He said during a dispute, one of the men in the group was doused with a flammable substance and set on fire as he slept.Bailey told The Gleaner that others in the group became enraged and, in a semi-naked state, blocked and set fire to a section of Lady Musgrave Road.
The residential district of the Golden Triangle is bordered by Hope, Old Hope and Lady Musgrave roads.

Action must be taken

An onlooker who said she had millions invested in the area declared that action must be taken against the group.

"Me nah run way ... . The police are not sure how to detain them (homosexuals) when they are in breach of the law," the woman complained.

Bailey admitted that the police face a "major challenge" in dealing with some members of the group.

"They have six lawyers who are at their beck and call, so they are up in your face with their antics and the minute they are apprehended, one of the lawyers appears," he said.

Bailey said four of the homosexuals were killed in violent incidents within their group in 2012.

"They are nuisances to both the business community and residents. They chase away customers of (a nearby) bank and have vandalised Digicel's (New Kingston) building to the tune of $1.4 million," he asserted.

Public relations manager of Digicel, Jacqueline Burrell-Clarke, said the sexual orientation of perpetrators of incidents who are reported to the police by the company for investigation are not known to the company.

The proprietor of another major business establishment has added massive chains, as well as two security guards, after "evicting" the group from his premises on Retreat Avenue which is located between nearby Seymour Avenue and Old Hope Road.

Bailey told The Gleaner that the situation was getting out of control as the face-offs between the police and the mostly young men are increasing with frightening rapidity, a major dilemma for law enforcement.

Julian Robinson, the member of parliament for the constituency, to whom desperate residents have turned for assistance, said repeated interventions have failed to yield the desired results. Robinson has for several months been speaking out about the issue in various sections of the media.Bailey said his team was also challenged with finding safe places for the "up-in-your face" antics of the offenders that render arrests particularly difficult.
The police officer was hesitant to speak bluntly, saying he was aware of the likelihood of unfounded backlash from the media as well as the gay community.

"Everybody is afraid to talk and when we do anything, we are told that we are being homophobic," he lamented.

He complained that he and his team have, in the past, been accused of expressing anti-gay sentiments. He characterised these attacks as constant obstacles in the attempts of the police to bring order to the community.

"When we take action, we are attacked," he said. "Many are really underage street boys who should not be placed in lock-ups with individuals," he said.

Severe challenges

To compound the problem, Bailey said his ground officers were pulling their hair out in exasperation as each day they are confronted with severe challenges in finding safe places in lock-ups or jails to place errant homosexuals.

"I am being called there every single day as they have become increasingly outrageous, damaging everything in sight," Bailey said. "It is a real challenge apprehending them as we cannot willy-nilly place them in lock-ups in which they are likely to be harmed."

Added Bailey: "It is our duty to ensure that they are protected in our care, but the reality is that they face real danger when they are in lock-ups so, admittedly, this is a major challenge for us."

Robinson said the group comprises between 40 and 50 persons.

"Within the group is a small minority who are engaged in criminal activities including break-ins and larceny," said Robinson. "The main challenge that confronts us is identifying a location that is suitable and appropriate to house them as many are homeless."

Robinson told The Gleaner that some members of the group require counselling and other forms of intervention because they are from backgrounds where they have suffered abuse and, as such, have developed antisocial tendencies.

"Some of the young men are below the age of consent and are engaged in prostitution and other sexual activities that require the interventions of the Child Development Agency and the children's advocate," said Robinson.

gary.spaulding@gleanerjm.com 

ENDS

Radio has been burning up since as I hinted to above with commentary mostly negative on the side of the men coupled with the challenge to the crisis communication over the years that gay killings are internally caused, here is Joan Williams host of Power 106FM's "Justice" program challenging the homophobic incidents over the years:

What also came to light was a meeting held on January 16th where Jamaicans for Justice, Families Against State Terrorism, the Member of parliament, the police and other stakeholders where the issue was discussed, here is Suzanne Goffe from the Jamaicans for Justice on the matter:

Pity we had to learn of this meeting via Miss Goffe on radio rather than the agency responsible did not see it fit to handle this issue properly in the public domain, the crisis communication yet again is poor in regards to this section of the population. How many more public spectacles like this are we to see before the proper response comes into effect with the necessary psycho-social responses NOT HIV peer educator training passed as rehabilitation work?

Please see the Homeless MSM in Jamaica tab directly below this post for the previous entries and some history on this section of the community.

also see a post from blogger Annie Paul: “…the creation of our collective homophobia?”

A full podcast to come as I am at a workshop series and time is limited. See what you make of this all, the poor program initiatives for this section of the community is what we are seeing here I feel, reaping the worldwind if you will. 

On The Ground News Report, OGNR reported:

"An unidentified man who is of a different sexual orientation was set on fire during an attack by another man at an open in the Lady Musgrave area on Wednesday night.It is understood that following a dispute among a group of homosexuals, one of the men poured a flammable agent on a man that was sleeping in an open lot and set him on fire.

The injured man was then dumped in a gully, before the police came to his rescue and rushed him to hospital. The injured man has been admitted, however his condition is unknown.During an interview with CVM TV News one of the men chastised local gay rights group JFLAG for not being of any assistance to them."

Here is the CVM TV report

Updates as promised

JFLAG has put out a press release as expected where they claim not to be condoning the bad behaviour go HERE 

The Jamaica Observer for the second time in recent history has publuished the matter of "Rowdy Gays" the last such story they ran was in 2011 as well 

2013: Rowdy gays upset J-FLAG

2011: Rowdy gays banned by J-FLAG, JSL

Frankly speaking the interventions that JFLAG claimed to have done are in no way life changing or leading to any serious personality development or else we would not have had the continued spectacles appearing on the media landscape, using peer educator training which is for HIV prevention and hoping it can pass as a rehabilitation tool is poor and dishonest on their part when they try to cover up their incompetence with regards to the welfare and social justice issues. Think it not strange that JFLAG is in permanent defense mode regarding this business of homelessness and the particular New Kingston populations, the outside groups in other parishes has not even factored as yet.

CVM TV carried aspects of their press release

meanwhile more audio commentary and weigh-ins, Christopher Daley host on The Ends on Nationwide had a lot to say on the issue:

also here is my edited podcast on the issue from blogtalk radio:

So we continue to reap the world-wind from an egregious error by the powers that be in advocacy not to address homelessness despite the warning signs from 4 years ago, where is the vision or concern for the least amongst us? The supposed high road being taken by JFLAG may have some merit but to block out or gloss over their failure to address this longstanding issue in the community. The feeding program they presently have seem also not to have any attached stabilization interventions.

More updates 30/0113

An article appeared in The gleaner with another human rights activist Carla Gullota of Amnesty Jamaica saying the men should be arrested if they break the law, fine, but the issue is much bigger than that, see the article here: 

'Arrest Errant Gays' - Human-Rights Advocate Says Homosexuals Who Run Afoul Of The Law Should Face Its Full Brunt

UPDATE 05/02/13

The police has since been stepping up their campaign on ridding New Kingston of the the men who have been described as a nuisance by some of the residents by the apartments nearing Lady Musgrave Road, some personal effects and old items were cleared with the local authorities assisting. The injured man who was allegedly set on fire is still in hospital and the issue came up for mention on January 31st during JFLAG's Symposium on Identity and Activism which was held at the University of The West Indies which I attended and which was a healthy exercise for the most part.

UPDATE MARCH 8

Clovis cartoon:

Peace and tolerance

H

Life is a journey ..................

Something to think about as we go into 2013 ............

“Life is a journey, not a destination,” as the old adage goes. It is a series of events or mini-destinations, if you will, each with a lesson to learn. If the lesson is learned and we use it to move forward and grow, then we reach a new plateau upon which to begin to work toward the next stopping point in our lives.

Unfortunately many people remain at a particular mini-destination, get comfortable, and stop growing. It is at this point when life stops being a journey, and tends to be one void of learning and experiencing new things, and using the knowledge gained to become the person we were meant to be. The focus is not on what can be but is grounded in what is. The vision of what is important in our lives becomes obscured thus causing us to meander about indefinitely on a sterile plane of existence, and not focusing on what needs to be done to move forward with our lives.

Life can beat us down, and draw us away from what we truly desire, and many times, we begin to think we don’t deserve the things we dream of, and hope for, and settle for a lesser quality of life. We tend to make excuses for why things are the way they are and place blame on events that we have no control over. We resign ourselves to lives of quiet desperation. We surrender our ability to control our destinies based on external events that, in reality, are placed before us to work through and overcome. Life is designed to strengthen our resolve and commitment to change the circumstances to which many times we helplessly resign ourselves.

What are your challenges? What is it that is holding you back or making you believe that you cannot reach the next plateau of your life? Are you allowing your challenges to dictate your actions or inaction? Are they clouding your ability to objectively analyze the situation and consider options for moving forward? Are you listening to others and making their doubts and insecurities your reasons for not doing something you should to change a particular situation in your life?

Life is a series of choices. Each choice we make has a consequence. Instilled in us all is an ability to choose and decide what we will or will not do with our lives. The simple fact of the matter is that we control our lives; no one else will make our decisions for us or tell us what is right or wrong. We make decisions every day that will impact our lives the next day, next month or for years to come.

The good thing is that tomorrow is always a new day and with individual resolve, or a situation that forces us to change our ways, decisions can be made which will change the course of one’s destiny.

I could have decided to stay in my dank, musty closet; remaining hidden, and living a life that was not mine and thus silencing the life that I was supposed to lead. Do not delude yourselves into thinking your life does not matter; that you do not touch other people’s lives in ways that are not visible or known to us. If we do not grow into the people we are meant to be, there are lives that will go untouched and unaffected by the music or books we write, the words of comfort that we give based on empathy with situations we have lived through, or just maturing with the wisdom we gain by just living our lives and working toward changing them and overcoming those aspects of our lives which we are not happy with or that need improvement.

Do not arrive at the end of your life regretting not making the decisions you needed to make. Life is a journey! Make the best of it. Make it as fulfilling and meaningful as you can. Sometimes decisions need to be made that may seem irrational and crazy to some people observing from a distance. Some decisions may seem frightening and outside of one’s comfort zone, but personal greatness is derived from stepping and thinking outside the box. Sometimes we need to create a whole new box. Do whatever it takes to make you turn the corner of your life and decide to move to the next plateau. Do it with disregard of what people may think, or what they may say. They are not in control of your destiny… YOU ARE!

Life is a journey, not a destination.

Gay Agenda 

Landmark Strasbourg ruling: Religious beliefs are no reason to oppose rights of same-sex couples

The European Court of Human Rights on January 15, 2013 ruled that religious beliefs may not justify opposing the rights of same-sex couples. British laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation were upheld.

 

The Strasbourg court examined four cases brought by Christians, including two who argued their beliefs allowed them to refuse a service to same-sex couples.

In the first case, Lillian Ladele was a civil registrar in London. She was dismissed because she refused officiating at civil partnership ceremonies for same-sex couples after it became legal in 2005. She claimed she was discriminated because of her faith.

The Court ruled there had been no discrimination, and that British courts—who upheld her dismissal—had struck the right balance between her right to freedom of religion, and same-sex couples’ right not to be discriminated.

In the second case, Gary McFarlane was a counselor providing psycho-sexual therapy to couples. He was dismissed for refusing to work with same-sex couples, arguing this was incompatible with his beliefs. The Court ruled unanimously that there had been no violation of his right to freedom of belief.

Commenting this landmark ruling, Sophie in ‘t Veld MEP, Vice-President of the European Parliament’s LGBT Intergroup, said: “With this ruling, the court has established that freedom of religion is an individual right. 

It is emphatically not a collective right to discriminate against LGBT people, women, or people of another faith or life stance.”

“Religious freedom is no ground for exemption from the law. The court showed conclusively that the principle of equality and equal treatment cannot be circumvented with a simple reference to religion.”

Michael Cashman MEP, Co-President of the LGBT Intergroup, added: “British law rightly protect LGBT people from discrimination, and there is no exemption for religious believers. Religion and belief are deeply private and personal, and should never be used to diminish the rights of others.”

The ruling may be appealed within three months.

Read more:

Read the Court’s official blog post

Read the Court’s press release (PDF)

Read the Court’s full ruling (PDF)

Image credits: Flickr/Marcella Bona

Local church denounces gay lifestyle .............

Dr Stead Williams (left), board member of the Christian Brethren Assemblies - Jamaica speaking at a press conference hosted by the church at its offices at Hagley Park Plaza in Half-Way-Tree in St Andrew last week. Others from second left are Ruel Reid, Bertram Gayle and Daniel Thomas. (Photo: Bryan Cummings)

A relatively small Christian denomination in Jamaica has come out strongly against the practice of homosexual relationships here, and is petitioning Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller too keep the country's buggery laws.

The Christian Brethren Assemblies Jamaica (CBAJ) stated at a press conference last week that no person who admits to being a homosexual could hold a leadership position in the church.

Stating the CBAJ's view on homosexuality, board member Dr Stead Williams said all people struggle with moral failure and fall short of God's standards and need God's forgiveness.

"Homosexuality is but one of these struggles. CBAJ opposes the practice of homosexual acts on biblical, medical and social grounds," he said at the press conference hosted by the CBAJ at its offices in St Andrew.

Dr Williams also presented excerpts from an 89-page position paper detailing the reasons for CBAJ's stance.

Among the medical reasons supporting the church's position, the paper said "acting on homosexual attraction is voluntary, claims of genetic or environmental determinism do not relieve individuals or moral responsibility for their sexual behaviour".

The paper also said homosexual behaviour can be changed and that there was evidence that many persons have been able to abstain from homosexual acts.

However, the church said the Christian community must condemn hatred and violence against those involved in homosexual behaviour.

Said Dr Williams: "Christians should oppose legislative attempts to grant special rights based on sexual behaviour or to equate homosexual relationships with heterosexual marriages."

Meanwhile, Daniel Thomas, leader of the Love March Movement, said his group has been visiting churches across the island to have them sign the petition calling for the buggery law to be kept.

"The buggery law undergirds many social institutions; it undergirds marriage, it guides the media as to what can be shown on TV, it guides our youngsters in terms of education. If the buggery law is repealed now, in a couple of years we will have to teach our kindergarten students that John and Mark can get married, and we definitely oppose that," Thomas said.

The group has a deadline to present the petition to the prime minister at the end of February.

CBAJ Chief Executive Officer Carl Scharschmidt said the matter of homosexuality was being researched and discussed for some time now, and that the church decided that it was time to take a stand on the issue.

The statement comes against the background of the Anglican Church in the United Kingdom last week voting to allow gay men to be ordained as bishops, as long as they agree to remain celibate.

The Anglican Church in Jamaica has since said that it will not allow homosexuals to become leaders.

The CBAJ, which has been in Jamaica since 1922, represents 23,647 persons or 0.88 per cent of the population according to the 2011 Census.

Read more:http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Local-church-denounces-gay-lifestyle_13352204#ixzz2HxWwypTI


Meanwhile here is the newsclip I found on the issue, sadly the group conflates paedophilia with adult male homosexuality as if to suggest that repealing the buggery law without the necessary buffers and protections that already exist in terms of carnal abuse and so on with have paedophiles running rampant when homosexuality and peadophiles are not one in the same.

Obviously the conversations and engagements need to continue on these issues and the suggested buggery review by the Prime Minister in that leadership debate prior to the election in December 2011.

Meanwhile the Jamaica Observer's cartoonist Clovis decided to represent the issues including the suggested buggery review by Mrs Simpson Miller in the cartoon above, strangely it has been removed from the online version on the paper. The Jamaica Council of Churches as well is featured and rightfully so there I agree as they are hypocrites in the their own right they remain silent on many issues including the children in lock-ups matter and others.

They have been also said to be in the pocket of the ruling PNP hence their reticence in critiquing the administration. 

Peace and tolerance

H