Gay man stoned out of temporary shelter ......

A twenty three year old gay man is the latest in a series of incidents involving homo-negative actions by members of the public towards gay men since the commencement of this year that has found himself out of a roof over his head. The man who was staying at the home of a friend in the Kingston 3 area on the previously unoccupied side of the building had not been occupying the space for a month when he had become the victim of persistent profiling by neighbours and verbal spats with one particular male who reportedly made it a point of duty to sit on his porch and literally stake out the now doubly displaced man. The 23 year old had just relocated from another parish on a job search and was allowed lodging at the permission of the owner of the home who happened to be out of town on business.

The man reported that about two weeks into his stay he had a friend over on a weekend as they attended a party together however both men returned early the following morning and it was at that time the prying man next door made several snide remarks audibly enough for both men and the other tenants on his side to hear, things started going downhill from that time to the stoning incident incited by the man with the assistance of two other women and children who were laughing at the whole ordeal. Saturday February 2nd around 10am was where the final showdown would take place as the young man had completed laundry and household chores before heading to the neighbourhood shop to purchase a few items to prepare breakfast apparently. The man said he noticed the yard next door (as he used the side entrance) was unusually still with very little movement but he went about his business none the less not expecting any untoward happenings.

Then a female’s voice was heard laughing and making remarks to the effect that men are not supposed to wash and cook and clean, implying of course some gender role constructs were out of sync with the man; the woman continued to suggest that battyman cannot stay in the area and other homo-negative remarks, by this time the man was becoming somewhat concerned as he was wondering if the remarks were directed at him seeing no one else was in the vicinity. The woman soon cleared any doubt as to who she was directing her comments at when she announced that it was he she was referring to and proceeded to raise her volume and fervency of her voice enough to cause a small audience to gather in the yard and by the adjoining fence. The young man in response took her on and asked her why was she so hostile (in colourful parlance of course) and an argument ensued. It was some hours later however that the chief protagonist of all this arrived and obviously was reported to as to what transpired earlier between the young man and the woman who in the end turned out to be the common law partner of the man. He arrived at the fence as the young man retrieved his laundry from the line and was boisterous consistently making threats to the young man and suggesting that gay men should be beaten and must find other orifices as it were for sexual pleasure and penetration (not in such kind words). The argument got louder and by this time the aggressor was joined by other men who lived on the adjacent street, by this time the young man though slightly nervous according to his account was defiant none the less in a bid not to show fear but planning his escape in case things should get dicey.

And dicey it did get, as he made his way inside the house to notify the owner of the property who had given him permission to stay there the first of several stones landed in the yard; the owner was also being accused of harbouring “battyman” and that they the neighbours wanted no “battyboi” in their neighbourhood. The other more younger men were more vociferous in their condemnation and even suggested the proverbial death call for faggots. While on the phone with the owner of the home the frequency of stones landing in the yard and on the roof increased and by this time the owner was fuming on the other line as he was said to have heard the stones making contact. The young man followed the instructions that were outlined to him as the mob became angrier by the second at the fence but due to its height they could not scale it so easily.

The man quickly closed the side door as per instruction and made his way to another exit where the owner had apparently left a grilled gate partially closed; the man made good his escape with his belongings all this while stones and anti gay verbiage came raining at the side entrance (now closed) laughter also came intermittently as they thought the man had locked himself inside; one female voice amidst chuckling was heard saying that he better call police as police these days are protecting battyman, “mek dem come save yuh...” (let them come and save you) and words to that effect were used. The man left the home at the front entrance which by this time was cleared as the curiosity seekers were at the side entrance and home of the instigator of all this. The young man made his way to a friend somewhat terrified as to what missed him; he said he has always heard of attacks happening to other gay and bisexual men but it was the first time this had happened to him. It was only February 6th another incident took place at Birdsucker Lane which I carried on this blog and another similar incident having projectile hurling as a feature occurred in September 2013.

Since this latest incident the owner had returned and the police were indeed called; no charges were pursued however and no damage report was ascertained as at the preparation of this post, it is said however that there is a tense calm between the owner and the neighbours now and that the instigator every now and again makes snide remarks to other persons residing in the area.

Two same gender loving women friends also found themselves having to relocate from Independence City since the start of this year as they came into some challenges with men on their avenue as they did not approve of the women co-habiting with each other; so much so that the landlord for the rented flat was complained to repeatedly that they were having sex loudly which turned out to be a lie. Independence City and indeed Portmore has featured in many incidents over the years despite it being a suburban area on the island and fast growing middle class and middle to higher income bracket persons residing. Greater Portmore also has had its share of skirmishes for a long time now with the last one I am aware of occurring in September of last year. So it seems the year has just commenced and already there are signs of trouble for some same gender loving persons around even in more “respectable” communities where one would least expect this kind of trouble seeing how stratified a society we are.

While more persons are added to the displaced roll we see our New Kingston counterparts still literally in the trenches while an announced Dwayne’s House shelter idea is yet to garner enough funds to get off the ground neither have we seen how much money has been collected in aid of the men; some of the men have moved to other open lots in more upscale neighbourhoods which is cause for concern once again as we have the historical timeline of what took place in the Golden Triangle and Barbican to refer to; what about the other populations elsewhere who are also struggling? Thankfully this case ended the way it did and he can recoup somewhat.

also see: Jamaican Gay Hookers Popular Online

Peace and tolerance

H