Displaced gay man arrested for sleeping in the Shoemaker Gully in New Kingston ........

So the aftermath of numerous displacements and subsequent ignoring of said issues for some time by state and none state actors has claimed another 'victim' if you will as more and newer cases go to the most visible spot for such populations and to think the legal systems find it as a joke when they are arrested by police and embarrassed before a judge when no serious answer (apart from the defunct Safe House Pilot project 2009) has yet to come.

The Shoemaker Gully in the days prior to the moving on of a younger displaced homeless LGBT group after the dubious closure of the Safe House Pilot under Jamaica AIDS Support.

Only a remote feeding program is the answer now as we saw in a previous post of a treat on the Easter weekend by some persons,admirable as that maybe it only seeks to serve the immediate needs what about the long term matters? then it is no wonder some of the men resort to criminal activities and are caught every now and again, yet those are kept hush by some when we know there is the toss up between public order and the welfare of the men that has stood out for so long screaming for attention.

Sad that the hopes of the least amongst us reside in the four corners of a styrofoam box it seems more so than serious responses to the long standing matter of displacements as a visible consequence of homo-negativity in Jamaica when agencies with clout I might add turn their noses at the same group but are quick to refer to them for crisis reporting purposes but no further, anyone remembers JFLAG's obfuscation last IDAHO day at their symposium on about all things homlessness? also see the post on that matter HERE that today has me and some others so bewildered by such a bizarre decision.

Also we must not forget the pretentiousness of some clergy who are so late in the day with regards to the poor and meek, see more HERE, where were they all this time when LGBT persons were being abused and only seek to use the men in photo-ops? The question in the cartoon by Clovis of the Jamaica Observer asks if the pastor can offer shelter in his church?

Now to the present issue at hand:

There was laughter in the court last week according to a newspaper (hard copy) report when a man who was arrested for sleeping in a gully in New Kingston denied living in the gully, but claimed that he visits his friends there occasionally.

"I live on Fourth Street in downtown Kingston," the accused, David Bryce, told the court when RM Pusey asked him his address.

"So you don't live there?" Pusey said, referring to the gully which is often used as home by gay men and drug abusers.

"I pass by there sometimes," he said, amidst laughter from the court.

Bryce was brought before the court for breaching the National Solid Waste Management Authority Act, after he was reportedly caught in the gully, on Dumphries Road, with a quantity of clothing and a makeshift bed.

But Bryce denied having any clothing or makeshift bed inthe gully.

"What you have around there?" Pusey asked him.

"I have my friends around there," he replied.

In the end, a trial date was set for May 20 and Bryce's bail was extended. Also the Steve Harvey matter is scheduled for the day before that, meanwhile another non homophobic killing made its way to the chambers as two brothers accused of murdering a St Andrew businessman are to know on May 27 whether they will be granted bail in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court.

Defence attorney Glen Cruickshank is to make a bail application on behalf of Voldon and Roshawn Ricketts, who have been accused of conspiring with an alleged homosexual man to rob and kill the businessman last December.

The brothers are charged along with 20-year-old Tivon Wallace of Barbican, St Andrew, for the stabbing death of 42-year-old businessman Orell Henry of Pleasant Valley in St Andrew.

Henry's body was found with multiple stab wounds on December 14 at his home. Several items, including his Chevrolet Avalanche and a licensed firearm, were reportedly missing from his house. However, the truck was later found abandoned in Stony Hill, St Andrew.

The police alleged that Henry was last seen in the company of Wallace, who was a frequent visitor at the home.

It is further alleged that Wallace and another man, later identified as Voldon, were seen speeding away from the premises in Henry's Chevrolet Avalanche shortly before Henry's body was found.

It is also alleged that on December 14 at about 8:05 pm, Wallace used Henry's phone to call Henry's brother, who was also living at the premises, and told him, "Mr Orell seh yuh must not come home early 'cause we a go out."

Henry's brother reportedly got suspicious and, after attempts to call his brother and to get back in touch with Wallace failed, went to the house and stumbled on the gruesome scene.

Following the murder, Wallace reportedly fled to Big Bridge District in Westmoreland, where he was arrested on January 17, while the brothers were held after the police analysed phone evidence.

On Monday when the accused men appeared in court, Cruickshank asked that the matter be rescheduled for a bail application.

Wallace, however, told the court that he did not have a lawyer and Senior Magistrate Judith Pusey asked that he be assigned a legal aid lawyer.

The accused men, who are all facing charges of murder and conspiracy to murder, were remanded.

follow the homeless matters by clicking the Homeless MSM Tab immediately below for previous entries since 2009.

Here is a video from the recently concluded carnival march where some of the homeless and displaced LGBT youth enjoyed themselves despite the issues:

Peace and tolerance

UPDATE May 9 2014

New Efforts To Halt Spread Of HIV Among Gay Jamaica Men from sister blog GLBTQ Jamaica.

H