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Following what has been described as a series of challenges by the management of a popular guest house in east Kingston that shall remain nameless deliberately for now frequented by gay men as well allegedly the management of the property has finally decided to rescind its tolerance of two or more males as guests sharing one room as an alleged fight between two males recently was the “final straw” with property and equipment damage running into thousands of dollars which has forced them to take such a drastic step. The facility has been very quaint and private for many years thought it necessary as the management had to contend with broken glass furniture, damaged television set, other crockery and even blood allegedly from one of the persons involved in the trouble earlier last month as witnessed by other persons as the disagreement spilled over into the parking lot of the facility interrupting the stay of other patrons in the process.
The police were also called according to sources who were also guests at the property and who were very upset that the very accommodating atmosphere has been disrupting and indeed lost due to the antics of some other gay patrons, the argument on the face of it may have stemmed from another young male visitor to the paid occupant whose presence upset the unexpected “friend” of the staying guest when things got out of control and it became a most public issue with the offended man resorting to destroying any item he could find apparently not realising that the said items being the subject of his rage were that of the guest house's ownership.
Sometimes I wonder if some young gay persons think before they act in rage not realising the consequences of their actions thus ending as in this case a longstanding open door policy for many years of two or more male guests occupying a double occupancy or even single occupancy room; a policy that has also been instituted over time by some other guest houses and larger four or five star hotels in some instances in a supposed bid to control homosexuals or outward displays of affection or signs that may spoil the ambience of the hotel/guest house. Some of these houses/hotels took years to arrive at such as conditionally tolerant policy or if there was some reprieve it came with strict caveats or even the risk of higher rates for stay than a guest who is perceived not to be gay or lesbian. Despite the intervention of staff/security (unarmed) who tried to quell the shouting match and physical confrontation between the two men and subsequently others who were either called or were already there taking respective sides things came to a head and an angry manager contacted the owner of the property by phone in earshot of the persons who had gathered including landscaping staff who also had disparaging homophobic remarks to boot as well.
This is not the time for bad news like this given the national uproar on the strength of the feelings of stifling freedom of speech by religious voices, a reduction of tolerance or accommodation of anything remotely linked to homosexuality on the strength of those feelings and an intolerant view of intolerance in as far as the gay community is concerned.
Other longstanding guests from the LGBTQ community over the years who had other friends staying at the property have been active in dialogue to try to revrt to the previous practice however with the management about rescinding the new policy on the strength of their own patronage over the years and have gone as far as offering a referral alternative for persons coming in as guests in order to maintain cordial relations with the guest house owners.
The police were also called according to sources who were also guests at the property and who were very upset that the very accommodating atmosphere has been disrupting and indeed lost due to the antics of some other gay patrons, the argument on the face of it may have stemmed from another young male visitor to the paid occupant whose presence upset the unexpected “friend” of the staying guest when things got out of control and it became a most public issue with the offended man resorting to destroying any item he could find apparently not realising that the said items being the subject of his rage were that of the guest house's ownership.
Sometimes I wonder if some young gay persons think before they act in rage not realising the consequences of their actions thus ending as in this case a longstanding open door policy for many years of two or more male guests occupying a double occupancy or even single occupancy room; a policy that has also been instituted over time by some other guest houses and larger four or five star hotels in some instances in a supposed bid to control homosexuals or outward displays of affection or signs that may spoil the ambience of the hotel/guest house. Some of these houses/hotels took years to arrive at such as conditionally tolerant policy or if there was some reprieve it came with strict caveats or even the risk of higher rates for stay than a guest who is perceived not to be gay or lesbian. Despite the intervention of staff/security (unarmed) who tried to quell the shouting match and physical confrontation between the two men and subsequently others who were either called or were already there taking respective sides things came to a head and an angry manager contacted the owner of the property by phone in earshot of the persons who had gathered including landscaping staff who also had disparaging homophobic remarks to boot as well.
This is not the time for bad news like this given the national uproar on the strength of the feelings of stifling freedom of speech by religious voices, a reduction of tolerance or accommodation of anything remotely linked to homosexuality on the strength of those feelings and an intolerant view of intolerance in as far as the gay community is concerned.
Other longstanding guests from the LGBTQ community over the years who had other friends staying at the property have been active in dialogue to try to revrt to the previous practice however with the management about rescinding the new policy on the strength of their own patronage over the years and have gone as far as offering a referral alternative for persons coming in as guests in order to maintain cordial relations with the guest house owners.
The property is tucked away from prying eyes of the public and has excellent facilities at reasonable rates with an almost open door policy in as far as certain slights such as holding hands and cross dressers openly darting in and out of the property or by the pool, there have even been small parties/lymes held there as well of which I have performed disc jock duties as well alongside memorials for members of the community who have passed on. Meetings have also been held on property by NGOs, groups and party promoters as well as the surroundings are ripe for privacy with an electronic gate and armed remote response security included in some packages for persons who can afford same.
We must understand that we cannot loose our foothold on certain tolerances due to our own behaviours for too long there have been repeated shootings in the foot of our own comfort due to simple and unnecessary infractions as done by us leading to major community repercussions sometimes beyond repair; now is definitely not the time for this as we do not need more dark occurrences to tarnish the greater reputation (if there is any left to salvage as the Bain train rolls on) as so many other issues have almost wiped out the credibility quotient that is needed in the struggle case in point a recent advocate naming and shaming in the student loan bureau ongoing delinquent borrowers with outstanding balances for many years, that recent naming of one of our younger overseas based voices has left a rift of sorts in the following on some sections of social media, the revelation which included a scanned photo of the individual as well from the print edition of the respective newspaper it was printed has been widely shared on Facebook prompting many negative comments from not only anti gay voices but also gay persons as well as some embarrassment seems to have come forth from all this.
We have to be cognisant of the fact that whatever perceived wrong that the gay community seems to have done can, will and in the latter example has been used to denigrate the greater imperative of the struggle for rights and recognition and other persons innocently so.
We must understand that we cannot loose our foothold on certain tolerances due to our own behaviours for too long there have been repeated shootings in the foot of our own comfort due to simple and unnecessary infractions as done by us leading to major community repercussions sometimes beyond repair; now is definitely not the time for this as we do not need more dark occurrences to tarnish the greater reputation (if there is any left to salvage as the Bain train rolls on) as so many other issues have almost wiped out the credibility quotient that is needed in the struggle case in point a recent advocate naming and shaming in the student loan bureau ongoing delinquent borrowers with outstanding balances for many years, that recent naming of one of our younger overseas based voices has left a rift of sorts in the following on some sections of social media, the revelation which included a scanned photo of the individual as well from the print edition of the respective newspaper it was printed has been widely shared on Facebook prompting many negative comments from not only anti gay voices but also gay persons as well as some embarrassment seems to have come forth from all this.
We have to be cognisant of the fact that whatever perceived wrong that the gay community seems to have done can, will and in the latter example has been used to denigrate the greater imperative of the struggle for rights and recognition and other persons innocently so.
Other hotel related matters:
THE WYNDHAM (FORMERLY HILTON) & THE ISSUES OF HOMOPHOBIA 2010
Hope the management of the facility reconsiders as gentle persuasion is being brought to bear, failing which some regular community guests are prepared to forego business with them and as the bottom line is essential these days I hope a compromise is reached.
Peace and tolerance
H
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