So we have come to the shrubbery maze yet again and again we have been duped with the previously successful gay marriage refusal claim tied into law reform for the old 1532 buggery law in a universal periodical review but of course the now governing PNP has done it before with much success why therefore should we believe that any changes both in the real underlined stance should come forth even after perceived promises of a conscience vote or hints of decriminalization of the act. Maybe someone needs to tell our foreign allies not to mention gay marriage as that has become yet again the fly in the ointment, we are at different cultural spheres certainly we have not moved fully from the Boom Bye Bye stage or the current paranoiac religious zealot. So now talk of foreign impositions and bullying are back again.
I have concluded that Justice Minister Mark Golding photoed above was putting on a show at the UN with this: Gov't Makes International Commitment To Reduce Violence Against Women, Gays
I guess the joint select committee of parliament looking presently at the sexual offences bill regular four year review starting in 2014 is not going have any changes in as far as the buggery act is concerned or the missing rape element for same sex practising adults be included in the expected amendments and where is consent in all of this? After all the justification has been laid out for them by the Minister’s pronouncements; we can throw all that through the window but when oh when will we learn, this is like madness we keep repeating the same strategy and end up with sh**t on our faces.
Justice Minister Mark Golding though in last year said he thinks the law needs reform but in a new radio interview said earlier today that the law won’t change and that gay marriage rights will not be granted, but when did anyone ask for such rights when we can’t even get passed basic respect, true tolerance from all sides and understanding of the law and cultures? Minister Golding was updating the Senate on his meeting in Geneva Switzerland recently where the four year universal review on human rights was held. There are some optional protocols that we have not signed to yet such as the ones for disability and rights of the child (individual petition) although we already are signed with the other one that deals with pornography etc the minister said we may sign on the disability protocol after some internal review. He said there is an overlap between the interamerican commission. This maybe problematic for the administration (not defending them) but the sexual offences regular four year review has carried over into this year commencing in 2014 and then the periodical review is this year bad timing and as I will explain below the image and trust problems the PNP is currently facing.
The anti gay penny section must be jumping with joy on this but after all Prime Minister Simpson Miller has obviously been using this present child’s month and the abhorrence of the shocking abuse of children to reclaim those hands to vote in both the local government and general elections, her grandstanding on various stages and promising strengthening the laws for sentencing much to the delight of the Betty Ann Blaines and so on; of course the short sightedness is overlooked and the emotionalism takes precedence as we have laws already with long sentences but as usual not enforced. Band aid approaches as per usual; then again how can the state prosecute what it cannot catch?
How can one address sexual abuse of children by only incarceration of the accused when found guilty without also dealing with the deviant via multiple approaches such a psychiatric engagement or pharmacological interventions where necessary, yes the incarceration period may remove the perpetrator from access to new and existing victims but if that mind is not engaged towards behaviour change then incarceration is only a delay or incubator for him or her to return with resolve and revenge to abuse more potential victims by carefully scoping them out.
also see this CVM TV discussion if you can stomach it right through with gay marriage being parachuted in to distort the discussion:
or click HERE for CVM TV's page
Critical thinking anyone?
The PNP is not looking good nationally as support is slowly dripping away by the hardcore base and the LGBT block (not sure how much are registered voters) due to the disappointment of a perceived promise, the poor leadership skills of Mrs Miller, lack of proper communication on relevant issues, perceived interest of propping up party faithful more than the country’s interest, over emphasis on passing IMF tests more than growing the economy while the uncommitted and disillusioned voters continue to stay away from participatory government, let us not forget they are indeed a minority government. Case in point the comments made by some members of the public since the passport fees increase at such short notice is telling and the mobbing at the gates days ago is more than just about the increase, people are feeling the pinch and are venting. The systemic management lacks show up clearly and owing to the fact that the PICA agency will be removed from the benefit of the consolidated fund they have shown they may not be so ready for that separation with that level of management although history has brought to bear whenever passport fees go up there is a rush on the entity.
The perception of the party being a club for scarce benefits and spoils for the loyal is also still high on the minds of ordinary citizens; the nepotism allegations come to mind for a certain mayor from western Jamaica yet while no criminal charges have come forth as the Director of public prosecution, DPP hands are tied no disciplinary action seems forthcoming from the PNP’s committee on same, the accused mayor has basically said not in so many words she has the goods on others in the parish council supposedly contained in a diary she had kept all this time and so therefore implying if she goes down so will everybody else.
Then there are the Outameni bail out revelations and the use or misuse of National Housing Trust funds for to what! Assist another party supporter, the solid waste management fiasco with missing funds and no audits for some time, over 45 local government representatives hauled before the court for not filing tax returns with a slap on the wrist as the fines are laughable, the stop and start public sector wage negotiations where a measly 5% has been offered after patiently absorbing a five year wage freeze as their part for sacrifice but government under Portia still waste resources, spend foolishly with no proper planning or pro-activity. With the high unpopularity for the PNP they cannot at this time seem to capitulate to the gays one person said on a call in talk show today which in essence is true but is it about winning elections of doing the right thing?
Keep your eye also on that alleged mining discovery by the Russians as alerted to us by the Jamaica Environmental Trust, JET outside the boundaries on the protected Cockpit Country area by a public private bauxite coalition with government owning some 51%, this has not gone well with not only the environmentalists but also ordinary folks seem to be at one with this. The PNP Gen Sec and Water Minister said he is also concerned about the allegations today but one wonders if he is pretending not to know of the intended move seeing that the company as indicated is a joint effort for continued mining with a Russian group. True or not the perception is out there that the PNP is selling out vital parts of Jamaica (The Chinese and Roaring River/laughing waters lands now fenced off or the Rio Bueno watershed even as the deed(s) declares no such trade can be done) and the aforementioned for kick backs or other things such as debt cancellation or grant aid. State Minister Julian Robinson said it is not so however in an interview on RJR’s Beyond the Headlines with regards to the allegations of mining in the Cockpit Country. Where oh where is the Goat Islands issue now? (which is also a protected area) Out of site while quietly being put together I suppose, then some announcement after the deal is done.
The logistics hub so widely touted seems to be a piped dream and that supposed $5b investment or support from a dubious company supported by an exuberant Minster of Investment Anthony Hylton (he seems left to dry by the rest of ministers & cabinet) that has been found to be at best a shell not turning over just under $10,000 per annum at some back office operation has some business leaders and the parliamentary opposition up in arms. I have known for a long time that politicians are not prepared to expend political capital for something as explosive as this and the PNP also fears the one term curse which slapped the Jamaica Labour Party for the first time in our political history as normally voters give each side a two term run then switch them. Guess I might do a ‘Line in The Sand’ series for the PNP as I did with the JLP when they announced the elections for 2011 and the countdown looking at national issues relative to LGBT matters.
The present visit of the LGBT envoy Randy Berry from the US is only serving to stoke the fire even more as a mysterious press release has emerged under the letterhead of the Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship, Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society and the baby of the anti gay groups Lovemarch Movement over an assumed faux pas that the US embassy or consulate may have mis-communicated the real purpose of the envoy et al, the groups are now claiming that they visit is some sneaky way to try to impose ‘moral nihilism’ and ‘sexual anarchy’ in Jamaica; if it were a sneaky activity as was described why would there have been a statement on the state department website or radio interviews to such effect? Envoys visits are usually public as far as I know but ambassadorial engagements are more clandestine of course for purposes of secrecy and more direct and impactful relative to policy & grant aid etc but I would have thought these folks university students at that ought to understand basic diplomatic channels and how they operate.
Their Lovemarch YouTube page they have turned off the comments sections so there you go in as far as engagement with the public, speaks volumes about their scare tactic agenda and imperialism. Sadly as young university attendees mostly I would have thought they should have known the differences in the diplomatic levels of governments as the role of envoys is more a fact finding, information sharing with regards to foreign policy, message conveyance from the respective departments (near his pay grade) and some public awareness so this preying on the ignorance on the rest of the nation to intimidate the LGBT imperative is downright wrong and deceptive. It reminds me of 16th century England or Europe in the height of church corruption and the poor folks who firstly intimidated by the sheer power of the Catholic Church then the use of Latin to keep them in control then the fear-mongering of hell fire hence the ease of selling indulgences to unsuspecting individuals.
Modern day Pharisees & Sadducees eh? After all it was they who ended up killing Jesus while using the Roman system to give effect to it. May is child’s month and in the midst of the outcry for the alarming sexual abuse cases I did not see a demonstration so so much for cherry picking.
Ironically it is from those sequence of events under King Henry VIII during the protestant reformation period with the deceptive parliamentary acts of supremacy & act in restraint of appeals that created the breach between English monarchs and the papacy which led to the problematic buggery law in 1532, since the pope dealt with all things spiritual and moral his absence made the extension of state power attractive to lawmakers and the limp wristed parliament at the time. Its author and King Henry’s chief minister Thomas Cromwell was quite clear in his intent of the 16 sentenced original version as part of his campaign to expel the Catholics under the guise of addressing church corruption so he labelled the church centers of homosexuality in essence (the word homosexual[ity] came some 230+ years later) thus expediting the mass dissolution of the monasteries while forcing clergy, monks and priests to accept the new reformist agenda as espoused in the Church of England.
Those who opposed or hesitated were executed by hanging, drawing and quartering, horribly tortured or their reputations marred by this buggery charged on the public records, assets seized or forced into exile; so the buggery act was an intimidating device in the toolkit of other instruments theological ones included for specifically cementing the breach from the papacy all because King Henry wanted a divorce from his first wife to marry Ann Boleyn and to what end? cold hard cash and more power for all involved including Cromwell as he rose to become the second most powerful man under the monarch so England could strengthen its army to deal with looming French problem in the channel to the south nearing the isle of white as the monasteries that occupied 1/6th of the country were sold off to an emerging middle class thus securing King Henry’s stability on the throne while fattening his pockets.
The Justice Minister also spoke to the meeting with the US envoy on RJR’s Beyond the Headlines on May 22 where he said there was no imposition or prescriptive narratives used in the exchange and repealing the buggery law did not come up, he also mentioned the sexual offences act that is also being reviewed by a joint select committee. As far as the conscience vote is concerned he said he is not sure and no date has been set for it. I am not a big fan of conscience votes given the predicament the PNP is in politically they may just use it to sure up their fortunes and vote no to repealing the law.
I won’t even bother to try to understand that garbage from some of these people obviously these groups have been and continue to feed or draw on the ignorance of Jamaicans and they get away with it with fictitious statistics without naming the source document(s) and other manufactured theological explain-away. Radio has blown up since the news of the Minister’s pronouncements and social media comments abound, so the silly season starts again. Then again they learned from the best; remember God Hates Fags church in the US? The style is so similar.
Precedence set on buggery trials review
When will we learn and what about precedent set at least at the resident magistrate level in our court systems where the interpretation of the law assumes there is a “victim” hence cases that have a paedophile construct to them goes to full trial usually to the circuit courts but those with adults allegedly caught in a compromising position languish or drag on with arresting officers being subpoenaed for repeated absences or disinterest or sine die adjournment wherein a seven year period is left open for new evidence if found can be submitted at the resident magistrate level. For the most part from my observation sine die adjournments always time out and the matter dies as in my buggery case in November 1996 to July 1999. The difficulty however for accused in a timed out sine die adjournment the charge does not get expunged from your police record that easily and the creaking administration at the records office is another nightmare engaging it.
Outside of those two categories I chose reported cases of forced buggery usually go to the circuit courts in trials by jury for example dancehall DJ Zebra who got a 30 year sentence for raping and buggering the same female victim.
Then there is the question of the alarming numbers of rogue police officers attempting to shake down gay men allegedly caught in the act demanding ultra large sums of money in exchange for either releasing them at the time or hinting changes that can be made to reflect anal penetration took place by whatever means they have to the all important doctor’s report which is the chief evidentiary device for the prosecution. It seems the police are aware of the loopholes in the systems coupled with the fear of exposure and embarrassment by those accused so they pounce. The pending DNA bill also has been on my mind as it calls for compulsory collection of biological material from the accused among several other things but members of the private bar have expressed some concerns in relation to that especially on what is described as intimate samples collected by the requisite professional. Constitutional trespass has been mentioned as there must be consent sought of the accused or subject prior to the harvesting of any biological material prior to the commencement date involving the individual so in the case of making a buggery case (going from my own and a few other cases I am close to) the accused are taken to a doctor or designated centre the urethra, the anus outer in inner orifice, clothing maybe swabbed as well (showers are not usually permitted) and if a condom is present the outer and inner surfaces are swabbed. Usually most persons it seems including me when held by cops just went through the motions in ignorance seeing the exercise as mere procedural activity not realising that my consent was indeed required and if I refused then a court order may have to have been sought but the grounds of my refusal is also presented to the judge and should be noted on the case file. The avenue of collusion or the appearance of same still disturbs me as the four present court cases suggest meanwhile lead defence counsel Bert Samuels in a recent article explain why he was concerned about the pending DNA bill sited five cases of DNA manipulation and or strong evidence but planted false evidence led to injustices. He never however went as far as to include any buggery matters but I am sure they exist as an old Jamaica Observer story brought to bear which had a paedophile construct.
The doctor’s report or sections of it is also of concern to me as aforementioned in previous posts and at fora elsewhere, the ease at which ones doom can be sealed over a professional’s signature is real and due to the nature of male same gender non penetrative intimacy or foreplay the transposing of such biological materials namely spermatozoa cells from one party to another is easy but if said item is found near or around the anal orifice it may be concluded by the tester buggery took place; it appears to me that placement and not ownership of spermatozoa found in cases I have been close to is the main imperative hence persons while not committing the act when they were caught still end up with a buggery charge thrown at them. Bear in mind that spermatozoa is found along the urethra (penis head or opening) and fondling, partnered or self masturbation and transfer to bed linens (if it is such a venue) or clothing can also assist in the easy transposing of the matter via hands. It is unclear whether the spermatozoa found is retested to see who owns it as it may very well be that of the host on whose rectal area it was found. So much to ponder on this.
There was a small demonstration by Lovemarch just outside the Pegasus Hotel where the envoy is said to be having consultations. The hardened positions are here again, opposition in blind fury sadly but let us see where this all goes.
The old imperatives are still at work unfortunately despite what appears to be some tolerance (real or imagined):
The religious/biblical fundamentalist anti-homosexuality imperative tied with HIV is a gay disease narrative - The religious fundamentalist anti-homosexuality imperative has primacy within African-Jamaican popular culture, dramatically manifesting in both the religious and the musical popular. Duality is immediately evident in the medium called ‘street gospel’, a form of Christian dancehall (‘Street gospel’) Dr Wayne of the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society, JCHS and the baby group Lovemarch make sure we are reminded of that with references to old NY aids statistics which he cannot yet justify or provide the sources.
In this discourse, homosexuality is constituted straightforwardly as a sin in the eyes of God and therefore also in the view of self-perceived good and/or godly persons. It is agreed that omniscient Jehovah repeatedly declares homosexuality to be a sin in both the Old and New Testaments and that the Almighty would neither misrecognize nor misname a physical and/or emotional illness as a condition of sin. The idea that homosexuality is an illness (whether congenital or otherwise) represents the negative reading of the claim that lesbian and gay persons generally had their sexuality determined at birth, and did not therefore usually exercise unfettered choice. Its positive version holds that a certain proportion, a minority, of God’s human creatures are indeed born lesbian/gay and that their sexuality is to be seen as being as much God-ordained/created as that of the heterosexual majority. However, it also holds that homosexuality must still be repressed or at least treated. The moral and religious legitimacy of the fundamentalist ideological imperative is in danger of evaporating, leaving in its place nothing more sacred or spiritual than self-righteous and even blasphemous people irrationally wrapping their will to mistreat, murder even, and their fellow men in a cloak of very questionable godliness.
The ideological imperative of the unnaturalness of homosexuality and the naturalness of heterosexuality
The second, and closely related, primary imperative is that which broadly asserts that homosexuality is contrary to the sexuality nature has inscribed in the human, and for exclusively procreative purposes. Despite gay marriage rights granted worldwide and the personhood of LGBT people lifted we still have this opposition predicated on the reference of the correct use of the anus (lesbians do not get this that often) and the supposed abhorrence of anal sex or perceptions of what anal sex maybe like predicated on ‘mixing with faeces’ as one radio host outs it some days ago. Sexual orientation the bigger issue that needs discussion or sexuality is often totally ignored when this imperative is at work.
The protection of vulnerable youth imperative
The third ideological imperative functioning within popular homophobia/ heterosexism is that passionately directed towards the protection of vulnerable youth. Central to this is a concern that is almost entirely capacitated by the conflation of homosexuality and paedophilia. The foundational assumption of this imperative is that homosexuality, especially in its male form, involves a strongly predatory paedophile tendency which is put into practice against innocent and powerless young people at every opportunity as expertly done by the Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship and the aforementioned JCHS alongside child rights activists Betty Ann Blaine especially in this month which is seen as child’s month. With CISOCA’s announcement of the buggery figures for boys the emotional reactions from the aforementioned quarters is keep the buggery law so as to protect them. Sadly the emotional and ideological liberation from homophobia is yet to come for the masses led by equally ignorant and paranoiac religious voices yet they are not to strident on other societal ills the realization that the popularly established link between paedophilia and homosexuality is not a necessary one: paedophilia is unarguably a sexual pathology. That there are predatory homosexuals who are also paedophiles and who have abused positions of power and trust (the priesthood, teaching/house-mastering, scout-mastering, etc.) is also undeniable and wholly deplorable. In recent times, a major Christian denomination in more than one metropolitan society has had to apologize for the extent of priestly paedophilia and to offer compensation to victims who have finally been empowered to speak out.
The other imperatives are self explanatory as the imperatives of the purity and authenticity of a homosexuality free Global African cultural tradition and of the illegality of homosexuality which is widely used as justification to oppose it but bear in mind above the reasons for the law being created in England in 1532.
Jamaica my sweet Jamaica we have a long way to go since if one enables homosexuality to be seen as a necessarily foreign-derived corruption while the other mobilizes the authority of the state and the celebrated connection between law and morality to deny the right of sexual privacy to consenting adult males who choose to love and have sex with other men, there is no doubting the social significance of these imperatives. Taken together, these ideological imperatives have to be firmly and sensitively questioned in a dialogue between patriarchal homophobia, on the one hand, and lesbian, gay and socially progressive forces, on the other. This constitutes a precondition for the development of less oppressive social conditions for LGBT people in Jamaica. Success in this dialogue will contribute to the production of a society that is less comfortable with its own homophobia but also with other forms of social oppression, and therefore to one with a population whose members are less willing to engage in the self-righteous activity of oppression when God is to have sent his son to engage the outcasts.
Peace and tolerance
H
also see and hear the present PM siding with the former PM Bruce Golding on not to gay marriage:
PM scolds gay-rights protesters in New York ........ challenges truthfulness of Homophobic Claim
Portia Simpson - 'Uncouth behaviour of others to make me look less than polished'
She said on October 20th 2009 - "Mr Speaker when we accepted the final report from the joint select committee that were looking at the bill we were completely satisfied with their recommendation of a provision to restrict marriage and like relationships to one man and one woman within Jamaica and that the provision should be specifically spelt out so that there could be no ambiguity ………. yes one man one woman (laughter in the house) and if you are Jamaican and go overseas the same applies ……….."
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