Oh boi this old familiar place.
So like clockwork it has come again and was expected as before, whenever the homeless msm/transgender group is either removed by cops as was the case on January 9 or rushed by members of the public then one can expect an invasion of sorts in once ‘pure spaces’ for cruisers especially the territorial ones who just simply want to have a good time devoid of annoying homeless msm/trans persons in their eyes. In the long line of such clashes I have since lost track, I like many others are weary with some distress on this while NGOs and national systems only serve tokenism and excuses for incompetence and disinterest. Saturday last was the faithful day when some of the now re-displaced group or members of it drifted into a popular longstanding downtown Kingston space as their other spots uptown have been emptied by the same police officers and health inspector who did the job by the Canadian embassy and adjoining Cholera cemetery.
Bearing in mind the aftermath of the invasion by men of a nearby spot in West Kingston in July in 2015 is still fresh in the minds of many; that spot has not been traversed in a while as the burnt out ruins remain and it seems a man of unsound mind has taken over the building. The homeless guys who were using the spot which doubled as hook up haven by early morning and in the day to refuge by night was exposed for some good eight months when it was exposed due to carelessness by the very men who failed to keep their movements circumspect hence the attack. Further to that is the murder of old timer Franky nearby earlier in the year and the police crackdown of petty thieves who use the space as a pass-through after robbing mostly women of their handbags; the evidence of which are taken totes struned all over with personal items such as drivers’ licenses and such. The guys who were using that spot have found someone else thankfully and refuse to associate themselves with the Cholera cemetery group which brings into sharp focus the strained relations between the homeless groups themselves outside of cruisers’ displeasure of their invasion, in other words the latter group is tolerated more by the cruisers hence the symbiotic exchange in the use of the space.
As highlighted in previous posts this love hate relationship is decades old but has gotten really out of hand since the homeless populations explosion in 2007 after a DVD of a gay party made its way to the streets and was sold by bootleggers thus the exposure of patrons and forced evictions with at least two persons killed out of that grouping. Saturday mornings are usually popular times for fun and action and the implicated homeless men had set up their tarpaulins and items with them upon arrival by the horny cruisers who turned up. Annoyed by the occupation of their space they took matters into their own hands; according to the report I received as I haven’t circled the spots in a while myself given the last report and geographical changes so I lost some interest; some new ‘meat’ as it were on the market has seen an upturn in activity so this new ‘thug meat’ and his admirers were the ones who launched the tirade on the homeless intruders.
Their belongings were taken and scattered and threats from both sides with finger pointing, knives and stones drawn and one threatening to expose the space altogether so as to have everyone lose its use. I am not happy and am worried that something worse is going to happen. A stabbing incident at the just emptied cholera cemetery late last year is a case in point and a previous knife battle at a party earlier in the year between two of the guys who also vend outside events are just a few of the inter-population clashes which shows the frustrations as expected. Then there are the clashes with the sharing of ill gotten gains by those in the group who rob persons gay or not at night. A recent court hearing of one such case just shows this up even more. After some twenty minutes or so the clash died down but it drew attention from unsuspecting eyes who threw their own homophobic abuse including threats of violence and such. One Rastafarian man was heard saying the entire space needs to be demolished as the men have left uptown (I assume the cholera cemetery) to bring their poison as it were in the area.
I am afraid the exposure of such spaces may ruin the fun cruisers were used to for decades, even before my reporting on the activities and working with the groups in my more active HIV work days it seems those days are numbered. The impact of this ugly homelessness business and derelict agencies is really just out of hand. The now rebooted small group of about four persons moved elsewhere since the clash and yesterday upon checking by my source he said they were not there but the main attraction that being the aforementioned new thug on the scene has said he is not returning to that end of town; so the fellas are up in arms. If one understand how hard core cruisers think especially the ones who have no alternative space for sex seeking they do not take kindly to alterations to their way of life. Pass through cruisers such as the more middle class bunch can always find other outlets which leaves the lesser optioned ones little choice so territorialism sets in.
An unconfirmed report of a chase and near miss in another cemetery in Half Way Tree by the Molynes road area by the St Andrew Parish Church over the Christmas holidays is still live out there on the grapevine as it is surmised that a few of the homeless men had tried to establish themselves at that location. Age old clashes with the windshield wipers who also sleep on the graves in that area often held such occupation at bay. The old office space infront the old Pipers’ nightclub across from 7th Avenue Plaza is empty as police had cleared that one of all homeless groups given the tense situation. A recently vacated office space along Constant Spring Road has been quickly secured and boarded up as reports had reached the cops that the space was used by homeless persons to include maybe msm/trans groups.
Other cruisers who walk for their hook-ups have also been up in arms from a long time now as since the robberies by alleged gays, increased police patrols at night, a beating of a suspected gay man by Chelsea Avenue and other issues those days are near dead according to one senior statesman I ran into late last year. I am befuddled by the happenings as our least amongst us as seen as just that ‘the least’
A couple of the cruisers have vowed that they don’t intend to lose the space to homeless populations and seem to imply the use of violence to protect same if necessary.
Sigh it is sad that we have had to contend with all these outcomes over these many years as MSM homelessness spirals continuously out of control.
Peace and tolerance
H
As highlighted in previous posts this love hate relationship is decades old but has gotten really out of hand since the homeless populations explosion in 2007 after a DVD of a gay party made its way to the streets and was sold by bootleggers thus the exposure of patrons and forced evictions with at least two persons killed out of that grouping. Saturday mornings are usually popular times for fun and action and the implicated homeless men had set up their tarpaulins and items with them upon arrival by the horny cruisers who turned up. Annoyed by the occupation of their space they took matters into their own hands; according to the report I received as I haven’t circled the spots in a while myself given the last report and geographical changes so I lost some interest; some new ‘meat’ as it were on the market has seen an upturn in activity so this new ‘thug meat’ and his admirers were the ones who launched the tirade on the homeless intruders.
Their belongings were taken and scattered and threats from both sides with finger pointing, knives and stones drawn and one threatening to expose the space altogether so as to have everyone lose its use. I am not happy and am worried that something worse is going to happen. A stabbing incident at the just emptied cholera cemetery late last year is a case in point and a previous knife battle at a party earlier in the year between two of the guys who also vend outside events are just a few of the inter-population clashes which shows the frustrations as expected. Then there are the clashes with the sharing of ill gotten gains by those in the group who rob persons gay or not at night. A recent court hearing of one such case just shows this up even more. After some twenty minutes or so the clash died down but it drew attention from unsuspecting eyes who threw their own homophobic abuse including threats of violence and such. One Rastafarian man was heard saying the entire space needs to be demolished as the men have left uptown (I assume the cholera cemetery) to bring their poison as it were in the area.
I am afraid the exposure of such spaces may ruin the fun cruisers were used to for decades, even before my reporting on the activities and working with the groups in my more active HIV work days it seems those days are numbered. The impact of this ugly homelessness business and derelict agencies is really just out of hand. The now rebooted small group of about four persons moved elsewhere since the clash and yesterday upon checking by my source he said they were not there but the main attraction that being the aforementioned new thug on the scene has said he is not returning to that end of town; so the fellas are up in arms. If one understand how hard core cruisers think especially the ones who have no alternative space for sex seeking they do not take kindly to alterations to their way of life. Pass through cruisers such as the more middle class bunch can always find other outlets which leaves the lesser optioned ones little choice so territorialism sets in.
An unconfirmed report of a chase and near miss in another cemetery in Half Way Tree by the Molynes road area by the St Andrew Parish Church over the Christmas holidays is still live out there on the grapevine as it is surmised that a few of the homeless men had tried to establish themselves at that location. Age old clashes with the windshield wipers who also sleep on the graves in that area often held such occupation at bay. The old office space infront the old Pipers’ nightclub across from 7th Avenue Plaza is empty as police had cleared that one of all homeless groups given the tense situation. A recently vacated office space along Constant Spring Road has been quickly secured and boarded up as reports had reached the cops that the space was used by homeless persons to include maybe msm/trans groups.
Other cruisers who walk for their hook-ups have also been up in arms from a long time now as since the robberies by alleged gays, increased police patrols at night, a beating of a suspected gay man by Chelsea Avenue and other issues those days are near dead according to one senior statesman I ran into late last year. I am befuddled by the happenings as our least amongst us as seen as just that ‘the least’
A couple of the cruisers have vowed that they don’t intend to lose the space to homeless populations and seem to imply the use of violence to protect same if necessary.
Sigh it is sad that we have had to contend with all these outcomes over these many years as MSM homelessness spirals continuously out of control.
Peace and tolerance
H
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