Crime of passion linked to August Town shooting, transvestite said to be involved

Subject to updates

A woman is in police custody this afternoon in connection with the murder of a 52-year-old man in August Town, St. Andrew.

The man has been identified as Trevor Grey.

Grey is from the Queen Road area of Maxfied Avenue in lower St. Andrew. He was shot and killed last night in an area in August Town known as Griz Close.

It’s understood that he was attacked by a group of women to include a couple transvestites who pass very well and other women who got involved in the melee in a fit of jealous rage as the deceased was set to be involved in a liaison with one of the women involved.

Head of the Corporate Communications Unit CCU, Superintendent Stephanie Lindsay, this afternoon confirmed the arrest.

The woman is to be questioned by the police.

Member of Parliament for East Rural St Andrew Fayval Williams (left) presents a 'zero murder' shirt to recording artiste and long-time August Town resident Miguel 'Sizzla' Collins.

Mr. Grey’s killing is the third in August Town since the beginning of this year. The peace efforts were pushed by artists such as the antigay Sizzla Kolanji who was sited in a public function marking the achievement earlier this year.

There were no murders in August Town during 2016. Earlier this year this happened as well:

 August Town has recorded its first murder of the year.

The murder comes on the heels of last week’s celebrations, when community members and stakeholders rejoiced about a one-year streak without recording a murder in the community.

Police say that a man identified as Damion Lewis, 25, of Love Lane in the community, was shot dead by an unknown assailant at the intersection of Bedward Crescent and July Road, yesterday.

The August Town police say that about 6:25 pm, Lewis was walking along the roadway with a friend when upon reaching the intersection, they were pounced upon by a lone man armed with a gun. The man shot Lewis.

When the police got to the location, Lewis was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Peace & tolerance

H

Anthropologist (yet again) conflates male homosexuality with predatory paedophilia

 from a previous Gleaner story

Anthropologist Dr Herbert Gayle has once again has caused some upset of sorts out there by making generalized comments on sensitive matters; however in this go round was not as the one he just ended up in recently on violence and power differentials between men and women and violence as he for all intents and purposes resorted to victim blaming (women are the ones who push men to violence narrative). I like some others who watched the news last evening were wondering if the man we saw speaking at Rotary Club meeting and who has worked on street boys and violence, JFLAG and the University of The West Indies and a host of other groups, NGOs and civil society if he was out of his mind in some sense; Gayle seemed quite comfortable by way of his cadence of speech and gesticulation in the delivery at the podium maybe without realizing what he was perpetuating; he was speaking about street boys and men who seem to have a cleek mentality and glorify violence up in later years as a stripe of sorts, the newscast’s report did not show any explanation as well as to business of the group mentality for survival, sex as a means of income sometimes most unwillingly versus deliberate abuse by more monied and powered men. A request for a transcript has not been responded to as at the preparation of this post.

here is the newsclip in question on February 23, 2017:

Gayle also suggested that even successful men in particular who hail from a poorer and abusive backgrounds and who have physical evidence of abuse by way of beatings and so on they too seem to respond with braggadociousness that they are bolder persons now due to the treatment and what they learnt in youthful years, they seem to see some justification for the abuse so they accept it. One would have expected that as one become more exposed to issues in a real sense that newfound informed position would influence anyone to avoid generalisations especially predicated on such a radioactive conflation of predatory paedophile intent. Dr Gayle whether inadvertently or deliberately given the audience he was in front of just threw out the line(s) he uttered and makes me wonder sadly why he would make those statements at a function and then leave them simply hanging knowing how deeply homophobic we are and can get when it suits some persons. Was he throwing stones without realising the broader implications of this nationally?

This is not the first time Dr Gayle has done this gay-baiting of sorts framed as predatory or exploitative homosexuality despite as mentioned above his work he did with JFLAG, even while he hosted an afternoon show on the University of the West Indies, UWI ‘s Newstalk 93FM he would put out the one liners indicated the narrative without unpacking some of the other attendant pieces to the puzzle, such as experimentation, substitutional sex, gay for pay phenomenon versus genuine male inappropriate sexual abuse. He would reel off all kinds of statistics and so on and on the face of them they sound plausible but without the benefit of the listeners and some basic unpacking suppositions and or speculations become the end product unfortunately; when academics are supposed to encourage the analysis of facts driven by strong empirical data for those of us who are not so book bright. Make no mistake one is not denying that there are persons out there sometimes wrapped in sheep clothing who abuse others and use their power by force or not to get psychologically or financial weak or desperate persons into non consensual scenarios or going as far as rape but for an anthropologist to engage in generalizations of such a sensitive nature plays right into the hands of a homophobe who use such thinking to set themselves in their ways whilst putting up a permanent wall of rejection, hate, ignorance and feeling justified in supporting to the point of violence against LGBT persons predicated on stereotypes, misnomers and sheer ignorance. This is not the kind of thinking and subtle encouragement that should be coming from an academic.

Anti gay groups and individuals to include fanatical Christians often use this long standing paedophile/homosexual conflation to near perfection in whipping up opposition to any sensible processing of human sexuality and by extension debates on buggery law reform; the subtext of the narrative is that the law must remain as boys will be abused and men will have a free hand to do so which is NOT true. They like Dr Gayle’s wide broad brush simply pack all gay men as paedophiles without looking at or recognizing the all important matters of consent as adults and or sexual orientation. There is sometimes a comparison to what occurs with teenage girls and older men where the teens are merely seen as future or young fresh sex objects for use and is justified in song by popular dancehall acts (the buss breast targeting of girls) who maintain their popularity by glorifying same and presenting a virile hypermasculine man image to project strength. All the more reason why Dr Gayle ought to have tread a little more carefully as the sequence of disturbing cases and once guarded secrets of abuse of women and girls indeed boys coupled with the now exposed rotted under belly of some church denominations in as far as church or clerical sex abuse once swept under the rug. Problem is some much has been swept under that rug that it is two inches away from the ceiling. The comparative response to the latest ugly salvo pales in comparison to the stridency these often misguided groups show to conflated homosexual matters, where are the Half Way Tree protests condemning this?

Dr Gayle and other such academics, two particular misguided sociologists comes to mind one being the sister to former Member of Parliament Damian Crawford, georgette Crawford and the ever homophobic Dr Orville Higgins seem to thrive of hitting back at LGBT advocacy. The former is good at linking paedophile intent with homosexuality and gets away with it ever so often on Nationwide radio despite that stations generalised tolerant tone while the latter Higgins continues to use the perceived label by Time magazine which was a question not a statement of fact that asked “Is Jamaica is the most homophobic place on earth?” he too effortlessly sometime joins male homosexuality with predatory intent. All this happening while the pious are being rapidly being exposed to be something else. It was only yesterday in a previous post on a 6 year old Vybz Kartel antigay song that has been revived of sorts this same paedophile conflation, a conflation some if us for years have been trying to defeat while bringing some sense into the mix.

The Diagnostic Statistical Manual, DSM 5 which denotes the various sexual disorders especially for Psychologists and indeed others is quite clear as to the differences between a paedophile and a homosexual although we also know that the gender of the underaged victim is of no consequence in a sense. Homosexuality is not seen as a disorder from as far back 1973 but paedophilia is seen as a sometimes treatable disorder either by psycho sexual interventions over time backed up by pharmacological courses as well with strong drugs to reduce the libido of such paedophiles. Once an adult finds children sexually attractive or are aroused by kids of whatever gender we are no longer dealing with sexual orientation but something totally different. Traditional media reporting over the years have not helped either as those reports have helped to cement the homo-paedophile construct when the narrative does not seek to give some basic facts but more sensationalism in order to sell papers or in these days generate clicks and web traffic.

Indeed the power differentials in such same gender unions from the point of adolescents can be problematic for as hinted to above for survival some may enter into a gay for pay mode; the monied or privileged man ends up preying on the weaker marginalised male inadvertently I imagine and the outcomes of that have been bourn out in the occasional incident and sometimes murder. The media again sensationalise the story sometimes playing into the hands of the public and rests the motives often times of crimes of passion or justified self defence due to a perceived sodomatical attack (an old term used in courts back in the seventies and eighties). Unfortunately the missing unpacking of such matters by a case by case basis have also fed into the predatory intent conflation while leaving out the power struggle.

It is bad enough that we are up against a homophobic public with deeply entrenched negative subtexts lasting decades which makes it normative and usually more pronounced at the lower socio economic spectrum but to be repeatedly confronted by academics who ought to know better is another matter entirely.

Peace & tolerance

H

Cruiser robbed of phone on Tom Redcom Avenue

Tuesday February 21st will not be the same for a cruiser in his early twenties as he ventured along one of the oldest pavement pounding spots for gay men or other MSM who seek sexual services via commercial sex workers male or female. The vicinity of the rear of the Edna Manley College just behind the Oxford Medical Centre building is well known for all of kinds of shenanigans and is frequented by cruisers, generations of MSM/transgender homeless & displaced & thieves who are sometimes attracted to them and who prey on them. The present Shoemaker Gully problem of guys living together in spaces was at Tom Redcom Avenue where near very week there would be a story in the tabloids be it the Star News or the now defunct XNews previously known as The Enquirer. Robberies were also a feature then to also include HIV prevention Outreach Officers for certain NGOs as victims but more for money and or other personal effects as opposed to now and the escape route was far easier through the adjacent car park as one approach the Oxford Road, Old Hope Road and Tom Redcom Avenue stop light.

Around 10 pm on Tuesday 21st the man was walking northwards on Tom Redcom Avenue where he was about to see what he could meet up on for the night, bearing in mind the recent relocation of the Shoemaker homeless MSM/transgender group alongside the female commercial sex workers as well the scattering of sorts send persons back to old spots with the pimps and robberies (sometimes being the very pimps who are often heterosexuals) the man was approached according to him by a person resembling a man who asked if he was doing business. The man responded no and continued walking (being a cruiser and not a potential commercial sex worker client) but as he continued towards the Library he was approached again by the same person, apparently the giveaway was the earplugs which in hindsight was a wrong move; as he approached the Little Theatre the robber pulled a knife and lunged forward towards the victim, this happening as traffic zipped by, the man tried to place himself in the glare of the oncoming traffic lights so as to dissuade the robber but it did not.

The man and the robber ended up in a tussle where he the robber demanded the phone with strong aggression, “gimme di bomboclaat phone pussy!” was quoted by the man according to his report. The man was subsequently relieved of his BLU smartphone and some three thousand dollars in cash. The robber made his way to the gully that runs immediately behind the Oxford Eye Clinic (Medical Centre); an old haunt as well for pimps, homeless and commercial sex workers, cruisers would normally prefer the nearby unoccupied guard house in the middle of the car park or the infamous Lignum Vitae tree by the now properly fenced school. I recall my outreach days then and admittedly hunt for some fun

He says he regrets having gone there and not being better prepared; he said he was just passing through and had not intended to make a direct visit. The man said he had gone by before but much later and not with a smartphone but switching his chip to a banger; banger phones are also robbed occasionally as well as they are used for calls possibly by accomplices and or sold to others.

It is unclear as to whether or not the robber is one of the persons who reside at the lower end of the Shoemaker Gully aka Kencot Gully which sits some fifteen minutes away from Tom Redcom Avenue, another Gully that seems to be getting some attention in terms of traffic is the one that passes into Cross Roads and that runs infront the Andrews Hospital nearing Cross Roads. The gully where the robber escaped also merges with that gully as an artery. Speculation has been rife in recent times that there is a connection to homeless gays apart from other miscreants, as robberies on that section of Old Hope Road of women mostly whose handbags are snatched or phones taken by force. Other robberies if not clashes by the opposite Union Square, the Eyeglass Centre and infront the National Council on Drug Abuse, NCDA offices are legendary for years and an unconfirmed robbery in October 2016 of another man by that area raises the level of concern.

The matter was not reported to the police as the man has decided to cut his losses, but he has lost both chips as it was a dual SIM card device with loads of numbers. Meanwhile another phone ring that was thwarted recently after a Facebook phone selling group was infiltrated by investigators are would be buyers netted an elaborate scheme spanning Kingston and St Catherine, a lesbian was set to be part of the arrangement. It was only in late December after a series of discussions a police officer encouraged persons in a private social media group of which he is apart pleaded with persons to lay off hunting for a while; the victim was not a part of that group but linked to a member, he has since joined the fray. 

Please encourage others to tread carefully with phones, avoid at all costs wearing headphones as that is a dead giveaway or at least certain types on expensive headsets or hands free devices of a certain brand such as Bose and so on. If one has to go on the road in such matters or certain parts of town carry a banger and not a smartphone and finally avoid giving away your location if one has a smartphone on their person or if not tell a close trusted friend where you will be; turn on whatever recovery assisting security features such as tracking or remote wiping of data after the phone has been stolen. Avoid fights with a would-be robber who is armed as one’s life is far more important than a replaceable device.

Cruise carefully fellas.

Peace & tolerance

H

T & T Gay activist files lawsuit challenging Sexual Offences Act

 Jason Jones (from internet)

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) 

— A Trinidad-born gay rights activist has filed a lawsuit challenging Sections 13 and 16 of the Sexual Offences Act, which criminalises buggery and serious indecency even between consenting adults in Trinidad and Tobago.

In his lawsuit filed in the High Court on Thursday, Jason Jones claims that the “very existence of these sections continuously and directly affects the claimant’s private life by forcing him to either respect the law and refrain from engaging – even in private with consenting male partners – in prohibited sexual acts to which he is disposed by reason of his homosexual orientation, or to commit the prohibited acts and thereby become liable to criminal prosecution”.

The United Kingdom-based Jones is also claiming that the legislation contravenes his constitutional rights to privacy and freedom of thought and expression in addition to being in direct contradiction to this country’s international human rights obligation.

He is also contending that the legislation opens him up to public prejudice and ridicule as it labels him and other homosexuals as criminals.

“He is accordingly the subject of extensive societal prejudice, persecution, marginalisation, a lifelong entrenched stigma that he is an ‘unapprehended’ criminal by virtue of being homosexual and he experiences the lifelong fear of being punished for expressing his sexuality through consensual conduct with another adult,” the lawsuit notes.

Jones is seeking to side step the “saving clause” feature of the Constitution which precludes a court from striking down and reviewing legislation which were in existence when the Constitution was drafted and that have been marginally changed since.

The lawsuit claims that the legislation amended in 1986 and 2000 repealed and replaced pre-Independence sexual offences legislation, covered by the savings clause, and thus is open to review. A date for the hearing of the constitutional motion lawsuit is yet to be set.

Jones told reporters that he took the decision to file the lawsuit due to his personal experience as a homosexual in Trinidad and Tobago including him being disowned by his family forcing him to migrate to the United Kingdom.

“I don’t wish to shove a gay agenda down you (the public) throat or attack your morals, religion or spirituality, I am doing this for the betterment of our nation, and for our feature generations,” Jones said.

Jones said in Trinidad and Tobago, members of the Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender (LGBT) community face high levels of discrimination and for this to change, the law must be changed.

He added that the laws were originally British colonial laws, but Britain had removed the laws and is this year celebrating 50 years since de-criminalising homosexuality.

Rihanna’s “Love on The Brain” & the ‘He beats me ‘cause he loves me’ issue

I was listening to the captioned song by Miss RiRi as one of the newer remixes out there as a promo and it hit me like a ton of bricks the song is actually about what appears to be tolerated abuse by the victim while supposedly being ‘in love’. The original recording is a little difficult to hear the vocals clearly as it is a rock sounding track and the guitar tends to overshadow other elements of the tune. As Jamaica is undergoing a rather bizarre set of cases of abuse and or intimate partner violence episodes with some awful outcomes this is not the kind of song we should be processing right now frankly, sadly it is extremely popular even on the LGBT circuit at parties circuit and it bothers me. The old ‘he beats me because he loves me’ thinking is very much alive; whenever others try to intervene or when the abused individual visits the police station for example they file a report, then change their minds afterwards and try to justify with the beat for love narrative, hence leaving the cops to effectively stop following the matter.

The opening stanza of the song is enough to tell us as to what it is about and frankly I have retired it from my playlists and sets.

The lyrics are as follows:

And you got me like oh

What you want from me?

What you want from me?

And I tried to buy your pretty heart, but the price too high

Baby, you got me like oh, mm

You love when I fall apart, fall apart

So you can put me together

And throw me against the wall

Baby, you got me like ah, woo, ah

Don't you stop loving me, loving me

Don't quit loving me, loving me

Just start loving me, loving me, babe

Oh, and, babe, I'm fist fighting with fire

Just to get close to you

Can we burn something, babe?

And I run for miles just to get a taste

Must be love on the brain

That's got me feeling this way

It beats me black and blue but it fucks me so good

And I can't get enough

Must be love on the brain, yeah

And it keeps cursing my name, cursing my name

No matter what I do

I'm no good without you

And I can't get enough

Must be love on the brain

Then you keep loving me

Just love me, yeah

Just love me

All you need to do is love me yeah

Got me like ah-ah-ah-ow

I'm tired of being played like a violin

What do I gotta do to get in your motherfuckin' heart?

Baby, like ah, woo, ah

Don't you stop loving me, loving me

Don't quit loving me, loving me

Just start loving me, loving me, babe

Oh, and, babe, I'm fist fighting with fire

Just to get close to you

Can we burn something, babe?

And I run for miles just to get a taste

Must be love on the brain

That's got me feeling this way

It beats me black and blue but it fucks me so good

And I can't get enough

Must be love on the brain

And it keeps cursing my name, cursing my name

No matter what I do

I'm no good without you

And I can't get enough

Must be love on the brain

That a mainstream artist as young as Rihanna is handed or forced to do a song such as this to perform to mostly young(er) impressionable fans that gobble up materials without the requisite checks and balances should be of concern. I am assuming that Miss RiRi and management are tied into a contract that may basically say sing what we give you or else, of course in a subtle form. I have been digging other new songs from her such as “Needed Me” & “Sex With Me” and spinning them in my sets both clean and explicit versions; although the latter is a little racy and more for adults but it does not promote violence directly although the “ .....switch on a fake nigga like a station..” line is kind of hinting towards black ghetto life and belittling hypermasculinity/bravado; the use of the word “nigga” is well known to many that that means a gangster or as in our case the dons. The redeeming line follows however in a sense “Vodka & water and a lemon and a few other things I cannot mention,” which seems to retrieve the dignity aspect of the track. While there is an ongoing national uproar about whether dancehall is influencing violence as life imitate art or vice versa (if one can call some of the stuff these days art) here is a big pop song brought in quietly over the mainstream and played on radio.

Same gender liaisons challenges

The unanswered question of the age for me is why would someone who is the subject of abuse outside of a co-dependency issue stay in said union and take it and then when it comes to crunch time the justification is ‘he beats me because he loves me?’ do not for one minute believe that this a hetero-normative construct only because it’s definitely not; especially when there is the aforementioned co-dependency matter at work. A poorer gay man versus a monied or privileged man in a liaison and the main driver is not necessarily sex but also control as the motivator which can lead to abuse. The lesser powered man is sometimes forced to take all kinds of abuse including sexual, psychological and violence against his person re-emphasizing the dependency element; while he may have some difficulty reporting same to a police station; he may be the brunt of humiliation, homophobia or simply ignored by the cops and chased away from the precinct. Once the cops realize it is more a lovers’ quarrel bordering on an old crime of passion mantra one can just walk away or if one is strong enough take it to a higher authority such as the area’s Superintendent and such. It might get a little tricky if there are hints of rape or sexual assault when it comes to two men, a buggery charge might hit one or both if they don’t handle themselves well or have an attorney present to wade through the matter. The lesser charge of grievous sexual assault might also creep into the mix.

There was some attempt via the USAID Comet II training exercise with some cops in 2016 but that only seems to target new recruits and not necessarily the older ones who are set in their ways; after years of very little strong oversight and workshops for capacity building via improved customer service experience. Some changes have come through at certain stations but others the bad habits are still there, but change is usually slow anyway.

Conflict resolution interventions if not far more public awareness programs are needed, despite we have a dispute resolution mechanism and a hotline service they are not promoted enough and the other ones that are out there tend to be more so female based for the most part with the man being the aggressor. Campaigns since the upsurge in intimate partner violence cases are too flat in my view and sound too politically correct, flat and cannot be compared to the strength of the cadence of what dancehall acts for example use in more misogynistic songs. The message has to be firm and placed in a real world context not presented by some middle class person who has never experienced any pain or is in tune with the culture in a far more real way than just an observer in an observational tower or privilege. I was expecting more on the grounds of foreign songs with similar messages to RiRi’s i.e. some rap for example that directly promote violence against women, but what do we do, censorship is an issue as well but there is also responsibility on the part of artists, song writers, producers and so on.

It seems what is popular trumps what is right in the scheme of things when the current hot matter of alleged new recordings of Vybz Kartel while serving a life sentence; it does not seem to matter that Kartel is a convicted murderer indeed the incarceration of him is seen as a stripe of sorts; the deafening silence from the prison authorities is telling when in fact it is only the Tower Street facility aka General Penitentiary, GP that has recording equipment my short time there I remember but they maybe old nowadays as analogue ones i.e. reel to reel tapes device versus newer compact hand held devices such as tablets with a good microphone, auto tune and Q-sound technology does the rest for the post production to finished product; when compared to the voice quality of the ‘new songs’ (or as we are told previously recorded tracks) it suggests that much higher grade of device(s) such as a phone were used. That also speaks to the business ‘contraband’ and what is allowed in and by whom. The subject matter of the ‘new songs’ is telling as most of the songs content are counteraction songs and also dealing with present matters and clashes with other rival artists so it cannot be that these songs are previously recorded materials held in wait for release and sale.

There are other songs even done by female dancehall acts though not popular as some of their male counterparts that hint to the ‘he beats me because he loves me’ mantra. The songs usually have one-liners contained suggesting that there would be no separation in the relationship even though the male in the union may handle the woman rough. Similarly to having a prison sentence or serving time as a stripe of ‘badness’ the physical scars of violence is also sold as a sign misguidedly of a strong relationship. It is almost a confirmation of submitted power to the man probably borne out of years of patriarchy and misogyny well established in dancehall music for example and some early reggae. Other rap songs also have such content and even spew threats to women who say they are ending the relationship there will be violent consequences even as the man has multiple partners sometimes knowingly to the threatened woman. Tracks such Cam’rons “Bitches Aint Shit” from way back in the 2000s though sexually suggestive via the “beat my bitch with a stick” line the threat element comes in where he threatens that if she leaves she’ll get a “dick in her mouth” and so on. Other older rap such as Cash Money Millionaires’ “Project Chick” from the Ballers Rollin’ album is quite clear, similar to Cam’ron is very suggestive as long as the woman is willing to comply at whatever costs, and failure to comply would have serious consequences. I don’t think I need to get into the days of 2 live Crew’s materials they are noted for their misogyny and such.

Artistry and repertoire (A & R) departments these days from record labels seem interested in pushing the envelope in terms of making too pretty or clean imaged females more street credible but are going overboard as music sales still struggle when compared to the days of CDs, vinyl and so on, case in point Miss RiRi herself nearly on the songs on the album are cutting it close designed to make her obviously more edgy. Mariah Carey’s latest video for example looks more like a lingerie advert instead of the polished diva we are used to; it is not the first time she has collaborated with rappers but this new one is kind of a turn off to many as they question why is she going so hard (or her handlers) to match up against younger stars? She is already the queen in certain respects as she really does not need to and while I can appreciate coquettishness to a point there are limits frankly. There is a reason why Diana Ross and the older gurlz have lasted so long without having to show too much leg, cleavage and hips albeit enhanced for some these days.

A word on church hypocrisy

Even as so many disturbing cases involving pastors and men of the cloth accused of inappropriate sexual contact with minors or psychologically weak women with convictions, the way less outrage from the church groups or the very vocal antigay fanatical religious right (who make the rest of the church body look stupid) is telling. This blog is replete with such considerations in previous posts. Where are the stronger public calls for action from within the church body? The responses so far are unimpressive if not unconvincing why are certain antigay groups more focused of child abuse while rightfully so but hardly any protests, marches as in the antigay pro-buggery mass rallies? The hypocrisy indeed the cherry picking is clear yet still. Yet these same groups were worried about a telephone directory cover with an eighties themed dancehall setting which is child’s play compared to the more raunchy aesthetics that come with the genre. They find millions for buggery constitutional challenges while yet declaring we have more churches per square miles yet we have more homeless LGBT and otherwise per square inch more and more on sidewalks and cities. Some of these folks have missed the boat in terms of God’s work and just true tolerance and caring if not forgiveness. Some seem to be more interested in maintaining their silos fed with tithes and offerings while pontificating on piety similar to the Pharisees and Scribes who crucified Jesus using a Roman system. The recently concluded seminar on abuse while condemning child abuse rightfully but from an outside perspective of the ‘church’ on a whole but very little introspection and a call for pastors to recognize their responsibility; the press releases only reiterate that it’s an outside problems by sinners as opposed an internal issue.

Meanwhile

There is a thin line between fantasy on record versus reality as we are learning nationally, the separation is not clear to some given the death threats being thrown via social media predicated on Vybz Kartel worship towards opposition spokesperson on youth Lisa Hanna by a mere suggestion that a review maybe needed as to allowing incarcerated persons to produce and record new music; the rapidity of rapes and abuse even from men of the cloth all so close to each other in terms of timing says to me that things were festering all along and we thought all was well. We really have to begin to consider the lyrical content of some of the songs and calling for bans on radio is one thing but the same tracks in their raw versions are readily available on an ever expanding set of platforms; with smartphone technologies and APPS it is a synch for any youngster these days. There may be legal implications as well in terms of censorship and our charter of rights. Many parents do not check or are able to check the content being technologically naive so all kinds of things can slip by. Then there is the business of the angel at home versus the bad boy/girl wannabe out of parents’ sight.

I think we need to calm for a while first then decide emotion free as possible the way forward but with fans of Kartel still up in arms we have some seriously embedded evil on the national psyche to contend with. For mostly men and bizarrely some women to openly suggest on social media while ignorant to the cyber crimes act Miss Hanna and indeed other persons who agree with her are to die violently or raped as punishment for the Kartel diss even though she widened the comment to other acts in prison is frightening to say the least. Restraint seems all but dead these days as some seem to think they have license to post or say anything online; we are told that the main instigators of the threats are known and the requisite posts (even after deletion) are being gathered to take the requisite prosecutorial actions by the police as empowered under the cyber crimes act.

Another bout of annoucementitis?

Yet again we hear aspirational soundings from politicians and privileged folks and NGOs but the announced strategies to include getting abused persons mostly women to come forward with the needed psycho social support sound nice on the face of it; while also announcing a shelter for battered women (not the first time) when others have been forced to close down due to lack of funding and help from successive governments. I hope not Let us see whether these ideas will ever come to light; case in point the human rights institute that is yet to come, homeless shelters promised but not fulfilled, infirmaries left to languish although places such as the previously structured Womens’ Crisis Centre and others struggle; there was a merger of sorts in 2015/6 but what has come of that new entity that announcements should come about shelters?

This is by no means the end of this. But should there be a ban on songs with this ‘he beats because he loves me’ mantra?

More anon

Peace & tolerance

H

Poor social media navigation still causing fallouts

As social media platforms become the more accepted form of expression from a local perspective older, some younger or inexperienced users are learning the hard way. Even as Facebook is still seen as the master of the social media avenues and other micro blogging platforms such as Twitter play near catch up alongside Instagram for the more hip youngsters it seems the excitement of it all is somehow causing mistakes to be made and inadvertent outings by users is leading to all kinds of clashes and even forced evictions. While social media has helped greatly in raising the visibility of LGBT people in Jamaica and enhances networking indeed online based advocacy and interventions it has come with some unintended consequences if one is not careful. Bearing in mind we are coming from the days of exclusion, mainstream media omissions and obfuscation and homo-negative stigma. Only privileged so called ‘uptowners’ who penned articles & letters to the editors of print media while some columnists such as Jennifer Ffrench(actual spelling) tried their hands at matters on bisexuality and so on. We did not have blogs then and computers so it was an Olympia typewriter for example that was used by outfits then such as Gay Freedom Movement, GFM. 2016 there were three such reports, with one confirmed that came to hand and the simplicity of the matters may have looked just that, simple; they however exploded into something else as arguments ensue and things got physical in one case in St Ann.

The business of profiling persons due to their perceived sexual orientation by watching the gender of the likes of photos or comments, comparing how many women if any are on the publicly listed friends’ list, screenshots and archiving of comments only to have them surface in the future if and when an argument ensues as proof that they ‘knew all along’ there was a series of online workshops in 2015 and again in 2016 by some but of course the usual lack of continuity is the deterrent and as previous posts on this blog tried to accomplish some feedback suggested some folks took heed. There needs to be a sustained intervention of some kind with funding or not as it does not require that so much, but with some folks everything must have a stipend or salary before they act which is what spoils or indeed drastically slow any work that is required.

Quick cases summary:

1). St Catherine a young man was forced to relocate to a rented space after a relative checked his Facebook page just after the platform changed how persons profiles appear, the new introduction section on top of one’s work history he apparently placed words to the effect that he was gay and proud; in doing so without filtering who he wanted to see the declaration such as relatives it all came out. The relative, an aunt made a scene of the matter and although she is older she recently acquired a smartphone and is still learning how to navigate same. She demanded the young man find his own space as she was not going to tolerate any ‘battyman’ at her house. The man’s other family are overseas.

2). The proverbial leaving the device/phone unattended happenings, this one in early 2016, the phone was peered into and messages perused, Instagram and Facebook profiles examined and the male relative who did so went as far as to create a fake profile with a muscled torso as the main picture leading to sending a friends’ request to the male owner of the phone. The man fell for the request and responded positively to the request without first verifying who the person behind it was. Weeks later the man in question found himself getting violent messages and a female relative could almost recount what he commented on, which photos he liked and asked why did he have so many men on his friends’ list, she was also furious that he had a profile of this nature but never added her and instead added her to a more pristine profile instead. The man simply went to crash with a friend and allowed things to die down.

3). A carry over from a 2015 matter with a similar profiling construct around it, this time with an older gentleman as the impacted person. It was a co-worker who was the homophobe involved but ironically that co-worker has since been fired for other reasons outside of the hate. The co-worker was watching the man’s Facebook profile for some time and as he posted links to various stories that were LGBT friendly. It was another co-worker who pulled the man aside and told him in confidence about the shenanigans of the now fired homophobe. Thankfully that one did not end up in worse case scenario but it shows how easy a simple use or misuse of a profile can land people in challenges.

Questionable narcissism

As visibility is raised however there are some concerns about the near frenzy some persons share almost anything on social media; in almost a desperate search for attention or the misguidedly valued ‘Like’ as I said much to the laughter of a group recently the only thing I have not seen yet are photos of persons leaving the pieces in the porcelain after use but I guess that would be not allowed by the platform managers. Uploading photos of food for example and such at a rate that is astonishing sometimes it makes for worry and wonderment as to when do persons find time to things in the real world or engage real people when individuals including and most disturbingly LGBT operatives and advocates as it were post and tweet away like crazy. Is it to compensate for the missing years of tolerance or acceptance by others? While I understand that it does something for the self to be out and proud (relatively speaking) it is going beyond crazy at times; changing photos every hour almost on the hour, tweets that amount to be mindless inane babble and shade throwing the biggest one of them all while presenting what could amount to be a farce of altered or bettered versions of themselves. It is something that has been on my mind since 2012 after what could be described as a dual personality related matter where the online persona was nowhere near the true picture in real time.

That case had some consequences as well and it pushed some to ask persons to be just a little bit more truthful about their profiles and such.

Some social media usage tips: (several others exist elsewhere)

1) Monitor carefully your profile as best as possible

2) Set boundaries just in case

3) Filter your friends’ list or followers to maybe include those who are able to see what is on your page/profile

4) Occasionally check your settings as sometimes a policy change and or new features added tend to adjust ones profile to a system default, often without notice from the platform operators

5) Block persons the moment there is drama and if necessary screenshot any threats and so on if made

6) Set up private pages with persons with like interests as members so as to avoid others on your main profile to become just a little bit too inquisitive

Other platforms such as GRINDr have been having their own challenges as well, as a recent fake profile incident shows, the profile’s owner became the brunt of the joke in the final analysis as he was led into an entrapment of sorts after robbing a phone from someone after a one nigh hookup. Deceptive THOTS and trade MSM are everywhere and they will use any means necessary to hustle. Adam for Adam is still used but not so much by millennials as older men like myself; they have since stepped up their game though in terms of security/verification features alongside a strengthened phone-APP to meet the competition out there. Tagged also has been quietly making some changes too.

More anon and happy hunting with vigilant usage

Peace & tolerance

H

also see:

Dubious Adam4Adam Profiles, Unscrupulous Sports, Gay Imposters, Robberies 

The THOT of the walk who is oral

More on power bottoms ....................

Cyber bullying, stigmatization, decency and such

Solicitor General Urges Court To Uphold Ruling To Bar Public Defender From Gay Rights Case

As the tussle continues in the pending constitutional challenge to the Buggery Law a new development occurred earlier today, thanks to the Gleaner for the update.

Solicitor General Urges Court To Uphold Ruling To Bar Public Defender From Gay Rights Case

Public Defender Arlene Harrison Henry (in photo) is appealing Justice Kissock Laing's July 2016 decision not to allow her to join the case in which a gay man is claiming the buggery law infringes on his constitutional right to equality before the law.

from the Gleaner

Solicitor General Nicole Foster-Pusey has urged the Court of Appeal to uphold a lower court's ruling barring the Public Defender from joining a gay rights case saying the office has no business in a court. If I can recall she was also involved in the Tomlinso vs TVJ & CVM TV over the gay ad/PSA case some years ago.

also see:
Tolerance Ad case the Final Day – Tomlinson v TVJ, CVM and PBCJ

Tolerance Ad case Day 3 – Tomlinson v TVJ, CVM and PBCJ 

Supreme Court throws out LGBT rights activist's case against 3 TV stations

She made the argument this morning on day two of the hearing of an appeal brought by Public Defender Arlene Harrison Henry.

She's appealing Justice Kissock Laing's July 2016 decision not to allow her to join the case in which a gay man is claiming the buggery law infringes on his constitutional right to equality before the law.

Foster-Pusey argued that there's no provision in the Public Defender Interim Act to support the office participating in a court case.

She said it does not matter whether the Public Defender will take a side or be neutral.

The Solicitor General argued that the law only allows the Public Defender to facilitate a complainant getting legal representation to take their matter to the court.

The Public Defender has argued that the law establishing her office makes it clear that she has a duty to protect and enforce the rights of all citizens.

Lord Anthony Gifford who is representing her has also rejected the argument from the Solicitor General that the Public Defender's role is limited to investigations

The Solicitor General is representing the Attorney General who opposes the Public Defender joining as an interested party in the case brought by Maurice Tomlinson.

A panel of three judges headed by Appeal Court President Justice Dennis Morrison is hearing the case.

More anon

Peace & tolerance

H

Vybz Kartel's "No Man (Mi Swear Pon Mi Life)" getting renewed attention

A song by Vybz Kartel recorded prior to his life imprisonment sentence in the now infamous murder case has been getting a lot of attention in recent times. The trial diverted the public's attention and perception as to the song's message but harcore followers knew it word for word. I happened to be at a dance last night and the DJ played it, he had to 'pull it up' as we say in Jamaica a full seven times. The reaction was telling.

In recent times the analytics is reflecting a lot of renewed interest as well; taxis are playing it and social media, Soundcloud, Mixcloud and other platforms are playing it. Given the racy lyrics radio will not take the chance to play it in full but those DJs will use the one-liner trick as in the old days when they play a neutral sounding line or hook that does directly state violence to homosexuals; but is enough to give an indication of the song, hence a forward.

I suspect that given the major backlash to the parliamentary opposition spokesperson on youth Lisa Hanna's suggestion to ban his ability to record news songs while incarcerated and by extension from the airwaves with some support from others the push back includes antigay songs. We must not forget this is the same man who blurred the lines of male aesthetic and was himself at one point had his sexuality questioned after he bleached his skin and introduced the tight pants phenomenon.

The song was also a push back by Kartel to defray the rumours about his sexual orientation linked to his metrosexual image and exaggerated skin lightening. 

Also see: "Gay Look" for Kartel? 2011

Here are the lyrics and look what it commences with, the Levitical imperative: (the harsh lines translated in colour)

Leviticus 20 Verse 13

Say any man weh lydung wid a next man

Hold on now

Dem a get too bright

(they are getting too presumptuous)

Suh mi bun battyman and sodomite

(So I burn gay men & lesbians)

A coulda Selassie-I

A coulda Christ

Me haffi swear pan mi bloodclaat life

Jamaica

Jamaica mi nah go fuck no man (Jah know)

Dem thing deh wrong

Cause if a man go lay dung wid anotha man

How di fuck di baby born

Send me every kind a gyyaaaal

Mi love dem all

Cause if a gyal go lay dung wid anotha gyal

('cause if a girl go lay with another)

How di fuck di baby born

(How is baby to born?) [suggesting the procreation imperative]

Hold on now

Dem a get too bright

How two man fi a play sword fight

None a dem cya walk inna Portmore

(None of them can walk in Portmore) [Kartel is from Portmore hence declaing a kind of turf control or donmanship role of the area known as Gaza]

And dem run like dog if dem go a Standpipe

(They run like dogs when they go to Standpipe) [Standpipe is a popular ghetto where numerous gunmen frequent or live]

Sodomite gyal mi nuh like unu style

Do you ever think bout stiff cocky more while

Spaldin people bun out pedophile

How big rass man fi a fuck a likkle child

(Lesbians I don't like your style, do you ever think about an erect penis at times, how is man to fuck a little child) [the conflation of male consensual homosexuality with paedophilia often used to justify violence and opposition to rights and so on]

Jamaica mi nah go fuck no man (Jah know)

Dem thing deh wrong

Cah when a man go lay dung wid anotha man

How di fuck di baby born?

Send me every kind a gyyaaaal

Fi love dem all

(Send me every kind of girl to love them all) [the bravado element, power in the penis, bragadocious verility linked to hypermasculinty, women are seen as mere sex objects]

Cause if a gyal go lay dung wid anotha gyal

How di fuck di baby born

Vannesa Bling seh

Batty business fi cease

Said it inna di west and it red inna di east

If a nuh gyal lay dung inna yuh bed

When time unu dead yuh cya rest in peace

And a buy dildo a buy batty grease

My son cya tun inna nuh catholic priest

(They buy dildos and lubricants, my son cannot be a Catholic priest) [Suggesting safer sex implements and anal hygiene products should not be sold and again the consenting homosexual man conflated as a paedohpile, question how is Kartel to know about such details?]

Badmind a di wickedest sickness

But batty business a diwusses disease

Jamaica

Jamaica mi nah go fuck no man (Jah know)

Dem thing deh wrong

Cause if a man go lay dung wid anotha man

How di fuck di baby born

Send me every kind a gyyaaaal

Mi love dem all

Cause if a gyal go lay dung wid anotha gyal

How di fuck di baby born

Leviticus 20 verse 13

Say any man weh lydung wid a next man

Hold on now

Dem a get too bright

Suh mi bun battyman and sodomite

A coulda Selassie-I

A coulda Christ

Me haffi swear pan bloodclaat life

Seh Jamaica mi nah go fuck no man

Neva will

Mi nah gih weh pussy fi no batty

(I'm not giving up my like for pussy for no anus) [That is for a public presentation but the downlow phenomenon is another matter]

Di words from Addi

Di Emprie seh

Black Street

Numba one song

Big up Don

Di ladies man

And Addi Di Teacha

Di Last Man Standing

Out...

ENDS

In as far as the ban is concerned the previously released materials are out there already, the unreleased recordings pending release there could be some considerations taken as to the lyrical content but that may have implications for the 'freedom of speech' 

The part that gets me is the ability to record while in prison bearing in mind he is serving a life sentence yet he is more popular that freed artistes. Lisa Hanna missed that part it seems and never broke it down as I did. Precedent has been set however when it comes to incarcerated DJs releasing and recording music such as Jah Cure in recent memory and older artists, so how can the practice be stopped?

More anon

Peace & tolerance

H

also see:

Dancehall meets house music: Is Tolerance already there in the fusion but unrecognised? and a follow up entry that same year Jah Cure goes techno with Never Say Never ..... remember the dancehall meets house post? 

Kartel on lockdown and that suggestive cartoon ... [the toon suggest prison sex with him being the passive partner in any sexual arrangement]

Vybz Kartel ...... King of the rub 

Who is a real man? ...."Males who do not fit this "new" hegemonic view of masculinity 

Reggae Compassionate Act signed by Vybz Kartel ....... courageous move by the DJ 2010 but one year later the captioned song was released

Oman Lef man afta she ask fi 3some but wid a next man while she watch ...........

So Ragashanti is at it again, oh boi. He just loves the mix up and blender but this time it is an issue that is very much alive out there.

This time it involves a woman who wanted her main man to get into a three way involving another man while she watches. She claimed it was a fantasy of hers to see and this is not strange to me and I have done a previous post on lesbians who sometimes ask to see the act or inquire what do in bed.

also see:

Why do some lesbians or bi women like gay male porn? 2015

Here is Ragga's take:

Ragashanti

Yoggo, yoggo, yow! Wah gwaan TamFam? Hope unuh belly full and naasy nayga nah get di betta a unuh.  

Concrete big up, straight.

On to di drama.

Wrong 3s

So dis bredda ya have him woman, but a gwaan wid a bag a tings pon di side. Him deliberately leave him phone open roun' har cause as far as him concerned, him always mek sure nutten nuh in deh fi she see and find him out. Him mek sure seh him delete everything before him reach home and set him ting so none a him bunna woman dem sen him anything when him deh home.

Anyways, him woman suspect seh him a gwaan wid tings and regularly tek a prips inna him phone, but she neva yet able fi find anything in deh weh gi him weh.

One day though sup'm tell har seh fi check inna him email trash. When she go in deh, she buck up pon a bonanza a information weh confirm seh him a bun har. Yeah, di man been a delete di bunning email dem, but did a lef dem inna di trash! Right away when him woman find di sup'm dem she start forward and text dem to har phone. She den get curious when she see text between him and one a di woman dem a plan a threesome. She jus mek sure she specially forward all a da info deh. But in doing so she realise seh di threesome weh a plan a wid she and another man. Di planning all involve she a sen him a pic a di other man instrument, wid har man a seh him cool wid di size.

However, di plan was not fi him and di other man do anything together inna di threesome. Rather, di deal was dat she did waan fulfil a fantasy fi sort out di two man dem at di same time. And in agreeing to di arrangement him did jus waan mek sure seh di man instrument neva well bigga than fi him own. Him neva waan di man wheel out a helleva lightpost and embarrass him. Dwl.

Nonetheless, even though har man neva did a go inna any gay thing wid di man, she did still shock and turned off seh him did a go inna threesome wid him and a naked man round each other. She seh she coulda probably get past di fact seh him did a bun har wid other woman, but she cyaan get ova seh him agree fi be naked round a next naked man even though him and di man neva did a go do nutten.

She lef him.

Yups! Pack har things, move out, and nuh have no more dealings wid him.

Jus like dat.

All right, a deh so it deh. Jugglementz again.

ENDS

Peace & tolerance

H

also see:

Str8 men who watch lesbian porn ........... 

related Ragashanti posts:

Disturbed by Xnews Story on Drag Queen and Gay Cop 2009

Ragashanti on "Old Harbour bisexual mix-up" 

Ragashanti defends his "Lesbian Mix-up" pieces 2011

Why Box Ourselves In? - Judge Questions Fight Against Public Defender Joining Gay Rights Case

The Gleaner in reporting the constitutional challenge matter and the attempt of the Public Defender to join the case carried the piece below.

Court of Appeal President, Justice Dennis Morrison, has questioned whether a court should "box" itself into the "rigidity" of procedures and miss potentially useful contributions in a gay man's challenge to Jamaica's buggery law.

The top judge said that he was "grappling" with that "difficulty" yesterday as a lawyer for the attorney general insisted that the Office of the Public Defender does not have a legal basis on which to join the case.

Morrison and two others - Justices Marva McDonald Bishop and Frank Williams - are hearing submissions.

The Public Defender, Arlene Harrison Henry, wants the Court of Appeal to overturn a July 2016 Supreme Court decision blocking her from joining, as an "interested party", the case brought by Maurice Tomlinson, who is claiming that the buggery law breaches his constitutional rights.

Lord Anthony Gifford, who is representing the public defender, argued that unlike other human-rights related agencies created by Parliament, the law establishing the Office of the Public Defender says that the office is for the protection and enforcement of citizens' rights.

OFFICE NOT LIMITED

As a result, he said that the office is not limited to just investigations, noting that the 2000 law, which gave effect to that expanded role, was a departure from the office's predecessor, which was established by a now repealed act of 1978.

He said that although the issue is unpopular, the public defender's intervention would assist her "to protect the rights of a class of citizens whose rights will be impacted by the outcome of the case".

However, Solicitor General Nicole Foster-Pusey, who is representing the attorney general, insisted that Justice Kissock Laing was correct in refusing to allow the public defender in the case.

She said that the office has not said whether it has received a complaint that would fall within its remit, in addition to the fact that Tomlinson is not saying his rights have been breached by a state agency.

According to Foster-Pusey, who will end her submissions today, the public defender is pushing to join the case "on her own motion", as her actions are not supported by the law.

AGAINST A LAW OF PARLIAMENT

Justice McDonald Bishop noted that Tomlinson's challenge is against a law of Parliament and asked if the Office of the Public Defender was also interested in such a case, to which Gifford said yes.

In her submissions, Shawn Wilkinson, Tomlinson's attorney, told the court that the public defender is the main person entrusted with powers to protect the rights of "all" Jamaicans and then asked, "if not the public defender, then who" would be more interested in joining the case?

In his 2016 ruling, Justice Laing argued that "the public defender's submissions to the court would be of little assistance if they were neutral. If they are not going to be neutral, which position would the public defender take?

"The obvious danger is that regardless of the side that the public defender chooses, she runs the risk of losing the trust of, or worse, completely alienating, the other side," he said, noting that the gay issue was "nationally divisive".

Laing allowed several church and non-governmental organisations to join the case.

The actual case brought by Tomlinson is yet to be heard.

Peace & tolerance

H

also see:

Public Defender Attempts To Rejoin The Constitutional Buggery Law Challenge