Gully queens' 'recruit' young boy ...father tries to rescue 14-y-o living among gays

So our homeless brothers are back on the menu again and no real serious help coming their way despite promises made and online fund raising attempts (see GoFundMe account launched to help 'gully queens'), it could also be a function of the increased case load of forced evictions especially from western Jamaica due to the lotto scamming unraveling as others who would use them for errands or even making calls to scam persons overseas.

courtesy of the Star News

from the Gleaner

Detective Inspector at the Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA), Claudette Hepburn (above), has confirmed that at least a handful of minors are living among homosexuals in gullies in the Corporate Area.

Hepburn says although CISOCA has received reports and acted on them, the minors always manage to elude the police.

She noted that the police are wary about how they approach retrieving the minors.

“These are children that we are dealing with. I can't send officers to run in the gully along with these men, these men are quite dangerous. Also, we don't want it to be said that the police are using force on them because they are of a different 'lifestyle'. That suggests so many things including that they are sexually abused and as for the word 'lifestyle' someone please help the dear lady to recognise sexual orientation. At least her predecessor was a little more enlightened.

CISOCA never discriminates,” she continued. Ooops it seems the CISOCA head needs an intervention, one wonders if the goodly JFLAG as reached out to her yet or are they business with the sleek social media campaigns as homeless are not on the agenda right now? maybe it could be the present legal mess one of the Associate Director one Latoya Nugent has found herself in, in misguided set of actions that had her arrested for breaching the Cybercrimes act of 2015, they may have to be helping to put out fires and finding funding for the legal fees. 

The latest documentary involving some of the homeless gully queens

Unneeded heat and diversions from what ought to be more pertinent matters and the homeless get left out in the cold once again; save and except for the usual using them to shoot documentaries, pawns in the HIV prevention chess game and to a certain extent crisis communication.

She mentioned an incident where a father journeyed from Clarendon to retrieve his son who was lured to the gully by an individual he contacted online.

The police, along with the father, tried unsuccessfully to retrieve the youngster. Sadly we do not know what 'retrieved' mean in this instance, is this with a view for genuine reintegration or for further abuse and homophobia as I suspect caused him to run from home in the first place

“The police assisted the father down there on two occasions. The last occasion, when the police was there, the little boy came out of the gully and said 'Daddy', and by the time the father said 'Son, why yu do that to me', the little boy ran right back into the gully,” Hepburn said. That says alot about this case without saying much, if things were right at home why would he run when his father came? Unless he is so unruly which is highly unlikely I think.

She is concerned that if parents are not more vigilant about how they allow their kids to surf the web, it could lead to dire consequences.

She acknowledged that it would take a collaborative effort between CISOCA, parents and corporate groups for children to be removed from the gully and adults who are sex offenders to be brought to justice.

“If we get the minors who are willing to give statements, we will take action. And if they are not willing to give the statements, I am going to put them before the Family Court as children in need of care and protection,” she said.

Hope remains while company is true even as more elite activists continue to ignore the homeless, there is a thinking by some that they did not get their degrees and Ph.D to simply end up working with scruffy smelly gays, sad that the NGOs tagline is equality but the glaring inequality is staring us all in the face; the virtuous ideal advocated for is missing and not demonstrably clear in our own backyard.

A Gleaner Editorial said:

We may have missed it, but we haven't seen or heard of a declaration of embarrassment and regret from Enid Ross-Stewart, head of the Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA). That action would have been expected in response to the scandalous ambivalence, surrender even, of police personnel with regard to the recent revelation, in our sister publication, THE STAR, of a 14-year-old boy living in Kingston's gullies with putative criminals.

What is particularly galling is that the boy is suspected of being sexually groomed, or worse, by homeless gay and transgender men living in grimy gullies, some of them emerging at night as thieves and societal misfits.

The boy's father has appealed to the police force on numerous occasions to rescue his son, who was reportedly lured by a person with whom he made contact online. The police admitted to having gone to find the teenager but failed to secure his return, even after locating him.

"These are children that we are dealing with. I can't send officers to go in the gully along with these men. These men are quite dangerous," Detective Inspector Claudette Hepburn. "Also, we don't want it to be said that the police are using force on them because they are of a different lifestyle. CISOCA never discriminates."

Perhaps CISOCA never discriminates! But it sometimes does worse!

Inspector Hepburn, in a stunning admission of incompetence and apathy, said the police personnel under her charge were more concerned about perceived criticism that may follow from hostile interaction with a gay gang and chose, instead, to leave him in the arms of these "quite dangerous" men.

The boy's father is distraught and desperate. But the police, it seems, believe that the boy's sexual orientation makes him less worthy of salvation.

Inspector Hepburn's cavalier approach to this matter underlines the chilling effect of homophobia among the police and how even arms of the State created specifically to protect children from sexual and other abuse have decided to fold their arms. It cannot be right that children - for we understand that this 14-year-old's is not the only case - are left to fend for themselves amid sexual predators.

That sort of abandonment by the State may validate the misconception that the lives of boys, particularly those who indulge in at-risk behaviour, are of less worth and importance than others'. The police, therefore, would be complicit in class and gender discrimination, and play a not-insignificant role in the hardening of stigmas against sexual minorities.

That the boy may be gay or bisexual makes him just as, if not more, vulnerable to abuse as any other child. In fact, this newspaper posits that were the father's appeal about a girl living with men in a gully, CISOCA's reaction may have been more strong-willed and definitive; it would not have responded so limply and shrugged its shoulders.

The fact that Superintendent Ross-Stewart hasn't, at least publicly, reprimanded Inspector Hepburn and disavowed her views as anathema to the philosophy and policy of that sensitive agency, contributes to a deficit in trust and damages CISOCA's credibility.

Should Supt Ross-Stewart want to repair the damage done to CISOCA's image, this newspaper implores that she and her middle-tier leadership be more objective, sensitive and compassionate in the pursuit of the organisation's remit.

ENDS

More anon

Peace & tolerance

H

Scale up HIV/AIDS programmes behind bars says activist

Thanks to Carla Gullotta formerly of AMNESTY International USA in Jamaica and who now works in the prison system now the issue of prison sex has been raised openly. Bearing in mind the 1997 prison riots five months after my exit from a prison cell myself the issues of persons coming in HIV positive and or allegedly contracting HIV while incarcerated was known, persons were at one point said to be using plastic bags torn up in pieces as makeshift condoms seeing condoms are seen as contraband and attracts serious punishment if found. Others just go bareback (ass it tighter thinking and I am not gay but buttfuck) 

Suggestions on condoms in prison was met with sheer anger on one hand but other rival prisoners used the conflation of sneaking homosexuality through the 'back door' in homophobia violence to kill or harm said enemies.

Miss Gullotta penned:

The issue of HIV/AIDS among inmates continues to pose a public health risk. This delicate issue is one which requires a more comprehensive approach even as international funding to combat HIV/AIDS continues to dwindle.

Global research indicates that correctional administrators continue to struggle with meeting the needs of inmates with HIV/AIDS. This situation is further complicated by the fact that there is a taboo culture which prohibits open discussions about sexual issues behind bars.

HIV hit prisons early and hit them hard. Data indicates that the rates of HIV infection among prisoners in many countries are significantly higher than those in the general population. While most of the prisoners living with HIV in prison contract their infection outside prison, before imprisonment, the risk of being infected in prison is heightened.

The importance of implementing HIV interventions in prisons was recognised early in the epidemic. After holding a first consultation on HIV in prisons in 1987, World Health Organization (WHO) responded to growing evidence of HIV infection in prisons worldwide by issuing guidelines on HIV infection and AIDS in prisons in 1993. With regard to health care and prevention of HIV, the guidelines emphasised that, “All prisoners have the right to receive health care, including preventive measures, equivalent to that available in the community without discrimination, in particular with respect to their legal status or nationality.” This was recently reaffirmed in the 2006 framework for an affective national response to HIV/AIDS in prisons, jointly published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, WHO, and United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS.

Since the early 1990s, various countries have introduced HIV programmes in prisons. However, many of them are small in scale, restricted to a few prisons, or exclude necessary interventions for which evidence of effectiveness exists. There is an urgent need to introduce comprehensive programmes, (including information and education, particularly through peers; needle and syringe programmes; drug dependence treatment, in particular opioid substitution therapy with methadone and/or buprenorphine; voluntary counselling and HIV testing; and HIV care and support, including provision of antiretroviral treatment) and to scale them up rapidly.

Jamaica has made attempts to expand its HIV/AIDS programme in prisons, but these efforts need to be sustained if the gains made are to be lasting. At a time where there is a small window of opportunity to benefit from the little international funding that is still available for HIV/AIDS programmes, the Government should seek to tap into this funding and direct it towards correctional facilities.

Prisoners eventually return to the communities from which they come and they carry with them everything they would have picked up in prison. Scaling up AIDS/HIV intervention in prisons is therefore in the best interest of not only the prison community but also the fragile health system and the nation at large.

Carla Gullotta is executive director for Stand Up for Jamaica, a human-rights groups that carries out rehabilitation work with inmates in the island’s correctional facilities.

ENDS

Pity Miss Gullotta did not address the psychology of some of this in terms of substitutional sex or situational homosexuality or the prison wife phenomenon or 'gay for the stay' pieces to it as a layman; anal penetrative sex in such circumstances I have found is a feature even for gay men in a non conjugal visit systems or policy locally, so men fool around with other men to relieve sexual tension. The activity between the ears is not about the man in the physical as he is a means to an end but about the opposite sex and the engagement comes with rules. (need to do a post on this and go in depth)

Previous efforts to deal with some of this has not gone down well with the correctional services or warders in the system as they feel they will be labelled as gays or supporting such; warders have had a longstanding stigma and urban myth thrown at them for years, I came up and heard it that many it is believed enter the profession to gain access to men and that they have gifts of endowment due to regular sexual activity. 

In 1997, Lieutenant Colonel John Prescod(left in photo), then Commissioner of Corrections, suggested that condoms be distributed in the prisons as a means of stopping the spread of HIV. The suggestion sparked a riot that claimed the lives of 16 prisoners, some of whom were accused of being homosexuals and as it turns out many who died weren't actually gay but prior rivalry and a golden opportunity for a disturbance led the way to the attacks. The National AIDS Committee had recommended again in 2000 to the then Peoples National Party administration launch Mandatory medical examinations for all inmates, segregation of HIV positive inmates, legal conjugal visits, a health education programme for the prison, and permission for terminally ill patients to be allowed to die at home, were also among the recommendations made to the Government which were ignored.

Dr. Raymoth Notice (right in photo above) medical expert in the penal system had said at the time, "...We recognise that the incidence of HIV is increasing in the general population and not only that, studies have shown that the incidence of AIDS in prison is six to 10 times greater in prisons than in the general population," also he continued "the level of homophobia and ignorance as well as the lack of resources have hampered the education process a whole lot. Before we even get to the condom issue it is important first and foremost to educate the population about AIDS. But everyone has been too afraid to do anything since the riots. There is no analysis being done, no reliable data, inmates are leaving with the disease and taking it back to their communities."

Lambert Brown, the UAWU's the then first vice-president, had said that although he was still opposed to condom distribution in prisons, he had nothing against the other recommendations made.

"The fight against AIDS is not based solely on condom distribution," Mr. Brown said. "Those who are promoting condoms in prison are using the back door to promote homosexuality which is illegal." here suggesting fear.

The usual response from governments over the years when NGOs and others push for it is that the buggery law will not allow it while being afraid of the public and prison population backlash, not to mention the antigay religious fanatical penny section.

Let us see what the reaction if any will be like.

Peace & tolerance

H

Also see:
Male Rape .... nobody wants to talk about it 2011 and Should prisoners have conjugal visits? 2013

Phone Found in Prisoner’s Rectum for a Second Time in Lockup

Review condom policy for prisoners ......... 2011

Inmate attacks alleged gay prisoner

Buggery Accused Tried to Commit Suicide in Lockup .......

Man charged for assault of gay prisoner

When power differentials (of a car) attracts homophobia 

Homophobic Yet Homosocial (Repost)

Bareback popularity concerns

Given the Safer Sex Week activities and some issues raised in a previous post on this blog on barebacking in anal sex I and indeed some others have concerns. It has surfaced also that some HIV positive men who feel that they do not need to practice safer sex anymore as they are already positive simply enjoy sex in a kind of complacency or abandonment thinking that once they are positive once then that is it; there is no need for vigilance, risk assessments and avoidance of re-infections of other strains of HIV which can be more deleterious to one’s immune system. Albeit that a trend cannot simply be designated within a year or without strong empirical data but cultural practices however can be used as a sign or guide to said trends developing. Just a cursory glance at some private groups on social media or WhatsAPP for that matter or other platforms such as AdamforAdam and hookup sites/blogs suggest more and more men are openly requesting bareback fun even while declaring their HIV positive status, once kept ultra private, it is as if it is a badge of honour to be HIV positive these days and surviving which maybe encouraging to a certain extent but all too risky in other realms. This may be outside of bug chasing or chasers.

Millennials for example have been declaring discomfort with condoms (an old criticism) and with readily available anal hygiene and enema cleansing products in local pharmacies and sex toy shops for example buffered by a kind of legitimization of barebacking in black gay porn men are daring themselves for share pleasure it seems while ignoring that risks are still high despite better working antiretrovirals and that HIV/AIDS is not a death sentence. 

As for the FEMIDOM female condom as an alternative suggested to be used with the inner ring removed that is now being laughed at or scoffed at as the device is deemed too cumbersome and too thick which may be less comforting during sex; with the outer ring also hanging outside seeing it is larger than the rest of the device some say it is like screwing a condom instead of an anus. Indeed this is a sentiment expressed also by older men as well who simply dismiss the FEMIDOM as a balloon to be blown up or used for something else.

also see: Female Condom (FEMIDOM 2) recommended for Gay Sex

The short lived Origami condoms for example that were supposedly designed for anal sex specifically seemed to be off or discontinued despite a launch campaign and an awareness program online, the uniquely shaped and grooved surface is supposed to enhance pleasure for the wearer and the receptive partner as well probably the latter more so; given the mucosal riddled sphincter area and lower opening with millions or nerve endings. Also see: World’s first condom specifically designed for anal sex 2013 and Origami Condom Delayed Due to Embezzlement

Hookup demands

from GMSH

My own experience recently with a mystery stalker of sorts who found the number on one of my blogs publicly listed where he repeatedly asked for a hookup of sorts (despite not knowing me) and declaring he wanted it “raw” meaning penetration without any barrier or a condom. While it is tempting to do same as the good old 1980s for example in the height of the sexual revolution somebody needs to remind or inform men who have sex with men, MSM in the form of anal penetration that HIV is still out there.

Complacency or near fatalism

The heightened HIV social marketing through Global Fund funded efforts nationally and other NGO work has helped but seems to hurt the thinking and sensibilities involved. Persons have concluded that if I am going to die from HIV it won’t happen soon because I can live long with just a tablet a day similar to other lifestyle diseases as diabetes or hypertension but what some folks seem to overlook or ignore or are unaware of or not properly informed in support groups are that there are several other strains of HIV which while one may be positive with one strain that does not impair their immune systems the newer strain can be far more harmful and only seek to reduce one’s immune system to stay sustained. That ‘I am going to enjoy my life’ thinking no matter what is still out there if one is to go by the comments on blogs and porn related fora on social media. Yes the ARVs or HAART treatments are effective in terms of control of Viral loads and improved CD4 counts but missing dosages too can be a challenge; a point that was forcefully made recently on Facebook by an advocate to a young man who insisted he was going to “Fuck til mi dead”

Hot pumped gym and tattoed bodies, well endowed persons coupled with objectification and just the sheer excitement for younger MSM can turn persons into tongue wagging excited persons who end up making wrong or misguided decisions about sex in the heat of the moment. Sadly the Safer Sex Week impetus is near silent on anal sex between men publicly and seem to want to the rely on the hetero-normative sexual relations psychology to trickle over into gay culture. That type of messaging does seem to be getting through to some, I have heard some men say that when they are with a woman they use condoms with them but when they are with a man they don’t as anal sex is better to them in terms of feelings and the ‘grip factor’ and that includes men who do not identify as gay, given that the concept of the word for some is loaded woman aspiring oriented and so called thugs do not want to be a woman but they still hit ass under the radar. There are other psychologies involved stemming from the prison systems as in prison wife culture, gay for the stay psychology and indeed curiosity that seems to be overlooked by the folks who design these fluffy, sometimes simplistic and patronizing sounding campaigns.

Those intersectionalities with gay men who self identify and those men who don’t with the latter thinking that bareback sex is an escape from reality and therefore no thought of risk must interfere cannot be left out of the mix. There are men out there who really believe that they are not at risk once I do it with a men in secret and that the secret albeit without a condom will not expose them to HIV risk; whilst seeing heterosexual sex as the one to use a condom with an outside female partner other than the babymother or wife. At some point there has to be a reality check and a tie-in of those sub cultural matters.

Touching the anal hygiene matter hinted above while the ‘hole maybe clean’ there is the business of that hole being ‘too clean’ meaning the so called good bacteria maybe washed away if one is not too careful, although the self adjusting PH balance Fleet enemas products for example are out there to help to avoid that destruction of those bacteria if one uses other non traditional forms of cleansing the area is exposed without physiological defences naturally. Barebacking especially almost immediately after a cleansing or enema exercise can leave one open to infection if the penetrating partner is infected to transmission of STI including HIV. There are persons who believe that a clean hole by virtue of it being ‘clean’ of faecal matter and odours that all is well afterwards for penetration. Some persons suggest that even rimming (using the tongue to stimulate or even penetrate the anus/sphincter muscle) is OK after an enema but I surmise that a simple pleasurable rim session will not just end there, at some point someone is going to be probed to the ultimate pleasure of it.

The gay porn industry is thriving on bareback for sales even while showing disclaimers in the opening sequence of DVDs and streams identifying HIV risking and encouraging testing and single partners; the challenge is that that disclaimer only runs for a 30 second or so period while the rest of the movie sometimes up to two hours long is all about the ass and dick of it thus almost killing the important message.

Antigay (un)bareback anal sex abhorrence

The very bareback issue and the sex police of religious fanatics have sought to capitalise on the matter to enhance their push for maintaining a 486 year old buggery law with all its amendments and adjustments in between. Anal sex bareback or not is not the untidy affair as some such as Dr Wayne West of the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society JCHS has sought to present it to his loyal following and misguided or ignorant persons. He has sought to use the thin lining nature of the area to suggest we are deserving of an HIV as the transmission will be greater which is true but so it is also for the vagina provided if the penetrating partner is already positive. But intellectual dishonesty is part and parcel of the strategy even by so called Christians who misplace God’s purpose to promote hate.

Encourage monogamous or outer-course sexual activity as an option more

Even monogamous unions with uninfected partners and trust have to also consider safer sex issues I suggest; as safety and hygiene are crucial especially the latter but I get the impression that such other considerations are not part and parcel of the MSM interventions more forcefully. Suggesting non-penetrative sexual activity via a penis seems all but missing from the scheme of things is one is to take into account the discourse on sexual matters with younger MSM. I have been trying via my blogs to promote proper anal health but one blogger is not enough and I do not get the feeling

The message has to be repeated more loudly in terms of the risks involved and more openly about barebacking; after all buggery is not proven by mere eyesight but a physical examination by a doctor providing that the accused did not take a shower or enema in between the accusation, the arrest or detention pursuant to preparing the doctors’ report; a report premised on the thinking of no barrier sex and residual materials left behind in or around the anus or sphincter muscle. The doctor’s report unfortunately even in today’s world is still prepared on a thinking of no condoms used in the act in the first instance, it is usually after the examination or during that the harvested samples or culture related spermicidal findings that in the comments section of the standard form the doctor may make a note of the presence of spermicidal material to indicate a condom was present. The reluctance by the NGOs and the national program to openly speak to anal penetration way more forcefully seems a little ridiculous or near unfounded to me in addressing risky behaviour linked to men who are going that route for sexual pleasure.

More anon

Peace & tolerance

H

also see:

Safer rimming or anilingus .......... tips & suggestions

Anal sex mistakes gay men makes ..... some suggestions 

Anal: Should you go back there? 

Oh really! ............ Penile/anal penetration is NOT SEX Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society?

Ginnalship or common sense really Espeut on the definition of rape?

If we’re to follow Catholic priest & sometimes environmentalist Peter Espeut he like Dr Wayne West of the fanatical crew at the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society, JCHS we would be led to believe the ‘gay agenda’ is on in earnest. Somehow there is some invisible hand as enacted through the lobbyists to supposedly homosexualise everyone and everything else while how conveniently nearly a 100% overlooking the clerical abuse matters in his own church let alone the rapid succession of cases in recent months involving all different kinds of church denominations. We don’t see large mobilization efforts to block the roads or cram central locations such as Half Way Tree for that but let it be a matter on ‘gay rights’ of if the victims of the sexual abuse were boys and the call for blood would have been much louder; they might even try to twin that with some homo-paedophile intent with the law reform agenda so as to justify their argument; deception indeed even from so called men of God who only use piety to fool the public.

The ongoing sexual offences review has come to a juncture of the definition of rape but not for the first time before under previous government administrations. The hot button issue is how to carefully define what is rape as for many years men are not covered under rape, minors are also not covered in terms of buggery committed on them by an adult where there is obviously no consent involved on the minor’s part by the mere fact it involves a minor. For years lobbyists have been making this point but roadblocks such as a strategy change from asking for a full repeal of buggery to an amendment (the much more sensible option from the start) have only sought to delay and skew the thrust, this despite the savings law clause being in effect prior to the replacing of section three of the constitution with the charter of rights. The draft of that charter in 1999 up to about 2002 or so had a discrimination protection clause related to sexual orientation protection feature but was vigorously fought by people such as Espeut, Shirley Richards and the two times convicted Reverend Al Miller. So folks such as Espeut are still stuck in the old language land of repeal instead of amendment which to me is middle ground in all this. Despite we have a middle ground buttressed by consent considerations involving adults while offering better protection for minors outside of a carnal abuse and child care and protection acts religious crack pots who make the rest of the church look bad still vehemently resist.

Espeut’s article in the Gleaner on Ginnalship shows up the fallacy but his lack or stridency in the church abuse department is disturbing to say the least and especially in his own church that for hundreds of years it is surmised has covered up members of the priesthood abusing boys in particular; lest we forget the very Catholics got involved in running brothels in England in the fourteenth century at one point and made a financial killing under Popes such as Gregory VII who monopolised marriage in 1037 and charged hefty fees for special aristocratic dispensations for cousin to cousin unions via an ecclesiastical seventh degree of consanguinity law. Seems Espeut wants to police us all as previous popes have attempted.

He tried to sound concerned about the ongoing clerical abuse matter in a radio interview on Newstalk 93FM but his tone sounded more discomforted in the interview than really concerned as if he had to discuss the matter as he was called upon to do so or he tried to pass it off as if it was another denomination’s problem and not his, thankfully the hosts of the show brought him back to reality as they suggested it is the catholic church that seems to have set the benchmark for said abuse. This is bearing in mind the denial of said abuse in Jamaica is ongoing by the establishment of the church here in the form of the local Bishop. But cover ups are usually well preserved by well cloaked devices and people often wrapped in piety in this case as God’s representatives on earth do not engage in such things.

Espeut claims among other things that:

"Placing all these other activities under the category of 'sexual intercourse' puts them on equal footing with penis-vagina penetration, and normalises them. Changing the definition of rape to include forced anal sex will imply that consensual buggery should be legal, and is a samfie attempt to legalise buggery through the back door. That is why J-FLAG and the pro-gay public defender support the redefinition.

But what is the injury that the redefinition is supposed to redress? Currently, men who sexually impose themselves upon other men can be charged with 'grievous sexual assault', which carries a maximum penalty on summary conviction in the parish court of a prison term not exceeding three years, and on conviction in the circuit court, to imprisonment for life or other penalties in the discretion of the judge, but not less than a 15-year prison term.

Buggery itself carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. The crime of rape (forced vaginal penetration), as currently defined, carries a maximum penalty of imprisonment for life.

But it is not hard to see the ginnalship. What it will really do is provide the grounds for an argument to equalise and legalise and normalise all forms of sexual intercourse, including buggery, as long as there is consent of all the parties, and that is why the LGBTQI activists and all the libertarians have taken to the airwaves and the print media to support it.

And it is no surprise that the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society and other Christian groups have quickly come out against this attempt to normalise what they consider to be abnormal, unnatural and bestial acts; and predictably, this has drawn the fire of anti-Christian elements in the media. We have our culture wars here in Jamaica, too!

If the goal is to equalise in law the punishment of forced anal sex and forced vaginal sex, the obvious and easiest approach is to equalise the penalties for rape (forced vaginal sex) and grievous sexual assault (which includes forced anal sex and many other things besides)."

Espeut tries the outside looking in strategy when it comes to the JCHS yet he supports them wholeheartedly as it is well known. He also suggested the Sunday February 5 on RJR FM’s That’s a Rap weekend news review show that to even out the disparity between buggery, grievous sexual assault and marital rape considerations then all three should have the same punishment, in other words increasing buggery’s seven to ten year sentences to life imprisonment similar to rape when tried in the circuit/jury courts. At the parish court level judges are limited to a maximum of seven years if parties are found guilty. He does not want the limitation of rape of vaginal intercourse only to change despite the clear common sense of it all staring us all in the face while leaving out the abuse of boys via forced anal penetration.

Espeut among other things said:

“The penalties for the different offence are widely different; the solution would be make the penalties more equal without changing the definition (rape) ........ because you see if we change the definition of rape to include anal penetration but you see rape is normally accepted with consent but without consent that’s the crime.

So if you make anal sex rape then what you’re suggesting is that is possible to have anal sex/buggery with consent and therefore the people who are against this are quite correct, that to redefine rape to include anal sex does in fact by definition anal sex with consent legal and that is the source of the problem.

It seems to me that the solution would be make the penalties for all of these things equivalent and then we won’t have a problem.”

He continued:

“The LGBT people are looking for an opportunity to legalise buggery and to call rape to include anal sex into rape will provide that opportunity and therefore people are not going to go for it.........”

This is despite there is also no concept of rape in the offences against the persons act, and the over arching considerations of personal choice via consent, a matter to be determined by the very parties involved but folks like Espeut want to continue to police our choices and indeed bodies if he could more as which hole we should plug. It is pitiful this is the backwardness we still have to contend with in the twenty first century. He also claims that the implied marginalization of boys, girls in some context and women too in others the only way to solve that is to increase the punishment, so punish away because I am pure thinking comes through yet again. Higher penalties for supposed sexual sins will deal with the marginalization in his eyes.

And so what is wrong with entering the BACK DOOR! as Espeut puts it when as ADULTS with CONSENT we so choose to do? He can come stand by my door and peek through my keyhole and see the dick go in.

SMH

More anon

Peace & tolerance

H

also see:

Rev Peter Espeut | Backlash And 'Gaylash' claims he is not a Trump supporter

Peter Espeut told to 'Don't Dress Up Homophobia As Science' 

Is this a joke .... Church group denies gay bias

More gay marriage paranoia & hijacking of the homosexual debate by fanatics 2014

and the lunacy as well in: Reverend Espeut, West says “Homophobia” was invented to abuse Christians as hate speech and War of words between pro & anti gay activists on HIV matters .......... what hypocrisy is this? (prior to the Professor Bain conflict of interest explosion)

When did anyone ask for gay marriage rights in Jamaica when we can't get basic tolerance ......... more smokescreen to deny recognition 2014

more sex police mess: Theocracy indeed sex police at SDA operated hospital

Safer sex week 2017 ................

The National Family Planning Board Sexual and Reproductive Health Agency (NFPB-SRHA) hopes to make sex even safer this Valentine’s Day during their annual observance of Safer Sex Week from February 12 to 18.

To commemorate Safer Sex Week, the agency will be hosting a Health Fair tomorrow, Valentine’s Day, at the Prison Oval in Spanish Town, St Catherine, at which the public will have access to family planning methods, including condoms, free HIV testing, and other health checks and Valentine’s Day treats.

The theme for this year’s observance is “Condom + Another Contraceptive = #UltimateProtection”, which underscores the agency’s push for dual contraceptive use. Condoms are an effective method to protect against pregnancy, HIV and other STIs, but according to the NFPB-SRHA, it is always best to have a back-up method such as the pill, the injection or an intra-uterine device.

Regrettably, Jamaicans, particularly those within the 15-29 age group, are not practising safe sex every time. This is evident in the latest data in the 2016 UNAIDS Prevention Gap Report which found that the highest increase of new HIV infections is within that age group, the agency said. Additionally, one per cent of all live births in Jamaica are to adolescent girls, many of whom reported that their pregnancy was either mistimed or unwanted.

To address this trend, the agency is imploring Jamaicans to ensure that they, and their partners, are fully protected before engaging in sex, and as a result, the activities planned for Safer Sex Week are aimed at increasing dual method use for all ages.

The health fair will feature performances by the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission and will be hosted by comedian Christopher “Johnny” Daley. This will be the first official activity as the NFPB-SRHA celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2017.

But as usual the business of anal sex between consenting gay adults is quietly slid under the radar so as not to avoid any noise from fanatical religious voices; while the NFPB and others seem to want an overflow of the messaging to gay men to come from heteronormatively tinged social marketing efforts.

Sad that this is the nonsense that still obtains and with the talk sometimes openly by more younger gay men in practising bareback sex as it is seen seemingly to be more attractive given the proliferation of gay porn which tacitly legitimizes it. 

also see:

No gays allowed at freaky party with one sided bi-erasue by The National Family Planning Board (NFPB)

Sex-ed does not say have sex — NFPB head

But the same NFPB folks as indicated in the post above showed up their lack of understanding in a sense on the issues of MSM sex, risk and a refusal on the face of it to engage bisexual persons who may have wanted to attend the planned freaky party then.

In the meantime I want to encourage persons to go get tested if one is engaged in; barebacking is a challenge though tempting and although we don't see folks suffering via visible AIDS related/opportunistic infections anymore complacency might be an issue not properly addressed with the millennials and younger.

Peace & tolerance

H

Donation to MSM weed-whacker project ..................

examples of previous machines

In a follow up to a previous post on the weed whacker income generating project and subsequent posts has in effect led to a donation in the form of a second hand machine. The group of seven men and two women who among other things have been doing creative things to eek out a living via selling small items, juices, alcohol at parties and street dances while juggling landscaping jobs when they come available. It was in December a cash donation came through via a church rally by a church group indeed an interfaith group of sorts, twenty five thousand, $25,000 came in as promised by the group of which I am a sitting member in working with the participants.

See this previous post on that donation: Second time donations from church penny concert/rally for weed-whacking income generating .............

Those funds have since been used to spruce up the existing three working machines and acquiring gas for backup for the participants, most of whom were former homeless or displaced MSM//trans/lesbian persons who were forced to relocate after different challenges came their way from as far as 2010.

The individual donor in this instance who asked not to be named when I indicated I was going to do a post on the gift saw the previous posts in scanning online for something totally different but followed up with a phone call which in turn led to the follow up with the almost brand new machine in good working condition. The 9 participants in the informal project have been rotating three machines that sometimes break down from time to time. Three persons who had left for other ways to turn a buck returned to the project after some struggle. Logistics also can cause an issue although that is somewhat settled as persons time their clients and scheduling so the clashes with persons is lessened. The gentleman who lives in upper St Andrew said he had recently relocated to a new home and found a new machine in his garage whilst unpacking and packing for the move. He was intent on selling it in the classifieds but was moved to donate it instead after he was convinced by what he saw on the blog(s) and subsequent conversations with myself and so on.

Potential client

I asked if he would be interested in having the landscaping services extended to him in his new home but he hesitated and I retreated in pursuing that one and he also said he has his team of workmen at his old and new residence. A thank you email and letter has been sent to the gentleman and the machine when we checked it on Saturday last was working pretty well. He enquired if the suggested replication exercise into Clarendon had been successful to which I responded that the logistics is still an issue in terms of places to stay outside their regular working geography.

Other donations

Another such cash donation via Paypal came in just after the Christmas holidays as well with has since been accounted for and converted to the tune of $JA14, 000. Another stash of relevant items also was brought to hand such as rakes, brooms, dust masks, heavy duty gloves and related tools. Those donations were in response to an email sent to selected persons and who responded positively other customers both gay and straight have been pitching in outside of the project effort as the satisfaction in the customer service experience is pleasing. The improved scheduling, the timely phone/text communications with clients at around the time when it may be suspected persons are ready for trimming the verge also helps as customers like the personal touch.

Ironically there has been very little homophobic responses to the participants maybe that could be due to the masculine presentation (despite some skin bleaching) of the assigned males involved and despite the butch identified nature of the two females they are seen as ‘one of the boys’ for all intents and purposes. There has been some encouraging of the males to reduce the skin bleaching business so as to be able to convince clients to have trust and faith in them but that has not been easily received by the fellas. It is refreshing to see something positive in the homeless department that seems to be working without major hitches, lord knows there is an urgent need for some sensible answers to some of the nonsense over the years. While monied NGOs look the other way.

On behalf of the participants in the weed whacking income generating project thanks to all who have taken the time to donate and follow up on the project and allowing the participants to conduct landscape services and the attempted replication exercise is still in the works for Clarendon despite the hick-ups.

Peace & tolerance

H

“Each one reach one” indeed is the theme as I had suggested some years ago and we unofficially use with Babbie Mason’s song of the same name to boot. Good that some Christians are doing it the right way and embracing those who are not of them. What would Jesus do indeed, in direct opposite to some fanatics who are only making the church body look stupid as they sit there and allow it to be so.

Peace & tolerance

H

also see:

Bad gas & the weed-whacking project

Christmas nyamings, donation presentation & MSM weed-whacker project update

Penny Concert/Rally raises funds in part for MSM Weed-whacking Project

INTERFAITH GROUP PLEDGES CONTINUED SUPPORT FOR ST CATHERINE HOMELESS MSM

Homeless MSM populations treated over the Christmas season 2013

BUSINESS DOWNTURN FOR THE WEED-WHACKING PROJECT FOR FORMER DISPLACED ST CATHERINE MSM 2014

Historical gay sex convictions in New Zealand to be wiped

As we in Jamaica continue to quibble after decades about the definition of rape and whether or not to decriminalize buggery and such other jurisdictions are getting the job done in terms of fixing the breach to gay men over so many years in error.

It was just some days ago that the folks in the United Kingdom also pardoned men with buggery running into the thousands who will benefit from such an action.

Yet we want to hold on to a 486 year old legislation simply because politicians are afraid to do the sensible thing.

New Zealand has said it will move to quash historical convictions for consensual sex between men.

Amy Adams

Justice Minister Amy Adams said an application process will be introduced and cases will be judged individually.

In 1986 when the Homosexual Law Reform Act was passed, sex between men above 16 years old was decriminalised.

But convictions for consensual sex between men prior to that still appear in criminal history checks and may have to be disclosed in job applications.

Ms Adams said the government intends to introduce legislation to implement the scheme in the coming months. About 1,000 people could be eligible to apply, according to New Zealand media reports.
'Stigma and prejudice'

A petition was introduced to parliament last July, asking for a process to reverse those convictions brought before 1986 and for an apology from the government.

On Thursday, Ms Adams apologised while addressing reporters.

"Although we can never fully undo the impact on the lives of those affected, this new scheme will provide a pathway for their convictions to be expunged," Ms Adams said.

"It means people will be treated as if they had never been convicted, and removes the ongoing stigma and prejudice that can arise from convictions for homosexual offences."

Only convictions between consenting adult men will be quashed, Ms Adams said, not those where the acts are still illegal today.

Britain announced it would pardon thousands of men convicted of offences that once criminalised homosexuality last year and a 2012 bill allowed those with historical convictions for consensual gay sex to apply to have them disregarded.

meanwhile locally here is some of the nonsense we have to contend with for example some of the comments on just the mere suggestion by the UN that rape should be redefined to reflect anal sex than just mere vaginal penetration:

Observer poll results February 2017

It is a little heart rending to watch countries that once criminalised buggery or anal sex with consent now rightsizing their legislation and going further to quash convictions that qualify while we fiddle with buggery. As a gay man who has been burnt by this buggery act I know all too well the sensitivities involved.

I am happy for the men who will benefit from this quashing in New Zealand.

Peace & tolerance

H

also see:

Thousands of gay men in the UK pardoned for past convictions of gross indecency

J-FLAG call to broaden definition of sexual intercourse

Defintition of sex business back on the agenda again

POLL RESULTS: Gov't should ignore UN recommendation to change definition of sexual intercourse

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Sixty-nine per cent of the 752 respondents to a recent OBSERVER ONLINE poll said the government should not yield to the United Nations (UN) recommendation to broaden Jamaica’s definition of sexual course.

The call came last week after UNDP Senior Human Rights Adviser in Jamaica Birgit Gerstenberg told a Parliamentary committee meeting at Gordon House that the UN was recommending other forms, such as penetration of the mouth, anal intercourse or penetration by non-sex organs and objects (except for medical purposes) be considered.

J-FLAG supported the move saying that “the current definition of sexual intercourse, which was crafted in 2009 is “inaccurate”, adding that “it is unfortunate that we have allowed our laws to treat rape of some persons as more severe than rape of others.”

Policy and Advocacy Manager at J-FLAG, Glenroy Murray, argued that the definition of ‘sexual intercourse’ contained in Section 2 of the Sexual Offences Act is explicitly gender and orifice specific, explaining that “sexual intercourse is distinct from anal intercourse and consequently the absence of consent for sexual intercourse connotes the offence of rape, whereas the defence of consent is not available for the crime of anal intercourse (buggery). Similarly, the current definition excludes oral copulation from the rubric of ‘sexual intercourse’ and instead considers it a part of a distinct sexual offence which is ‘grievous sexual assault’”.

“Having a definition of rape that is accurate and reflective of the ways in which people are raped is essential to guaranteeing equality before the law as provided for in section 13 (3)(g) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms,” Murray argued, adding that this is the only way to equally and adequately protect children, women and men from all forms of sexual violence and abuse.

Meanwhile, the UN’s recommendation has left OBSERVER ONLINE readers in a furore, saying that the organization has a “hidden agenda”.

One OBSERVER ONLINE reader said that the recommendation was “utter rubbish” as “sexual intercourse is only via the way of the vagina and penis” and that” those two body parts are the only way that a child can be conceived.”

The reader further warned the Minister of Justice, Delroy Chuck, and the government to not “fall for this trick by the UN... they have a hidden agenda.”

But amid the uproar, some readers supported the move, with one reader adding that the “article makes good common sense they should go do a redefinition along those lines immediately.”

Another added that, “the law need to change because some of these big men/women are forcing under age boys/girls into doing oral sex. Especially the rapist men dem.”

“I agree” said another reader, “our definition needs to be broadened so that many more people can be convicted for sexual immorality.”

Justice Minister Delroy Chuck has since instructed a law reform team to work on a "perfect definition" of rape that will satisfy the UN and also the Jamaican public.

Shoemaker Gully homeless problems move southwards

The age old issue of mostly young MSM/transgender individuals has moved southwards along the near three mile stretch of the rain water runoff infrastructure. A police raid yesterday of the area after numerous complaints some of which were hinted to in previous posts had unintended consequences as Half Way Tree Road traffic was held up for a short time as raging members of the homeless argued with angry passers-by while the cops tried to keep the peace. Accusations are that since the persons had been removed from the top end of the Gully in the New Kingston business district proper even after said attempts by another set of cops in December 2014 they returned there but since made to move after comments at a townhall meeting by a former police commissioner was followed up with a raid. Since the persons have shifted their use of the gully robberies have increased nearby and according to the police communication unit several personal effects of persons including drivers’ licenses and so on were said to be in the possession of the persons.

The section along Half Way Tree road seems to be now homeless central also known as Kencot Gully for the most part but this is not new as historically it stood as a living spot for decades from the days when the nearby Northern Caribbean University, NCU previously the Highgate Chocolate Factory corporate offices and the car park for the adjoining art Gallery. The gully which runs into an area of Kingston known as Kencot also featured in early HIV/AIDS interventions in the 1990s when Jamaica AIDS Support, JAS (for LIFE was added way later to its name) had its early offices in the area close to the gully on Osbourne Road. So much so that the early GLABCOM typed meetings and support groups were impacted directly alongside the makeshift hospice care facility also. Populations would seek services from JAS and vice versa as outreach teams conduct street based engagements. So we can conclude history is effectively repeating itself but with way newer blood. Older gay men such as myself who are watching this closely are somewhat baffled yet not surprised as it is telling in some respects or an indictment on aging NGOs who knowing the issues or have years of data sitting on have simply not acted as they ought to meet some of this with a residential type structure however small. There has always been an unease as far as I can remember whenever there is a suggestion that said aging NGOs deal with homelessness directly, for the life of me why I just do not know.

Nationwide radio also carried the story in their newscast and interviewed a man who claimed he was the victim of the persons in the gully who cross dress who said he was approached by one of them who asked for some money only for a weapon to be pulled on him against which he retaliated and attempted to defend himself, he said he tried to box (slap in the face) the person but the exchange ended as the intended party made good his escape. 

A robbery at gunpoint also occurred earlier this year nearby the National Works Agency nearby on Half Way Tree road allegedly and at other spots so much so that Jamaica Observer’s cartoonist Clovis captured the issue in his one of his stereotypical caricature of gays as bleached faced yet dark skin tone persons looking masculine in tone but wearing impy-skimpy outfits. ‘Where will this end?’ is a question coming to hand yet again as the cycle is so regular some just simply dismiss the matter and indeed the group of persons as worthless. Jamie Rose, who was among the onlookers, revealed that he was robbed twice by the men who took his cellular phone and $18,000 from his pocket.

“I was robbed... coming from a meeting. As soon as I turned the corner, there was a young man that stopped me and said, ‘Goodnight, Sir, can I have your phone, please?’ and I said ‘For what?’ And him reach for a knife and I double my fist to thump him in his mouth, and there was another one behind me who said, ‘Sir, this could be dangerous.’

“When I looked at his waist there was a gun,” Rose continued, lamenting that it is not safe to walk along the road at night.

Rose told the Observer that he believed the robbers were the same residents of the gully as he recognised their “accent”.

With frustration etched on his face, he said the men should be removed from the gully.

“They need to get them out of the area. I don’t care where they want to go. I know at least four persons that have been robbed, including one of my church brothers,” the man said, adding that the homeless homosexuals are “plagues”.

scenes from the melee (Jamaica Observer)

We have been told of fund raising efforts both online and otherwise repeatedly and in some instances campaigns get stuck in limbo or monies go unaccounted for as the effort is stopped midway and no accountability comes forth to say where the monies are or what has it been used for; while the populations stagnate, all kinds of videos and photo shoots have occurred yet the problem has not changed, all kinds of so called artists claim to have launched albums where part proceeds were to go to some yet no proceeds seem to come (or the albums simply have not sold enough) and all this happening as a new wave of incoming from western Jamaica (more historical repetition) linked to lotto scamming as persons either close to or directly involved have found themselves left in the cold as kingpins fall from grace and once cash rich persons cannot ‘take care’ of drag queen broods and so on. Then there is the business of excuses from places such as JFLAG and Dwayne’s House and or Colour Pink groups all who claim they are “registered” NGOs to deal with homeless but claim they cannot find a place to do such, yet the same JFLAG wants all to simply forget the fact that the shelter pilot they watched close without protest before their very eyes was transformed into their then office.

But who cares about the least amongst us really, they are just dregs in the mix as the protected privileged thrive pursuant to ‘LGBT rights’ and yet again the blaring classism stares us all in the face. Some 11 to 14 different proposals were around at the time when the Safe House Pilot project in 2009 was dubiously closed without a truthful explanation yet former board members of Jamaica AIDS Support for Life engage in trifle tokenism claiming to be collecting canned items while obviously using the photos for attention seeking, a practice that thankfully is now being seen by more persons as deceptive. The preying on the homeless is not new but with social media around these days it is easily done and hardly gets questioned as some do not want to ruffle the feathers or upset the apple cart. The police seem more in control of the situation this time around as the persons for the most part were allowed to vent as members of the public hurled negative comments and homophobic remarks.

The other difficulty with this is that other miscreants also commit infractions in the area and in New Kingston and the age old blame game continues, not that there are not bad eggs in the populations but the trick is who to believe or not. So the gully populations get the blame whether or not for robberies and such, then there is the clash between cruisers and the homeless also continues. A recent standoff in December was evidence of that but it never led to any serious injuries as one before. Those who have been helped in some way have either lost the assistance or are too few to be counted as success stories while the majority are left to fend for themselves. Never leave out the ‘subject of study’ element with academia who only use the populations for academic sport and intellectual masturbation which include documentary productions which are shot taken back and no reciprocal assistance as said producers make good on the professional profile enhancement.

It is not as if solutions are not on paper somewhere but unwilling NGOs and such thrive on but do not want to get their hands dirty with this. This unwillingness is not lost on the public.

Peace & tolerance

H