Will Desmond’s McKenzie’s $515M allocation per MP announcement include MSM/transgender homeless?

So the grandstanding in parliament continues, during the sectoral debate Minster Desmond McKenzie announced with some stridency that all members’ of parliament will effectively receive some $515M or $90M per constituency. The money is to supposedly help with funeral grants (recently raised from $70,000 to $80,000) a benefit that is already available from the National Insurance Scheme, NIS, aiding the indigent with housing and the elderly, what about the poor relief funds, are they being managed properly that it would require this additional half a billion tranche; it seems totally unnecessary one to me is the purchase of tablets for ministers, why oh why is that relevant to be bought by taxpayers’ money when Ministers earn millions and can purchase their own devices alongside the already owned smartphones, lest we forget the phone bill scandal where the ministry phones were abused and overused running into millions of dollars. In the previous PNP administration we saw the same nonsense at that time the then minister claimed that monies would have been pulled from the National Housing Trust, HNT to aid the general homeless populations. To date no such evidence has come forth that this has been done or the excuse may be that the administration changed so those ideas would have been scrapped; the usual lack of continuity continue as ministers want the credit instead of simply doing what is right.

Commendable that he announced (added to my annoucementitis) a drop centre in Hanover and or a homeless shelter in Westmoreland alongside earlier announcements of infirmaries in rural Jamaica and golden age homes to be spruced up but the goodly minsters seems not to be interested or is aware of previous administrations that have also made such announcements as evidenced in the photos below.

That space on upper King Street nearing the York Park Fire station designated as a drop in and homeless shelter mix, I guess because it was done under the PNP government it won’t get the follow-up as it should be, what also is concerning is on the very sign are the logos of international agencies in support and it begs the question whether or not these agencies follow up on these things to make sure that the respective projects are carried through albeit their names are attached. Who cares really? If we cannot deal with homelessness generally maybe it may be a near waste of time to ask for the decent things to happen.

Minister's McKenzie's speech said in part:

"I wish to announce that:

• J$400 million will be made available for Indigent Housing, Social Assistance,

 Education and Funeral Grants.

• J$115 million will be devoted to a special fund to assist Councillors to respond decisively to victims of fire in their Divisions, and there will also be allocations to Councillors to assist with the establishment of official offices in their Divisions.

• We will also provide all Councillors and the Mayor of Portmore with a tablet to enhance the execution of their duties.

• Let me break it down, Mr. Speaker. Each Councillor will be able to access

 J$500,000 per year, to provide needy constituents with Housing Assistance Grants.

• J$90 million will be made available to care for those who live in indigent houses across Jamaica.

• An additional J$1.7 million will be made available to each Local Authority to assist with Educational Grants.

• An additional J$1.5 million will be made available to each Local Authority for the provision of Funeral Grants.

• There are homes that take in and care for homeless persons, Mr. Speaker. We are going to provide financial assistance to these homes, in amounts relative to their size and the number of people they serve.

• The processing of applications for all these benefits will be managed by the Poor Relief Departments of the Municipal Corporations, to ensure that all verification and compliance requirements are adhered to.

• Mr. Speaker, this is a new day in Local Government. I have been in the system for 39 years, and I know the challenges elected and administrative officials face.

 In meeting with them since my appointment as Minister, I have heard the cry across the political divide, for something new and lasting to happen in Local Government.

• It is happening now, Mr. Speaker. The Councillors are seeing the change. The staff of the Local Authorities are seeing the change. There are Members of Parliament who served in Local Government, such as the Member from South-Western St. Andrew, the Minister of Science, Energy and Technology read the rest HERE

With the heavy rains hitting the island we all know how the cycle goes year in year out, monies have to be diverted from elsewhere barring the Finance Ministry aiding as well to repair flooded areas, damaged homes and lost cattle especially in deep rural communities.

In addition the Social Development Commission SDC is also to receive some millions as well that is yet to be announcement probably at the post debate press conference yet administration after administration makes these grandiose announcements supposedly to appease the poor and the usual follow-up issues come up. Very little improvement seems forthcoming in troubled communities, prisons, places of safety are bursting at the seams and identified spaces for general homelessness interventions just stand unused complete with a sign albeit with a sign listed all the sponsors which read as a who’s who of ‘human rights’ and donor organizations which calls into question what is there purpose really? It seems more like a grand show and administrative rape for the least amongst us to look good. Don’t they ask questions of these beneficiaries outside of elegant statistics? As for powerful monied churches save and except for a few selfless ones who seem to care more about their own piety and survival linking themselves to political parties but check the streets generally and what do you see?

Aren’t members of parliament already in the receipt of dispersements of constituency funds and can they not call on the Ministry of Finance if it comes to the test for fires, unexpected disasters and other emergencies. Why not use the already available state systems and channels, I get very nervous when members’ of parliament are allowed or are perceived to be handling state funds with a near free hand under the guise of helping the less fortunate, if we cannot seem to solve the well known corruption in the first place as some cover their tracks quite nicely then why shouldn’t this latest money bag gift be not another outlet for dipping into. Contractor General Reports after reports have shown us that some simply cannot be trusted yet no one except J.A.G Smith way back in the day under the JLP was imprisoned. We all saw what happened with the Cuban light bulb scandal with one Spencer.

Julian Robinson MP and PNP General Secretary is the representative in the problem plagued New Kingston business district also had said he wanted to supposedly assist the homeless MSM/trans yet to date very little help has even trickled and or the usual tokenism comes to mind despite several media reports of challenges and previous blog posts. Minister McKenzie has not proven to me he has evolved on homosexuality; remember this one from the 2011 electioneering in Montego Bay?

Also see:

The PNP won some say as they supposedly promised a conscience vote which ever materialised. Not that the elderly are not due assistance but the homeless MSM/trans have been on the radar for decades overall but more so within the last eight years or so, so much so that they have made international news time and time again while others just use them for all kinds of reasons. There is no state operated housing to meet some of the challenges from the consequences of forced evictions or self imposed exile due to homophobia wrapped up sometimes in violence. In a previous post the impacted individual still is by me as he tries to get a job in one of the call centres around for now.

Within the last two weeks alone clashes with members of the public continue with the homeless persons in the Shoemaker/Kencot gullies, not to mention the previous CISOCA operation to remove a fourteen year old from the batch which in turn suggests the age cohort is getting younger again as in times past; commensurately in western Jamaica by Dump Up beach yet again as that side of the country where some of the MSM/trans get involved in commercial sex work the occasional accident or clash occurs.

NGOs seem not interested in any full response yet still even as they ask for ‘equality’ lest we forget or do not know equality does not mean justice. Only in this week there was an alleged altercation with members of the Kingston group and members of the public.

Peace & tolerance

H

also see:

And MSM continue to be ready material for data collection ..... what about the interventions? 

Shelter Coming For Homeless Gays reports the Gleaner 

Housing Minister seeks funds for Shelter from NHT Money ....... Will the LGBT Homeless be Assisted?

Gay man fears death in lock-up

A  man pleaded guilty to three offences in the St Andrew Parish Court because he is tired of being physically abused in jail. He was suspected to be one of the persons robbing cruisers and other members of the public alike in a phone stealing ring. Sadly the other homeless/displaced MSM/transgender get the blame which is why many stay away from helping them apart from the neglect altogether by the NGOs outside of the usual tokenism.

Samuel Martin pleaded guilty to larceny from a person, malicious destruction of property, and robbery with aggravation from November when he was arrested and subsequent preliminary hearings and entering his plea.

Martin said he pleaded guilty for the offences, not because he has committed the acts, but because he has sustained significant abuse at the Half-Way Tree Police Station lock-up.

"They don't like we because we are homosexuals, Your Honour," Martin said.

"Last night, a get three tump inna mi forehead," he told the judge.

The presiding judge told Martin that his reasons for pleading guilty were wrong.

"The only reason for you to plead guilty is if you do what you are accused of," the judge said.


CELL PHONE

Martin responded: "Your Honour, mi cyah tek di beating anymore. Mi just waan leave Half-Way Tree. Dem beat mi up dis morning."

As the court clerk read the charges, Martin shouted "Guilty".

He was charged for stealing a Samsung S7 Galaxy smartphone, damaging a van, and robbing a man of $10,000.

Martin said: "I'm a former hairdresser on Princess Street, downton. Dem a set mi up fi dead."

The judge remanded him until the December 2, 2018, when he will be sentenced.

"Yuh Honour, dem a go kill mi," Martin exclaimed, before being taken to lock-up.

Other incidents have come to hand and I carried a couple as well which strongly suggest something else is going on with other gay or not miscreants.

In 2011 'Gabriel' was featured in a Jamaica Observer video on men doing women's work, traditionally some jobs in Jamaica are not seen as 'men's work', but not to these men plying their trade as beauticians in downtown Kingston...

Peace & tolerance

H

also see:

Another phone thief held, forces victim at knifepoint to unlock phone

Man robbed of smartphone by homeless gays

Cruiser robbed of phone on Tom Redcom Avenue

Thug decoy targeting cruisers again, some take action

Anti Gay National Parents' Teachers Assc of Jamaica Owes Taxes!

In a previous post (NPTAJ And Anti-Gay Groups Want J-FLAG Kept Out Of Schools & deal with homelessness)
I had looked at the National Parents' Teachers Association of Jamaica, NPTJA's homophobic stance on teaching on sexual orientation in schools. They just showed up their ignorance and misguided thinking on many fronts. At the time, sadly on JFLAG's part it was the second time most publicly was told off to go and address homelessness by an outside entity and individual, the first major one being this one: Mutabaruka: JFLAG & gov’t should do more for homeless gays 

"The NPTAJ rejects totally, the offer made by J-FLAG to conduct counselling in schools," Hannam said. J-FLAG had said it is willing to help the education ministry and guidance counsellors improve their assistance to students who have problems with their sexuality. J-FLAG's offer of assistance came after news that some of the more than 800 guidance counsellors in the school system are refusing to help students identified as gay or lesbian. In a statement, the lobby group's executive director, Dane Lewis, said he is deeply concerned at the reports and is calling for the education ministry to intervene with strategies to equip counsellors to help students.

The national parent-teacher body has, however, viewed J-FLAG's offer with much suspicion, noting that the offer appears to be another attempt by J-FLAG to introduce elements of what was uprooted from a Home and Family Life (HFLE) curriculum early last year. The HFLE curriculum was the subject of much controversy after material highlighting homosexuality was discovered in a text book prescribed by the curriculum. Now with the issue of some guidance counselors allegedly refusing to offer counsel to lesbian and gay students igniting much public debate, the NPTAJ said it is rejecting any attempt by J-FLAG to offer counselling in schools.

Hannam argued that, "If JFLAG is serious about counselling, they can offer those services privately." He also called on the Ministry to reject the offer made by the gay-rights group. "Let the guidance counsellors do their job," he said.

now comes news of the entity NPTAJ OWES TAXES!, a group that is supposed to be wedded to Christian principles to include Christ's teaching on what is due unto to Caesar is due unto Caesar yet they have the gumption to chastise others.

meanwhile:

The National Parent-Teacher Association of Jamaica Ltd (NPTAJ) has been left embarrassed after the Registrar of Companies initiated court action to get annual returns that have not been submitted since the organisation was established in 2006.

A bill of $110,000 representing the accumulation of the yearly fees to file the returns plus penalties for not doing so has also been brought against the agency.

"Of course it is embarrassing," Everton Hannam, the president, told The Gleaner after being questioned about the impending Supreme Court trial. The application was filed last year.

Judith Ramlogan, the registrar of companies, said that the her agency was "constrained" to bring the lawsuit because the NPTAJ did not respond to notices sent to it.

Among the explanations given by the parent-teacher group was that the current executive did not know that the agency was expected to file returns.

The NPTAJ is a not-for-profit non-governmental organisation, and the president said: "We were not aware there were some returns that had to be filed annually. We don't pay persons; we don't have that kind of expenses."

"It was also due to the fact," he added, "that there needed to have been some changes with the directorship. A number of the initial directors would have migrated, and so that affected the transferring of information to the present team."

The registrar said that those reasons are the most common among delinquent entities. "When they (companies) register, we indicate to them what they need to do to stay current. That is largely ignored until a matter such as this arises."

The NPTAJ said that it is now pushing to settle the issue out of court, but because the issue is already before the Supreme Court, it will have to appear for the start of the trial to indicate its position to the judge.

... Looking at how to avoid filing returns
Going forward, however, Hannam said that the National Parent-Teacher Association of Jamaica's structures would have to be reviewed. They have to examine how to avoid filing the returns.

But, according to Ramlogan, there's no provision to avoid filing annual returns. "I know the argument is that they don't earn any money, but once you form a company, you are constrained to file annual returns."

The annual return is a document that gives a snapshot of any changes in the company over the year. Ramlogan said that changes are coming, however, to make it easier for making reports if there are no changes. 

Getting a little sick and tired of the hypocritical piety by some yet their integrity cannot stand up to scrutiny, where oh where is the National Integrity Commission Action on this one?

Peace & tolerance

H

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

Remembering Mama Kirk Lester ten years later

An old brethren reminded me of the unfortunate passing of Kirk Lester some time ago and even in death problems flowed. It was his funeral service in Manchester that made international news after his funeral was marred by members of the public with a homophobic intent. The profiling of persons by some in a rural part of the country who were not used to seeing gender non conforming persons up close and personal was too much to bear by some who felt justified in the mobbing. 

Kirk was loved by many including me as one of the resident DJs at the legendary Club Heavens in Discovery Bay; we worked for some 4 plus years up to his murder. The mobbing exercise at the church service was one of those pivotal moments in my life when I felt anything goes and if that day was the day then so be it.

Most persons ran out of the church especially after the shots were heard which was supposedly fired by copes in the air to disperse the crowd even as an officer’s gun fell to the floor and missing for a time I am told afterwards; myself and few others were still inside the church singing and the pastor rightfully condemned the desecration of God’s house after a earlier stone throwing disruption while precipitated the attack; he defended to decision to host the funeral. Thankfully the undertaker who was there was armed.

I ended up becoming an impromptu bearer of the casket alongside veterans such as Nurse Bleary as the edited version of the processional hymn was sung; frankly I came to a funeral not a fracas.

Here is the deacon in question who condemned the desecration of the church speaking in an interview on the matter from CVM TV, he still believed homosexuality is a sin but the bigger picture is that we must not judge or the physical building of the church being attacked in anyway, principle is principle I guess. Pay particular attention to the use of ‘lifestyle’ (1:30) by one of the pastors interviewed yet no addressing the persons who attacked the church which is very telling.

The bus from Kingston was stoned as the driver tried to negotiate a turn and the back glass door was hit, there no physical injuries. I stepped out into the melee looking for my ride who had parked far up the road to avoid damage but strangely I guess to my mode of dress which was the formal shirt and tie & such I was not profiled so I made my way to the vehicle; as far as the eyes could see persons were coming with a vengeance looking for ‘battyman’ others who stayed to either defend the situation as some did pulling machetes from their motor vehicles and soon ran off as the crowd was too overwhelming.

Pink News UK had carried this:

A funeral service in the Carribean island of Jamaica has been disrupted by a mob attempting to attack a group of mourners.

The Easter Sunday funeral of Kirk Wayne Lester, a Jamaican businessman, was attended by “gay cross-dressers,” reports Real Jamaica Radio.

A mob surrounded the church and attacked people thought to be gay with knives, stones and bottles.

Missiles where thrown through the windows.

The island’s gay rights movement, the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All Sexuals and Gays (J-Flag), is forced to operate underground and anonymously.

It called on police to find the people who attacked the church in Mandeville.

Pressure group Jamaicans for Justice agreed that a urgent police investigation is needed.

JFJ said it is deeply disturbed by yet another incident involving mob violence against gay people latest incident is particularly daring because it occurred during a church service.

ENDS

Helping the homeless

Kirk was known to offer shelter assistance in the permission of the owners of the Heavens Club at the time mostly for young drag queens and transpersons, in other words what was a shelter during the week became club central on a weekend and a church for the then Sunshine Cathedral Jamaica, SCJ where the paraphernalia would simply be brought out from a box and it’s halleluHER! He deliberately hosted drag shows for those inclined in that population as a form of escape from the challenges and his own drag character a knock off of Tina Turner was hilarious and the infamous wig throwing drama. He hosted several local, Caribbean and international drag divas at Club Heavens and was instrumental in keeping that tradition of LGBT entertainment relevant for the younger generations at the time.

He particularly liked Shirley Bassey’s ‘Hey Big Spender’ and Tina Turner’s ‘Simply The Best’ with his own animated take on it that often left us in stitches after the performance; sadly due to the no camera taking policy at LGBT events in those years, a carryover from the problems at the present mainstay Club Entourage in Kingston so I have no material to give you an idea of the good times that were had. It seems these days however we don’t have that kind of energy with the younger generations but life goes on. Kirk volunteered for several NGOs and operated a business apart from the Club and often provided temporary job opportunities for some of the housed persons and others who asked for help.

Time flies eh

Good people dat

Rest Mama Kirk you did what you could.

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

Approximately $JA800 Million To Support National HIV-AIDS Response

The Government has allocated $744.22 million to support the National HIV-AIDS response in Jamaica.

Details are given in the 2017-18 Estimates of Expenditure now before the House of Representatives.

The objective of the project is to reduce AIDS-related morbidity and mortality with effective biomedical and supporting interventions, and reduce new HIV infections among key populations through behavioural and structural interventions.

For the 2017-18 fiscal year, it is anticipated that 12,500 men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM) will be reached with HIV-prevention programmes (defined package of services); 3,400 transgenders reached with HIV-prevention programmes (defined package of services); 8,375 MSM to receive an HIV test and know their results; and 11,083 female sex workers (FSWs) reached with HIV-prevention programmes (defined package of services).

Plans are also in place to develop and implement a joint civil society advocacy initiative geared at increasing demand for legal reform and an effective redress mechanism by December 2017.

SEVERAL REACHED

As of June 2016, 2,349 MSM were reached with HIV-prevention programmes (defined package of services); 255 transgenders were reached with HIV prevention programmes (defined package of services); and 828 MSM received an HIV test and know their results during the reporting period.

Also during the reporting period, 87 transgenders received an HIV test and know their results; during the reporting period 765 MSM received a syphilis test and their results; 550 adults and children initiated antiretroviral therapy, with an undetectable viral load at 12 months; and 6,571 adults and children initiated antiretroviral therapy, who had at least one viral load test during the last 12 months.

The project is funded by the Government of Jamaica and Global Fund.

Meanwhile:

It's documentary season again it seems that the powers that be on the homeless front are still concentrated on immediate service needs more so than a proper shelter.

Preview these:

and

If we expect to bring down infection rates with an intertwined MSM vs transgender persons who blend in to get acceptance then we better think again. Hardly any sensible discourse comes out on other sub-cultural matters such as the prison connection, substitutional sex and so on including cruising psychologies.

If the project is to reduce AIDS-related morbidity and mortality with effective biomedical and supporting interventions, and reduce new HIV infections among key populations through behavioural and structural interventions I hope they really target the persons involved and not just expect the usual spin offs from the heteronormative driven social marketing.

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

Wig malfunctions via pavement pounding concerns

Others like me are now concerned about the frequency in which wig malfunctions are factoring in a series of incidents within the last several months, not to mention those we don’t hear about. A general scan of the issue results in some four or so such challenges very close to each other. It was only earlier this month as outlined in this previous post in Old Harbour where a cross dresser if not transwoman found herself in problems after her wig fell off during an encounter with her male client which eventually led to a mobbing of sorts which was reportedly captured on video, unfortunately the video has mysteriously disappeared but some wiz kid is going to find it somewhere. See: Male commercial sex worker, homeless problems & a mob

The latest installment however allegedly occurred in New Kingston just opposite the infamous Shoemaker Gully on the night on Thursday February 9 where one of the younger male commercial sex workers in the business was providing services to man but was exposed as either due to over exuberance her wig fell off.

‘She’ had to beat a hasty retreat while leaving behind personal effects and so on with a fuming dissatisfied male client vowing to find her or her friends and physically harming them. Other persons who were passing by and came across the melee ended up laughing at the man while asking him if he did not know that the general area was a ‘battyman’ strip where men dress as women and sell. This is not the first time that such a melee has occurred in the general area and indeed in Old Harbour or New Kingston and its environs, that now infamous Barbie incident in Clarendon comes to mind.

There is a suggestion that the resident mentorship within the ranks of the commercial sex worker class seems missing or dormant and or younger persons are trying their hand at turning a buck by pounding the pavement without guidance and are learning by trial and error. Problem is such trial and errors are all too risky and with disinterested NGOs around the spike in frequency in a sense is not surprising. The absence of older queens such as U-girl who was shot and died on April 12, 2016 in a bizarre twist of wrongful identity, being in the wrong place at the wrong time and consequences when another queen commits an infraction and someone else pays the price. See a previous entry: Legendary U-girl passes.

But there ought to be something else a simple thing called common sense as if one is to work the road then one old, young or inexperienced should better prepare themselves; a wig of all things if not ‘breasts’ In another previous post on sister blog GLBTQ Jamaica I looked at a another type of presentation by way of wardrobe or anatomy malfunction matter. A transgender commercial sex worker found herself in exactly such a position over the Christmas/New Year’s holidays as she plied her trade in New Kingston; more commercial sex workers or persons who rely on it to make some money come out to pound the pavement. She reportedly met a man where they left the hip strip to handle business but the man after fondling her breasts went further, the victim tried the old ‘I am having my menstruation’ excuse to avoid the man going too far physically via fondling but he would have none of it. The man while not assaulting the trans woman did eventually got his hands at her genitalia area only to discover a bulge instead of an expected flat surface.

Things got tense as the man reacted violently but thankfully the young tranny (the friendly version of the word) being petite in body was able to elude her raging attacker as she was not wearing her shoes in the form of a six inch pump. She made her way along the eastern section of Grenada Crescent judge a couple hundred yards from the infamous Shoemaker Gully where the homeless transgender/MSM reside. That part of town has always had some issues over time from shots fired at persons to men pretending to be clients but who unleash an attack when they get close in proximity to the intended target(s). How does transgender sex workers navigate this problem if you will?

Using the menstrual cycle excuse is the oldest trick in the book and is a little unethical if you ask me as it is not the truth but then again the client is seeking a fantasy to be fulfilled in the real world so the seller has to try to conform to the needs of the paying customer. Oral sex is usually the way out to avoid too much body contact and fondling, trouble with that based on engaging some persons is that some men are turned on via touching and exploration to strengthen their arousal and such. It was only December 17 this blog observed International Day against Violence towards Sex Workers and it was subjects like this that came up in an online social media group call. The ins and outs of this came out quick loudly.

I am reminded of the murder of transgender vogue queen in the US Amy Mizrahi whose body was found days later under a bed in a motel, as the news spread locally many were disturbed at the murder then in the nineties and the subject came up in terms of safety for street workers. Then the stabbing incident in 2003 of the popular and well liked “Browning” who was killed by a soldier who was a client of hers on the night in question, she too used the menstrual cycle excuse as part of negotiations to guide the client towards oral sex but the attempt failed based on the word allegedly of the perpetrator who was said to be bragging that he killed a ‘battyman’ dressed in women’s clothes. Browning managed to escape from the car and ran and scaled a fence but he pursued her until he got her. Being a soldier with a stronger frame he was able to overpower her and then stabbed her repeatedly and left the body. She was discovered by other walkers and cruisers of the day.

Folding ones penis under between the legs is not necessarily an option that works especially if the genitalia is of a larger size of 8 inches, with walking and so on things can shift and a thong or a similar clothing apparatus may not guarantee a vaginal appearing presentation to supposedly ‘fool’ or trick male clients. “Coming out” as pre-operative transgender is not an option in Jamaica just yet as the level of knowledge is simply not there when compared to our counterparts per say in Cuba. They already have a national program via CENESEX that hosts serials and TV PSAs and so on highlighting transgender issues long before the wave came in the United States and eventually worldwide. They also offer some reassignment surgery services for free essentially for qualified persons but the longstanding problem in that department is the quality of the healing and other post surgery treatments, many prefer Thailand as the place of choice for transitioning.

Another post also spoke to the outcomes that can come when poor ‘services’ are rendered where a rimming exercise went haywire as the recipient got upset. Also see: Stabbed for not probing

I am not able to get to some of the guys myself given my scheduling and DJ work but somebody needs to talk to the guys about better preparation out there and where oh where is the Sex Worker Association of Jamaica, SWAJ or others for that matter?

More anon

Peace & tolerance

H

also see:

Men rushed in New Kingston .... police hold 4 2011 

Male CSW slapped up for ‘poor services’ 

Male Hookers Not a Threat says the Star News ...... 2010

Robbers target male hookers 2010

SHOTS FIRED AT HOMELESS GAYS IN KINGSTON, HOMELESS SITUATION SPIRALING OUT OF CONTROL 2010 (wordpress blog)

INCREASE IN MALE HOOKERS - More men doing 'business' in New Kingston says the Star ............ but

Star News sensationalizes male commercial sex worker issues ......... 2012

Male commercial sex worker, homeless problems & a mob

Male hooker's wig falls off during oral sex - CSW chased by angry mob

Not even a few days have passed as outlined in the immediate post to this on our homeless trans/MSM counterparts that now comes another challenge not to mention everything else before and in between. The group in New Kingston have been forced to move due to some of their own getting involved in alleged criminal activity and other miscreants who also rob persons in the business district and its environs yet the Shoemaker Gully populations get blamed as well. The populations were forced to relocate after police pressure following the comments made by a previous police commissioner at a town-hall meeting where residents in New Kingston and some business interests expressed concerns about the robberies and public disorder. Clashes with the public especially male passers-by are legendary as those who pound the pavement in a bid to make some money target anything that effectively resemble an assigned male.

The patrons at the nearby Club Escape or further on the hip strip on Knutsford Boulevard are too numerous to mention, other DJ colleagues of mine mostly heterosexuals and others keep me abreast of the drama and indeed sometimes it is embarrassing as they often ask why can’t ‘your kind’ behave better or other such remarks. The whole ugly situation of the effectively abandoned homeless populations has left a major stain on our image and affects or continue to affect the credibility of the LGBT lobby, some have seen the class differentiation as telling as it seems it is only the privileged and upper classes who are deemed worthy of such rights while the homeless or least amongst us are mere cannon fodder in the fight.

However

The Star News carried this one from St Catherine:

A male prostitute, who disguised himself as a female, had to run for his life when his wig fell off, while giving sexual favours to a man in Old Harbour, St Catherine, earlier this week.

His customer, who was being given a blow job, reportedly thought his conquest was a female, but got the shock of his life when he was approaching a climax.

"Him did a get a head (oral sex) from a sexily dressed person when it sweet him, and him grab on the long flowing wig. It drop off inna him hand and him realised that it was a man," a male resident said.

THE STAR understands that the man on the receiving end made an alarm, which alerted persons in the once sleepy fishing village that the prostitute was a male. An angry mob quickly descended on the prostitute, who reportedly made a mad dash for the Old Harbour Police Station, some 200 metres away.

Inspector Richards, sub-officer in charge of the station, confirmed that the man was rescued by the police, despite pleas from the mob that he be released for them to "deal with his case".

"This man could be a gold medallist fi Jamaica," a business operator said.

"Him really fast and move like a true athlete. Dem couldn't catch him. Only God can help this area."

Police personnel in the area also told THE STAR that the Old Harbour area is now being overrun by sex workers

ENDS

To separate the wheat from the tears is the trouble as indicated above so all get lumped as disgusting or unworthy of any interventions by an already snobbish if not careless and disinterested NGO community; despite promises made but broken, mere tokenism repeatedly, so called fundraising online yet no real results and others more interesting with image building than dealing with lives interrupted. Registration status seems more important and impressive looking social media profiles which is only more elegance than evidence. No formal response from JFLAG and company at the time of this post and I am not expecting any such. As for the recently concluded Beyond Homophobia conference at the University of the West Indies in December 2016 it just shows the contrast between the privileged who resort to escapism to ignore or gloss over homeless challenges and also starkly highlight the wide class divide so profoundly.

Hope remains while company is true however and a few individuals are looking at this with some solutions but not for the first time though.

Peace & tolerance needed indeed

H 

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