More JCHS HIV is a Gay Disease Nonsense & Gay Themed TV Content

What was supposed to be a discussion on gay content on free-to-air on television and the blocking of some of it nearly descended into something else. Guests on the show was Diana McCaulay more known as an Environmentalist, Kay Osbourne former Television Jamaica station manager (the same who featured in the gay ad/PSA fiasco and the JFJ Sex Ed course drama) and the star of the hour Dr Wayne West of the antigay Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society, JCHS. Thanks to the host of Beyond the Headlines on RJR Dionne Jackson Miller the veering off into the realm of paranoia was averted as she sought to reign in Dr Wayne West from making his HIV is gay disease case. The matter was also dealt with in the Star News publication as to the reaction to gay themes on the Disney Channel; given that Disney is a cable channel and not free-to-air so persons have a choice and can tailor their consumption by deciding which channels they want, unlike the old days of cable when cable operators offered a list of channels without an option to tailor it.

Meanwhile Dr Wayne West in his opening salvo went down the road of lung cancer instead of sticking to the script, as he tried to do a health risk comparison that nearly went off the rails, I was in stitches as he continued claiming that smoking caused cancer but people still smoke and so on and that they are 23 times likely to get it. Then came this:

“But the fact of the matter is if you are male who has intimate relationships with other males, your risk of HIV and syphilis for example in New York as studies have shown can be as high as 140 to 1 ............”

Thankfully Dionne Jackson Miller intervened most appropriately redeeming the going off the deep end journey when she asked:

“Tell me the point you’re making on this one though Dr Wayne West.” (She repeated)

But Dr Wayne West was not deterred by her efforts for a moment as he continued his clear strategy; leaving many of us by virtue of the comments that flowed on Twitter and asking what the hell does that has to do with the topic of discussion? Alternative facts I suppose.

“I think it is irresponsible to argue that there is a right to behaviour that has some high risk with disease,” he continued and tried to out shout the host but Mrs Miller as experienced as is yet again was forced to pull on the reigns.

“Hold on, I do beg your pardon ....... in relation to the specific issues though how do you balance the [West tries to interrupt] the specific issue we are talking about, about content?”

West replies:

“............Because we are showing cartoons to children and suggesting that same sex behaviour is a variant of normal like heterosexual behaviour when the health risk of same sex behaviour are so staggering.”

I don’t know how the angels in heaven did hear me laughing; Dr West continued the nonsense as Mrs Miller asked:

“When you say ‘we are showing’ though meaning what?”

He said such as Disney and he then went on to suggest someone should take a lawsuit against them although this is supposed to be a cable channel that persons can choose not to engage and also conveniently overlooking the right of freedom of choice and speech, virtues held dear by Americans. The shock of the comment was palpable as the short silence or dead airtime suggested.

The Mrs Miller intervened nicely:

“This is a cable channel, you have to choose to accept it [West says in America] no, no in Jamaica as well. It’s cable you have to choose to have it in your house.”

Even though the point was driven home so forcefully the man still insists, you could hear the pity in Mrs Miller’s cadence of speech almost to suggest why did I invite this idiot to my show?

West continued:

“I gather that our local stations FLOW did not show some series which had some same sex thing in it and I think that is a wise decision. I wish someone in the United States will take a class action suit against Disney for ...........” [Audio got muffled but the giggling was audible]

Poor Mrs Miller tried her best as before as she intervened to redeem the obviously appearing descent into madness:

“Dr West, Dr West, Dr West its cable channel, you don’t have to have it in your house; you choose to have it .............. What I’m trying to get from you Dr West in a society like ours then especially with different channels, how do you balance it because I hear your concerns about the type of content full stop, right, but given the fact that we do live in a pluralistic society and we live in a society with different kinds of channels so for example I have friends who say they don’t have cable at all in their house, it’s just free-to-air, so what do you think we need to start with?”

Bizarrely this is the same man who suggested a class action lawsuit to supposedly stop Disney just moments before he then says:

“I don’t like censoring I think it’s dangerous for a democratic society ....”

Mrs Miller’s reaction represented the rest of us I imagine as I did die with laughter and some pity when she asked:

“You don’t like censoring!”

West responded:

“I don’t like to censor .... I think it’s a dangerous path to take, I think you can show various shows one o’clock or two o’clock in the morning accordingly to protect children but I really disagree with censoring information, I think it is a dangerous path follow.

What I would argue is that we must discuss these things in a sensible manner [Mrs Miller asked meaning what?] there are no rights to disease producing behaviour, that is ridiculous.”

Mrs Miller’s audible exhale was enough even as Kay Osbourne and Diana McCaulay tried to get a word in and as my laughter and no doubt others in earshot of this must have been loud at this point. Mrs Miller tried to bring some sense back into the exchange. She sought to reiterate the parameters of the discussion.

“Let me just say one thing I don’t want to spend time on this issue of men having sex with men and AIDS because Dr West I am sure you know it and it has been said to you many times it is a very nuanced discussion, it relates to access to care and discrimination and many other issues that I don’t have time to discuss in this context.”

Diana McCaulay opened with:

“I too don’t want to discuss the HIV question, that’s not what I was asked to talk about.”

She continued that it was hilarious to hear Dr West say he does not support censorship when he wants to decide what is suitable for audiences, even in a situation where persons will drive to a movie and pay to see a film. Meanwhile Miss Kay Osbourne’s remarks were not convincing to me at all, she seemed to dancing between the raindrops given her history and previous comments on homosexuality and the aforementioned hint to the gay ad/PSA court case and her decision not to air the clip which eventually led to a lawsuit. She attempted to try to strike a balance on tolerance but struggled somewhat on how it should be. She then went on to link heterosexual sex with also a disease components, that of cervical cancer and HPV. She tried to make the point that not only gay men who supposed are ‘harmed’ by disease through sexual activity.

Mrs Miller yet again had to intervene:

“Before the discussion goes entirely off the rail [laughter as Miss Osbourne tries to balance her point as she puts it] and I am now shutting the door on STDs and AIDS [laughter] let me try and get ....... we do have plenty of those discussion but in the context of what we are talking about here let me go back to Diana McCaulay”

She said she was offended by the materialism as a new religion, reality television but said her offendedness does not go to the realm of pure censorship. The point was made by Mrs Miller on the Broadcasting Commission’s guidelines as to content for free-to-air television and of course radio. Miss Osbourne said that managers of content have an enormous task to act as gatekeepers to filter some of the materials; frankly it was a laborious listening experience as she sounded as if she was searching for the words.

Then Dr Wayne West jumped off into the nihilistic arguments as usual, claiming Americans have come to accept an anything goes or no absolute morality. He claimed that if we are prepared to accept nihilism then we must be prepared to accept anything in the public square. He said that the filter therefore is up to the individual in their private space to determine what comes in a bid “protect our children from this ethos of nihilism.”

He continued that if the public square is nihilistic then the law is or will become nihilistic (the usual moral panic strategy) and it will be imposed upon children through the education curricula (referencing the HFLE fiasco and Sex Ed course uproar in 2013/4/5).

Mrs Miller brought back the Broadcasting Commission’s regulations on the table and reminded everyone that free-to-air already has strong filters. West linked the Judaeo-Christian framework to the reasons why those regulations are there and sought to suggest that the whittling away of that by itself will lead to moral decay. He claims that the framework has been rejected by the USA & Canada (homosexuality is foreign import ploy) which what causes the nihilism but Mrs Macaulay nailed it when she said that if we are to follow that framework women would be stoned for adultery and she continued that framing that there is no right or wrong in North American countries that are tolerant of diversity is simply not true. West went into the whole bit on the theocracy of Israel while leaving out the Levitical imperative and the holiness codes for a short period of time; finally he seems to have come to some enlightenment however small. He continued that a Christian world view informed those preparations of regulations.

When asked about where we are today and sections of the public objecting to gay content West said that he still does not agree with censorship in terms of speech and that it would be difficult to restrict content in other areas and then he went back on the education curricula and that perception of sneaky methods to bring in homosexuality through the back door. He claimed yet again that if society is nihilistic then homosexuality will work its way in (more moral panic drama). The usual conflation of freedom to be homosexual is directly correlated to nihilism is just plain worn out. It came up in the recent sexual offences bill debate submissions and hinted to in the affidavit in the pending constitutional challenge of the buggery law.

Television Jamaica of which RJR – Radio Jamaica Radio is a part of the recent communications group 1834 Limited already blocks and censor certain content, including some gay themes. The American series Empire continue to have its gay scenes especially those of an intimate nature blocked, despite it appears at 10pm. The daytime South African soap opera import Generations (I am a big fan) also has a gay couple but the screenplay deliberately avoid kissing scenes even after a near successful vigorous campaign to block such and demands of writing out of the story line gay themes. The show then went the route of opposite sex cheating by one of the parties in a bid to bisexualize the character but it seems not to have worked well. The gay couple still remains.

I find it ridiculous frankly that some persons are so still so fearful of just gay themes on a screen as if to suggest there is some invisible gamma ray that is going to ‘homosexualise’ all those who come into view of those themes on screen. A good question to ask of Dr West is if both parties (MSM) are HIV negative and they have anal sex without a condom or a condom but it broke what will they pass? It would be good to get the answer to that one.

Finally

Diana McCaulay ended the interview by redeeming the situation, she suggested that the fearmongering has to stop and while the speech may not be violent it can push physical violence.

More anon

Peace & tolerance

H

Supt - Robberies reduced in New Kingston since KSAC Removal on Homeless MSM/Trans Population

The St Andrew Central Police are reporting a significant reduction in robberies in New Kingston and its environs, following the removal of a group of homeless men and drug addicts from the Shoemaker Gully.

The police and the Kingston & St Andrew Corporation (KSAC) moved the men in December.

Senior Superintendent Fitz Bailey, head of the St Andrew Central Police, told RJR News on Sunday that round-the-clock monitoring of the gully by the police has resulted in a major reduction in robberies.

It is not clear as to where the remaining populations are after the removal of the accused miscreants in the group. Some were seen over the weekend during carnival street activities and others have been attending health care facilities for services.

Challenges also have presented themselves in St Catherine as of late as a community member who tried to assist one individual ran into some opposition from neighbours claiming they recognize the assisted party from previous media reports.

Liguanea, Mona

SSP Bailey also disclosed that the police have launched a search for a group of bikers, linked to robberies in the division, especially in the Mona and Liguanea communities.

Over the past several weeks, the bikers have stolen money, cellular phones and jewellery from their victims.

"They would look out for persons who go to the bank, and they would seize the opportunity... ladies, if they have their handbag, they would grab it... and they have... persons at different locations, and so they would just mount the bikes and disappear," he explained.

He said two of the bikes were seized last week.

He added, however, that there is also a car being used in some of these robberies.

SSP Bailey is urging members of the public to be on the look-out for the men and to call the police if they are spotted.

Supt Murdock showing the gully and the new measures implemented in December 2014

It has been suggested as well that some interventions are on the way (yet again) we always seem to hear announcements regarding this group but no or very little implementation similar to successive administrations nice promises but no follow through.

Hope that the least amongst us can finally get some well deserved attention.

Peace and tolerance

H

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

Even as the Outameni purchase furore following the use of National Housing Trust, NHT funds to do projects outside of its scope lingers in the minds of many Jamaicans here comes another report of another minister wanting to deep into the kitty of funds contributed by us and that many of us (while able to get a refund 7 years after the year contributed) may never get a house as the mortgages are out of this world.

Ethical questions also come to mind as is it right to use those surplus NHT funds as a feeding tree for government department failures for social services?

RJR carried this report following the finance debate in parliament:

The Government is again exploring the possibility of using funds from the National Housing Trust, NHT, to finance another project.

This was revealed yesterday during the meeting of Parliament's Standing Finance Committee which examined the 2015/2016 Estimates of Expenditure. Local Government Minister Noel Arscott, announced plans for the rehabilitation of a building, which would be used as a transitional shelter in downtown Kingston, to cater to the increasing number of homeless persons in Jamaica.

Mr Arscott was responding to questions from Opposition Spokesman on Local Government, Desmond McKenzie.
He stated that there are more than 1400 homeless persons islandwide with the Corporate Area accounting for more than 600. A building has been identified for the possible shelter but funds are needed. 

He said currently these funds are being sought from the NHT for the home located at Hanover Street. No figure on the estimated cost was presented.

Old Jamaica AIDS Support for Life site now demolished and where the Safe House pilot Project run by JASL was dubiously closed.

The present site for the problems with LGBT displaced and homeless persons (photo taken prior to them moving in the Shoemaker Gully in the business district)

Questions come to mind easily for me as the previous JLP administration has eyed this site for a shelter (not known if LGBT persons were to be included) yet the site as the photos above show taken in 2014 it is now a dump site for garbage, animals and even homeless persons use it as toilet.

What about this site on 167 King Street that has been identified as a building for homeless persons? 

Is this response from government for homelessness only a ploy for to avoid criticisms of the various departments failing in social services?

Will LGBT persons be allowed at the Hanover St given the troubles highlighted in the media over the last few years?

The member of parliament in the area Julian Robinson where the present homeless men reside for the most part also claimed to want to assist yet months after the spiraling of the group continues with no real meaningful interventions, 

Julian Robinson MP (left at a board meeting of Dwayne's House 2014)

also see 

MP Julian Robinson claims he wants help for New Kingston homeless gays and New Kingston Cop Proposes Shelter for Shoemaker Gully LGBT Homeless Population and And we continue to reap the world-wind for not addressing homelessness when it was manageable. Sad that while we ask for tolerance from the public it looks rather ugly from the side of government and powerful LGBT groups that this group of displaced and homeless are left to languish.

When will this issue in Kingston be dealt with even as numbers increase on the rest of the island?

A recent raid in December following a report of a disc jock who was robbed allegedly only serves to make matters worse as sympathies ebbed away by the actions of some of the men. In a media report - Drag queens trick, rob selector

Drag queens were recently used as decoy to distract a motorist, who was then abducted and robbed by a group of gays in New Kingston, The Star understands.

The victim, a selector, is furious as he seeks justice to recover his personal belongings, while describing the level of support by the authorities as unsatisfactory.

The selector recalled that while making his way down Trafalgar Road, two persons dressed as women walked into the path of his car and began dancing. The dancers, he said, entered his car through the back doors, pointed something at his head and told him to drive.

“Dem tell mi fi drive down a one way and we drive to a secluded car park. Mi a try negotiate wid dem but dem have cutlass and ting. One tek up mi phone off the front seat,” he revealed.

He was relieved of his jewellery and cash, while having to beg the perpetrators not to take his car.

“After everything happen and mi go a di police post, it tek mi half hour fi get anybody, di police lock up inside a sleep. Then when mi get through, mi afi wait a next 30 minutes for a vehicle to come from Half-Way Tree to go and look for the robbers dem,” the selector said.
“The police know some of dem by name, when we were driving we saw one of dem and di police call him and him say him never rob me, but him get $500 from the robbery.”

The St Andrew Central police confirmed that the matter is under investigation’s. The police also revealed that prior to the selector incident, a British citizen was robbed by drag queens of a high-end cell phone and $100,000.

Sigh.

A fund raising attempt to highlight the population's challenges called "I am Not a Fish" by one Carolyn Bick on Kickstarter has not met the target to do so:

The press release at the time in October 2014 said:

Hardly anyone can imagine being afraid of seeking urgently-needed healthcare for fear of being attacked or even killed. But that’s exactly what some people in Jamaica face every day.
Jermaine Burton, founder of the homeless, gay help and advocacy group The Colour Pink, remembers the day at Comprehensive Health Centre when she learned she was HIV-positive. Despite the grave news, her nurse warned her not to look upset when she left.

“I was crying,” said Burton, who identifies as a woman, and used to be homeless on the streets of Kingston. “[The nurse] said, ‘Don’t go out and cry, because, if you go out and cry, people are going to know you are HIV-positive’." Her life was at risk because she could be the next target target of Jamaica’s violent, deep-seated cultural prejudice against homosexuality. Since HIV/AIDS is associated with homosexuals in Jamaica those seeking treatment for HIV/AIDS aren’t safe. That’s because they risk assault and even death every time they leave a medical clinic.

While Jamaica's government offers treatment programs for citizens suffering from HIV/AIDS, many people in the LGBTQ community who are HIV-positive, or may be at risk, refuse to seek testing or treatment out of fear they will be killed over their sexual orientation.

This Kickstarter project is aptly named “Not a Fish” in defiance of this egregious and ongoing violation of basic human rights. The term 'fish' is a derogatory term for homosexual men in Jamaica among other insensitive labels these victims of society are slapped with every day. Carolyn Bick is seeking crowdfunding to complete a documentary about the struggles Jamaican MSMs (Men who have Sex with Men) and other Jamaicans along the LGBTQ spectrum face in obtaining proper health care safely and without retribution driven by primitive homophobia. She wants to document exactly what they go through when they try to get testing and treatment -- services available to everyone in the United States without a second thought for our personal safety.
This crowdfunding campaign ends on October 3, 2014.

The I am not a fish Kickstarter Page - http://kck.st/1tmZPOH

Only 34 backers pledged $1,570 out of a $7,000 goal.

Peace and tolerance

H

Jamaicans for Justice Slowly Recovers & Appoints an Interim Board

Dr Barry Wade 

The very foundation of human-rights lobby group Jamaicans For Justice was jolted by the public condemnation of a controversial sex-education programme which was introduced into six private children's homes and the subsequent resignation of four board members, including long-time faces Dr Carolyn Gomes (Carolyn Gomes resigns as JFJ Board Member, JFJ Apologises For controversial Sex Education Course) and Susan Goffe (Influential Susan Gofffe Resigns from JFJ .............New ED "If I Was Aware Of Sex-Ed Programme 'I Would No....)and executive director Kay Osborne in recent months.

The fallout prompted members of the 15-year-old organisation to call for an extraordinary board meeting, and it is coming out of that meeting that Dr Barry Wade and other interim board members were co-opted.

The other members of the board are Christine Dalrymple, Horace Levy, Michael Lumsden, Allan Martin, Carla Gulotta, David Silvera (treasurer of previous board), Clifton McKenzie (also a member of former board), Roje Malcolm and Susan Mah Leung Evans (who had both resigned from prior board).

Wade has cited the first order of business as being that of repairing the organisation's tarnished reputation.

"An advocacy group has to have credibility; it needs the support of civil society," Wade, who is the former general manager of the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica and the chairman of Environmental Solutions Limited, told The Gleaner. "If civil society are unsure of what we are about, then they won't support us. The present controversy has thrown a spanner in the way people see us and so rebuilding our image clearly is what we have to pay attention to. But it is not an event, it is a process."

Upcoming election

The appointment of a full board is expected to be undertaken within the next three months, when there will be a nomination process and election among the paying members, who currently stand at approximately 50 despite the number of persons on roll standing at somewhere in the hundreds. In the interim, however, Wade and his team will seek to get the organisation's house in order.

"This is a transitional period, so other than arranging for the election of a full board, it will be to steady the organisation and make sure that we fulfil all our obligations to our funding agencies and that we have the staff in place to continue," Wade shared. "With the resignation of the ED (executive director) there is a big gap in the organisation, and members of the organisation have volunteered to come in and help get things going again."

Wade, who is seriously considering offering himself up for the post of permanent chairman, believes the organisation will have to work feverishly to make up for lost time, but is confident that they can get back on course.

"We have to play catch-up because we have lost some time with all that has been going on and the resignations, but I have no doubt that we will be able to settle down pretty quickly," Wade reasoned.

Speaking on Beyond The Headlines on RJR yesterday Dr Wade also cleared up the controversial sex education fiasco in a sense that caused the implosion in the first place the perception that they were a cloak for gay organizations, he denied that allegation and went on to explain in a sense the materials delivered were for the instructors firstly then to selected teens for the cohort, also he went on to elaborate that there were sections of the materials that spoke to the illegality of buggery and the law but they recognized that the cohort may have children who were abused so they needed the course. "The material stated what was illegal ....... including what people find offensive anal sex" he said.

Dr Wade also said he did not believe the course was not inappropriate given the above reasons ".....the program was designed to help them avoid, protect themselves and of by chance and how to deal with it thereafter, how to report it." "It is a reality for children in Jamaica that many of them are buggered by adults and they have no recourse in institutions to adequately deal with it and it's that reality Jamaicans for Justice delivered a program with the help of the institutions to help the youngsters.

As for the CDA he said the remit of JFJ was to deal with the boards of the institutions and its their responsibility via the memorandum of understanding with the homes' management. Here I will have to disagree with Dr Wade as the law is clear on the vetting of courses and outsiders entering homes under the aegis of the CDA, the question that must be asked as I have done before if the Sunbeam Home as said publicly submitted in their monthly report the course activity then why did the CDA miss that to arrive at a conclusion of ignorance of a six month long course and why didn't the monitoring officers via conversations with the wards as the have direct access to them and can bypass the homes' management to do so could not ferrett any information regarding the course?

Did the CDA lie to the public when they claimed ignorance of the 6 or 7 month long course by JFJ?

Meanwhile some of the antigay voices who created mass hysteria about this via Jamaica CAUSE and the Professor Bain issue were obviously cautious and most hypocritical in my view in answering a question as to reestablish trust in Jamaicans for Justice in their answers, they steered clear of the sex education course as the facts slowly come forth despite it was not cleared by the constituted authority that being the CDA - Child Development Agency as required by law.

Daniel Thomas, president of the Love March Movement: A lot of damage has been done, so the group might even have to consider a name change. However, I won't dispute that the organisation has done some good work over the years, and nothing is impossible. It is critical that transparency and collaboration are ingredients that the new board will be willing to employ in the interest of the Jamaican people.

Betty-Ann Blaine, an advocate for children: This is a gentleman (Dr Barry Wade) who I have some knowledge about and I think has a reputable image. From my experience, I know that he is very passionate about social issues, including the plight of the poor, among other social ills. Clearly, he has a big job on his hands in restoring the trust of the Jamaican people and restoring the image of the organisation, but I am confident that it can happen. also see: The Deliberate Misuse of the “Sexual Grooming” Term by Antigay Fanatics to Promote Their Hysteria and Betty Ann Blaine Deliberately Conflates Same Gender Attraction & Child Abuse at Christian Anti Gay Mass Rally

Clifford Blake, deputy commissioner of police: I don't know much about the board ,so I wouldn't want to comment much on that, but we (Jamaica Constable Force) have worked well with past boards and we have no problem working with this current board, once it is in the best interest of the Jamaican people.

Bishop Rowan Edwards, immediate past president of the Jamaica Association of Full Gospel Churches: I thank God for this new board. I would hope that the leader has prepared himself to be scrutinized, to be guided and to collaborate. Everyone deserves a second chance and despite the damage that has been done, there is room for restoration. I also call on the Jamaican people to cooperate.

The funders Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition, CVCC of the sex education course are quiet as a mouse as Mrs Carolyn Gomes is their new Executive Director from as early as December 2013 I would have thought that despite the aura of the JFJ being lured or smoothered by a gay lobby that they would have categorically denied such claims but the incestuous nature of these coalitions once again makes identity separation near impossible. Thanks however to an active membership of JFJ they have taught us that transparency, fiduciary responsibility and good governance the very principles which made the JFJ what it is has won in a sense, some LGBTQ groups and individuals in Jamaica could learn a thing or two from all this.

I hope the JFJ does not flinch though from working with LGBT groups and individuals from now on but will be careful in its scrutiny and adaptation of areas they may want to cover. I Hope they can get over this perception as painted and set by the Gleaner when the story broke: Back-Door Deal - Gay Lobby Funds JFJ Sex Education Course, Slipped Into Children's Homes says Gleaner

also see:
More Overreaction to the Jamaicans for Justice Sex Education Course & Media Senationalism

Former JFJ Head Carolyn Gomes Distances Self From Controversial Sex Ed Material

Old Guard vs New Guard War of Words at JFJ on Sex Education Course that bypassed CDA

UPDATE August 4

KINGSTON, Jamaica:
Interim chairman of Jamaicans for Justice, Dr Barry Wade is today insisting that the interim board of the human rights lobby group was constitutionally appointed.

JFJ has been plunged into crisis over its unauthorised implementation of a sex education course in six privately-run children’s homes.

The human rights group has also been facing a leadership meltdown following mass resignations and counterclaims over who is responsible for the introduction of anal and oral sex content as part of the course.

The interim board was appointed last week during an emergency meeting of JFJ’s membership.

However, following the announcement, questions have been raised in some sectors about the constitutionality of the board.

According to the Interim Chairman, the group’s constitution gives remaining board members the authority to co-opt to the JFJ.

He says this is what was done for the interim board.

ENDS

UPDATE Press Release from JFJ on Interim Board 

Tuesday, August 5, 2014, Kingston, Jamaica

The interim Board of JFJ has been publicly challenged to state whether it is legitimately constituted. The following sets out the process by which the current directors of the Board came to their positions

JFJ was incorporated under the Companies Act on 15 October 1999. The Companies Act and more specifically its Articles of Association are the relevant governance instruments. The relevant sections of the Articles of Association that guided the process are Clauses 31, 45, 48 and 49.

Clause 31 provides that the minimum number of directors shall be seven, unless otherwise determined by a general meeting of the company.

Clause 45 provides that the directors may appoint any person to be a director, either to fill a casual vacancy or as an additional director. A director appointed under this provision holds office until the next annual general meeting and he or she shall be eligible for re-election.

The quorum for directors meetings is fixed by the directors but shall, if not fixed by the directors be three. (Clause 48)

During the course of the weeks and days leading up to the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) held on July 29, which had been called by the Board at the request of members, the number of directors fell below the minimum number of three. The resignations did not take place en bloc, but rather at different points in time, all prior to the date of the EGM. Clause 49 of the Articles was invoked.

Clause 49 provides: “The continuing directors may act notwithstanding any vacancy in their body, but, if and so long as their number is reduced below the number fixed by or pursuant to the articles of the company the necessary quorum of directors, the continuing directors or director may act for the purpose of increasing the number of directors to that number…

Following lengthy discussions of the developments in JFJ, the two remaining board members asked the members assembled at the EGM to indicate whom of their number were prepared to be co-opted to serve on an interim board. The purpose was to ensure a democratic input into the decisions that only the remaining 2 board members could exercise under Clause 49 of JFJ’s Articles of Association. The members present at the EGM indicated their preferences. The EGM was suspended and the existing Board members deliberated and made the appointments recommended by the members present at the EGM. The eight additional directors appointed brought the number of directors up to ten, above the minimum seven required for the full functioning of the Board.

The Board is an interim one because the provisions of Clause 45 limit the tenure of all of the members appointed by the remaining 2 directors till the next annual general meeting of JFJ.

The Board will focus on the following steps to be taken over the next three months to (a) review the recent developments, (b) steady the organisation, and (c) arrange for the holding of an annual general meeting in view of the provisions of Clause 45 of the Articles of Association.

The current Board is properly constituted under JFJ’s Articles of Association, with the full authority to conduct the business of the organization until the next annual general meeting, which in the normal course of events would be held in March or April next year. However, it was the view of the membership at the EGM and the decision of the current Board that it would be prudent to hold an AGM at the earliest possible date to allow for the election of a new Board of directors.

ENDS

The current board members are:

Dr. Barry Wade (Chairperson)
Christine Dalrymple (Secretary)
Susan Evans (Treasurer)
Horace Levy (also of JCSC)
Rodje Malcolm
Allan Martin
Michael Lumsden
Carla Gullotta (formerly of Amnesty Europe & CVCC)
Clifton McKenzie

Peace and tolerance

H

Non Governmental Organization Consultant says JLP suggested Referendum on Buggery is not a good idea

Reactions continue to come in on the suggested referendum on buggery in Jamaica alongside the decriminalization or legalization of marijuana, the Caribbean Court of Justice, CCJ and the queen as head of state by the opposition leader Andrew Holness of the Jamaica Labour Party during the week in his budget debate presentation in parliament, speaking on That’s a Wrap on Sunday April 27, 2014 a NGO consultant said the matter was too sensitive an issue to be placed in a referendum and of course I am in total agreement as it can be used as a political football as obviously it is going to be yet again an election item.

Judy Wedderburn said “I think it’s too far a personal and sensitive an issue; I am not convinced that it will not become and used as a cheap political propaganda tool in anything called a referendum which is really going to be an election issue, um, it’s too personal and too sensitive; I believe too that there are lots of good reasons; sectors of our community who are religious and other kinds of regions are adamant that it shall not be changed and the extent to which they will go my understanding and my knowledge is that they are often very well funded and they will take that particular campaign perhaps in a direction that will do more harm than good; so I think we have to find a way to get the government to take the leave, I would prefer to see it go to the parliament on a conscience vote in which individuals of whichever side can choose to consult with their constituents or, which they should but in the end it is their conscience vote which they can make I imagine without publicly declaring which side they’re on; but I believe it’s far too sensitive and personal an issue to be put in a referendum.

Kavan Gayle of the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union and member of the Jamaica Labour Party who was also a guest on the show hosted by Earl Moxam however said it’s a sensitive issue which can create too many distractions and we do not need these distractions at this time.

While I agree to in as far as the referendum being not a viable option at this time given where we are at as a nation with the issues surrounding homosexuality in general I have an issue with how Miss Wedderburn frames the conscience vote as although for the most part it is a secret ballot the religious voices who are vehemently opposed to homosexuality have insisted that if a conscience vote is used then it should be open and that they need to know who voted how which has left me most uncomforted; I thought the principle of voting overall was a private matter in as far as names are concerned and more so the count to see where the majority support lies. Furthermore the political sensitivities involved here continue to suggest that it is about winning elections in the final analysis; let us not forget the days of former Prime Minister P. J. Patterson despite rumours swirling over his head of his own sexual orientation and even open swipes at his character by some he played the “No Chi Chi man” card as well in two of his political campaigns when the infamous TOK song was used and he categorically denied that he was a homosexual to avoid public scrutiny I would imagine.

As the previous post outlines which detailed Mr Holness’s referendum suggestion Mrs Simpson Miller has a credibility issue in as far as her position on homosexuality is concerned and the suggested conscience vote owing to the fact that in October 20, 2009 she as opposition leader then sided with the ruling JLP on denying nay talk of gay marriage when no such rights were ever demanded by LGBT voices here in Jamaica.

Here is here piece:

"Mr Speaker when we accepted the final report from the joint select committee that were looking at the bill we were completely satisfied with their recommendation of a provision to restrict marriage and like relationships to one man and one woman within Jamaica and that the provision should be specifically spelt out so that there could be no ambiguity .......... yes one man one woman (laughter in the house) and if you are Jamaican and go overseas the same applies ..........."

also see: Opposition sides with Govt on No to same sex marriage (2009 post when the PNP was in opposition)

Dissent within the PNP has also occurred be they tacit or open as on Councillor made his position on behalf of his constituents quite clear recently while other more powerful voices in the party seem to be making light of their leader’s suggestion which is seen as an election promise, the talk show circuit has been abuzz for a short time in the days following the suggestion by Mr Holness as some persons have suggested they would go out and vote on it even though they have never participated in a general election before, some persons have gone as far as to tie in the Alpha Boys Home “sexual predatory” matter now in the public domain as made so by Youth Minister Lisa Hanna as gays trying to change boys into homosexuals so the referendum should go on so as to stop gays from taking over Jamaica.

But an old question I had posed immediately following the leadership debate in December 2011 when Mrs Simpson Miller made the suggested conscience vote is why suggest a conscience vote if one is not sure of winning it?

This vote on this sensitive matter can go against us I still fear as the PNP upon realising it will spend too much political capital on this and with all the best intentions in the world from “Sistah P” or Mama P may very well vote in the negative and then have as a defence that the people have spoken when challenged by the gay lobby, this is in keeping with pressure from foreign states with aid tied to rights and advocacy more than ever before whilst at the same time the economic cold war of sorts with China jostling for influence in this part of the world via the logistics hub investment and bearing in mind that their money does not come with such LGBT rights ties as prerequisites for future aid.

I would much prefer the matter be debated in full in the house, another parliamentary submission perhaps be made and this time no errors as the 1998 one had backed with evidenced based material including proper crisis incident reports (some of which I prepared and left in JFLAG’s archives) and the necessary motions be made in the houses of parliament.

We must not however forget the upcoming Supreme/Constitutional Court matter challenging the existing law by Javed Jaghai in November that too has implications for where the law may go following that ruling; whether there may be changes hence is a wait and see.

Meanwhile on the same afternoon session in Mr Holness's presentation it was revealed that government representatives met with LGBT activists as carried in a short piece in the Gleaner:

"Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller this afternoon said that she has sent one of her ministers to meet with members of the gay community.

Simpson Miller made the disclosure during a cross-talk with the Leader of the Opposition, Andrew Holness.

Holness, contributing to the 2014-2015 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives, said there is uncertainty in the gay community as to whether she will honour her promise to review the buggery law.

He has called for the prime minister to have Jamaicans vote on the issue in a referendum, adding that it would be good to have the matter addressed during the Local Government election due next year.

"Let's decide and move forward as a nation," Holness said.

He also said the Government should have Jamaicans vote on whether to keep The Queen as the head of State."

Peace and tolerance

H

Church defends Buggery Law ................

A legal show down is looming between a gay Jamaican man Javed Jaghai and several of the island's church groups, over the constitutionality of the sodomy law in Jamaica.

Lawyers representing a group of Christians - Christians United for Truth and Justice, filed an application before the Supreme Court on Friday seeking to join in the action filed by gay rights activist, Javed.

Another group comprising Christian attorneys - Lawyers Christian Fellowship, recently filed an application to join in the proceeding.

The Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society, has also filed an application to join, as various interest groups are strongly opposed to moves to strike down the law - jostle to enter the matter.

Jaghai filed his claim on February 7, in which he contends that the section of the Offences Against the Person Act which deals with buggery, is unconstitutional as it criminalises sexual relations between adult males.

He maintains that under the constitution he has the right to privacy which entitles him to express his sexual identity.

However, in its application, Christians United said the law is constitutional and should not be struck down

The other opposing parties also argued that the anti-sodomy law is valid and constitutional and should remain in place.

The competing parties will get a chance to make their case as to why they should be heard in the matter, when the court sits on June 25.

Gay rights groups locally and in the United States are keeping a close watch on the case as it is the first time that the constitutionality of the anti-sodomy law is being challenged in Jamaica.

Jaghai says that he decided to challenge the constitutionality of the law after he was kicked out of his house because of his sexual orientation.

The hearing on June 25 was expected to be purely procedural: to settle such matters as the trial date and what forms of evidence would be admitted. However, the religious group Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society (JCHS) has since applied to be joined as interested parties in the claim, on the ground that, inter alia, decriminalization of sodomy would adversely affect the freedom of religion of Jamaican Christians who would no longer be able condemn homosexuality as a sin. 

This argument is, of course, patently silly says lawyer Maurice Tomlinson whose tolerance ad challenge is being deliberated in the Constitutional Court. Christians can and do preach that many acts, such as adultery and pre-marital sex, are immoral, even though those activities have been legal for decades. Another expressed concern of the JCHS is that churches will be forced to perform same-sex marriages. Not only is this highly speculative and irrelevant to this claim, but the fact is that Anglican and Catholic churches do not perform marriages for divorced persons as that runs counter to their faith traditions. Similarly, in jurisdictions that have recognized marriage equality, churches are allowed to decide if/when they wish to celebrate same-sex unions.

The full reasons the JCHS provides for opposing the decriminalization of sodomy are listed below:

1) Homosexual activities would be facilitated and encouraged;

2) It will not be long before marriages between two persons of the same sex will be facilitated, encouraged and adopted;

3) The public promotion of the homosexual lifestyle will be permitted;

4) The right to freedom of expression, to freedom of thought, conscience, and belief will be adversely affected;

5) The right to seek, receive distribute or disseminate information, opinions, and ideas through any media will be adversely affected;

6) The right to equality before the law will be adversely affected;

7) The right to enjoy a healthy environment will be adversely affected;

8) The right to respect for and protection of private and family life, and privacy of the home, will be adversely affected;

9) The protection of privacy of communication will be adversely affected;

10) The right to manifest and propagate religion in worship, teaching, practice, and observance will be adversely affected;

11) The right to freedom from discrimination on the ground of religion will be adversely affected.

Javed's team fully intend to resist the application of the JCHS to be joined to this suit, as we find their arguments spurious and a waste of the court’s time. We also feel that the Attorney General’s Chambers can and should be able to adequately represent their interest. After all, the Solicitor General, who heads the AG’s Chambers, is a high-ranking member of the Lawyers Christian Fellowship, one of the groups that founded the JCHS.

It is also clear that the JCHS does not represent the views of many Christians when it comes to the issue of decriminalization of sodomy. They certainly don’t represent the views of the island’s most established churches: the Anglican and Roman Catholic.

The Rt. Rev. Dr. Howard Gregory, Anglican bishop of Jamaica. (Photo courtesy of the Jamaica Gleaner)

Appearing on the popular Jamaican radio programme “Beyond the Headlines” on April 26, 2013, the Anglican Lord Bishop of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, the. Rt. Rev. Dr. Howard Gregory, stated that the country’s 1864 British colonially imposed anti-buggery law should be repealed.

This statement is in line with one made by the spiritual head of the Anglican Church, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby during the June 3 same-sex marriage debate in the UK House of Lords. While maintaining the church’s opposition to marriage equality, Archbishop Welby said:

“…It is also absolutely true that the church has often not served the LGBT communities in the way it should. I express my sadness and sorrow for that considerable failure. There have been notable exceptions, such as my predecessor, the late Archbishop Ramsey, who vigorously supported decriminalization in the 1960s. It is also necessary to express, as has been done already, total rejection of homophobic language, which is wrong and, more than that, sickening.”

The war of words has heated up in print and electronic media as of late even as the tolerance ad case deliberations continue by the judges who heard the matter in the constitutional court.

The Buggery review is now an official promise from the government but a date is not set for that activity. 

meanwhile JFLAG ans their supporters have tried to simplify what they require as it is no longer a full repeal but decriminalization of buggery.

see: JFLAG Position Statement on Upcoming Conscience Vote

Interesting times lie ahead but we must stay on course with these and the other developments myself and others are trying to carefully track.

also see:

Dr Wayne West’s continued intellectual dishonesty ...

Tolerance Ad case the Final Day – Tomlinson v TVJ,CVM TV & PBCJ

The False Dichotomy of the religious right on the ………

Espeut, West says “Homophobia” was invented to abuse Christians as hate speech
‘Gays Made, Not Born’ – On the Confused State of the Religious Mind

Some religious right lies about the lgbt community…

Don’t Shield Gays From Criticism

Church Stands Resolute Against Buggery Backers says Al Miller ………… Love March Movement Lacks Moral Compass says LGBT voice

Rev Al Miller on the Abnormality of Homosexuality & the invented gay marriage rights ploy

Rev Al Miller says gay lobby is using the guise of tolerance to get the nation to accept the “gay lifestyle”

Rev Al Miller - the gay lobby is not asking for buggery decriminalization because of discrimination but to force homosexuality on the nation .......

'We Have The Numbers' - Anti-Homosexuality Church position to block buggery amendment

also see: Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society, JCHS continued confusion of paedophilia & consenting homosexuality.

JCHS recent ad 

Following the Jamaica Society for a Healthy Society’s recent public relations campaign with an HIV is a gay disease tinge is discussed on Nationwide Radio hosted by the not so tolerant George Davis, the illogical posturings by Mr West and his team is exposed by Mrs Carol Narcisse public commentator.

George Davis Live - Dr Wayne West & Carole Narcisse on JCHS' illogical fear

also

And to think in the middle of the debate comes a tabloid story of a deacon and pastor caught in a compromising position at a church of all places, the walls of which hide many struggling with their sexuality yet intolerance prevails. When can we begin to realize that persons ought to be allowed to live their truths to stop all this madness? The straight spouse discussion that was recently awakened is also ongoing as I was contacted by the founder of such a counseling group located in Florida following my post on sister blog GLBTQJA: The Unofficial Practice of using Marriage to cure Homosexuality

Peace and tolerance

H

more reading:

Christians who believe in ignorance and that all others are wrong but they are right

Another Gay Related Killing?

The St. Andrew Police are probing the murder of a St Andrew based photographer.

Michael Goldbourne was found murdered in his apartment in the up-scale Orange View community in St Andrew on Monday November 30.

He was found with stab wounds with a pillow over his head. He is linked to the site Rudejam which caters to straight, gay and bisexual persons with erotic entertainment through pictures and videos.

It is reported that neighbours in the apartment complex saw Mr. Goldbourne's Pajero motor vehicle leaving the compound at about 6:30am Monday.

A relative went to the apartment later in the day and found his body.

It is suspected that he was killed by someone known to him as there was no forced entry to the apartment in the gated community.

Crime Chief Deputy Superintendent Altemorth Campbell told the RJR News that Mr Goldbourne's Pajero motor vehicle was found burnt in Westmoreland Monday afternoon.

It is alleged that he left to do a shoot and completed same and returned home but soon left again for reasons unknown according to sources. Let us not hope this is another senseless slaying and we await the results of the investigations.

Anyone with information on the incident is being asked to contact the Constant Spring CIB, 119, 811 or the nearest police station.

(parts taken from RJR News)

Pastor accused or molesting boys given suspended sentence + my two cents

Pastor Donald Stewart, who was convicted of sexually molesting several boys under his care at the Swift Purcell Boys Home in St. Mary, was given an 18 month suspended sentence on Friday when he appeared before the St. Mary Circuit Court.

The sentence was suspended for 12 months, which means that the pastor will go to prison for 18 months if he commits another offence within the year.On Tuesday a jury convicted Pastor Stewart, who was the manager of the boys' home on two counts of indecent assault.

However, he is not out of the woods as yet as he is scheduled to appear in the Home Circuit Court on November 16 to answer to 30 counts of indecent assault and buggery. Pastor Stewart was arrested and charged in April last year by members of CISOCA - The Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse following allegations that he sexually molested several wards of the state at the home.

The case sparked outrage from human rights groups when it came to light.One such group, Jamaicans for Justice, lamented that enough was not being done to protect the welfare of children.

end

Comment: well it is stories like these that make the public in general angry and then make it worse for the image of gay men, making all of us into alleged paedophiles. Sad for a pastor who is in a position of trust to have such large number of charges hanging over his head. I wonder why a suspended sentence though? maybe there was a lack of evidence to prove buggery actually occurred as is customary in most buggery cases I am familiar with here in Jamaica. The prosecution often times is not able to substantiate a proper medical doctor's report which is required as exhibits and submitted into evidence.

I am of course going off my own experience however having being improperly charged with buggery 13 years ago and the subsequent 2 1/2 year drawn out preliminary hearings and absent prosecution/arresting officers to prove the case in court, my case was eventually suspended sine die - Adjournment sine die (from the Latin "without day") means "without any future date being designated for resumption" or "indefinitely". In our jurisdiction the state can reopen the case within seven years after a sine die ruling failing that it has to be closed.

The doctor's report usually calls for certain consistencies:
1) spermatozoa cells must match the accused buggerer
2) the passive partner excretory orifice must be proven by a doctor's examination to be loose via penetration (inwards)
3) If condoms were used, then they can be tested and submitted into evidence as well
and other unmentionables.

I will research this further to bring an expert opinion for the kinds of procedures involved in a buggery trial.

H