Redefining rape, nonconsent with anal sex & such

There is fresh debate in the media about a recommendation by the United Nations to widen the definition of rape to include anal penetration and placing the penis in the mouth of a victim. The question is whether or not this proposed widening of the definition of rape is necessary.

Rape is generally described, at common law, in most jurisdictions as sexual intercourse by a man with a woman without her consent. The law is that even the slightest penetration will suffice and there is no need for the emission of semen.

Consistent with this universal definition of rape, Section 3 of The Sexual Offences Act, 2009 provides that a man commits the offence of rape if he has sexual intercourse with a woman without her consent and knowing that she doesn't consent to sexual intercourse or recklessly not caring whether she consents.

If the recent newspaper articles are correct, the United Nations is recommending an expansion of the definition of rape to include the penetration of the anus and placing the penis in the mouth of a victim.

Under the Act, the word 'rape' is not used in Section 4, but what is known under the Act as grievous sexual assault is committed upon another person where, in the circumstances specified in Section 3 of the act, the offender penetrates the anus or vagina of the victim with a body part other than the penis or an object manipulated by the offender or another person. The offender also commits grievous sexual assault if he places his penis in the mouth of a victim or causes another person to place his penis in the mouth of the victim.

According to the act, a person who is convicted of rape is liable on conviction in a circuit court to imprisonment for life, while a person who is convicted of grievous sexual assault is liable on summary conviction in the parish court for a term not exceeding three years, and on conviction in the circuit court, to imprisonment for life or other penalties in the discretion of the judge, but not less than 15 years.

With respect to anal penetration, Section 76 of the Offences Against the Person Act provides that whosoever shall be convicted of the abominable crime of buggery shall be liable to imprison for a term not exceeding 10 years. 

BUGGERY

What is clear is that there is sufficient provision in law to punish any offender who places his penis in the mouth of a victim or causes a penis to be placed in the mouth of a victim or anyone who committed buggery. 

Therefore, if buggery is committed during the same time with rape and also by placing the penis in a victim's mouth, the prosecution can have these offences tried and disposed of without any prejudice to the offender.

Men have a harder time reporting supposed rape to cops as they may inadvertently implicate themselves for a buggery charge or at least grievous sexual assault; if anal penetration is mentioned to the intake officer taking the report. It gets more complicated if it was already entered into the station/precinct's diary.
In light of the above, there seems to be no good reason to expand the definition of rape to include buggery and placing a penis in the victim's mouth in light of the fact that both offences are already adequately punished in law. What is important is to ensure that any breach of the law is suitably punished and that consent or nonconsent is clearly established in the matter.

Concerning the matter of hetero-buggery cases where there was one female victim there is an infamous case of the dancehall DJ Zebra who in 2010 got himself in trouble, at the time it was posted that in November 2011 - After completing a sentence for rape in 2008, deejay Zebra was yesterday again locked away for 30 years' hard labour for another sex-related crime.

The deejay, whose real name is Garfield Vassell, was sentenced by Justice Evan Brown in the St Catherine Circuit Court.

Justice Brown outlined that for buggery, Vassell should serve 10 years and 20 years for carnal abuse.

The entertainer, who was represented by attorney-at-law Everton Dewar, was found guilty on Tuesday by a jury which retired for less than an hour. He was found guilty of carnal abuse and buggery.

The Crown led evidence that the entertainer sexually assaulted the teenage daughter of his girlfriend.

It is said that the child had to run away from home and related her ordeal to a senior relative who reported the matter to the police.

The deejay, who is known for songs such as Redder Than Red and Rupert, was held in June of last year after eluding the police for four months. He had been released in 2008 on rape charges, after serving six years behind bars.

Let us keep on this one folks

Peace & tolerance

H

also see:

Elephant Man Freed Of Rape, Buggery Charges

December 9 sentencing for 4 year-old gay lover beheading case in St Ann

In a follow up to a case I have been tracking since 2012 of the beheading of a man in St Ann one of the accused is to be sentenced in the St Ann Home Circuit Court on December 9 after he was convicted of the murder, he is Howard Ricketts, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution, DPP says Ricketts helped his co accused Neville ‘Garnet’ Lewis murder Burnett Thomas back in March 2012 at his Brown’s Town home in St Ann the deceased was said to have had an intimate relationship with the accused. On the day of his death they had a dispute reportedly Lewis otherwise called ‘Garnet’ accused the deceased Mr Thomas of infecting him with HIV Ricketts testified that on the morning of the incident he saw Lewis use a machete to chop Mr Thomas on the left side of the neck he said then Lewis told him he had to take part in the act.

here was the TVJ report then:

TVJ March 25th Headless Man Story & Suspicions from GLBTQJA 

Rickets said he assisted Lewis to pull Mr Thomas to the bedroom where he then inflicted stab wounds to the chest and intestinal area with a machete as well. Lewis enraged subsequently use the machete to sever the head of Thomas then placed it in a rice bag, police acting on information proceeded to the house where smoke was seen coming from one of the room windows, firemen who also arrived on the scene to extinguish the flames when they discovered the body of a naked headless man lying on his back was seen on the also partially burnt mattress. He was later identified to be Mr Burnett Thomas; the body had several stab wounds with reportedly intestines protruding.

Rickets said in an unsworn statement indicated that he stabbed the deceased approximately three times and that Lewis chopped off the head of the deceased after the incident Ricketts said he was so scared he got dressed and left for work as usual. On March 29, 2012 an eyewitness residing nearby said a foul stench was in the air and went to investigate and found the decomposing head of what appeared to be a male with flies encompassing it in close proximity to their house in Orange Hill District, Brown’s Town St Ann, the head was later identified to be that of the deceased. On April 2, 2012 the accused Howard Ricketts was charged.

When cautioned he said:

“Officer a de boi Garnet cause dis pon mi enuh, a him seh mi fi help and look wah happen”

(Officer is the boy Garnet cause this on me you know, he said I should help him now look what has happened)

On May 26, 2014 Neville ‘Garnet’ Lewis pleaded guilty to murder while his co accused was found guilty late last month.

As word of this case spreads comments continue to conflate crimes of passion beliefs versus reported homophobic driven murders all because of one case, those who supposedly oppose homosexuality of the removal of amendment of the buggery law, it was earlier this year as well we saw a matter in western Jamaica where a teacher was found dead in his house also in a decomposing state and allegations were that a lovers’ quarrel led to the gruesome find as gays are supposedly jealous to the core. One or two murders that may appear to be domestic or intimate partner violence evidence cannot and ought not to be used to justify homophobia indeed condemning the deceased as deserving of their fate; and sometimes done in the name of God bizarrely.

Older more popular murder cases that are kept alive in media given the typed of attention and skewing deliberately or not of the situations and ignorance of gay life altogether; speculation is the driver on the crisis reporting front. Older terms that used to attend was “Sodomatical attack” as an old case in the 80s, September 28 1983 the day of the murder and May 30, 1984 is one such, the judge was scathing in his summation in that case as the man who was murdered as the Chauffeur one Anthony Angus in question was freed on the basis of the usually deceptively used ‘gay panic defense’ by defense council or prosecution and that the accused was ‘entitled to kill in justification’ of the deceased Desmond Schnoor a business also in St Ann as this beheading case, Mr Schnoor’s gun was used to kill him.

Angus testified that he went to the home of Schnoor after being asked to although he may have suspected he was gay and that was the supposed outcome as the business made a move on him, the question then as is now is why did Angus go in the first place if he knew or suspected Schnoor was gay? Sad that in that particular instance what appeared to be a lie to suit the national sentiments on male homosexuality went on to free an accused man; the truth may never have been revealed, there may have been a down-low element in that matter.

More anon

Peace & tolerance

H

also see/listen:

Chopped for girly walk, fingers almost severed in dispute 


Teacher found dead in home, crime of passion is suspected by cops

Oh Uncle Brian ....

Gay panic defense used to gain bail in penis biting case 

Bail offered in wounding case 

Brothers charged for killing suspected gay lover 

Gay on Gay violence on the rise

Butt Oh! - Jamaican Mint employee guilty of smuggling $165K of gold in rectum

I heard of this one from Nationwide and at first it sounded as a joke but seriously if only Jamaicans only use their anancyism or 'skills' to do good, we will all the better for it.

also see: Mint worker accused in rectal gold theft looks jovial on video

CBC News reported:

Leston setting off the detector

A former Royal Canadian Mint employee has been found guilty of smuggling $165,000 worth of gold from the building on Sussex Drive — apparently in his rectum, an Ottawa judge ruled Wednesday morning.

Leston Lawrence "clearly had the opportunity" to steal the gold because he often worked alone and the security cameras would not have caught him slipping gold pucks into his pocket, Justice Peter Doody ruled.

"His locker contained Vaseline and latex gloves, which could have been used to insert a puck into his rectum," he ruled, adding that there were no cameras in the locker room.

Lawrence set off the mint's walk-through metal detectors more than any other employee without a metal implant — 28 times between December 2014 and March 2015, court heard. But when a secondary check with handheld detectors failed to alert guards to the gold, Lawrence was able to leave with it each time, Doody found.

The handheld detectors are less sensitive than the walk-through detectors, and do not detect metal in body cavities, the ruling detailed.

Though there was no video evidence of Lawrence stealing the gold from the mint, Lawrence was found guilty of the theft of 22 gold "pucks" worth $165,000, and laundering 18 of them via Ottawa Gold Buyers.

The pucks ranged from 192 to 264 grams in weight.

Lawrence's income was insufficient to purchase the gold he sold, the ruling detailed. He was also found guilty of possession of property obtained by crime, conveying gold out of the mint, and breach of trust by a public official.
Bank flagged police

Lawrence worked at the mint from July 2008 until March 2015. His job included purifying gold — jewelry, coins and bars purchased by the mint — by melting it, injecting it with chlorine gas and skimming off base metal until the molten gold was 99.5 per cent pure.

Once he believed the molten gold was pure, he was tasked with scooping some out with a ladle, letting it cool and then testing it for purity. He was supposed to return the pucks into the vat of molten gold after testing.

In February 2015, Lawrence cashed two cheques from Ottawa Gold Buyers — one for $7,992.27 and another for $7,269 — at the RBC at Westgate Mall, the ruling detailed. He told the teller the cheques were from "gold nuggets" and that he wanted to transfer the money to help his parents rebuild a house in Jamaica.

When the teller noticed he worked at the mint, the bank notified the RCMP.
RCMP surveillance

Under RCMP surveillance, he was seen visiting the Ottawa Gold Buyers store at Westgate Mall on March 9, 2015.

The RCMP found Lawrence sold a 24-karat gold puck to the store for $7,966.27, and had previously sold 17 similar pucks to the store for a grand total of $138,172.46.

The RCMP also seized four gold pucks — roughly the diameter of golf balls with a total value of $27,278.84 — from Lawrence's bank safety deposit box on March 11, 2015, the ruling detailed.

Experts analyzed the gold pucks, and found that they matched the purity of gold at the mint. The pucks were identical in diameter to those produced at the mint, and fit the ladle used exclusively by the mint perfectly, Doody's decision detailed.

Lawrence is expected to be sentenced on Nov. 28.

ENDS

This business of anal cavity smuggling is not a strange issue, as previous entries on this and sister blogs have, see:

PHONE FOUND IN GANGSTA, DON'S BUTT........a real battyman dis LOL 2008 on the Wordpess edition of GLBTQJA

In 2010 another story of a phone in body cavity made the news again, this time in St Catherine.

ANOTHER PHONE ANOTHER BODY CAVITY STORY 2 YEARS LATER ….

The story read in part:

"The St Catherine South police seized a cellphone from a prisoner on Tuesday albeit in ‘dark’ circumstances. Information reaching The Star is that about 4:30 p.m. police were conducting a search of the lock-ups at the Portmore Police Station and upon approaching one of the 13 cells, a prisoner was said to have placed a phone in his rectum.

Used Dildos in Tivoli thug’s house? 

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

What’s the Deal with Sodom? 

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

Word of advice however do not put phones up your butt, take a dick instead lol, enough said or be like porn star Shorty J if you can manage (scene pic above) who took a phone (encased in a condom) and his partner called him to let it vibrate while inside then they proceeded after removing it to penile penetration through to climax. As for me anyway is good, I wonder what Dr Wayne West would say when he sees this lol.

But seriously let us use our minds to doing what is legal and honest, the moral of the story.

Peace & tolerance

H

Gay panic defense used to gain bail in penis biting case

In a follow up to the immediate post on the bizarre outdoor sex matter (Principal in 'biting matter' chased from school) involving two men the case was heard recently but the gay panic defense strategy was used by the penis biting accused to wiggle his way from incarceration; he has been ridiculed according to two sources regarding the matter while under detention. 

In gay panic defense or the old definition in Jamaica known as sodomatical attack, the defendant claims that they have been the object of unwarranted homosexual romantic or sexual advances. The defendant finds the advances so offensive and frightening that it brings on some sort of a psychotic state characterized by unusual violence/rage or is seen as justified for 'retaliation' by the supposed victim against his attacker(s).

A successful bail application was made in the St Catherine Parish Court on behalf of a man who allegedly severely bit a complainant on his private (penis) body; if we are to believe that the perpetrator made an inappropriate pass then one would have left the car they were in and return to the nearby usually crowded Rodney's arms and would raise an alarm causing a crowd to descend, instead of sitting in the car without consent; and we are to believe this!

He would have ran from the car shouting and calling attention to the matter and usually claiming 'battyman' which with just a shout of such cause persons to go into paranoid mode and once the accused is identified then the assault/mobbing begins.

The Portmore resident who is charged with wounding with intent and larceny of motorcar was granted $200,000 bail with a surety.

In applying for bail Attorney-at-Law Ernest Smith told the court his client was only defending his integrity during the incident.

"This man who was a mentor,took my client out for drinks,then instead of driving him home turned into a Culdisac,where he tried to forced himself upon my client who refused his advances," Smith said with suppressed laughter inside the court room. Sadly this would really cause some raucous as one does not hear very often of member's items being bitten off. 

I do not buy this story of non-consent at all, I am too old to be duped by this one; why would one just leave with another man to a weekend night spot for fish as males together in today's phobic Jamaica; seeing how paranoid some of us can get and there is not some familiarity bordering on an intimate nature? 

And for the judge to buy into the dupe shows how our court magistrates are behind the cultural times in some respect to do with same gender liaisons.

He said to protect his dignity the 24-year-old man used a knife to stab the (a school's principal)complainant. The lawyer said the complainant jumped from the car and accused took control of the car and hit the complainant in the process.

Smith told the court his client reported the matter to the police the same night and nothing happened.

The complainant made a report three weeks later and his client was taken in custody.

Bail was subsequently granted on condition that he reports to the Caymanas police station,surrender hi travel document and reappear on July 19,2016.

Allegations before the court are that the day in question the accused injured the (principal) complainant as he attempted rob his motorcar.

A report was made to the police and the man subsequently arrested and charged by the police.

As the starring role was surmised in the form of the attorney representing the accused is antigay JLP affiliated politician Ernest aka Ernie Smith but it is a different Ernest Smith though it is not surprising that the GPD strategy was employed. Let us however remember this in 2009 when the other Ernie Smith insisted the buggery law should stay and he described homosexuals as nasty etc?:

Peace & tolerance

H

also see these related posts from here and sister blog GLBTQJA:
MP, Attorney, Ernest Smith sings different buggery tune 2009

Homophobic Violence Ernie Smith & Venom 2009

Would Lawyer MP Ernest Smith Represent Gays? 2009

Not surprised ..... Islamic Council Wants Buggery Law To Remain

So not surprising as the sentiments were expressed in a radio interview and a call in show on radio some weeks ago during the aftermath of the Presidential visit and the euphoria following especially the LGBT hint and the hailing of Angeline Jackson activist from QCJ.

acting President of the Islamic Council of Jamaica, Al-Hajj Mekaeel Maknoon

However I would love to ask the ICJ what explains the ever increasing popping up of LGBT Islam or Muslim groups worldwide and even in our own LGBTQ populations though small in number but they see themselves as being left out of the loop in as far as being part of the faith. As per usual the cop out line is that they (ICJ) do not support violence against homosexuals.

I imagine the council is also in disagreement in principle with the position taken by The founder of Muslims for Progressive Values Ani Zonneveld when he criticized 'deviant, draconian, and hateful' variants of Islam and advocates for LGBT and gender equality. As in Christianity, some Muslims may point to the story of Sodom and Gomorrah as a justification for anti-LGBT beliefs. And as in Christianity, others disagree with that interpretation.

“It was rape; it was inhospitality; it was going against the prophet Lot’s teaching” that were the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah, not homosexuality, says Ani Zonneveld. The Koran, she said, prescribes no punishment for being gay or transgender.

Zonneveld founded Muslims for Progressive Values in Los Angeles in 2007. Singer-songwriter Zonneveld felt that in many Muslim communities “a woman’s voice was forbidden,” and she wanted a progressive Muslim community to belong to. The groups has monthly spiritual gatherings, open mikes for youth, and social events for its LGBT members. In addition to the flagship L.A. chapter, MPV now has U.S. chapters in Atlanta, New York, Chicago, Columbus, Ohio, and Washington, D.C. There are also MPV chapters in several other countries.

The Gleaner carried this today:

Acting President of the Islamic Council of Jamaica, Al-Hajj Mekaeel Maknoon, said yesterday that the Islamic community in Jamaica is against the repeal of the Buggery Act.

Speaking at a Gleaner Editors' Forum, he indicated that homosexuality goes against Islamic beliefs .

"The Creator has already made his judgement on that in Sodom and Gomorrah. We do not have anything to add to that, He has said it is the most unnatural act ... . His judgement is that it is unacceptable," he said.

The Imaam outlined arguments against the repeal of the Buggery Act.

"People have a right to have desires; that is the human right. It's not a human right that you have to impose your desire on other people. It is not your right to create a situation which is, in essence, by nature, diametrically opposed to the continuity of the human race," he said

According to the acting president, "the country cannot look at the situation and say you are allowed to do what you want to do until it starts to affect 90 per cent of the country and then we start to take action ... 90 per cent of Jamaicans do not engage in this behaviour and we need to respect their wishes and not legislate something like this."

Inherently Wrong

Maknoon spoke to the morality surrounding homosexuality indicating that it was inherently wrong.

"Something is either inherently wrong or right and furthermore, you cannot impose on 90 per cent of the Jamaican people, a conduct that they find abhorrent. It is unacceptable," he said.

He went on to explain, however, that Muslims do not discriminate against homosexuals.

"The man who is gay, I don't have the right over him. If he chooses to live that life, that is his life; your way is your way ... . We will not excommunicate a member who is gay, that is his life and he is accountable to the Creator of the universe," Maknoon said.

ENDS

Meanwhile in 2014 

“This new interpretation of Islam is deviant as far as I’m concerned,” says Zonneveld, pointing to the influence of Saudi Arabian Wahhabism as “a very draconian, very new teaching of Islam — very intolerant … of different cultures, very hateful, I would say, even.”

She says Saudi money has gone into every corner of the world and influenced cultural shifts in Muslim countries. For instance, she says, many mosques where men and women once worshipped together now require women to enter from the back or to worship in a separate room from the men.

“It’s a bastardization of Islam,” she says, referring to the “true spirit of Islam” as “interfaith and inclusive.”

Zonneveld emphasizes that she is calling out governments and institutions — not individual Muslims. There are progressive Muslims all over the world, she says, and in many places they face the threat of imprisonment or even death for speaking out. That’s why Zonneveld thinks that, as a Muslim in the western world, she has a duty to “highlight those voices.”

In fact, MPV obtained consulting status with the United Nations in order to advocate for the granting of individual rights regardless of cultural beliefs.

The conflicting teachings has been a source of hardening divides in the Islamic community and by extension the theologians from a Christian perspective especially on the Sodom bit and whether it was a matter of hospitality versus destruction simply due to homosexuality exclusively as is espoused by anti gay voices.

Then comes this other conflicting solution supposedly to Jamaica's problems during yesterday's Gleaner forum with the ICJ: 'Polygamy, solution to Jamaica's family crisis' this might sound good for some men seeing we raise multi-partnering as a mark of masculinity but sometimes I have to wonder.

Anyway I found another group online called Muslim Alliance which was launched January 23, 2013 at the Creating Change conference in Atlanta, GA. Building on the work of generations of LGBTQ Muslims and their allies, the new organization grew out of a working group brought together by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (The Task Force). 

The Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity (MASGD) works to support, empower and connect LGBTQ Muslims. We seek to challenge root causes of oppression, including misogyny and xenophobia. We aim to increase the acceptance of gender and sexual diversity within Muslim communities, and to promote a progressive understanding of Islam that is centered on inclusion, justice, and equality.

MASGD hosts a retreat for LGBTQ Muslims and their partners each May.

In the UK:

Imaan supports LGBT Muslim people, their families and friends, to address issues of sexual orientation within Islam. It provides a safe space and support network to address issues of common concern through sharing individual experiences and institutional resources.

Imaan promotes the Islamic values of peace, social justice and tolerance through its work, and aspires to bring about a world that is free from prejudice and discrimination against all Muslims and LGBT people.

In September 1998, a group of us were brought together in London by an advert placed in the Pink Paper by visiting founder of Al Fatiha Foundation, the US gay Muslim group.

Back then, Muslims who were gay were not part of a discernible group. If anything we were part of a larger, mostly London-based Asian presence that congregated at gay Bhangra clubs like Club Kali and Shakti - if at all.

The need to reconcile Islam with sexuality seemed to coincide with a coming-of-age of a particular generation of gay people from Muslim backgrounds born in this country that had witnessed the growth of a gay culture in England.

Peace and tolerance 

H

also see:

What Does Islam Really Say About LGBT People? (advocate magazine)

Stances of Faiths on LGBT Issues: Islam - Sunni and Shi’a

Press statement: Times article on gay Muslim terrorists sensationalist and damaging

Muslim LGBT Group Against Violence on Facebook

Why the British PM can wield a big 'homosexuality' stick (Observer) ...... smoke in the room buggery vs homosexuality confusion

The threat by British Prime Minister David Cameron to withhold aid from governments that fail to reform legislation banning homosexuality highlights the importance of a position we advanced in this space exactly a week ago. The point we made was that Caribbean countries need to get our economies to the point where we will need little or no borrowing. We had put forward the argument against the background of a vicious strategy being employed by the Taiwanese Government to collect a US$28-million judgement against Grenada for non-payment of loans received from Taiwan's Export-Import Bank in the 1990s. Essentially, what the Taiwanese have done is to have their lawyers file papers in the United States compelling cruise lines and airlines to hand over any money they owe Grenada in fees or other payments. 


It's not that Grenada is unwilling to honour its obligation. 


The Caricom nation has made a proposal to renegotiate the loan as its economy is still feeling the effects of the devastation brought on by Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and a drop in tourism after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States. The Taiwanese, however, are not prepared to enter into any debt rescheduling arrangement because the Grenadians made the 'error' of severing diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favour of rival China. 


 So, now, Grenada faces the indignity of having its port fees seized -- a move that would further depress its economy — simply because it upset a benefactor. In the case of the threat issued by Prime Minister Cameron over the weekend, the British are in no way being as iniquitous as the Taiwanese. After all, the aid they are pledging to slash is their own money and they are at liberty to do with it as they please. "Britain," Mr Cameron is reported as saying, "is one of the premier aid givers in the world. We want to see countries that receive our aid adhering to proper human rights." 


But while the British leader's statement is directed more at African states that have strong anti-gay legislation, his policy essentially applies to all Commonwealth countries, including Jamaica, where, due to religious and/or cultural beliefs, homosexuality is not accepted. Of course, he conceded that the countries targeted could not change immediately. That, we hold, should be the general position of the international community and the homosexual lobby. For it is unreasonable to expect that societies with prejudices rooted in a culture that, in most instances is a legacy of British Empire laws, will, overnight, accept a lifestyle that runs counter to those laws. Where the homosexual lobby and their supporters have erred is in trying to force their lifestyle on societies that regard it as wrong and ungodly. 


 And while we do not support laws that persecute people because of their sexual preferences, we hold firmly to the belief that threats, like that issued by Prime Minister Cameron, would not have seen the light of day had those countries that now gleefully accept monetary aid put their economies in order. 

ENDS

Smoke is in the room and it is choking us and everyone else so much so that we all are saying and believing foolishness and the hype or wrench thrown in the mix whenever this debate comes up. HOMOSEXUALITY IS NOT ILLEGAL IN JAMAICA, sorry but I had to scream it and that is precisely why the debate is clouded, the beginning of this article/editorial just turns me as I have heard everywhere else including supposedly knowledgeable journalists and lawyers saying it is. What is illegal is the act of buggery or sodomy and even that is debatable as well as sodomy infers a kind of predatory tinge to it or forced sexual advances from a same sexed perpetrator as was deemed in the 1500s when this law came to be under Henry VIII.  As for the supposed imposition I was made to understand the  veiled threat from the UK PM was directed towards more caustic states in Africa to which some have responded in kind claiming being dictated to. I had hinted to the issue of imposition by foreign bodies in a previous post when the story first broke on GLBTQJA Wordpress seen below:


.........But what will that do though in the long run if most states and including Jamaica outside of the region mentioned in the article have a strong beliefs or perception that homosexuality is an import and that actions such as this are forcing the hand of countries with “christian principles” and “high moral values” to capitulate to the powerful gay lobby from first world nations yet The Prime Minister David Cameron is not gay but could be viewed as a puppet in the scheme of this with the pressure coming and positions from the European Union side of things and other bodies such as the United Nations on sexual orientation. Is forcing countries to comply the way to go? Or hitting them economically? I don’t think so, certainly other diplomatic methods can be employed but what about the notion that anti gay forces in the United States are in effect exporting homophobia and funding anti gay and religious fanaticism especially in parts of Africa in recent times. What does Mr. Cameron et al have to say or do about that?, these powerful backers behind such moves are said to be numerous and are some of the biggest companies and individuals allegedly. 


Will the UK also criticize those backers and demand they stop this kind of clandestine support or be made to stop? Can or will the UK Prime Minister stand up to the police man of the world and call it for what it is? Are we going to solve the issue of tolerance this way folks? I don’t think so, the hitting of the economic prosperity of these non compliant states as it were may only serve to bring more harm to the voices and populations on the ground who are made to pay the price as involuntary martyrs for this kind of pressure. While I can understand the need for rights and recognition to be extended to the common man this incessant push to seemingly impose it on the rest of the problematic states is unjustified for now, I say more dialogue bearing in mind also other countries who may have similar anti gay positions and laws with dire societal consequences are watching this and may feel justified in tacitly supporting homophobic acts even more so whilst becoming hardlined on budging from their no ease on buggery positions. We saw the recent comments but the Antiguan and Barbudan Attorney General on the law there on the strength of a legal challenge mounted by a group in Belize named UNIBAM This debate has no end soon so let us see. 


The particular tranche of aid that maybe affected is a bilateral one known as general support,the aid was vital as it was used to rehabilitation programs for deportees who are helped to rejoin society, training and support. National Security Minister Dwight Nelson said on a radio interview that if aid was cut Jamaica could not afford to run such a program at this time.

Why is Jamaica Forum for Lesbians Allsexuals and Gays, JFLAG so silent?


In response to that an answer from one of the Programs personnel dismissed the question as if it is not important, the exact words in a forum were:


"Truth is, if you read what Cameron said you realise it has no bearing on us. Do we even get budgetary support from Britain? Cutting aid is standard practice, it is nothing new. Why are we getting so fussed up about it? If my memory serves me correct, US withdrew money to an organ of the UN last week because of its work in China. The person who has the power of the purse use it to their benefit and it is a very old practice. There really isn't that much of a story in this. Activists are using the opportunity to respond to requests from the media to speak on the issue"



Aloofness as per usual, so much for that, I guess the negative perceptions that we are trying to homosexualize Jamaica, bugger our children and white foreigners imposing their beliefs on us are of no importance to the J coupled with the fallouts in the form of homophobic and lesbophobic violence that usually comes with when homosexuality hits the mainstream news?


Peace and tolerance 


H


also see more comments on these posts from other rights activists:


Jamaica should refuse British aid – Families Against State Terrorism convener ………………

CVM TV's Live @ 7 on the UK AID Withdrawal threat & responses .......