Jamaica Coalition For A Healthy Society Obama Protest Fizzles In Mona

Members of the Jamaica Coalition for A Healthy Society and other groups were staging a protest in Mona at the intersection of Mona Road and Araila Drive. Due to the traffic changes and the security features to accommodate the bubble the President operates in when on state or working visits very little audience saw them in action hence a laughable exercise as said by some.

It had fizzled by the creation of this post thanks to reports and updates from a reader residing nearby. The head of the group Dr Wayne West was featured on a post I did on GJW: 
Perception of Jamaican LGBTQ lobby bullying continues April 2014, on his blog he continues his HIV is a gay disease ploy as a main feature of his advocacy as evidenced in his latest post: Blacks particularly at risk for HIV : White Liberals make 1st black president poster boy for LGBT “sexual rights” plus these from my archives.

Continued conflation between homosexuality, atheism, secularism and moral nihilism

Dr Wayne West’s continued intellectual dishonesty on fisting felching & chariot racing by homosexuals in Jamaica

Church's Priority Misplaced (Gleaner Letter)

Shame On Church - Clergyman Charges Christians to focus on real issues instead

and my posts on perceived LGBT bullying: The False Dichotomy of the religious right .................. and Scenes from anti gay Lovemarch at Heroes Circle

The protestors say they are mourning the loss of free speech under the Obama administration which is a blatant lie when under Obama more openness has come forth on many fronts. They believe that Christians have lost their freedom of religion especially on issues dealing the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community (LGBT). 

The group said the Obama administration appointed a special envoy to focus on the LGBT matters in February and this a sign that the goal is to champion those rights across the world.

The group came out at about 8:45 this morning handing out flyers showing among other things, scientific data about the dangers of men having sex with men continuing their HIV is a gay disease ploy as if heterosexuals do not also are at risk for infection due to unprotected sex and so on.

Members of group said they will remain at the location until about 12 pm.

What was the point of all this when noone is interested at this time in such rhetoric except those who are not forward thinking, following the heckling of the Prime Minister in New York prior to the visit came out swinging with a press release reinforcing old stigmatizing beliefs of bullying by gay activists and said it has noted an online letter to US President Barack Obama by various Lesbians, Gays, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) groups in that country urging him to advocate for rights of local members of that community during his meeting with Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and Caricom Heads of Government this week.

In light of this, the JCHS said it is anticipating that the Government will uphold its reported commitment made at the Caricom Heads of Government meeting last July to seek the full and informed consent of the Jamaican people on such fundamental issues.

“We commend the Honourable Prime Minister for her recent bold stance in New York and urge her to maintain this position in her upcoming meetings,” the JCHS said, adding, “We urge her to continue defending the truth, that there are no reports of abuse by the Jamaican State against homosexuals, that MSMs have no impediments to access to health care, that Jamaica’s model for HIV/AIDS treatment is praised around the world.”

In a statement released to the media yesterday, chairman of JCHS Dr Wayne West said the coalition has also taken note of the recent US State Department’s appointment of its first-ever special envoy to advocate globally for the “sexual rights” of LGBT people. Jamaica and other Caricom nations, it said, have been named as countries to be targeted for the repeal of their buggery laws.

“The JCHS takes this opportunity to remind the Honourable Prime Minister of Jamaica and other Government officials that LGBT ‘sexual rights’ and lifestyles are not supported by the majority of Jamaicans,” the JCHS said.

This, it noted, was made clear in last September’s Bill Johnson poll as well as with the presence of over 40,000 Jamaicans attending the combined Jamaica CAUSE rallies in Kingston and Montego Bay last June and November.

“Additionally, 140 organisations from 11 Caricom territories representing hundreds of thousands of Caribbean nationals rejected attempts to change our laws through the PANCAP Declaration (June 2014).”

“The Caricom Heads then agreed to defer discussions on this declaration pending further national consultation,” the JCHS noted. The coalition said it denounces violence against all people, be it children or “such self-described LGBT persons” and affirms the inherent dignity of every human being.

“We make a clear distinction between the discrimination against persons and discrimination against behaviours that are high risk for HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs),” the group noted.

“Whilst we fully endorse programmes to eliminate discrimination against persons living with HIV/AIDS, we reject attempts to restrict or stigmatise social discrimination against unwholesome behaviours. We reject efforts to encourage or legitimise behaviours that are high risk for HIV/AIDS and other STDs.

Behaviours that are socially dysfunctional and have a demonstrably high statistical association with diseases cannot be endorsed,” the statement said.

The coalition said the group is calling on the Jamaican Government to protect every citizen by preserving the true fundamental rights and freedoms as currently enshrined in the constitution.

“We are horrified at the human rights abuses suffered by countless ordinary Americans – bakers, florists, firemen, pastors, parents, teachers, IT specialists, lawyers and navy chaplains among others – who have had their freedoms of conscience, speech, religious liberty and parental rights crushed all in the name of LGBT ‘rights’."

The hypocritical stance by the JCHS on their HIV is a gay disease campaign is disturbing and laughable in one as even in the very organization strong allegations suggest that some of its members are gay and bisexual and are virtually conflicted in their advocacy.

Sad instead of tolerance based on God centered principles we have theocracy at work.

also see:

Obama Hails Jamaican Lesbian Advocate's Work

President Obama told young leaders at the town hall meeting at UWI that we should care about the rights of every human being

"..........regardless of who they love"

while highlighting the difficulties Angeline Jackson experienced growing up as a lesbian in Jamaica and her work in ensuring that people get a better quality of life

"no matter their colour, class or sexual orientation can live in equality."

also see this letter: Healthy coalition nonsense! from the Jamaica Observer and Why The Obsession with Gays Shirley Richards?


Dr Shelly Ann Weeks on Homophobia - What are we afraid of?

Anti-LGBT discrimination and violence is unacceptable everywhere. This is US policy globally, as we discussed here in Jamaica today.
— Susan Rice (@AmbassadorRice) April 9, 2015

also my latest podcast

Peace and tolerance

H

Jamaica CAUSE issues Veiled threat to Govt to not Repeal The Buggery Law

So so called Christian groups who are more interested in maintaining old laws from our former colonial masters while having emancipation as part of their acronym  have issued a veiled threat that if the law be changed or repealed they will vote against that party, I wonder if he realises that Jamaica has taken so many years to come out of the political tribalism we were once in? .......  where if one wore the wrong colour one could be dead, the political parties in Jamaica do not take kindly to being dictated to at this level and these persons better be careful what they are up to.

The paranoia crew that is Jamaica CAUSE's real intention is reparative therapy and theocracy as is it abundantly clear via a myriad of media interviews under the guise of public good or descendent while driving a wedge in the society on the selective issue of homosexuality whilst other societal ills they have been and still are silent on especially the welfare matters that require hands on attention, homelessness and the indigent comes to mind. We have seen so many stories within the last few months on television of persons living alone and starving in some instances yet these church groups were no where to be seen yet they organise demonstrations every three days at the gate of the University even as a court injunction is in effect to keep Professor Bain at CHART while not allowing the Supreme Court to rule on the issue.

JFLAG's late change in their stance on the law from repeal to decriminalization (when from 1999 they were advised to go that route) has gone nowhere it seems save and except the Justice Minister agrees with them in principle but it has been drowned out by all this mass hysteria over two issues that can be resolved quietly, frankly Professor Bain had several avenues including meetings and correspondences to address his issues and he allowed bad advice to get the best of him and now the nation is in a topsy turvy by persons who ought to know better.

for references see:
Justice Minister reiterates his personal position on the Buggery Law, Anal Intercourse, Consent & Privacy, government position

J-FLAG now advocating for decriminalisation of same-sex acts

my podcast on religious hypocrisy and selectivity on societal ills:

The Hypocrisy of Jamaican Anti Gay Groups & Selective Actions of Societal Ills 

Sad Sad Sad that the poor credibility of our lobby collectively at this juncture cannot stand on one leg to this avalanche of homophobia, where are the spin doctors now eh? now we see and are learning why ethics in advocacy is so crucial and just open truth telling, all this mistrust would not have backed up on us now.

Today's sensational headline from the Gleaner who seem to be enjoying this while selling loads of copies said "No Gay Rule" in part it read:

Gladwyn Kiddoe (with placard), evangelist of Bull Savannah Church of Christ, participating in a protest at the gate of the University of the West Indies, Mona campus.

A SENIOR member of the clergy and chief advocate for the recently established lobby group Jamaica Churches Action Uniting Society for Emancipation (CAUSE) has signalled that the church would not be shy in rallying massive support from its flock to use the ballot to punish any political organisation that rushes to repeal the buggery laws.

"We are saying to the Government of Jamaica, through our mass rally and motorcade on Sunday (today) at 5 o'clock, that we would like the buggery law to be retained. We are clear on that," declared the Reverend Dr Stevenson Samuels, chairman of CAUSE.

At a CARICOM meeting to be held in Antigua this week, heads of government from across the region will discuss, among other things, recommendations on eliminating HIV-related stigma and discrimination.

The recommendations include repealing laws criminalising consensual sexual acts between adults and making sexual orientation a protected category for non-discrimination.

But Samuels is adamant that if the Government should hold a referendum on whether provisions in the Offences Against the Person Act dealing with buggery should be repealed, the church would strongly advocate for Jamaicans to vote for the retention of the law.

The opposition Jamaica Labour Party has called for a referendum on the vexed issue.

RISKY ROAD

However, Samuels warned that if any administration take steps to change the law on buggery, that policy move would form part of a mix of issues that would influence the powerful church community as members vote in the next general elections.

"As it relates to an election, I can say that would be one of the considerations. As the church and citizens go to vote, that would certainly be one of the issues that would be considered, but obviously, an election is more than a buggery law," said Samuels.

He was supported by Dr Doreen Brady-West, spokesperson for Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society (JCHS), who told The Sunday Gleanerthat the time has come for Jamaica to decide how it is going to be ordered.

She contended that such a critical decision should not be imposed on a country by external influences, but should be determined by its citizens.

"Everybody deserves to have a say in what is going to form the foundations on which public policy and laws of Jamaica are going to be made," Brady-West remarked.

The JCHS spokesperson outlined that laws do not come out of a vacuum but are grounded in some kind of philosophy and world view. Consequently, she argued that the nation must decide what is the proper moral view or philosophy upon which its laws and public policies is going to be grounded.

"If it is left on its own, we are going to see things that we don't want, like what happened in the children's homes," she added.

Addressing the political directorate, Brady-West urged them to consider the world views and the philosophies which they think would be applicable for Jamaica. She implored the leadership of Jamaica to "listen to the people of the country and not to be pressured by external forces, either international or regional".

SPURRED BY BAIN'S SACKING

Today's planned mass rally by CAUSE was initially triggered by the sacking of Professor Brendan Bain as director of the Caribbean HIV/AIDS Regional Training (CHART) Network.

The university said that it had become increasingly evident that Bain had lost the confidence and support of a significant sector of the community which the CHART programme has targeted.

However, organisers of the rally said the issue has become much wider than the Bain sacking.

"We are standing up for the establish-ment of our laws on the basis of truth and rights. We are opposing injustice wherever it is, and we are asking that the nation rise up for truth and rights in this nation and that our laws be based on these premises," said Samuels.

He said a festival atmosphere is expected in Half-Way Tree, St Andrew, this evening as hundreds of churches islandwide will be closing their doors to support the rally.

The clergyman pointed out that with the New Testament Church of God, the second largest denomination in Jamaica with more than 350 churches, throwing its support behind the CAUSE, buses are expected to take people from as far as Westmoreland, Hanover and Portland.

"I would say it is the first in our recent history that we have come together to support a civil issue as a church in such a sustained manner," he said.

"We have put together a specialised team just to look at our message to make sure it is properly researched and crafted to ensure that we are speaking accurately to the issue and that we are educating the public on this matter," he added.

The church protest comes despite calls from a little-known organisation - Citizens Advocacy Group International Support Initiative (CAGI) - for the revocation of United States visas issued to Jamaican government officials and citizens who violate the rights of homosexuals.

The group, which says it is affiliated with international gay-rights organisations, also wants aid supplied by the United States and Europe to Jamaica withdrawn.

According to CAGI, it will not allow members of the religious community to dictate the rights that members of the gay community are entitled to.

ENDS

CAGI intervention is so counter-productive at this time, do this fly by night group really believe that an eye for eye or other more drastic calls is going make the opposing sides slow down? Reactions to such public advocacy have to be tempered with reason not emotional outbursts and hardlined action demands, it's no wonder why the stop murder music campaign and its mishandling in recent times have only added more fury to the war.

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

Hardened Positions by Religious Fanatics & Their LGBT Detractors Will Only Leave More Blood on the Floor

Anti Gay Voice & 'Child Rights' Advocate Betty-Ann Blaine Taken to Task on Public Advocacy

Why did CVCC & JFJ not Fund a Project/Home for Homeless LGBT Youth in New Kingston instead of the Children’s Home Fiasco that now obtains?

Peace and tolerance

UPDATE June 30 2014

The "journalist" Gary Spaulding who walked out on the CVCC press conference last week wrote his first short piece back in the Gleaner after being reprimanded allegedly for his unprofessional conduct I am told, he carried the Jamaica CAUSE march yesterday:

Backlash On Buggery: Church Leads Anti-Sodomy Rally

Gary Spaulding, Senior Gleaner Writer

The church will not be tricked or coerced into making impulsive or emotive pronouncements in the ongoing public debate that has been sparked by the dismissal of Brendan Bain, the retired University of the West Indies professor who lost his job as the director of the Caribbean HIV/AIDS Regional Training Network (CHART).

This sentiment was conveyed to a massive throng of flag-waving Jamaicans, clad, for the most part, in the national colours, which assembled in Half-Way Tree, St Andrew, by pastor of the Calvary Gospel Assembly, Donovan Cole, last evening.

"We will not be silent when we should speak boldly, nor will we be drawn in premature speaking through clever attempts to put the Church on the defensive," asserted Cole.

It was a Sunday evening when Cole was among scores of other well-known church leaders who closed the doors of their sanctuaries to venture out with their membership into the popular public square to flex their collective muscles as debate over a possible repeal of the buggery law takes root on the island.

Hate the lifestyle

The church leaders were quick to reassert that they did not hate homosexuals but abhorred the lifestyle, in clear reference to a raging debate that has erupted after Bain got the boot from the administration of the UWI.

The profession of love, notwithstanding, Maria Harbajan, an evangelist stressed that Christians would remain steadfast and militant against what was wrong in society.

Much emphasis was clearly being placed on the value of family, as scores of men and women with small children started the motorcade from the spot where the Church had been protesting for four weeks - at the entrance to the UWI, Mona, campus to Half-Way Tree.

As the Christians leaders spoke, a group of Rastafarians, bedecked in religious paraphernalia with their own flags, were vociferous in their support of what is dubbed Jamaica CAUSE (Church Action Uniting Society for Emancipation).

ENDS

Meanwhile in case you missed it as the furore raged member of parliament Raymond Pryce spoke to the Buggery Law at the Jamaica Observer's forum last week

meanwhile their headline for June 30, 2014

As they also continue relish the hysteria as it sells papers yes! and the conflation of abuse with same gender sex was well engrained in the speeches as the deceptive Betty Ann Blaine continues her skewed public advocacy using children as bait. Thankfully the Gleaner has redeemed itself in a sense via the Gavel on: "Hypocrites riding on kid's back" article which read in part: 

"THE HYPOCRISY which has characterised the discussions about the treatment of children in state care is nauseating.

Like scorpions on the frog's back, holier-than-thou members of the society have seized the opportunity of the unauthorised and reprehensible introduction of sex education in some children's homes to proclaim love and care for these wards.

But truth be told, many of the crusaders do not love these children as much as they pretend they do.

In fact, they are the same ones who beg the police daily to do something about the boys at the stoplight or at the street corners. They are the same ones who refuse to take public transport because of the behaviour of some children, or rush out of the transport centres because they don't want to be around them.

If we think carefully, the children in state care fit the description of those at the stoplights, in the buses, at transport centres and street corners. They are the children many who are now preaching the 'love our children' doctrine would not have a meal with, or worse yet, invite to their homes.

But as was with the case of the Armadale fire, the current situation provides a platform for the nation to self-aggrandise. These children, who many of us are happy we don't have to associate with, easily become political and social ammunition. Suddenly, their human rights are of concern to us.

Ministers of government and employees of entities such as the Child Development Agency are required to be model parents, being called on to ensure that these children are properly fed, housed and educated. But one wonders, is it really that the society wants the best for these children? Could it be the case that we are happy we don't have to deal with them, and that institutionalising allows us breathing room since we don't have to encounter them as we go about our business?"

ENDS

meanwhile, As the church rallies Jamaicans against what they describe as a "homosexual agenda" yesterday, it has come in for criticism by convenor of Campaign for Social and Economic Justice, Lloyd D'aguilar. 

In an email to media houses, D'aguilar criticised the church for what he says has been its failure to fight institutional corruption and champion other human rights issues, including the State's offence against Tivoli Gardens in west Kingston in 2010 to capture then fugitive, Christopher Coke.

According to D'aguilar, there is no gay agenda in Jamaica except for a call for homosexuals to be accorded the basic human rights entrenched in the Constitution. He says the buggery law must be repealed and the lesbian gay, bi-sexual and transgender community protected from violence and bigotry.

Sadly the language or the call for a "repeal" has changed as JFLAG has espoused to "decriminalization" someone needs to inform Mass Lloyd of it so that his support does not lend to the fury with the wrong concept.

H

Rev Clinton Chisholm on Keep Bedroom Antics To Yourself

So another supposed reprimand for homosexuals to remain in the closet as it were in the form of the latest letter excerpted below by theologian and blogger Reverend Clinton Chisholm.

Keep Bedroom Antics To Yourself

THE EDITOR, Sir:

Despite the increasing popularity of community surveillance cameras, not even a well-oiled police state can effectively guard against sex acts, except those that happen in public or that are made public.

So unless my house is bugged with cameras, etc, no one can know what I do or don't do sexually with my wife in our house. Consequently, no matter how carefully worded or comprehensive in scope a law banning all sex acts between couples may be, I wouldn't give a rat's derriere because, unless one of us squealed on ourselves, no evidence would be available in a court of law against us.

On the other hand, if either of us is silly or contemptuous enough to tackle the 'no-sex law', in public, we would unwisely call attention to our sex acts, thus forcing us to grin and bear the legal/societal consequences of our folly.

It seems to me, then, that homosexuals who make public their disagreement with Jamaica's anti-buggery law as a violation of their dubious 'right' are needlessly and foolishly attracting attention to their sex lives. Without their public utterances, who would know and who would care what they do sexually?

The issue here in my view is not privacy or age-consensuality, because neither allows anyone to break a law. If you decide to go public about your sex acts, this might approximate a species of idiocy.

There are heterosexual men who have anal sex with their female partners (whether wife or sweetheart) contrary to Jamaica's anti-buggery law, but unless they squeal on themselves, who would know and who would care?

If one dare make his or her views public about any subject, one need to be prepared for the possible consequences, as a matter of principle.

CLINTON CHISHOLM

clintchis@yahoo.com

ENDS

I will just respond with an older post I made from 2009 mostly of an article of former Senate member Oswald Harding from October 2004 that is still relevant to day and most appropriate I feel an answer to this trope by Chisholm.

Homosexual acts are deemed illegal in Jamaica under existing buggery laws, while prostitution is officially outlawed, though often winked on.

During his address, Harding also echoed the Wolfden Committee’s basis for the recommendation for relaxing laws against homosexual practices on the grounds that: 

“There must remain a realm of private morality and immorality which is, in brief and crude terms, not the law’s business”.

The position of the American Law Institute was also used to bolster the argument that consensual relations between adults, in private, should be excluded from the scope of the criminal law.

In its 1955 draft model penal code, that body recommended that: “No harm to the secular interests of the community is involved in a typical sex practice in private between consenting adult partners, and there is the fundamental question of the protection to which every individual is entitled against State interference in his personal affairs when he is not hurting others”.

Elaborating on his position, Harding explored the contrary positions of Lord Devlin who challenged the notion of value-free law, noting that “the suppression of vice is as much the law’s business as the suppression of subversive activities”. He further suggested that the lack of a common morality promoted social disintegration, “so that society is justified in taking steps to preserve its moral code as it does to preserve its government and other essential institutions”.

But Harding turned that position on its head by pointing to the lack of supportive evidence, as well as by a comparison with a state (Nazi Germany) that had actually sought to enforce moral codes and beliefs, with disastrous consequences for itself and humanity.

“It would have been helpful if Lord Devlin had provided examples of some modern societies which have disintegrated because of the loosening of moral bonds. And it might be a better thing for some societies to disintegrate by loosening its moral bonds. Nazi Germany comes to mind, those societies disintegrate from within more frequently than there are broken up by external pressures,” said Harding.

He also explored the changing notions of public decency and how the public’s views towards certain moral issues had changed over time.

“That there are changes in the moral standards is visible all about. The fact that some pay lip service to an official sexual morality does not disguise the changes.

“The explosion and proliferation of massage parlours, as advertised in our local newspapers, speak to new practices in the contemporary social reality,” said Harding. In summation, Harding offered a position on the length to which the law should go in enforcing morality.

“It is not the function of the law to intervene in the private lives of citizens or seek to enforce any particular pattern of behaviour further than to preserve public order and decency and to protect the citizen from what is offensive or injurious and to provide safeguards against exploitation and corruption of others,” 

also see: 

The Creaking Hinges of Closets and Cabinets and In The Closet We Must Stay it Seems


"Keep it to Yuself mentality" on homosexuality part 3 .... stay in our bedrooms?
Backing Down On Buggery? Some Personal Rights Can Be Sacrificed For General Morality ....

also an old audio commentary on the Keep it to yuhself mentality issue:

The "outing" on a Sunday morning ....

The life of a fifty plus year old married man from a middle class suburban community in St. Catherine will not be the same again following a most embarrassing outing and temporary displacement incident on of all days a Sunday morning April 10th as he returned from early morning exercising to prepare to go to church with his family. The man who was described as very active in his community and a member of the neighbourhood watch team among other social outreach work is also a father of two male teenagers but as it turns out he also may have had another side to him that was discovered by accident allegedly by the wife who reportedly burrowed the cellphone that was left as he went on the usual early morning exercise routine as many do who reside in that scheme.

It was upon his return according to eyewitness reports that things got out of control as his wife and two other relatives on her side created an embarrassing scene at the home much to the shock of the neighbours, as in cases such as this the audience usually gathers very quickly as word spread that Mr. So and So was a battyman so animated the issue became that prayer warriors allegedly from his church congregation who may have been called also converged at the home during the initial heated exchange between the couple and relatives to supposedly pray the gay away. The teenage boys were reportedly stunned as they watched the incident unfold. The prayer warriors reportedly passionately called on God to strike down this evil spirit out of him as he was a good man and just strayed, they shouted frantically and some were said to be "in the spirit" with a view to fix Mr. So and So. The homosexual relationship as it was belted out by the woman, his wife of some twelve years now supposedly started when their house that was upgraded had several thug looking typed characters working on the construction activities she said she was told only some time afterwards that something looked suspicious as there was one particular guy who would hail her husband and her also when he passed by the home on his bicycle and was very friendly but she didn't take it as a gay relationship instead she thought he was just being polite, she also suggested that one particular neighbour who is known to be very nosy (there is one in every community, village lawyers) said the young thug came by the house more than once when she was travelling but she never took it seriously and maybe thought he was just coming to ask for some money or assistance seeing that they were familiar with him from before. He is described as very masculine, muscular and handsome with a very cool yet dreaded demeanor.

Things came to a head however when the "alleged thug lover" in question turned up at the home with other men on bicycles saying it was a lie that was told on him and that he was called and told that his name was being mentioned that he was a battyman and involved with Mr. So and So, they hurled expletives at the woman insisting she stopped pushing her unfounded accusations, the reported damning text message that was the evidence the victim's wife relied on could not be found by this time to substantiate her claim and it's not yet known what actually occurred between the man's arrival from exercising and his access to the phone which he had in his possession during the heated exchange, he may have deleted the text, interestingly enough it was the alleged "thug lover" who drove off with the outed man in a car that was parked on the sidewalk when things cooled down, both men along with others returned in the afternoon with a moving truck to take out the man's belongings with other thugs seemingly guarding the truck and entrance to the home. They also reportedly chased away some onlookers and the prayer warriors who had calmed down from the praying exercise by this time but who were still expressing shock at the allegations. The thug in question apparently also left a veiled threat that if anything should happen to "bossy" (a common term used to show respect from hyper masculine types to older men especially if they are able to get jobs or money when they make requests of them) he would sort out who is to be sorted out (not in such kind language). On lookers were said to be mum yet fearful to condemn or make anti gay sentiments based on the type of men who at the scene in an indirect way defending Mr. So and So but there were whispers non the less.

Things have calmed since and my sources tell me that community seems quiet on the surface. If there are any new developments there will be updates.

Even if the allegations are not true this also show how quickly a situation can develop from just mere assumptions with no time to defend oneself for a retreat or an amicable solution.

Notes:

Whether there is any truth to the allegations we may never be sure unless we get really close to the situation or if the man in question is willing to speak on the issue. It is interesting however if the men who arrived on the scene to deny the allegations and to guard the removal process were defending the outed man because they too are gay or bisexual as well but have an image to protect seeing working class types must adopt hyper-masculine or "heaviot" aesthetics or they were defending him because they didn't believe the allegation or because they can "nyam a food" (favours or money they can get from literally free loading on more affluent men in a non sexual relationship) or all of the above.

One thing I am happy it never turned out any more violent that it may have if it were different circumstances and a more depressed community we know all too well the outcomes of said outings elsewhere.

The matter of downlow rears it head again in this incident and begs some questions:

1) when if ever are we going to have any discourse on clandestine relationships seriously in the public domain?

2) in this case are we to assume the thugs were or are gay for pay types but deny publicly the accusations?

3) given recent happenings in certain inner city communities where so called thugs/heaviots/hyper masculine types are caught in the act, are you surprised?

4) did de man dem a protect dem ting cause man haffi nyam a food nuh matter wah?

Sure it is when stories like this are highlighted properly that we get the opportunity to examine the issues of down-low living better although each case must be taken on it's own merit.

A similar incident happened in another section of St. Catherine as well several years ago and while some neighbours expressed outrage and anti gay sentiments it was some of the so called thugs in the area who said the outed man should remain and no one was to touch him, they since retracted that line and he had to remove from his home and selling the property.

Peace and tolerance

H

America far safer for gay Jamaicans (Observer Letter/Column)

Dear Editor,

It was satisfying to see the February 12 headline, "28 gay Jamaicans granted asylum in US last year" because indeed, gay Jamaicans are running for their lives. They seek refuge from some in academia, the self-righteous, political grandstanding and poor policing.

Where one, two, three or more of these "institutions" are gathered touching anything concerning the "funny-man" or "she-man," then "Father Hate" and "Uncle Murder" are in the midst to do Jamaica's good.

Who will deny the usefulness of the frequent islandwide homophobic rhetoric in uniting "Holy-Ghost tongue-talking" Jamaicans, rude boys coming together to salute with guns, some politicians standing in oneness to applaud because there will be a Gomorrah-free Cabinet, and lousy music artistes firing up a crowd, not with lyrics but with "fire bun them"?

And where are the academic divas and wisdom rebels to inject logic, to water down the fire, clean up the blood and bury the gay murder rate?

Are the divas and rebels in an intellectual fowl coop hiding?

Jamaica is not the only murderous country. The problem with much of Jamaica is that it seems to be obsessed with violence. Inflicting blood, pain and shame give too many Jamaicans a consensual mood which appears to have become a cultural thrill.

Indeed, it would be naïve of anyone to think that America is paradise for those gay Jamaicans whom it has granted refuge. America has many cases of homophobia where there is a higher level of alarm when it's homophobia against whites and a lower level for other races.

That is something America should be ashamed of. There doesn't seem to be much evidence that America has sufficient conscience on that matter.

However, Immigration Equality rightly understands that America is nonetheless far safer for gay Jamaicans.

Pity that most Jamaicans are still in such denial!

Dadland Maye
New York, New York
dadland@gmail.com

ENDS

My notes:

The two questions highlighted in bold above in the letter are fundamental ones for us and especially those in advocacy in particular , they ask in essence why aren't the intellectuals and those in academia who are gay and who know better and are even friends with some of the same politicians who know better that the Buggery Law should be scrapped but grandstand in parliament but privately have different views due to fear of political suicide. The letter writer is directing the criticism where it belongs which I and a few others have gone against the grade and not tow the line.

As for the "gay murder rate" referred to there are issues that are misconstrued even by the community itself I fear, the conflation with downlow/clandestine homosexual affairs gone wrong vs abuse to include power differentials and the homo negativity from paedophilia with the psychology of sexual abuse are issues the community and experts are going to have to carefully sift through solve and then present to the nation to get the discussion going properly late as it is, better late than never.

More to come on this though in the meantime see the tabs linked to this post below to see previous posts on downlow issues and related matters.

Peace and tolerance

H

Who's In Your Closet ???

The same brother who gave us that excellent piece some time ago entitled Jamaica Homophobic Yet Homosocial is back with another great article looking at our problems of homo-negativity, hypocrisy and downlow/closeted issues some of which appeared in the Star News over time here is an excerpt from the previous article by playright, actor and comedian Blakka Ellis:

"Some Jamaican brethren love to run off mouth about how dem love woman and brag 'bout dem nuh pet man. Yes, big man, start counting the number of activities that you participate in, exclusively with other 'man friends'. Calculate the amount of time you spend with members of your own sex.

Now, compare that with your quality engagement and time spent with the opposite sex. I'll bet all the money I lost in Cash Plus that when the situations are objectively compared, many men will find that they spend more time and energy dedicated to activities with other men than with women. Isn't that funny? But, as I'm never tired of saying, we are a case study in contradiction. Is true, man! Many Jamaican men seem to be violently homophobic, yet passionately 'homosocial' at the same time. Check it, dem burn fire on men who sleep with men but di only company dat dem keep is men.


Some roughneck, macho men seem totally happy to spend 20 hours of one day socialising with a bag a man and then share the remaining four hours with a woman. And, those four hours are likely to involve maybe 15 minutes of talk, 45 minutes of sex and three hours of sleep. In fact, one man made it clear to me that, as far as he's concerned, the main thing to do with the opposite sex was sex."

added image from the Gleaner in 2007 of the then Attorney General AJ Nicholson on the Buggery Law.

here is a flashback to a statement he made while he was Attorney General on Same Sex Unions:

Here is the entry related to this post as published in the Jamaica Star February 9th 2011

with Blakka Ellis
Tell me that Jamaica's not a case study in contradiction and home of hypocrisy, and I'd probably punch you. But, I'm not a violent man, just a passionate Jamaican.
Hey, I read a letter to the editor printed inthe Gleaner on Saturday, February 5, that I found very interesting. The writer, identified only as 'Gay and afraid' from a Tivoli address, bemoaned the departure of Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, and suggested that with Coke's protection (or approval), a gay person could walk in the community without fear of being called names or being beaten to death.

According to the letter writer 'I simply went to Dudus and told him that I am gay and just wanted to live in peace." Interesting eh? They can live without danger or discrimination in the 'President's' community, while the world is arrogantly told that gays wouldn't be allowed in the prime minister's Cabinet. Of course, the PM must have made his statements with the assurance that the kitchen where he keeps his cabinet has no hidden closets!
And talking about closets, I've been noticing a series of news items in the past weeks that seem to point to an interesting trend. The tides, it seems, are turning and the doors of many closets are falling. Yeah man, some of the stories are sad and some mek yu haffi laugh, but more and more, certain man closet door a pap aff!

naughty gush of breeze

Yu ever notice how sometimes a naughty gush of breeze can just suddenly lift up the skirt of a passing lady, causing her brief embarrassment and creating momentary pleasure for every idle male on the corner except the blind man? Well a wickeder wind seems to be blowing away some veils and curtains these past days, and further exposing some of the hypocrisy inherent in the attitude of some Jamaicans to homosexuality.

The most interesting story in this series that I call 'closet door pap aff', is the one I read in last week Monday's paper about the three thugs allegedly caught in bed in the Denham Town area. The entertaining part for me is the report that residents were alerted, but when the mob assembled and called for a beating of the men, they had to make a hasty retreat because the 'gay' thugs allegedly drew guns at the crowd. Is like how dem so bright? Dem neva hear say might beat right?

And there was another 'closet door pap aff' report in the STAR on Monday, this time about a Portmore pastor who had to flee both the church and community after words started spreading that he was seen in explicit photos with a church brother, and was also reportedly discovered in the church's office engaging in an alleged sex act with another brother. Yeah, that pastor read the words about brotherly love but decided to 'tek it another way'.

a compromising position

Then, according to another story in yesterday's STAR, 'the police on Friday had to prevent persons in the Half-Way Tree area of St Andrew from beating two men they are said to have discovered in a compromising position. Unlike the alleged thugs in last week's story, these men had no gun and bad-man status to protect them from mob justice, so, luckily, the police who discovered them were a professional set who chose not to be discriminatory with how and who they serve and protect.

The STAR said a team of officers had to shield the men from an angry crowd for about five hours. But who's in that crowd? Nuff hypocrites; many self-righteous liars with violent looks and homophobic cries, but look inside their closet is enough contradiction and lies, to mek you say in your Bounty Killa voice 'mi cyaan believe mi eyes!'
box-mi-back@hotmail.com

Ugandan Newspaper Discovers Gay Man Not Acting Effeminate In Public

Closet homosexuals sink further under the radar after Kato’s death

By JOHN K. ABIMANYI

He sits at a table with his fingers encircled around the tail of a glass filled with Smirnoff. He is at a Kampala nightspot and has dissolved into the crowd, looking just like any other reveller. What most people at the bar would not know however, is that he, plus a couple of his colleagues at the venue, is homosexual. He demands that his identity is hidden if he is to be quoted in the papers instead; he proposes a pseudonym, Alan Mukasa.

He gives off no signs that he is gay. He’s not dressed in a tight fitting pair of jeans, commonly known as skinnies, his hair is a natural un-treated neatly trimmed black, he has no studs or earrings, wears no make-up or anything that may attract undue attention to him. “It’s a security precaution one has to take,” he says. “The best way to hide is to fit in.

Be as ordinary as everyone else and there will not be many questions to ask, and answers to give,” he adds. There is an ever-present sense of consciousness that runs on autopilot in the Ugandan gay man’s mind, Mukasa says. But that was before the murder of gay rights activist, David Kisule Kato last month, which, as Mukasa says, “Forces you to ask yourself whether you have watched your back well.”

Mukasa and Sam Musiime (also not real name), say the gay Ugandan living in the closet now has to add even more latches and keep the world away from the skeletons. “The aftermath of David Kato Kisule’s death is a strange atmosphere of confusion, fear, sadness, shock, and terror,” Musiime says, adding, “After watching a pastor deliver a less than savoury hate speech at his funeral, all I could think is, ‘they must think we are all mad’.”

Musiime and Mukasa are both in their late 20s and have kept their orientation a secret from many for nearly a decade now. “You tell no one. Only gay people like you ever get to know, and even then, you watch which gay person gets to find out because they too could sell you out, accidentally or not,” Musiime says. “The key is to ease into society as much as possible, behave like everyone else, even flirt with girls to portray the usual boy look,” Musiime says.

Musiime then expounds on how he now has to rethink his security. “After Kato’s death, something is triggered in you and even makes you think somebody you do not want to know already knows. Now I have to recheck my passwords – on my computer and phones so that no one accidentally runs into photos or any material that would raise suspicion. You fear that even if people would not kill you, you would lose the respect that those who don’t know still have for you,” he adds.

For Mukasa, Kato’s death also leads him to cover his tracks, but not through fear. “I’ve always been in fear, not for my life, but of being found out. I realised that living in fear only gives you away, so I live in confidence instead, knowing nothing is wrong with me,” he says. “Society may not be very accommodative of me, so I still have to be careful, maybe even more careful now that matters are rising to the surface. But I live on. I walk on. I go to work in the morning. I go to the bar in the evening. My life in general has not changed.”

When asked what he will do to keep his orientation a secret, Mukasa says, “I am very conscious of who is watching me and what I do. That doesn’t mean I’m always looking over my back. I don’t feel the need to. However, I am always careful. Things like phone calls, emails, communication, and even friends can be clues to a person’s behaviour. I take appropriate measures,” he says, making an effort not to divulge much. Later, he adds, “Answering this one truthfully is tricky, feels like I’d be giving myself away.”

Musiime and Mukasa say they are reaping the fruits of a ripened swelling of homophobia in a society that finds their actions terribly archaic. However, to many Ugandans, the attitude towards homosexuality is not an irrational fear like the word homophobia seems to suggest. It’s seen as a cry to save deeply treasured social norms.

At an anti-gay protest in support of the anti-homosexuality bill, hundreds of shouting protestors carried placards with among other messages, writings like, “Think about our children,”, “Together we kick homosexuality out of Uganda,” and “Homosexuals beware of God’s wrath.” Pastor Martin Ssempa then stepped in with a charge that homosexuals target and indeed rape boys in school, and that some teachers condone it.

Uganda, which has been under international spotlight over an anti-gay bill that ruling party MP, Hon David Bahati had tabled in parliament in 2009, returned into the headlines with even stronger criticism over the Police’s handling of Kato’s murder.

Cases of attacks on or perceived attacks on homosexuals feature highly on the news agenda of international media. Even with the crisis that was erupting in Egypt, Kato’s death got extensive coverage on the BBC World Service for instance. In fact, the news of Kato’s murder was broken to many Ugandans not by local media, but through tweets from online news wires.

On the BBC’s From Our Own Correspondent show that offers analysis and insight into news events, Ana Cavell, the reporter, said, “Homophobia in Uganda is different to homophobia in Europe. It is not just that people do not like homosexuality or that they do not like to consider what homosexuals might do together. Here it is seen as an abomination. Gay people are reviled - a bit like how rapists are in other countries.” The show described Kato as a brave man who carried the air of an intellectual.
With such attention, Uganda seems to be coming under increasing international pressure as regards what happens to homosexuals here.

President Barack Obama had a personal message read at Kato’s funeral. A senior researcher for Human Rights Watch in the Africa Division, Ms Maria Burnett, says, “In the case of this killing, the world happens to be watching. Uganda’s reputation as a country that respects the rule of law and human rights is at stake if the case is not rigorously and impartially investigated”.

Back at the nightspot where Mukasa wined his evening away, he and his gay friends chatted about sports, money, cars and yes, girls too. And when a female friend passed by the table, Mukasa reached out with arms wide open and hugged her tightly, the way a boy longing to feel a girl’s chest would. As Mukasa would say, “the best way for to hide is to fit in. Be as ordinary as everyone else.”

ends

case in point as seen in photo Dennis Rodman in his feminization days

you may also want to see a post from Afrogay's blog on this article:

"John K. Abimanyi's article in Uganda's Daily Monitor is remarkable for a number of reasons.

The first and most obvious one for anyone who is Ugandan or knows about Uganda is the author's name: Abimanyi.

In Luganda, Abimanyi literally translates as "he knows" or 'someone who knows." As soon as I saw the name, I immediately made myself a vodka tonic cocktail and sat down to read about what John "Who Knows" knows about closet homosexuals."

read the rest HERE