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

So antigay Catholic priest and environmentalist has come out claiming he is not a Trump supporter and attempts to distance himself from some of his counterpart theologians, pastors and priests. I am not fully impressed by this but for what is worth it may be a sign that some sense is finally coming his way in terms of a middle ground on homosexuality and such.

Source:

Sometimes election observers allow their personal preferences to interfere with how they read the signs of the times to predict the outcome of elections. For many, Donald Trump's outrageous racist and misogynistic utterances on the campaign trail disqualify him from holding arguably the most powerful political office on the planet; for others, it is his anti-free trade and anti-environmental positions that make him objectionable. Others just wanted a woman - good or bad - to become president. Yet Trump got enough votes on Tuesday to be on his way to become the 45th President of the United States, and many people just can't understand it.

ASSUMPTION

The fundamental assumption behind scientific attempts to understand human behaviour is that Homo sapiens is a rational species; therefore, there is always rationality behind human behaviour, and the scientific task is to discover it to be able to understand it.

In my column of August 12, 'Trump did not nominate himself' I pointed out: "I feel the frustration of the mainstream US media during this present election campaign. What is supposed to happen is that when the foibles and foolishness of a candidate are exposed to the public, the popularity of the candidate is supposed to fall in the opinion polls ... .

"This has not been happening with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Over the last many months on the campaign trail, Trump has made outrageous and bigoted statements ridiculing women, ethnic minorities, the handicapped, and Muslims, yet his favourability ratings in the polls continued to increase. He has insulted journalists, threatened press freedom, stated an intention to pull out of NATO, and to cancel free trade agreements; he has characterised illegal immigrants travelling over the Mexican border into the USA as 'criminals, drug dealers, rapists, etc.', and has made outlandish proposals to build a 'great wall' between the USA and Mexico - which, he claims, he will make Mexico pay for; yet his numbers continued to improve. He has contradicted himself, backtracked on earlier statements, and been caught in lies; in December 2015, Politifact named 'The many campaign misstatements of Donald Trump' as its '2015 Lie of the Year', noting at the time, that 76 per cent of Trump statements rated by the fact-checking website were rated 'Mostly False, False or Pants on Fire', more than any other politician; yet his numbers have increased all the more."

For me, something else was at work here. What was of interest was not Trump and his scandalous behaviour, but how the US electorate was responding to it as reflected by pollsters. In the primaries, Trump beat out 11 other candidates to become the Republican nominee, receiving the most primary votes of any Republican candidate in US history. I wrote: "I think the focus of the analysts is wholly misplaced: it should be on the behaviour of Republican voters and not on the behaviour of Trump himself.

"Clearly, the millions who faithfully support Donald Trump for president - despite his obvious deficiencies and dangerous personality flaws - feel seriously threatened by something. Their unrelenting support of Trump ... seems almost pathological. What could they be so angry about?"

The phenomenon deepened, with more egregious Trump sexism, and many sensible women coming to his defence. I realised something remarkable was about to happen. In my column of October 27, 'Voting for a change' I pointed out that "we in the Third World complain about how we are being disadvantaged by market fundamentalists, mostly in the USA; but over the years blue-collar workers in the USA have been suffering, too, from the Washington Consensus policies practised by their own government".

SENDING A MESSAGE

It was clear to me that, by supporting Trump, the underclass in the USA was trying to send mainstream Democrats and Republicans a message: a backlash against the Washington Consensus. They were hurting so bad, that they were prepared to look beyond the racist, misogynistic, and bigoted statements of Donald Trump, and focus on his anti-immigration, protectionist, and semi-isolationist policies which they perceived to be in their best interests.

I am currently in London, and I stayed up all Tuesday night watching the commentary and interviews on the BBC. A stream of US evangelical pastors and adherents declared in interviews that their support of Donald Trump was rooted in his anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage agenda. They were afraid that a Hilary Clinton presidency would appoint more pro-LGBT Supreme Court justices, who would deepen the implementation of the anti-Christian anti-traditional family LBGT agenda.

The extent to which the Trump electoral victory is due to a backlash against advances in the gay revolution is yet to be fully explored.

Please do not misunderstand me: I am not a Trump supporter. I expect to be unhappy with the Trump presidency; he is likely to be even more anti-environment than the pro-Goat Islands people. But social scientists must seek to understand the social and political phenomena around them.

- Peter Espeut is a sociologist and environmentalist. Email: columns@gleanerjm.com.

ENDS

Homosexuality - A Biological reality

Homophobia - a Lifestyle choice

Your choice is clear as reflected in this piece.

Stick to the environmental issues where your expertise lies.

also see:

Espeut, West says “Homophobia” was invented to abuse Christians as hate speech

My answer to Peter Espeut's rubbish on Homophobia Exposed 

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

Sociologist & RC Deacon Peter Espeut on The Right To Discriminate .... and a response

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

I Bet Deafening Silence from Religious Anti Gay Voices ...... Preacher served summons during service

The False Dichotomy of the religious right on the LGBT advocacy Godlessness

Continued conflation between homosexuality, atheism, secularism and moral nihilism 

With Gay Abandon by Peter Espeut ..........

'We Have The Numbers' - Anti-Homosexuality Church Leaders Confident Enough Religious Jamaica....

Jamaica’s AIDS funding fears allayed

JAMAICA’s funding fears have been allayed, even if only briefly, with a commitment from the Global Fund to continue supporting the country’s HIV response beyond the previously decided 2018 transition deadline.

Local groups expressed concerns earlier this year that the gains made in the HIV response could be hampered if the Global Fund withdraws its support because of Jamaica’s middle-income status, forcing the country to move away from donor funding to a more domestically funded health response.

The Global Fund, which provides support to countries in response to AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, allocates funds to eligible countries for a three-year period, based on the country’s disease burden and income level.

Jamaica was upgraded to an upper middle-income country by the World Bank in 2009, putting it at risk of losing the grant funding.

However, Ivan Cruickshank, chairman for the country coordinating mechanism for the Global Fund, told the

Jamaica Observer Tuesday that the grant-funding institution has committed to extending its funding support for the island.

“There was a bit of uncertainty in terms of the replenishment of the Global Fund,” Cruickshank admitted.

At the launch of the institution’s fifth replenishment in September, donors pledged more than US$12.9 billion for the next three years towards ending the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

The replenishment conference raised nearly $1 billion more than the previous one in 2013, with the amount raised expected to save eight million lives, avert 300 million infections, and help build resilient and sustainable systems for health.

The conference was only the beginning of a three-year replenishment period and the Global Fund said then that it intends to actively work to gain further contributions in the coming months and years.

“What this means for Jamaica is that, initially, it was expected that Jamaica would’ve transitioned out of global funding at the end of this grant, but the Global Fund has actually indicated in their most recent communication with us that they are extending that period,” Cruickshank told the Observer after speaking at the Jamaica AIDS Support for Life 25th anniversary media launch at the Courtleigh Hotel in St Andrew.

He explained that the country is now being prepared for the transition through a transition-readiness process.

“… So we are not going to transition at the end of this grant cycle. What we are actually doing is preparing the country in a way that the Government and all the other stakeholders are at a place that the transition can actually begin,” Cruickshank said. “Whether that is another three years down the road, we are not sure yet, but we don’t expect that we are actually going to transition at the end of this cycle which ends 2018.”

Cruickshank, whose organisation is responsible for applying for money from the Global Fund and ensuring that all targets are met and that the money is spent as intended, and as set out in the grant application, said the long-term vision is to stop receiving funds from the Global Fund for the HIV response.

He admitted that he does not know when it will happen but said he expects that it will be discussed in upcoming Global Fund meetings.

“This grant cycle actually ends in 2018 and we have a commitment from the Global Fund to continue funding after this particular grant ends; how long it will continue is to be (determined),” he said

also see:

Why did CVCC & JFJ not Fund a Project/Home for Homeless LGBT Youth in New Kingston?

Florida has reached a deal to purchase the Pulse nightclub ........

The city of Orlando, Florida has reached a deal to purchase the Pulse nightclub and turn it into a memorial for the victims of what was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer’s office confirmed the queer nightclub’s $2.25 million purchase in an email to The Huffington Post Tuesday, pending a November 14 vote by City Council. His office added that there are no immediate plans to change the site.

“We do know that we want to maintain it for a period of time ― 12 to 18 months ― so that people from around the country and world who want to visit the site can do so,” the mayor said in a video posted to Twitter.

Since the June 12 shooting, in which 49 people were killed and 53 were wounded, the downtown site has served as a makeshift memorial that has been visited by tourists and politicians alike.

Dyer, speaking to the Orlando Sentinel, said the city’s ultimate goal will be to “create something to honor the memory of the victims that are deceased [and] those that were injured, and a testament to the resilience of our community.”

He said he will solicit ideas for the memorial from the surrounding community.

The purchase price is roughly $600,000 more than its appraised value, the Sentinel reported.

The nightclub’s owner, Barbara Poma, who owns it with her husband Posario, had previously pledged through a spokesperson to turn it into a memorial to the victims, most of whom identified as queer people of color.

Barbara Poma opened the dance venue in 2004 in honor of her late brother, John,who died from AIDS in 1991.

Back in August, it was reported that a newly established nonprofit called OnePULSE had filed plans to turn the nightclub into a memorial.

In June two Jamaicans said to be victims in Orlando mass shooting, It is possible that at least two Jamaicans were among the victims of the Orlando mass shooting on Sunday.

Foreign affairs minister, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith is advising that the Jamaican Consulate General in Miami has received unconfirmed reports that Jamaican nationals were casualties in the attack. However, efforts are underway to confirm these reports.

Senator Johnson Smith is overseas on official travel and has been monitoring the developments. 

Mr. Franz Hall, Jamaica’s Consul General (CG) explained that “checks are being done through the Office of Foreign Missions and also the hospitals in Orlando, in an effort to confirm these reports.”

Senator Johnson Smith has instructed the Consul General to remain in touch with the community and its leaders to provide support where possible. No serious followup came officially.

Howeve singer Shane Tomlinson was confirmed:

also see:

My heart & prayers go out to the Pulse victims & their families

Dormant anti gay feelings resurface in Florida shooting aftermath

Gay club killing unlikely in Ja .............

Rainbow flags vs Jamaicans murdered which is more important?

Ronnie Thwaites’ rubbish on flying rainbow flags grooms children into “particular lifestyle” (contains last pefomance of Shane Tomlinson's one of the Jamaicans who died)

Christians should apologise to gay people — Pope Francis

These Are the Names of the Victims of the awful incident

Peace & tolerance

H

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

And 20 years hence ...........

the very spot where the above American Airlines crashed site some years ago where my ordeal and road to change and activism began

November 9 1996 would never be the same for myself and subsequently three other co-accused gay men who just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, time flies indeed and I cannot believe that a full 20 years have passed when on Palisadoes Road to be precise when were surprised by bright lights and as it turned out it was a search-light atop a police car who happened on us complete with expletives, raised decibels and a string other anti homosexual comments when they realised we were all male. Despite that fact that no anal sex was happening at the time of the encounter we were none the less charged for it or at least two of us, myself and my then dating boyfriend who now lives abroad since the episode.

You may have heard my reference my buggery case from time to time in previous posts, well it all stemmed from the bizarre sequence of events that morning.

Picture it, a young man in my twenty third year of life with not a care in the world than normal, in a decent job, a roof over my head, mom and dad were still around and relatively healthy and mortgage payments; on vacation leave only to have my life turned completely out of whack just before returning to work due the following Monday, after running some errands in Spanish Town the night before, November 8 I made my way to the barbers to get my grooming on and keep my face tight; I ran into my cousin who was having drinks at a bar and he offered and we chatted about all kinds of nonsense, I was not out yet to him so I suspect he did not out rightly know I was gay although there was talk in the family already as I had no girlfriend since my late teens full time and apart from her miscarriage I never attempted for children.

We drove off to head for home as he lives just across the same housing scheme but he said he wanted to chill some more so we ended up at a street dance off Brunswick Avenue and had a few more drinks and by midnight we finally called it quits. Arrived home and decided to take a shower when the phone rang, it was my then date who said he was bored and his best friend one of the now infamous four were out and about on the town when they offered to come get me; I hesitated as I usual do not venture out after coming in from the road; they pressed me none the less and I capitulated. In less than twenty minutes there was the toot at my gate, relatively fast since it was late, I showered and left in the car. We were having a ball, four young men with not a care in the world, we look good, we had money so what is to stop us apart from the nonsense homophobia we were about to walk into. We stopped by a popular hookup joint then known as ‘Sandringham’ but it was full so we headed to Burger King had a bite and left aimlessly out and about, the road was busy as the early air of the Christmas holidays were visible with the trademark pepper lights, tinsel and such were in full swing. So we somehow decided to drive and anywhere the destination landed us then so be it.

We ended up at Palisadoes, upon our arrival we parked just opposite the airport runway but realised we had company as other persons were there; mostly heterosexual couples doing their thing in the vehicles as it is a popular spot for that sort of thing; a refridegerated truck drove off but we did not pay it any attention and we moved closer to the sea shore where we dipped our feet in the water, then we moved to the ill-fated spot and paired off in a romantic setting then came the floodlights aimed at the car and plain clothes as well as uniformed cops came charging out; upon discovering we were all males then homophobia started; my shirt was off by then so I put it on and the other two guys who were leaning on the rear of the car a grey Toyota Corolla were ordered to allow the cops to search them.

We were hustled into the patrol vehicle while one of the officers drove behind it to the Airport police precinct and that’s when things got interesting:

Parading of us as ‘battyman’

Numerous phonecalls to alert other officers of us

A barrage of questions dotted with condemnation as to our abomination and nastiness to include ‘shitpit’ references, I guess they never actually gay men in the flesh directly before in full knowledge of their sexuality so curiosity was high

Attempts to get us to tell when and where we started being gay and that if we do not know we can change; the usual restorative mantra

A full out prayer meeting at one point as we ignored it for the most part to change us into heterosexuals again by a fire brand female officer who sounded Pentecostal like

Attempts to try to get us to give a statement despite that fact that the charge was not yet entered in the station diary; some cops dismissed the whole affair and urged the others to let us go and move on as one put it at the time words to the effect that ‘dem a decent yute dem man’ (these are decent men) maybe implying the effort should be more on hardened criminal suspects, myself and my date were ones who seemed to be targeted for getting the full buggery charge seeing we were on the backseat of the car not naked but shirts off and in a hugging position, the other two guys ended up with a gross indecency charge; we were asked to strip away from the other cops and our underwear taken to supposedly be used as exhibits. A corporal Bailey was more civil in how she dealt with us and seemed sympathetic but I had my doubts as it could have been a softening exercise to have us implicate ourselves, a tactic used by police when they know that they have a weak case with nothing to stand on.

The ordeal lasted for a 5 hours so much so I started fall asleep in the backroom of the station, by the time sunrise came we could hear the mob outside the station demanding the cops hand us over to them as word spread of the ‘four battyman dem’ so arrangements were made to take us into town itself as the jail cells there had suspects. The departure from the station was another matter as the cops had to make a passage way with their bodies as the mob waited eagerly; we were told to dash towards the jeep which we did and the mob went bezerk in their failure to get us and the police’s protection of battyman. We subsequently were taken on tour it seems to multiple police posts and precincts, namely Half Way Tree where interestingly despite no cell phone technology then prisoners/suspects were shouting from the windows of cells which one they wanted ‘the brown one’ referring to Nigel in the group. I thought they meant to exact violence but I subsequently learned later that it was for sex (despite Jamaica’s homophobia) substitutional sex in prisons or the prison wife phenomenon is very much here.

We then ended up at Elleston Road where another display session took place much to the raucous laughter of some, we were all frightened as we did not know where this was going given the awful history of police abuse of gay men years prior often gone unabated and corrected. Then someone called my name even as I hid my face between my legs worried about what my family would think when they get wind of this; the voice was that of a police officer who I knew so Lord I melted as he would be the one to take news onwards, I never responded when he repeatedly called me and then cursed an expletive and walked muffling under his breath ‘battyman’ we made our statements after the charges were read to us and the taunts and curiosity seekers were at it as at Pailsadoes. Were then were taken to Central precinct in a bid it seems to find a place to put us on remand and again as at the previous locales the humiliation, curiosity, verbal abuse persisted.

We ended up at the Elleston Road Medical centre with now 8 cops (two of which I subsequently learned were bisexual as they came out to me years later) to be examined by the doctor on behalf of the state to prepare the doctor’s report for the prosecution/arresting officer. To think the doctor effectively had to commit buggery by fingering in a glove with lube to check the tightness or looseness of our sphincter muscles. The report later suggested spermatozoa cells were present normally at the fibres of the clothing where they should be but also at my anus (first sign of a falsified report in hindsight) as remembering no anal sex occurred and a condom that was in my pocket ended up also as an exhibit. But let us not rush it yet, we were then taken to Remand Centre in Rema and the cops their all but one all agreed to use the story of a charge of illegal drugs seeing it was at the airport stretch which is also known as a float away point for cocaine. This was done to diffuse any challenges that may come while we were in custody but one police woman decided to circulate by way of a note that were bugga man.

That’s when all hell broke loose and the beatings started; we were then separated into different cells so as to reduce the familiarity component but it was clear by our second day on lock down a cell block shanking was in order. I was able to defend myself in a way but my other pals I could hear my date pleading for no more hits. The ordeal went on for some hours before things cooled. We had court the morning in questions and the bruises were evident but despite the cops asking us to point out the culprits we kept it in as we were not sure of the aftermath. We subsequently placed in one cell which was not on lock down like the others with more hardened accused. Everything from hits with bottles, to the trademark melted plastic on skin was used as tortures to us but thankfully we made it through. The court hearings started and even there in the hallowed halls of justice we were subjected to ridicule even by one of the four judges overall who heard the case, inescapable homophobia I suppose. The judge in question asked who was doing whom? Much to the laughter of the courtroom. Some two years plus passed with the repeated mention dates as the arresting officers simply stopped attending court despite numerous subpoenas. We were advised not to give up and attend every mention date; we did and then the faithful day came when we asked the bench to throw out the matter sighting our punctuality in court and our employers (three of us were still employed) expressing concerns of loss of man hours ti which she complied and adjourned it sine die (set aside for seven years and could be recalled if the arresting officer found new evidence). By this time there was no JFLAG or groups like that so apart from words of encouragement from some, and then a more proactive Jamaica AIDS Support, JAS we had to start all over again.

Malice, verbal abuse, homophobia in various forms and gossip punctuated my life for years so much so I relocated to Kingston; I then started by disc jock stint at the Club Entourage on Christmas Eve 1996 out on bail of course thanks to JFLAG co-founder Brian Williamson. Some family members have not spoken to me since while others have (re)connected over the years. My experience has taught me lots and gave me the resolve to being the person I am today despite losing some friends to murders, HIV related diseases and a slow progress to change in Jamaica. I’ll admit at times I feel near burnout but I use the rubber band technique and bounce back. You live and you learn I guess.

Thanks for your support over the years but the journey continue.

Peace & tolerance

H

Male birth control could make us infertile!

Jamaican men claim - Male birth control could make us infertile.

Researchers in the United Kingdom have come up with what they have dubbed the 'male pill', an equivalent to female contraceptives, where doctors inject a gel-like substance into the sperm duct to prevent sperm form escaping and getting a woman pregnant.

However, the Jamaican men who spoke with THE WEEKEND STAR said there is no way they would undergo the procedure, which is expected to hit markets by 2018.

"No injection thing inna no balls! Me will gwaan use the condom, and when me ready me take it off. That sound weird. Suppose them give me the injection and it 'sheg' up me system?," Robert Matterson, a 37-year-old father of one, questioned.

According to the Parsemus Foundation, which is developing the drug called Vasagel, the product works by having a doctor inject a gel into the vas deferens (the tube the sperm swim through), rather than cutting the vas (as is done in vasectomy). If a man wishes to restore flow of sperm, whether after months or years, the gel is flushed out of the vas with another injection.

Sexually transmitted diseases

But none of the advantages were compelling enough to convince Jamaican men to warm up to the new technology.

"What about sexually transmitted diseases? It doesn't prevent against that, so it wouldn't make sense. Even if a one woman me have, mi no trust her 100 per cent say she nah go cheat and catch something then give me," said 38-year-old Wayne Fearon.

Calda Wint, 55, who has one daughter, said he believes the male contraceptive is a good idea for men who already have a lot of children and those who cannot afford children. However, he said he would not use Vasagel because he fears that it might have long term negative implications.

Meanwhile, Steve Knowles said he believes those products are for women.

"A woman alone fi take dem things deh, trust me. Just like how dem a change you sex and man a have baby, then them come with this," he said.

Despite all the naysayers, Dr Vernon DaCosta, who heads the Fertility Management Unit at the University of the West Indies, said he believes there is a market for such a product in Jamaica, but there is not enough funding to support research in the field.

"If the government promotes it, I think there would be a market for it here. But to fund research, we would need about five to 10 million dollars per year, and that's US dollars I'm talking about," DaCosta said.

Vasalgel was inspired by the work on a polymer contraceptive called RISUG®, which is in advanced clinical trials in India; some of the men have been using RISUG® for more than 15 years. But right now, only local men near the study sites in India are eligible for the trials, and formal reversibility studies have only been done in animals, not men.

In early 2010, Parsemus Foundation began developing a polymer contraceptive for the rest of the world outside India. The new polymer contraceptive is called Vasalgel™, and 12 months of rabbit studies have shown no sperm from the second semen sample onwards! Sperm flow quickly returned in rabbits that had the polymer flushed out. The goal is to have it on the market as an alternative to vasectomy as soon as possible, with the first clinical trial expected to begin in 2016.

Vasalgel is being developed by the foundation as a “social venture,” a company that makes enough money to stay afloat but not to make anybody rich, with affordable pricing and wide availability as its mandate. The social venture company within the foundation is moving fast on getting the first steps done; however, it won’t have enough money to finish the project, and has conducted fundraising campaigns which have helped to support the nonhuman primate studies that will be concluded by the end of 2015.

Want to see Vasalgel make it to market? Since long-term methods aren’t a big money-maker (it’s a lot more profitable to sell pills to men’s partners every month), big pharma isn’t interested– so we’re relying on public support. With over 20,000 men and women waiting to hear about clinical trials, even $5 or $10 each will fund the preclinical studies (the animal research needed before human trials). Here’s how you can get involved:

Police Commissioner on MSM/trans in New Kingston & ongoing challenges from public concern

Dr Carl Williams Police Commissioner 

The timing of this latest episode on the problematic age old homeless MSM and transgender persons could not have been more timely as November is Homeless Awareness Month on this blog and sister blog GLBTQ Jamaica. The more things change the more they stay the same it seems or as I put it prior here we are again this old familiar place. While some of the members had moved or relocating to the previous problem area at Millsborough Avenue they were removed by police with the interventions of angry residents nearby earlier this year. Numerous robberies allegedly done by some of the men of smart phones in particular and also heterosexual culprits who make it bad by way of reputation for the MSM, it has turned out that some of the smart phones robberies are to supply a phone repair and scrapping network in downtown, Cross Roads and as far as Spanish Town and Portmore; the police has since dented that network for now as was carried on TVJ News two days ago.

Police Commissioner Dr Carl Williams speaking at a town hall meeting in the New Kingston area November 3, 2016 he sought to assure residents who are complaining of persons at the gullies and drains in the district, namely the Shoemaker gully. He said among other things that some 12 persons are already serving some jail time for atrocities but no sooner they come out they return to a life of crime; he did not mention the ongoing cases in the St Andrew parish courts for example some of which are linked to alleged lotto scamming as persons get involved outside of the troublesome areas of St James and Westmoreland; he did not qualify his point in terms of who are actually doing the robberies of residencies but hinted to the sexual orientation excuse in his mind:

“We have some peculiar problems in New Kingston, I am not going to long I’m gonna cut to the chase, the New Kingston is a special place, it’s the premier business district in Jamaica ............. people of New Kingston you have something that needs protecting .......... we have certain problems that are unique to New Kingston, unique I say because I have never seen any other place where we have such a large concentration of people who hang out in gullies, yes, and who emerge out of these gullies; sometimes swarms of them emerge from these gullies and attack the people of New Kingston whether visitors or residents, we have so many complaints about these people and we have been trying forever.

We have to find a solution for them, in fact right now as we speak we are able to control the problem a little bit because we have almost a dozen of the more prolific ones in custody in St Andrew central and so things have subsided a bit.

But still we have them in the gullies; that is a problem the police and the citizens here are going to have to work assiduously to come up with a solution.”

The Commissioner now designates the homeless persons to that of insects in such a condescending fashion says a lot to me; he never gave any indications as to the numbers and actions taken or how many official reports that have come in, he admitted that the problem is not one for just law enforcement, he says there is a need to find proper housing and employment opportunities for the persons who frequent the gullies, this so they don’t have to resort to a life of crime but disturbingly he commented that the police does not see sexual orientation but individuals who are committing crime, maybe he was side stepping laying the blame in terms of response where it needs to be placed and that sexual orientation considerations must come to hand in order to propose or craft proper responses to some of this:

“There are very violent and I tell you some of them use their sexual orientation as a cover, we as a modern police force, we don’t see sexual orientation, we see them as a band of criminals and we want to work with the people in New Kingston to get rid of this band of criminals; it is not just a law enforcement problem it is also a social problem, because I think we going to have to find a way in which we can relocate them.”

The fact that the police post on Knutsford Boulevard there since 1998 or thereabout is to be relocated yet again as the owners of the building has issues a notice to quit by the end of the year; purse snatching bandits targeting women, alleged cross dressers being aggressive to the public with resultant clashes and only a limited 23 -25 officers with some of them seconded from other precincts to provide support and some from TPDco (Tourism Development Company) as the area is also seen as a tourism spot. But didn’t a previous Superintendent propose something in a formal document and went as far as clearing the Shoemaker Gully in December 2014 which was carried on CVM TV, where is that Superintendent now since then and why has the problem been allowed to regenerate and where oh where is JFLAG or the other outfits in all of this? Silly me I forgot there is no real interest in addressing this part of the equation despite so many years of some kind of organised advocacy, as I said in another for Homeless Awareness Month 2016:

“It is indeed a sad state of affairs when after some forty plus years of some kind of organized LGBT advocacy from Gay Freedom Movement to present, to include the HIV years in the 1990s and slow periods yet with all the hard and anecdotal evidence of stigma driven displacement and homelessness there is no proper response to same. The fundamental question as to why this is so is yet to be properly and honestly answered.”

Meanwhile the Commissioner also gave assurance not convincingly though that additional police have been and will be deployed to try to rid the streets of robbers. He admitted that not enough is being done to address numerous break-ins of properties in New Kingston. Frankly I have lost count as to the numerous issues in the business district namely and by the Cholera Cemetery where the last matter that came to hand was a stabbing incident on August 3, 2016 involving a cruiser and an allegedly homeless robber, the cruiser was stabbed on the right hand with an instrument of some kind; so the tense relationship between cruiser, clients of commercial sex workers and homeless/displaced MSM/transgender continues sadly.

The Commissioner also took note of the mistrust between the police and citizens, he is spot on on that one as reports still come in of all kinds of alleged corruption to include the ongoing hot matter of the aftermath of the so called ‘X6 murder’ of 17 year Kajil Mais some five years after the fact where the accused walked free although the suspected gun is missing and a witness who back peddled destroying the prosecution’s case in court. The missing gun and or refusal to turn over a firearm case is still in court which is slated for November 18. On our side of the fence reports still surface of cops seeking to shake down LGBT persons coming from events or cops claiming to be offering security services but when the night is over they pad the demands sometimes well over the agreed amounts the party promoter was willing or able to pay, under threat of exposing the venue and or promoter(s). Dr Williams claimed the high command has dismissed some corrupt cops, introduced polygraph tests of which some persons failed recently as he says he does not want the ‘wrong types’ he also said the force is looking at revamping its disciplinary machinery.

Meanwhile:

58 persons of the Jamaica Constabulary Force were trained in how to respond to gender based violence through sensitizations and workshops the officers learned about actions they could take to reduce GBV among different categories of women, the workshops focused on violence against HIV positive women, lesbians, bisexual and transgender women, female sex workers and women living with disabilities. Dr Carolyn Gomes Executive Director of Caribbean Vulnerable Coalition said that officers should use what they have learned to sensitize other colleagues as it should be replicable. Meanwhile ED of Jamaica aids Support for Life, JASL Kandasi Levermore also spoke to the matter in the response to GBV in public clinics with psychological interventions in service delivery, they were speaking at Alambra Inn where the graduation exercise took place. Problem with this as per usual notice that nowhere was MSM (men who have sex with men) mentioned even though they also have some serious issues of intimate partner violence with some visible outcomes at times, the NGOs still it seems do not want to get their hands too dirty from direct engagement with some groups and issues. That humanitarian spark feels missing these days from some quarters and it seems more about systematic driven momentum and careers more so than anything else, who really cares? Nice social media pages with photos of ‘workshops’ but it seems to be so limited a few and puts a farce of a reality with bettered or altered versions of the actual reality.

Some private interventions are ongoing by some with what is often described as ‘couch surfing’ which is not nearly enough and mistrust issues in that department continues with an ongoing court case of a lecturer being extorted by a man who hailed from Maxfield Avenue and a suspicious murder case of a doctor recently where a 17 and a 19year old were charged yesterday for the crime, as more information comes forth more anon on this blog.

meanwhile earlier this year:

Kingston's Mayor Burke receive Death Threats... so she claims yet with all her optics with JFLAG and such claiming she is concerned she cannot deal with homelessness citywide; some over a 1000ft westwards from her Church Street Mayor's office, infront of all places the Supreme & Appeals court also seen as the hallowed halls of justice buildings as seen below.

homeless man on bench

How is she therefore going to address MSM/transgender homelessness that requires specialist interventions when the very JFLAG isn't showing any forward momentum on this for so many years?
Peace & tolerance

H

also see:  Homeless Awareness Month 2016 issues and Homeless Awareness Month 2016 issues part 2

Why did CVCC & JFJ not Fund a Project/Home for Homeless LGBT Youth in New Kingston 2014

HIV Positive displaced man claims he was abused by other men under the guise of assistance

Man accused of extortion tried for coning lecturer of $1.2 million........

Homeless Awareness Month 2016 issues

As the visibility of LGBT persons in Jamaica increases thanks in most part to social media platforms and a willingness of persons to come out or be open these days the usual side effects come forth. Forced evictions, family fallout, displacements and even more ghastly murders not homophobic related but more a consequence of the illegal lotto scamming, especially in western Jamaica are having a deleterious impact of some persons; numerous reports which have come in seem to suggest an increase in such matters when compared to previous years. It is looking like déjà vous to some of us in the trenches for some time, the Kingston cohort of persons who were at the Cargill Avenue, Shoemaker Gully and Millsborough Avenue locales have since splintered since their removal by the police in December 2014.

Also see:

the CVM NEWS Story HERE on the eviction/raid taken by the police o scroll below

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

also see a flashback to some of the troubling issues with the populations and the descending relationships between JASL, JFLAG and the displaced/homeless GBT youth in New Kingston: Rowdy Gays Strike - J-FLAG Abandons Raucous Homosexuals Misbehaving In New Kingston

also see all the posts in chronological order by date from Gay Jamaica Watch HERE and GLBTQ Jamaica HERE

GLBTQJA (Blogger): HERE

see previous entries on LGBT Homelessness from the Wordpress Blog HERE

May 22, 2015 update, see: MP Seeks Solutions For Homeless Gay Youth In New Kingston

must read: And we continue to reap the world-wind for not addressing homelessness when it was manageable

Despite promises made by some from various quarters including so called concerned religious leaders, members of parliament, some LGBT party people and others the resulting interventions amount to mere tokenism and a drop in the bucket given the size and ever changing scope of the problems. So called ‘feeding programs’ and parading the after photos on social media is not solving anything more than persons seeking to enhance their profiles by going the charity route; some so called entertainers have gone as far as to release pro-lgbt music albums with the photos of some of the homeless on the cover of the disc marketed all over the place yet it turns out the very persons who were so captured have been struggling and are still struggling, not to mention the HIV positive persons in the groups. One time of short term feeding programs only address immediate service needs and may even create a dependency issue where homeless feel that they do not have to do much but wait until ‘feeding time’ as Aunty so and so or Uncle so and so is coming with food or goodies; this can serious impact negatively on the efficacious component of the interventions (if any).

The pigeon-holing of the populations by media especially our friends in Kingston has sent shock waves in terms of kind individuals who once would open their doors when approached have simply stopped doing so in fear of the growing perception of the antisocial behaviours that might come as a consequence; an ongoing court case involving a former homeless man who was being assisted with housing is accused of extorting over a million dollars from a university lecturer has only sought to widen the gulf between the have and have not gays and refusal or severe reservations about helping in some way such persons, hence the groups such languish in essence with very little interventions save and except for the HIV/AIDS interventions that are peripheral in terms of welfare and other workshop nonsense that go nowhere the moment the participants down the lunches or snacks and have to return to the old buildings, bushes and such or the lucky ones who can crash at someone’s home.

It is estimated that some forty persons are in Kingston alone who identify as MSM or transgender and that is taking into account those who can be found or aren’t underground. St Catherine has some twenty or so based on reports counted over the last two years and from an ongoing pilot project by GLBTQ Jamaica for HIV positive MSM entitled ‘Brothers Positive on Positive’ which was designed in May 2016 to meet some of the shortfalls that can come with government driven support group activities under the national HIV programs; the results so far have shown that many persons prefer to suffer in silence and of the twenty persons registered in the response not counting regular attendance of sessions 55% of them are under the age of 25 and have no steady income saved and except for commercial sex work and other vendor type activities. It is a shame that after some forty years plus of some kind of organised LGBT activities in Jamaica to include the slow years between Gay Freedom Movement and its cessation to the impact of HIV/AIDS in the 1990s and the deaths to present, and with all the hard and anecdotal evidence no sustained response has come from well funded and powerful NGOs but who really cares?

Recurrent issues:

The ongoing court case of the alleged extortionist who hailed from the Maxfield Avenue area leading to fostering mistrust for helping persons who may require same

Crimes in certain jurisdictions being committed by selected persons or others but blame is accorded to the MSM groupings

Occasional clashes with members of the public and homeless persons in Kingston and St Catherine as a viral video evidenced in Kingston

New case reports from nearly every parish but the follow up with persons for confirmations can be tedious at times, (un)confirmed Kingston (2) (2), St Catherine (1) (3), St James (6) (4)

Forced evictions linked to lotto scamming in St James with a particular violent twist

Worrying antisocial behaviours from some persons in the St Catherine populations and some challenges in St Ann as a stabbing incident in June suggest

Worrying migration patterns from other parishes especially St James to Kingston resulting in what appears to be an explosion of the numbers as was evident in 2010

Haemorrhaging of persons who would normally or occasionally open their houses, spare rooms or spaces for temporary assistance

Inappropriate and or unethical behaviour or sexual advances from persons under the guise of assistance to those who are the benefit of same

Females factoring more in reports since 2015 and especially since the lotto scamming unravelling in St James

Limited resources to accommodate persons being assisted by individuals and an ongoing lack of funding to support properly structured responses

Some members of the near four year old weed-whacking project in St Catherine having issues with prolonged accommodation

Fallout from the lotto scamming associated violence in western Jamaica, notably Montego Bay, Trelawny and nearby parishes with drive by shootings and broad daylight arson attacks. Rival gangs fight for turf, guns and the ever shrinking income from the scourge as the federal folks make some impact. Some frightened MSM/trans individuals have been relocating to safe ground, notably Kingston, Portmore and so on even as the reserves were called out but murders continue as high as 5 a day.

Ever migrating groups and individuals who are not reached or do not want to be reached by present feeding initiatives and systems with some local authorities and police interventions.

This video below recently surfaced of a murder in broad daylight as a call centre employee who identifies as gay was gunned down as he exited a taxi in St James, warning the footage may be uncomfortable for some but while police investigate this, friends close to him ascribe a homophobic motive is involved as he was being stigmatized prior. As with investigations it is hard to get the right follow up information with a view to close a case accurately. It is also alleged that he was being pressured into getting into scamming to which he had refused WARNING contains disturbing images:

Such refusals or ignoring has also led to other issues where persons have ran scared to seek cohabiting assistance with friends in their networks and so on. Effeminacy is still sadly a factor used by some to justify their homophobic stance often still evidenced in violence, despite the aforementioned social media plus was and is still expected to raise awareness and information on LGBTQ matters in a perfect world but old habits die hard and there is a refusal to engage the materials while often seen as ‘grooming’ by some including religious leaders. Only last month I was asked to house for a short time an employed man who ran into some issues with men in his former community but he has since been able to secure a new rented space. Then there are the internal issues as well where some turn to crime robbing any potential victim and end up in legal woes repeatedly.

The deaths from HIV related illnesses is still a concern to me, we lost at least two persons in the year despite the valiant fight via treatment, poor monitoring by their medical interventionists, improper adherence, zig-zagging nutrition and diet to include carbonated beverages and grapefruit ingredient juices) also seem to be playing a factor by observation; if those things which are cheaper can be had then persons are going to have them despite being advised otherwise whilst vitamin supplements which can be so expensive are hardly provided either through the national programs and NGOs. 

one of the brethren clearly ill who has since died, photo taken in 2015

man claiming to be homeless but although he was helped he has been very creative on social media earlier this year trying to solicit funds quite questionably which further spoils the trust factor and force persons to be hesitant to assist even genuine cases.

Kingston's Mayor Burke receive Death Threats... by glbtqjamaica

Kingston's Mayor Burke receive Death Threats... so she claims yet with all her optics with JFLAG and such claiming she is concerned she cannot deal with homelessness citywide; some over a 1000ft westwards from her Church Street Mayor's office, infront of all places the Supreme & Appeals court also seen as the hallowed halls of justice buildings as seen below.

homeless man on bench

How is she therefore going to address MSM/transgender homelessness that requires specialist interventions when the very JFLAG isn't showing any forward momentum on this for so many years?

I still want to encourage persons to assist where possible especially on the fundraising front by donating to trusted outfits and individuals, donations are still accepted here and sister blogs by way of Paypal, the buttons are located on the top left hand side just under the banner. A huge thanks to you who have supported the limited work over the years myself and allies have been able to effect but more needs to be done to keep the attempts going.

Peace & tolerance

H

also see: Homeless Awareness Month 2016 issues part 2 


The toss up between MSM homelessness & public order makes news again

Cuban Tourism Product Could Overtake JA

Dimitris Kosvogiannis

The business of pink dollar potential concerns came up recently at a discussion involving some LGBT individuals, Dimitris Kosvogiannis, general manager of the Melia Braco Village hotel, is concerned Jamaica may be knocked off its pedestal by greater participation of Cuba in the Caribbean tourism market. His concerns were expressed way back in June of this year in a Gleaner article parts of which excepted in this post. His comments did not take into account the LGBTQ perspective as some seem to be dancing around it publicly despite we know that some properties do offer accommodation especially smaller resorts who specialize or adopt aspects of the airb&b model.

"Once the initial shock factor of Cuba and the romance factor and the curiosity wear off, Cuba will retain an additional market share if their service level and their product raises to the calibre that it used to be in the '50s," he said.

He was responding to news of approvals granted to six US airlines to resume scheduled commercial air service from the US to Cuba for the first time in more than five decades. Those flights recently commenced, Kosvogiannis believes this will result in a short-term downturn in the number of tourists visiting Jamaica, a trend he fears could be sustained if Jamaica does not improve its levels of service delivery. We have become to complacent in my view and fears of backlash from some quarters still force accommodating lgbt guests underground. Cuba has been on the up in as far as LGBT/pink dollar tourism are concerned long before the US lifted the embargo.

Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett described the approvals for commercial flights to Cuba as a welcome opportunity for the multi-destination approach to tourism that he has been championing. Kosvogiannis believes the minister's policy approach in this regard is visionary and appropriate. But he has called for industry leaders to complement Bartlett's vision by ensuring that service levels within the tourism sector are improved.

"I think executives within the tourism industry ... need to take on this issue of service levels. If we continue to do nothing and rest on our laurels, I think Cuba will present a new threat; and I have been saying that about my hotel. If we don't do something different, people are gonna say we have been there already, let's go somewhere else," he said.

ENCOURAGE COMPETITION

The first step for the Greek hotelier is the establishment of an independent agency that rates hotels. He says this would encourage competition that would force hotels to raise their level of service.

"I have said it from time immemorial, we need to have an institution that categorises and brand hotels. It cannot be that two hotels sitting next to each other, one offering hamburgers and one offering caviar are both five-star because the owners of those hotels, for marketing purposes, label them as five-stars," he explained.

Kosvogiannis further argued that the infrastructure that will train the tourism workforce, once the Cuban product is properly developed, is far more advanced than that of Jamaica and poses another significant threat.

When can we just move forward for a change?

also see posts from my sister blog:

LGBT leisure travel market set to spike .................... LGBT "friendly" resorts are here 2012

Caribbean tourism must reflect changing demands ....... pink $$$ anyone? 2015

J'cans Tap Gay Online Rental Market - Misterb&B Seen As Opportunity To Diversify Income

Gay Tourism Potential? (Letter plus)

Jamaica Should Open Arms To Gay Tourism 2014

LGBT tourism breaks through US$200 billion in annual spending 2013

Peace & tolerance

H