Assault under the guise of assistance

In previous posts I had attempted to address the business of the ‘couch surfing’ as temporary solutions that go bad or a hidden agenda revealing itself. April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month here and on sister blog GLBTQ Jamaica and while I started off on a more biblical note this year often used as justification for pastoral abuse or children other forms of assault are unfortunately ongoing. It gets more complicated when it has men who have sex men involved either as the impacted individual or the perpetrator. 

There are still reports of persons supposedly ‘kotching’ or crashing by a ‘friend’ or stranger who opened up their doors seemingly being honest only to abuse persons by playing on their vulnerability and the need they may have at the time. Co-dependency liaisons also can drive some of the nonsense as a privileged man who may be alone or lonely who turn his lesser powered male co-habiter into a house slave of sorts or sex slave demanding sex on call and if the lesser powered man refuses it can turn violent until the latter is able to run away from the crap.

Legal implications

One cannot simply just walk into a police station and report that he was raped or sexually assaulted as the buggery law or other legislation might kick in which may also see the ‘victims’ finding themselves detained. The laughter alone from personnel is enough and or dismissals and humiliation in the precinct can be a major turn off. That would also depend on what is unearthed in the investigations and what content the reporting party placed in the police report. Any hint of anal penetration whether by an object or penis or a fingers (grievous sexual assault charge) can be problematic on many fronts; on the part of the police suspected illegality cannot go un-responded to in the precinct of a police station at that; then there is the business of gathering the evidence for the case by way of the physical examination of the parties which can get sticky if there was shower taken or any other anal health or hygienic course by the receptive partner in particular to raise the suspicion on penetration. If there was no strong tearing or scarring of the area or the sphincter then the level of suspicion will be lesser still or if things such as Preparation H creams or PH adjusting enema or fleet product were used after the act to cool down burning or itching after the fact.

How many stories one has heard of persons sleeping at night only to find themselves with a ‘heavy weight’ on top of them; tabloids such as the Star News and the now defunct XNews were good at that and some sort of non-consensual sex occurs, from the non penetrative or missionary sex or partnered masturbation to the perpetrators pleasure or full on anal rape. The misguided or sensational tabloid reporting may be a function of ignorance of MSM relational matters I suppose. Some have actually argued that non-penetrative sex acts albeit without consent such as intercrural sex cannot be seen as assault or abuse but often such persons leave out the non consent component. It is as if there is a hierarchy for tolerated abuse or it may be justified as a form of payment for whatever the assistance that is being offered. 

The impacted party will never be comfortable psychologically during the act as far as I am concerned; to simply lay there like a dead log and the man presses his penis under the crotch between the testicles and legs of the ‘victim’ often with psychical restraint is still abuse. Once there is no consent whatever the act may end up as it is rape simply put; psychological rape if you will, some may see male rape by another male as simply the act of forced anal penetration experience but they are wrong. Obviously forcing persons to perform oral sex as well undress pain of eviction or other threats including at gunpoint as a case in 2013 is wrong and shows how far some perpetrators will go to knowing that they may not be caught or prosecuted that easily if any.

Unless the aggrieved party is prepared to go all the way with the case despite the challenges then like others before they will simply retreat often into silence or with knowledge of a few close friends. Psycho-sexual interventions can be sought by referrals but the legal side of it all is a problem yet still; the attempts to have the buggery law decriminalised to include the rape component linked to non-consent and ages of consent is still stalling despite the middle of the road sensible suggestion. The question therefore is how many MSM have been assaulted by more privileged men who exploit their vulnerabilities?
 Those power differentials are a main factor for abused to continue to get abuse and apart from some physical retaliation or running from the situation as mentioned above the former can and has led to murders within the MSM community. A few such murders have been seen as ‘crimes of passion’ more so by misguided antigay groups/activists to justify their hate campaigns without understanding or seeking to enlighten themselves or the social constructs in our world; they pray on the national ignorance nationally on male homosexuality in particular.

It is the retaliation of such abuse sometimes outside of robberies, so called crimes of passion and or jealousies between lovers and genuine homophobic cases that have led to some public murders in times past which further colours the whole affair of public perception of male homosexual life.

The business of consent is crucial in the shelter assistance gift being used as a guise to assault persons, if it were a case of the parties consenting and the soon to be assisted or even during the aid one is approached and there is agreement then we are dealing with a horse of a different colour. But to allow persons to relatively get comfortable and then seek to abuse them is just plain wrong whether there is anal penetration is involved; it is the principle of the thing that is important. But what to do about those who prey on weaker or desperate men for purposes of control? To bring them to book when it involves adults is difficult; obviously with a minor there are adequate laws including the Child Care & Protections Act and Carnal Abuse legislation.

More to come

Peace & tolerance

H

Poor social media navigation still causing fallouts

As social media platforms become the more accepted form of expression from a local perspective older, some younger or inexperienced users are learning the hard way. Even as Facebook is still seen as the master of the social media avenues and other micro blogging platforms such as Twitter play near catch up alongside Instagram for the more hip youngsters it seems the excitement of it all is somehow causing mistakes to be made and inadvertent outings by users is leading to all kinds of clashes and even forced evictions. While social media has helped greatly in raising the visibility of LGBT people in Jamaica and enhances networking indeed online based advocacy and interventions it has come with some unintended consequences if one is not careful. Bearing in mind we are coming from the days of exclusion, mainstream media omissions and obfuscation and homo-negative stigma. Only privileged so called ‘uptowners’ who penned articles & letters to the editors of print media while some columnists such as Jennifer Ffrench(actual spelling) tried their hands at matters on bisexuality and so on. We did not have blogs then and computers so it was an Olympia typewriter for example that was used by outfits then such as Gay Freedom Movement, GFM. 2016 there were three such reports, with one confirmed that came to hand and the simplicity of the matters may have looked just that, simple; they however exploded into something else as arguments ensue and things got physical in one case in St Ann.

The business of profiling persons due to their perceived sexual orientation by watching the gender of the likes of photos or comments, comparing how many women if any are on the publicly listed friends’ list, screenshots and archiving of comments only to have them surface in the future if and when an argument ensues as proof that they ‘knew all along’ there was a series of online workshops in 2015 and again in 2016 by some but of course the usual lack of continuity is the deterrent and as previous posts on this blog tried to accomplish some feedback suggested some folks took heed. There needs to be a sustained intervention of some kind with funding or not as it does not require that so much, but with some folks everything must have a stipend or salary before they act which is what spoils or indeed drastically slow any work that is required.

Quick cases summary:

1). St Catherine a young man was forced to relocate to a rented space after a relative checked his Facebook page just after the platform changed how persons profiles appear, the new introduction section on top of one’s work history he apparently placed words to the effect that he was gay and proud; in doing so without filtering who he wanted to see the declaration such as relatives it all came out. The relative, an aunt made a scene of the matter and although she is older she recently acquired a smartphone and is still learning how to navigate same. She demanded the young man find his own space as she was not going to tolerate any ‘battyman’ at her house. The man’s other family are overseas.

2). The proverbial leaving the device/phone unattended happenings, this one in early 2016, the phone was peered into and messages perused, Instagram and Facebook profiles examined and the male relative who did so went as far as to create a fake profile with a muscled torso as the main picture leading to sending a friends’ request to the male owner of the phone. The man fell for the request and responded positively to the request without first verifying who the person behind it was. Weeks later the man in question found himself getting violent messages and a female relative could almost recount what he commented on, which photos he liked and asked why did he have so many men on his friends’ list, she was also furious that he had a profile of this nature but never added her and instead added her to a more pristine profile instead. The man simply went to crash with a friend and allowed things to die down.

3). A carry over from a 2015 matter with a similar profiling construct around it, this time with an older gentleman as the impacted person. It was a co-worker who was the homophobe involved but ironically that co-worker has since been fired for other reasons outside of the hate. The co-worker was watching the man’s Facebook profile for some time and as he posted links to various stories that were LGBT friendly. It was another co-worker who pulled the man aside and told him in confidence about the shenanigans of the now fired homophobe. Thankfully that one did not end up in worse case scenario but it shows how easy a simple use or misuse of a profile can land people in challenges.

Questionable narcissism

As visibility is raised however there are some concerns about the near frenzy some persons share almost anything on social media; in almost a desperate search for attention or the misguidedly valued ‘Like’ as I said much to the laughter of a group recently the only thing I have not seen yet are photos of persons leaving the pieces in the porcelain after use but I guess that would be not allowed by the platform managers. Uploading photos of food for example and such at a rate that is astonishing sometimes it makes for worry and wonderment as to when do persons find time to things in the real world or engage real people when individuals including and most disturbingly LGBT operatives and advocates as it were post and tweet away like crazy. Is it to compensate for the missing years of tolerance or acceptance by others? While I understand that it does something for the self to be out and proud (relatively speaking) it is going beyond crazy at times; changing photos every hour almost on the hour, tweets that amount to be mindless inane babble and shade throwing the biggest one of them all while presenting what could amount to be a farce of altered or bettered versions of themselves. It is something that has been on my mind since 2012 after what could be described as a dual personality related matter where the online persona was nowhere near the true picture in real time.

That case had some consequences as well and it pushed some to ask persons to be just a little bit more truthful about their profiles and such.

Some social media usage tips: (several others exist elsewhere)

1) Monitor carefully your profile as best as possible

2) Set boundaries just in case

3) Filter your friends’ list or followers to maybe include those who are able to see what is on your page/profile

4) Occasionally check your settings as sometimes a policy change and or new features added tend to adjust ones profile to a system default, often without notice from the platform operators

5) Block persons the moment there is drama and if necessary screenshot any threats and so on if made

6) Set up private pages with persons with like interests as members so as to avoid others on your main profile to become just a little bit too inquisitive

Other platforms such as GRINDr have been having their own challenges as well, as a recent fake profile incident shows, the profile’s owner became the brunt of the joke in the final analysis as he was led into an entrapment of sorts after robbing a phone from someone after a one nigh hookup. Deceptive THOTS and trade MSM are everywhere and they will use any means necessary to hustle. Adam for Adam is still used but not so much by millennials as older men like myself; they have since stepped up their game though in terms of security/verification features alongside a strengthened phone-APP to meet the competition out there. Tagged also has been quietly making some changes too.

More anon and happy hunting with vigilant usage

Peace & tolerance

H

also see:

Dubious Adam4Adam Profiles, Unscrupulous Sports, Gay Imposters, Robberies 

The THOT of the walk who is oral

More on power bottoms ....................

Cyber bullying, stigmatization, decency and such

Second time donations from church penny concert/rally for weed-whacking income generating project

For a second time in recent years the independent break away Baptist church group/7 man committee LGBT allies have delivered even when they were not formerly obligated so to do outside of a promise. Sunday December 11, 2016 was the day on which a spirited penny concert and church fundraiser rally was held in St Catherine to include sing-offs, comedy hour, bake sale, yard sale, a short play and other activities with nuff food to go around for all. $25,000 was delivered on the very evening of the rally as it came to an end and the tally was done, a break away from tradition, apparently the goal that was set was surpassed and as before the basic figure of $15,000 would have flowed even if their bigger goal was not met. Other gifts as in last year were not there this time around but the upcoming Christmas dinner being planned may have other goodies we hope. We are thankful none the less.

The promise of sorts of assistance from the allies since around 2013 has been met several times prior with specific regards to the previously named ‘MSM Weed Whacking Project’ which has now morphed into a mixed group income generating one as two women are now full time on the now nine person group with two other pass through members; they latter two have other income generating activity they have done for themselves in vending. The original idea came about in 2012 after five of the current male members and others who have since moved on were homeless and struggling in Spanish Town and the outskirts of Portmore, after several challenges including two evictions from an illegally occupied house and land a head scratching exercise occurred hence the idea came to hand. Fundraising efforts elsewhere have been not so hot this year as the response to overtures have been low, austerity I guess, formalization of the outfit and activities was and still is the next step but with registration as a limited liability company for starters comes the mandatory minimum business tax obligation of $60,000 while NGO status may be pending for some time.

one of the working units

After some time with much trial and error with some head bumping resulting in resignations from the committee and sadly some misguided homophobia from selected church members seeped in old thinking and reshaping the interfaith feel of the effort we are still here. The participants in the project have been struggling with everything from in fighting to sporadic rainfall, effectively drought periods, reduction in business and client withdrawal as a few households consolidate in austerity times other persons have moved to newer schemes but the men do travel to get the business. Mechanical challenges with the equipment as only three of the five machines are in working order and the rotation of the machines to meet demand though problematic at first things got settled afterwards. The women came into play as beneficiaries from their own challenges thus changing the face of MSM/transgender homelessness overall in that part of town and as displaced same gender loving women become more visible ways have to be found to meet some of the changing landscape.

The donation from the rally will go a far way in repairing the two down machines as best as possible although one seems un-repairable as the parts are costly that it requires, it’s almost as buying a new. Thankfully the rainfall has been steady this year thus impacting the shrubbery growth and by extension the need to use landscaping services, another plus is the slowly growing support from LGBT owned of occupied residencies on a regular basis also helps, last year’s nymanings for example had some gay customers who attended that dinner and penny concert and who also donated cash to the members of the project as a token gift for the holidays. It has been an incident free year much to everyone involved relief as there was some concern about person’s perceived sexual orientation may cause some challenges but they did not. The enlightenment growth of some of the older ‘churchy’ members who joined the committee is commendable as several misnomers have been debunked and people learn to dispel old stereotypes of gay men and gender non conformity.

The regular competition from other whackers some with burrowed or local government owned machines who invade the market is still a challenge. They undercut prices in order to attract customers even as a few customers purchase their own machines in the case of falling prices for them and do they own landscaping thus eliminating the costs for hiring someone. Social media use was suggested to grow the business but the guys are hesitant even though it was made clear to them the marketing would be to LGBT specific audiences for starters, but if they are not ready I suggested we do not force it just yet as there has to be buy in for it to work.

Clarendon replication attempt

The activation of the idea to replicate the projects in nearby Clarendon has not taken off as expected, given the limited machines for rotation, some issues had come up some time ago with homelessness or displacement in that parish and I suggested we try and see, rotating machines for such long distances with new players may be logistically challenging. We want to target another three men for that expansion even as they engaged in ‘hustling’ to eke out a living. Rapid residential development in that part of the island is making the concept more attractive as housing developments go up. As more middle class persons move westwards from Kingston and Portmore they will need some sort of landscaping services and the evidence is clear thus far, men riding on bicycles or bikes with whacking machines, machetes and so on are visible in May Pen and nearby communities as they seek business in a competitive environment.

The committee has promised continued support albeit there are attempts to ‘convert’ participants to the faith by some but I have concerns about a reparative or restorative tinge attached to such efforts, but let us see. The concept of a gay Christian is alien to some persons thus far but with time I am expecting change.

A huge thanks to the group for the donations on behalf of the participants and as usual the funds will be managed by the designated individuals, of note last year’s donations mostly went into gasoline purchases, emergency repairs, stipends for low income periods and other unexpected expenses that were health related. The rented house where the group resides is still used by them as they slowly build on their efforts.

“Each one reach one” indeed is the theme as I had suggested some years ago and we unofficially use with Babbie Mason’s song of the same name to boot. Good that some Christians are doing it the right way and embracing those who are not of them. What would Jesus do indeed, in direct opposite to some fanatics who are only making the church body look stupid as they sit there and allow it to be so.

Peace & tolerance

H

also see:

Bad gas & the weed-whacking project
Christmas nyamings, donation presentation & MSM weed-whacker project update

Penny Concert/Rally raises funds in part for MSM Weed-whacking Project 

INTERFAITH GROUP PLEDGES CONTINUED SUPPORT FOR ST CATHERINE HOMELESS MSM

Homeless MSM populations treated over the Christmas season 2013

BUSINESS DOWNTURN FOR THE WEED-WHACKING PROJECT FOR FORMER DISPLACED ST CATHERINE MSM 2014

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

Coming Out Day 2016 .........

Today is coming out day mostly in the US but the recognition of the day has spread worldwide and certainly this blog has been carrying this for some years now. In light of recent accidents on social media as reported of persons being outed on social media I decided to take a different stance this year. As social media is being embraced more and more complete with online campaigns some persons may inadvertently out themselves with some unintended consequences.

We continue to see challenges from reported cases of persons being outed unintentionally by (mis)use of social media accounts, memes, tweets and likes that ae spotted by antigay persons and who in turn use said online footprints to justify forced evictions, threats and so on. 

I will attempt at offering some suggestions by drawing from some previous posts as well involving elated cases and reports, also see my post on tips from sister blog GLBTQ Jamaica for this year: Coming Out Day 2016 ........ some tips 

plus:

Facebook & unintentional outings to family members ..... 

some tips on editing your personal settings
Go to: 

Apps and Websites
Control what gets shared with apps, games and websites........ then select Edit Settings

then go to:

How people bring your info to apps they use
People who can see your info can bring it with them when they use apps. Use this setting to control the categories of information people can bring with them......then edit settings .... the following should appear 

Then deselect the persons or relationships etc you want to be seen or not to be seen, the groups etc you are in. That is of course if you had set up a family and relationship group apart from your friends list.

Also on ones profile one can customize the viewers of posts at any given time, it might take a few more seconds to do so but it is worth the wait, that is also of course if you are willing to go through all that.

some control can also be here as well:

select the last option and you can literally type a name or names of persons who may want to block generally while using the above to control what goes fully public or to friends only etc.

Some previous safety suggestions that appeared on that June 2011 entry on hookups are posted are below:

Please bear in mind the following if you or someone you know is planning a face to face meeting following an continued e-lationship

1. Make sure the profiler has a real photo or photos of themselves
2. Ask questions about them, get to know as much as possible as timely as possible
3. Establish telephone contact as early as you see fit
4. Listen for any change in mood, tone or information shared over time
5. Keep the e-lationship going with regular interactions to pick up any changes as well
6. Archive or save suspicious exchanges as you see fit
7. Avoid instant hook-ups without first developing some rapport in the e-lationship
8. Tell a close friend where and when you are going to meet an online friend for the first time
9. Develop a trend in communicating for e.g same times if possible per day for chatting
10. If you decide to meet find an open public area as best as possible, and decide how to behave in that space to avoid any unsuspecting onlookers who may deduce it's a gay link up
11. Decide on clothing and colour or change colours previously agreed to if you are not sure of the individual
12. Study your surroundings when there and get there early (as this young man did)
13. Plan your possible route(s) of escape if necessary
14. Have a weapon of some sort or maze that can create a distraction then escape as quickly as possible
15. Have a trusted friend accompany you if possible and have them away from the actual meeting spot but make sure they can see you
16. Make a call if needed to the person(s) who followed you and keep the line open so they can hear your conversation and call for help elsewhere if needed
17. Set your Facebook profile to "Friends Only" as under "Friends of Friends" all other persons can see you
18. If you are in a group and are active you may turn off the feature where non friends can send you a message or see you photos
19. Use only a sensible face picture as your profile thumbnail so as to avoid stalking

The problematic adding of persons to groups without any restrictive action or vetting that action is also of concern as that has also caused some accidents for persons as sometimes especially if the group is an open one ones activity may appear on their wall viewable by all on their friend's list.

Tinker with the settings and see the ones that suit you best if you do not want to be exposed. Just some suggestions friends.

If all else fails just open another account that they do not know of and do your business.

Peace & tolerance

H

High protracted male traffic + nosy neighbours + a refusal to curb = misguided hate

There has been an old battle as to whether persons are free to choose their actions at the homes in terms of visitors and gay sex in Jamaican terms. What with the inquisitiveness that can abound with neighbours on a single man with no opposite sex partner of consequence or any socialization with a misogynistic line for subject matter to effect bravado. Failure to meet those markers places one as an outsider and different and makes one the subject of profiling or unneeded scrutiny under suspicion of being gay, which in turn leads to some sort of response in the open soon or long afterwards. Does one curb one’s male visitors who may stay overnight (and leave early in the morning) especially in certain low or mid income area knowing what can befall one or go ahead and whatever happens, just happens? Those for curbing say yes as only a fool would make themselves into a bait for homophobia as it may be construed as throwing it in persons’ faces while others claim domicile or threshold control and privacy while one should be free to entertain who they want in the privacy of their own home.

This post comes on the strength of a report of a man and subsequent social media attention and debate in the long standing problematic Portmore St Catherine, though a middle class suburb the repeated instances of nosy neighbours, home invasions or something close to it and displaced impacted individuals. The man in his forties was known to have high traffic of lovers and one night stands which landed him in some trouble, so much so that the landlord served a notice to quit; prior to the notice’s expiration in March of this year the man was met with much anger by other men living nearby who after the departure of a man early one Sunday morning in Waterford, St Catherine, as he may have thought early departures or late night entries would help, some five men were up in arms hurling the usual anti homosexual sentiments, ‘battyman fi dead’ and so on and that he should leave the area as they were aware he was given notice. Apparently the mobbing was an attempt to pre-empt the document’s date.

A near similar matter occurred in Harbour View in August of last year but it was more two female neighbours on each side of the target who kept making snide remarks every now and again and so on, until the landlord was also told of the man’s supposed shenanigans; the landlord more forward –thinking-like was not perturbed by the rumour mongering and was said to have told the women as long as the man had no boys and was not disturbing the neighbourhood with noise and did not owe rent he was fine with his tenant, much to the annoyance of the nosy women; the man still lived at the house until sometime this year where he relocated. I am ambivalent on the competing issues, years gone by I would have been a little timid in terms of men coming to my home(s) for an overnighter with persons knowing or perceiving my sexual orientation; but the power I have in my threshold is as important as well. To supposedly curtail my visitors to please others who are going out of their way to pry into others’ affairs seems rather ridiculous though. So long as there is this deep seated homo-negativity we’ll have to put up with this continued nonsense although some slow sensibility is creeping in.

Class or mid to upscale residencies are not immune, my own experience in the late nineties to 2000s at Gore Terrace Flats told me that, despite the professional class of residents the prying was as fierce as a mid to lower income strata area, housing scheme or squatter settlement. The moment a car door closes, curtains move, shadows pass windows or home phones ring as the ‘village lawyer’ dishes who arrived and who they arrived with. Only to be surprised by the same blatant loud responses laced with homophobic themes and even threats. A townhouse drama at the centrally located seemingly quiet Ivy Green Mews is one such example, the police had to be called in some years ago to quell a matter simmering to become something way bigger; all because the male occupant was accused of having too much male traffic.

People should be free to move within the confines of their homes and in fact we are legally free to do so, even in a rented circumstances as the rent act I gather covers such areas of coveted space and so on; not even a landlord can enter your flat to evict one or seize items left inside without a court order and a bailiff, after having conducted an inventory of the items in lieu of monies owed. Some in the thread on Facebook discussing this particular case though young in years claim they are tired of living things down, I guess due to social media usage and exposure to lifestyles of others elsewhere persons have dreams of utopia but a recent transgender murder in New York which has been making the rounds seems to have sedated the fantasy that foreign is better or at least in certain parts.

Another case was referenced though unconfirmed that occurred in East Kingston in 2015 in the middle class seaside area of Duncaster, the short lived residency of a man came to an end as he was given an ultimatum by men who lived nearby, unemployed, ganja smoking and who were suspected as trouble makers in the community fingered in a series of house break ins. In a supposed attempt to project strength or bravado the men who have been occasionally uttering snide remarks and disguised threats made it known they want no ‘battyman’ near to them. So in a bid to avoid any further confrontation the man took evasive action and relocated. Then came a shocker in the same thread when a wakeup call to all concerned (and rightfully so) was shared in the form of a story of a successful asylum seeker for some four years was the subject of a homophobic attack in New York, that intervention brought a more sedated set of comments which mostly reflected that ‘foreign’ is not a bed or roses so leaving Jamaica may only help one only just; while others dismissed the incident as a one off matter which may be few and far in between. However the lovers’ traffic matter was reintroduced and some comments reflected that in NY one would be free to take home who they desire but such comments was denied profusely by other overseas Jamaicans who say one has to be careful in some parts just the same, suggesting all is not as pristine as we think.

In conclusion one has to be cautious in all things but probably more so with lovers and friends visiting versus privacy versus too inquisitive neighbours or others, and what that can lead to if one is not vigilant of their surroundings. Some would say for a peaceful life one should cower but life goes on and we cannot let others decide our socialization pattern(s); for others to take the time to stop what they are doing to see what you are doing is just amazing to me yet still.

Until next time, mi luv unu

Peace & tolerance

H

Flags, forced evictions & foolishness

First let's me address the foolishness on whether flags exist for heterosexuals, yes they actually do exist but if our hetero brethren are so used to their comfortable privilege then they would not understand our struggle hence our reference to the rainbow flag.

Heterosexual flags #1 & 2

Hetero- romantic flag 

the meanings of the rainbow colours

As the aftermath of the latest round of national ignorance laden homophobic uproar over a simple rainbow flag being flown on an embassy’s property continue, the usual spike as expected presents itself in incident outcomes outside of the vitriol and social media storms. Whenever there are major homophobic laced public discourse there seems to be either said discourse act as a catalyst to some negative event such as verbal abuse at least to forced evictions or worse. This year already without the flag controversy looks worrying to me but not surprising as I have seen this cycle before as in the aftermath of Brian Willimanson’s murder where there was almost a national celebration of his death given he was the face of LGBT visibility and also the murder of Ambassador Peter King; rumours of tapes with celebrities and himself having sex.

Several attacks were as a clear result of that case as some persons based on the narrative obtained in reports from victims the justification implied is if he as an uptowner homosexual he was killed then others on the lower totem pole also deserve it. (Un) confirmed reports have been coming to hand since this latest national homo-negative round and two such reports have to come hand with one forced eviction in St Catherine of an unemployed man in his twenties and who was given an ultimatum to find somewhere to go or find a man and a near miss altercation of a cruiser who nearly got caught. In finding a man it implies that homosexual liaisons involve some financial or lifestyle improvement rewards, stemming from an older homo-negative belief of paedophile or predatory intent similar to the misogynistic driven predatory intent of men on teenage girls.

The relationship with the young man and his mother had been deteriorating for a while as he had graduated from a skills training institution he had not picked up a job as his mother expected or thought such an achievement would be automatic. Then there were the proverbial inquiries about a girlfriend and why he has not shown any interest in the local community females as the other young male adults; an expectation that some parents or siblings put enormous pressure to fulfill as a marker of becoming or being a real man. Repeated arguments, occasional deliberate absence from the house just to avoid said clashes, calls and text messages from other family either condemning him or asking what is happening with him, this of course coming from the strength of his mother telling them the issues.

Gleaner's Lasmay takes a bite at the issue

The rainbow flag controversy came into play it seems as it unfolded and his mother reacted to the hoisting of it on the US Embassy property at Hope Road as “the gay dem too bright wid it” in other words the gays are too barefaced, a sentiment that had come to hand repeatedly almost everywhere one goes. I encountered similar sentiments at a local community shop where I live, what as interesting however was when someone in the gathering of mostly men suggested that if they passed the embassy and saw the flag and the meaning was not made public would they know if it were a gay flag? Many said no. Which was very interesting to me; just a simple yet misguided tweet from a person who ought to know better sent the entire nation into frenzy when more important issues require attending to. Bearing in mind our justice system needs so much improvement but the Attorney General finds time to make stupid tweets.

The impacted man’s mother agreed with the antigay church groups who came out swinging and claimed according to him as we spoke that she was not going to tolerate such things near her once she can prove it. It was at that point she asked him outright whether he was gay or not. To which he tried to dodge just avoid another argument; however this time it was unavoidable and the shouting match like many before repeated itself. Tersely worded phrases flew between the two and then came the piled on justification for him to leave the house, to include his unemployed status, his perceived homosexuality by virtue of him having no overt female companions as the other young men in the area or at best a baby mother or two as evidence of his virility and the visibility in short as being too frightening to endure for her. He was ordered to remove his things such as clothing and such just two days ago to which he complied. He reached out to friends who have been assisting him, from which he was referred to me and others.

I suggested to him as he is staying with someone with a steady internet connection he should try to get some cash and enroll in the business processing outsourcing, BPO sector, they have been some active recruitment with prior paid registration and training with headphones to work from home. The pay is not all that hot as low as $280/hr but it can be a start to make himself a little financially stable; also he can regulate his own work hours so long as he makes the standard forty hour work week. The initial cost though is some $15,000 dependent on the items included in the engagement as online training and support if included is what spikes the amount.

The second case had a narrative of opposition to the rainbow flag hoisting matter in Kingston as a cruiser who got himself into some trouble navigating a space and an intended target he was going after for a quickie. In Kingston the man in his early forties and who is a good buddy of mine told me of his ordeal by phone. The incident occurred on June 18, 2016 around 6 am; a time for excellent ‘hunting’ for a good hookup as men on the prowl whether they identify as gay or not. The 40+ cruiser made an error in judgement and was almost caught by a man who was urinating nearby at a wall; the urinating man made an alarm to which other men nearby who were sitting in a truck joined the pursuit. The cruising communities or sections of it has been having its fair share of challenges including the usual loss of space, internal clashes and inter MSM community clashes as well.

The argument from the truck men and ‘urinator’ (well endowed and all) was the usual anti gay ‘fire burn’ rhetoric was evident but the men then added as part of their justified scorn is the supposed outwardness of the raising or flying of a rainbow flag in public, which is so ridiculous to me. Fear is really the enemy to contend with in changing hearts and minds but will we ever see real and profound tolerance in this lifetime is a question that has been on my mind in recent times. What is even worse is when the nonsense is supported by prominent persons who one would think ought to know better such as Ronnie Thwaites who claimed the flag is a grooming tool for children to essentially accept “a particular lifestyle.”

Other reverends and politicians have been hopping on the matter to get their five minutes of fame I suppose, especially those on the opposition side, they seem to want us to forget that the suggested (promised) conscience vote did not materialize under their time in office yet they come out blasting the Attorney General for her tweet while others such as Damion Crawford clashed with the US consulate representative Jeffrey Polacheck who is to me too soft but he shakily held his ground. Crawford claimed he agreed that the rainbow flag was a political statement but what is so annoying to me that whether or not it was a hate crime or a misguided struggling gay/bi man who snapped that caused the shooting the victims were LGBT as far as we know it, therefore it would seem to me that the rainbow flag would be appropriate and more so since the US embassy or any embassy is considered foreign soil representing the country’s flag it flies. It is not as if the flag will remain forever and the tempers that have flared do not do so when Jamaicans are killed. Where is the outrage for other daily atrocities?

As other confirmed cases come to light they will be mad known and as always be vigilant, be safe.

Peace & tolerance

H

also see:

Ronnie Thwaites’ rubbish on flying rainbow flags grooms children into “particular lifestyle”

Rainbow flags vs Jamaicans murdered which is more important?

Reverend Al Miller has no moral authority (yet again) to speak on flags & correctness

Attorney General Malahoo Forte condemned for comments on US Embassy's rainbow flag

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