Do you think the Buggery Law should be?

The Safe House Homeless LGBTQ Project 2009 a detailed look & more


In response to numerous requests for more information on the defunct Safe House Pilot Project that was to address the growing numbers of displaced and homeless LGBTQ youth in Kingston in 2007/8/9, a review of the relevance of the project as a solution, the possible avoidance of present issues with some of its previous residents if it were kept open.
Recorded June 12, 2013; also see from the former Executive Director named in the podcast more background on the project: HERE also see the beginning of the issues from the closure of the project: The Quietus ……… The Safe House Project Closes and The Ultimatum on December 30, 2009

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Truth or Not: Guidance counsellors not discriminatory

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Now who are we to believe on this matter outside of the shouting match is has been made to be. Why has the Guidance Counselor Association President supposedly changed her tune since the original position.


Have a read a make some sense of this latest salvo, bearing in mind Ian Boyne's take on this and if counsellors do admit that they have refused engagement with any student then it is grounds for dismissal. Sadly it is stuff like this that just clouds the all important middle road needed for sensible discourse with truthfulness as part and parcel of it.


now comes formerHIV ally turned LGBT opponent and President of Lawyers' Christian Fellowship Helen Coley Nicholson:


The firestorm over comments allegedly made recently by president of the Jamaica Association of Guidance Counsellors in Education (JAGCE), Nina Dixon, continues to blaze. Dixon reportedly said that some guidance counsellors in Jamaica’s public schools, who are of the Christian faith, are refusing to help gay and lesbian students who may be struggling with their sexual orientation. This prompted calls in expected quarters for the removal of “radicalised faith-based counsellors…whose continued presence pose a danger to school communities and individual students”. Others, quite reasonably, asked for the facts before rushing to judgement.

In an interview with me this week, Dixon set the record straight. This is the first of a two-part report.

Helene Coley Nicholson (HCN): Mrs Dixon, tell us the backdrop against which the controversial comments were published.

Nina Dixon (ND): We had a student commit suicide on Friday, and on Monday the article came out, so it was really a dark period grieving for the student and at the same time feeling as though guidance counsellors in Jamaica were put in a bad light based on how the article was constructed. It was twisted around and certain things were left out.

The interview was wide. We spoke about different issues: what counsellors are facing, the societal issues, how the JTA [Jamaica Teachers’ Association] negotiates for the counsellors, and what we want them to negotiate for us. We spoke about what initiatives we plan to take to the minister [of education] so that he can help the growth of guidance and counselling in education. We spoke about a myriad of topics, and the last question the writer asked was, “How does the JAGCE plan to deal with students in the LGBT community?” I think that’s what the question was, and I responded that we don’t see the students based on their sex or their gender, whether it’s male of female, or their sexual preference, or what have you, we look at the issues that the students come with and we deal with those issues. I went on to say that there are three levels of homosexuality and when it comes to the second and third, the experimental stage and the committed stage, some counsellors are uncomfortable dealing with the issues that come within that stage.

The first level is the curiosity stage, where children or teenagers during puberty go through an identity crisis. They’re trying to find themselves. So all teenagers go through that stage, and sometimes they may feel a particular way, and so, talking, you realise that this person was just curious, or this person has now changed his or her mind, or they no longer feel that way or have those feelings.

A guidance counsellor can’t say this is right or this is wrong. You have to just let the students talk and express themselves. This curiosity stage is something that we can deal with. Now the experimental stage is somewhat sticky because I don’t remember in the teachers’ college getting in-depth in homosexuality and dealing with these stages. I learned all of this from a workshop that the JAGCE put on a couple years back at our annual conference.

I went to high school in New York and lived in Atlanta for years and I was exposed to a myriad of news reports, working with persons in that community. So counsellors would call me to say, ‘ Nina, how do you deal with this, or what steps do I take, who can I refer to?’ So that is why I know there is some level of discomfort when dealing with certain levels. It’s not that the counsellors don’t want to deal with them, sometimes we just don’t know how; and I know persons will probably get on me for saying that, but if we don’t know how to deal with it we just don’t know how; and this is where we need to do workshops and get other methods of sensitising the counsellors, so that the child can get the help that he or she needs.

HCN: Is there a problem of discrimination by guidance counsellors as it relates to students who are experimenting or who are at the committed stage of homosexuality?

ND: I wouldn’t use the word discrimination. I would use the word discomfort. I don’t know of one guidance counsellor who has discriminated. I’m a reporting queen. I report cuts and minor bruises, so there is no way that I’d have a guidance counsellor or know of a guidance counsellor who is being discriminatory or is shunning a student and not report that guidance counsellor.

I don’t know of a guidance counsellor who has ever victimised a student because he is curious or experimenting with homosexual behaviour. No one has ever reported that to me. I just know that they feel uncomfortable dealing with certain areas of homosexuality, and it’s not homosexuality alone.

We have guidance counsellors who are uncomfortable in other areas. For example, I have a difficulty dealing with grief when it happens in my school. We have guidance counsellors who can’t deal with a case of rape because maybe they were raped. We are human beings and things happen in life. It happens to the best of us; whether we are lawyers or doctors, guidance counsellor, priest, things happen in life, and sometimes certain things trigger and this is when the counsellor or teacher or whomever goes and gets the help that they need not that they should lose their job or be criticised or condemned, they are human beings.

In those situations, we have a referral system within the ministry because we have social workers assigned to the ministry in each region. We lean on them as well as our education officers sometimes when we are stuck. Then we have various agencies, depending on the situation, that we make referrals to and psychologists that work for the Child Guidance Clinic who offer their services privately. So we have a protocol and we’re trained in teachers’ college or wherever we went to school. Where there is discomfort or you have used up your requisite skills you refer.


 let us not forget her statement according to the Gleaner article

Meanwhile the implicated JAGCE President Nina Dixon in an interview on Nationwide radio with a counsellor Nadine Maloy, Ruel Reid Principal of Jamaica College and another Principal one Kassan Troupe on January 19, 2016 said the following practically changing her stance in my eyes when asked about her comment to the Gleaner:

“We notice that really some counsellors are uncomfortable dealing with issues that they were not trained to deal with; counsellors are well trained, we have well trained counsellors in our country but some counsellors are uncomfortable giving guidance without proper information dealing with that sensitive topic ....... it’s a taboo; it’s still a taboo topic.”

When asked if counsellors are refusing to counsel LGBT students she said:

“No, they would be fired, we work for the ministry of education and the ministry states that we look at students and listen to their issues, if we are uncomfortable or if we don’t feel that we can help that student fully we have a referral system that we utilize; and we have different agencies and different specialists that we turn to when things get difficult; you know that we can’t handle or deal with.”

She then made the definitive denial:

“A guidance counsellor has never refused to treat a student however they’ve stated that they are uncomfortable with some situations and sometimes it is based on their Christianity, what they’ve been taught in the church, how they’ve been raised; our culture."

Now I am even more befuddled than ever since this matter broke as where is the proof from Miss Nina that NO counsellor was dismissed due to non-engagement while not specifying LGBT students as the subject in the sessions and why didn’t Cliff Hughes and Dennis Brooks who interviewed her allowed that to simply fly pass in the wind? The JAGCE President did not mention the suicide matter as she did in another interview she gave to President of the anti gay group Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship LCF Helen Coley Nicholson and posted here. Given what transpired some years ago from as early as 2004 from memory when a male student was set upon by his own father who incited a mob at Dunoon High School and the subsequent discussions involving folks such as the late Dr Heather Little-White which resulted in some incremental changes to the referral systems as it was also unearthed that some counsellors were inappropriately using referrals as a cop-out or others were using a reparative therapy strategy for change while forcing students to suppress same gender desires with some transgender students allegedly being told they have a mental problem as well. Then came the ‘Lesbian learning matter’ and so called coercion on female students by other students as well as posted here; after the firestorm the Principals’ Association, guidance counsellors and other professionals also huddled sometimes in tense sessions to iron out the way forward and similar discomfort issues were mentioned which led to a further tightening of the referral systems etc.

So it seems both JFLAG and the JAGCE President need to heed some advice in terms of tracking what both entities have done regarding this business of counsellors, LGBTQ students and where or what actually happened so that we can avoid such firestorms as this again; foot in mouth seems a chronic re-infection for the goodly J especially when the new blood do not take the time review the files or remove previously published press releases on similar matters so as to plan how to tread when present issues arrive as a curve ball at the crease. In the same breath the JAGCE President in addressing the matter at the Gleaner forum should have been guarded in her answer not for to deceive or cover up but for clarity and issue a caution answer whilst reviewing her own organization’s file as to what preceded her tenure seeing she seems young.

When will we have the courage in the education systems and at policy despite mere tokenism from the MOE on tolerance? The HFLE matter is still fresh in my mind despite years have passed as nationally we missed a golden opportunity to address early initiation, homo-curiosity, sexual orientation issues, sexuality, gender identity and such regarding teens instead fear got the better or persons who were supposed to be rational.


Think on these things.

Peace & tolerance

H

Monday, January 25, 2016

IOC rules transgender athletes can take part in Olympics without surgery

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Female-to-male athletes can compete ‘without restriction’, while male-to-female athletes must undergo hormone therapy, according to new guidelines

Source: Guardian

Transgender athletes should be allowed to compete in the Olympics and other international events without undergoing sex reassignment surgery, according to new guidelines adopted by the IOC.

International Olympic Committee medical officials said on Sunday they changed the policy to adapt to current scientific, social and legal attitudes on transgender issues.

Rio 2016: hopes high that Games can reacquaint world with sport’s good side

The guidelines are designed as recommendations – not rules or regulations – for international sports federations and other bodies to follow and should apply for this year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

“I don’t think many federations have rules on defining eligibility of transgender individuals,” IOC medical director Dr Richard Budgett said. “This should give them the confidence and stimulus to put these rules in place.”

Under the previous IOC guidelines, approved in 2003, athletes who transitioned from male to female or vice versa were required to have reassignment surgery followed by at least two years of hormone therapy in order to be eligible to compete.

Now, surgery will no longer be required, with female-to-male transgender athletes eligible to take part in men’s competitions “without restriction”.

Meanwhile, male-to-female transgender athletes will need to demonstrate that their testosterone level has been below a certain cutoff point for at least one year before their first competition.

“It is necessary to ensure insofar as possible that trans athletes are not excluded from the opportunity to participate in sporting competition,” the IOC said in a document (pdf) posted on its website that outlines the guidelines. “The overriding sporting objective is and remains the guarantee of fair competition.

“To require surgical anatomical changes as a precondition to participation is not necessary to preserve fair competition and may be inconsistent with developing legislation and notions of human rights,” it added.

The guidelines, first reported by Outsports.com, were approved after a meeting in November 2015 in Lausanne, Switzerland, of Olympic officials and medical experts.

Budgett said there were no plans for the guidelines to be sent for approval by the IOC executive board.

“This is a scientific consensus paper, not a rule or regulation,” he said. “It is the advice of the medical and scientific commission and what we consider the best advice.”

Former IOC medical commission chairman Arne Ljungqvist, who was among the experts involved in drafting the new guidelines, said the consensus was driven by social and political changes.

“It has become much more of a social issue than in the past,” he told Associated Press. “We had to review and look into this from a new angle. We needed to adapt to the modern legislation around the world. We felt we cannot impose a surgery if that is no longer a legal requirement.

“Those cases are very few, but we had to answer the question,” he added. “It is an adaptation to a human rights issue. This is an important matter. It’s a trend of being more flexible and more liberal.”

Under the new rules, an athlete transitioning to a woman must undergo hormone therapy and demonstrate that the total level of male testosterone in the blood has been below 10 nanomols per litre for at least a year prior to competing.

The previous rule stated that, in addition to reassignment surgery, the athlete required a minimum of two years of hormone treatment. How long it will take the athlete to reach the new cutoff limit will depend on individual cases, Ljungqvist said.

“If you change sex, you will have to have a hormone level below 10 for 12 months,” he said. “That does not mean a one-year guarantee. You don’t go below 10 from day one. It takes quite some time. It can take more than one year or two years.”

The issue gained extra prominence after former Olympic decathlon champion Caitlyn Jenner announced last year that she had transitioned to a woman.

The IOC document also cited the case of hyperandrogenism, or presence of high levels of testosterone in female athletes.


Indian sprinter Dutee Chand was suspended by the IAAF in 2014 due to hyperandrogenism and missed the Commonwealth games and Asian games.

But the court of arbitration for sport (CAS) suspended the rule last year, saying the IAAF had failed to prove that women with naturally high levels of testosterone had a competitive edge. Chand was cleared to compete, and the court gave the IAAF until July 2017 to present new scientific evidence.

The IOC statement urged the IAAF and others to go back to the CAS with arguments in favor of reinstating the rule.

“To avoid discrimination, if not eligible for female competition, the athlete should be eligible to compete in male competition,” the IOC said.


The issue of gender verification gained global attention after South African runner Caster Semenya was ordered to undergo sex tests after winning the 800m world title in 2009. She was eventually cleared to compete by the IAAF and won silver in the 800m at the 2012 London Olympics.

The IOC used to conduct gender verification tests at the Olympics, but those chromosome-based screenings were dropped before the 2000 Sydney Games because they were deemed unscientific and unethical.

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Ian Boyne: Gay-Friendly Counsellors For Students? ............

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In a way I am some agreement with Ian Boyne on this and it reminds me of the unlikely support in the lead up to the decriminalization of sodomy in the UK and the intervention of the Arch Bishop of Cantebury then Michael Ramsey in the 1960s.


Trouble who will listen really?

Have some of us learnt from previous happenings with schools, students and guidance counsellors, firstly here is Mr Boyne's piece:


The National Parent-Teacher Association of Jamaica (NPTAJ) has reacted with alarm to the offer of help by Jamaica's gay lobby group to ease the plight of gay students in schools who are allegedly being shunned by guidance counsellors.

"The NPTAJ rejects totally the offer made by J-FLAG (Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays) to conduct counselling in schools," its president, Everton Hannam, said in a release last week. "If J-FLAG is serious about counselling, they can offer those services privately," Hannam counselled. (Of course, Hannam misinterpreted that J-FLAG was itself offering to counsel students; it didn't.) But not in our schools. "Let the guidance counsellors do their job."

But what exactly is their job? What exactly is expected of them vis-·-vis gay students or students struggling with their sexual identity? This has not been clear in all the discussion taking place on the issue. There has been much obfuscation and talking around the issues.

Fellow Gleaner columnist Jaevion Nelson laments, in his column last Thursday, that what is required of guidance counsellors is "simply for them to do their jobs - provide an open, safe space for students to seek support when they need it". But exactly what kind of support? Support to accept their gay identity? For failure to do so can, indeed, cause deep psychological trauma. Is it just "support" to deal with the prejudice and discrimination that gay people in Jamaica face?

WHAT KIND OF GUIDANCE?

Michael Abrahams says in his Monday column that "in counselling gay students, one is not obliged to say that homosexuality is good, right, natural or moral. But these students need help and guidance". But what kind of guidance, if one is to avoid touching what is "good, right, normal natural or moral"?

Abrahams goes on to muddy the water further by saying of these students: "Many suffer from guilt, shame and loneliness ... ." Now, how can the conservative or fundamentalist Christian help that student to overcome his "guilt, shame and loneliness" without that counsellor's abandoning his world view? That guidance counsellor can be professional, "objective", detached, value-neutral and all those fine things, but how does he help that child escape "guilt and shame" when that counsellor's religion sees homosexuality as morally unacceptable? Be realistic.

People have not thought through this issue very carefully. Junior, an online respondent to my column last week, says, "Yes, I expect Christians to leave their beliefs and Christian positions at home or church when they choose to serve in certain positions."

Junior goes on to say the point is not whether homosexuality is illegal or immoral: "It should be the psychological welfare of the child." But I put it to you that what constitutes "the psychological welfare of the child", according to "enlightened, scientific" folk, is precisely what no conservative Christian can fulfil. In the cultured despisers' view, the psychological welfare of the child is synonymous with that child's accepting his homosexuality and abandoning the futile struggle to suppress it. He must "come to terms" with his sexuality, rather than be blinded by a Bronze Age book with thousands of years of knowledge deficit.

Christian guidance counsellors remain Christian. They can't check their beliefs or values at the door of their offices. Their ideology maintains that homosexuality is disordered, unnatural, immoral and psychologically unhealthy. But I still say that there are some things which even conservative, fundamentalist Christian guidance counsellors can and must do in the discharge of their professional duties.

The minimum is that they must never, never ever shun any gay student. If they do so, they must be fired. It's dereliction of duty and gross irresponsibility. Second, they must maintain strict confidentiality. They must not disclose what these students are struggling with or even what they accept and practise. That's fundamental in counselling. A breach in that area should also result in dismissal.

The Christian guidance counsellor must work passionately to inculcate a culture of tolerance for gay people. He must let prejudiced, bigoted heterosexual students know there is no place for bigotry, let alone violence. We must make bigotry shameful and reprehensible. Bullying, teasing and mocking must be absolutely scorned in the school environment. Christian guidance counsellors must regard it as a part of their Christian duty to stand against any discrimination against gay students. Bigots must not feel that they have any allies in Christians - least of all guidance counsellors.

Guidance counsellors must be held to very high standards. They must be models of tolerance, openness, cosmopolitanism and anti-prejudice. If a guidance counsellor hears that a gay student is being persecuted at home; if parents are threatening to put him out of the house, ill-treating him, scandalising him, etc., that counsellor must immediately meet those parents and show - even from the Bible - how utterly wrong those approaches are. That guidance counsellor must use sources these so-called Christian parents believe in to show them the folly of their ways.

The Christian guidance counsellor must do everything to ensure that the gay student is not harassed, victimised, publicly shamed or discriminated against. He must ensure that family members treat that gay student no less than other members of the family. The guidance counsellor must help students, teachers, administrative staff at the school and members of these gay students' communities and families to eschew violence, discrimination and harassment. He must help them to embrace these gay students as full, equal human beings worthy of all love.

CHRISTIAN LOVE

The curious thing about this is that it is precisely in this area of love, tolerance and forgiveness that Christianity is most rich and resourceful. The Christian guidance counsellor should be the most compassionate and loving of all counsellors. Christian theology is based on love, mercy, forgiveness. At the heart of Christian theology is teaching on brokenness, our proclivity to mess up - and the enormous power of the Gospel to save people from all kinds of sinful conditions. Now it is here that my gay readers will scream condescension.

For I bet you that after I have outlined the most compassionate and tolerant approach to gay students, pro-gay readers will still not be pleased. Nothing less than full acceptance of their "enlightened, scientific, non-Stone Age view" will do. Talk about imposition! But, of course, their view is simply scientific truth - or, better yet, common sense. (I am grateful to Marx for helping me to understand the hubris of what he called 'false consciousness'.")

Gay fundamentalists will accept nothing less than the full acceptance of homosexuality as normal, moral and acceptable. There is no room for disagreement. Saying otherwise is like saying the Earth is flat. There should be no more tolerance for the view that homosexuality is immoral or abnormal than the view that the Earth is flat, gay fundamentalists believe. But conservative Christians will never accept that homosexuality is morally acceptable.

Quite frankly, gays should be happy that some fundamentalist guidance counsellors are shunning students. For what some would tell them if they did not shun them would cause those students far more damage and hurt than shunning them. I am a Popperian and an ardent believer in pluralism and the Open Society. Perhaps J-FLAG needs to organise its own counselling services where its own gay-friendly counsellors can offer a counterview to what is being offered in our schools, many of them Church-based.

Publicise your counselling services. Make use of social media heavily so that gay students have an alternative. For you can't depend on Christian guidance counsellors to go beyond tolerance and compassionate engagement to full acceptance of homosexuality. In a pluralistic society, we have to live together. Some Christians will be annoyed that I would countenance gay counselling services in the society. But this is not a theocracy. It is a democracy.

Some fundamentalist Christians and fundamentalist gays will not be pleased with this column, but as Karl Popper would say, they are enemies of the Open Society.

- Ian Boyne is a veteran journalist working with the Jamaica Information Service. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and ianboyne1@yahoo.com.



ENDS

How comes JFLAG with their foot in mouth again with their statement withou checking their own archives



and here is an excerpt of the goodly GAJ President:


but she has changed her tone since.

But what about those previous instances that I hinted to?

Such as:



The Star News also carried a VERY similar story in October 2011 posted HERE on GLBTQ Jamaica a press release from the J 11.03.12 entitled: J-FLAG CONDEMNS SEXUAL COERCION AND CALLS ON SCHOOLS ADMINISTRATORS TO DIALOGUE, this response to me shows the the lack of forward thinking and understanding of initiation, situational homosexuality and experimentation issues. Then again SGL women’s issues were never something they have dealt with effectively. 

Check out this old post as well which includes the late Dr Heather Little Whyte's intervention which aided the incremental strengthening of the GAJ, Ministry of Education and referrals which was being abused by counsellors who are refusing to or uncomfortable in engaging LGBT students:



also see:
URGENT NEED TO DISCUSS SEX & SEXUALITY NATIONALLY PART 2



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Podcasts You may have missed or want to re-listen




A look at the fear of the feminine (Effemophobia) by Jamaican standards & how it drives the homo-negative perceptions/homophobia in Jamaican culture/national psyche.



and



After catching midway a radio discussion on the subject of Jamaica being labelled as homophobic I did a quick look at the long held belief in Jamaica by anti gay advocates, sections of media and homophobes that several murders of alleged gay victims are in fact 'crimes of passion' or have jealousy as their motives but it is not as simple or generalized as that.

Listen without prejudice to this and other podcasts on one of my Soundcloud channels

More uploads




Aphrodite’s PRIDE JA tackles gender identity, transgender misconceptions .....



Nationwide New Network, NNN devoted some forty five minutes of prime time yesterday evening to discuss the issue and help listeners to at least begin to process some of the information coming from the most public declaration exercise as done by Jenner. Guests on the show were Dr Karen Carpenter Board Certified Clinical Sexologist and Psychologist, ‘Satiba’ from Aphrodite’s P.R.I.D.E Jamaica of which I am affiliated and Lecturer (Sociologist) and host of Every Woman on the station Georgette Crawford Williams (sister of PNP member of parliament Damian Crawford); one of the first questions thrown at Satiba by host Cliff Hughes was why has Jenna waited so long at 65 years old to make such a life changing decision?

Satiba responded that many transwomen have to hide their true identity in life .... given her life when she was younger she was a star athlete she would have been under tremendous precious to stay in from the expectations by the public and her team etc, also owing to the fact that she had a family as a man with children one may not want to upset the flow at that time until the kids are old enough. There is a lot of burden of guilt that some persons carry in weighing the decisions of coming out or transitioning so suppression of one’s true self is the modus operandi.

Dr Carpenter cautioned after a heated exchange:

“We really must remember as professionals we must stay in our lane I will never pronounce as a Sociologist cause I am not a Sociologist ............When we have an opportunity to speak publicly we must be careful of what we say unless it is extremely well informed......”


Aphrodite's P.R.I.D.E Jamaica, APJ launched their website


Aphrodite's P.R.I.D.E Jamaica, APJ launched their website on December 1 2015 on World AIDS Day where they hosted a docu-film and after discussions on the film Human Vol 1






audience members interacting during a break in the event


film in progress

visit the new APJ website HERE

See posts on APJ's work: HERE (newer entries will appear first so scroll to see older ones)

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


Former host of Dr Sexy Live on Nationwide radio and Sexologist tackles in a simplistic but to the point style homophobia and asks the poignant question of the age, What really are we as a nation afraid of?


It seems like homosexuality is on everyone's tongue. From articles in the newspapers to countless news stories and commentaries, it seems like everyone is talking about the gays. Since Jamaica identifies as a Christian nation, the obvious thought about homosexuality is that it is wrong but only male homosexuality seems to influence the more passionate responses. It seems we are more open to accepting lesbianism but gay men are greeted with much disapproval.

Dancehall has certainly been very clear where it stands when it comes to this issue with various songs voicing clear condemnation of this lifestyle. Currently, quite a few artistes are facing continuous protests because of their anti-gay lyrics. Even the law makers are involved in the gayness as there have been several calls for the repeal of the buggery law. Recently Parliament announced plans to review the Sexual Offences Act which, I am sure, will no doubt address homosexuality.

Jamaica has been described as a homophobic nation. The question I want to ask is: What are we afraid of? There are usually many reasons why homosexuality is such a pain in the a@. Here are some of the more popular arguments MORE HERE

also see:
Dr Shelly Ann Weeks on Gender Identity & Sexual Orientation


Sexuality - What is yours?

Promised conscience vote was a fluke from the PNP ........



SO WE WERE DUPED EH? - the suggestion of a conscience vote on the buggery law as espoused by Prime Minister (then opposition leader) in the 2011 leadership debate preceding the last national elections was a dangling carrot for a dumb donkey to follow.

Many advocates and individuals interpreted Mrs Simpson Miller's pronouncements as a promise or a commitment to repeal or at least look at the archaic buggery law but I and a few others who spoke openly dismissed it all from day one as nothing more than hot air especially soon after in February member of parliament Damian Crawford poured cold water on the suggestion/promise and said it was not a priority as that time. and who seems to always open his mouth these days and revealing his thoughts that sometimes go against the administration's path.

I knew from then that as existed before even under the previous PM P. J. Patterson (often thought to be gay by the public) also danced around the issue as this could mean votes and loss of political power. Mrs Simpson Miller in the meantime was awarded a political consultants' democracy medal as their conference concludes in Antigua.


War of words between pro & anti gay activists on HIV matters .......... what hypocrisy is this?



War of words between pro & anti gay activists on HIV matters .......... what hypocrisy is this?

A war of words has ensued between gay lawyer (AIDSFREEWORLD) Maurice Tomlinson and anti gay activist Dr Wayne West (supposed in-laws of sorts) as both accuse each other of lying or being dishonest, when deception has been neatly employed every now and again by all concerned, here is the post from Dr West's blog

This is laughable to me in a sense as both gentleman have broken the ethical lines of advocacy respectively repeatedly especially on HIV/AIDS and on legal matters concerning LGBTQ issues

The evidence is overwhelming readers/listeners, you decide.


Fast forward 2015 and the exchanges continue in a post from Dr Wayne West: Maurice Tomlinson misrepresents my position on his face book page and Blog 76Crimes

Tomlinson's post originally was:






Urgent Need to discuss sex & sexuality II






Following a cowardly decision by the Minister(try) of Education to withdraw an all important Health Family Life, HFLE Manual on sex and sexuality

I examine the possible reasons why we have the homo-negative challenges on the backdrop of a missing multi-generational understanding of sexuality and the focus on sexual reproductive activity in the curriculum.

also see:

and





Calls for Tourism Boycotts are Nonsensical at This Time





(2014 protests New York)

Calling for boycotts by overseas based Jamaican advocates who for the most part are not in touch with our present realities in a real way and do not understand the implications of such calls can only seek to make matters worse than assisting in the struggle, we must learn from, the present economic climate of austerity & tense calm makes it even more sensible that persons be cautious, will these groups assist when there is fallout?, previous experiences from such calls made in 2008 and 2009 and the near diplomatic nightmare that missed us; especially owing to the fact that many of the victims used in the public advocacy of violence were not actual homophobic cases which just makes the ethics of advocacy far less credible than it ought to be.

See more explained HERE from a previous post following the Queen Ifrica matter and how it was mishandled

Newstalk 93FM's Issues On Fire: Polygamy Should Be Legalized In Jamaica 08.04.14



debate by hosts and UWI students on the weekly program Issues on Fire on legalizing polygamy with Jamaica's multiple partner cultural norms this debate is timely.

Also with recent public discourse on polyamorous relationships, threesomes (FAME FM Uncensored) and on social.

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a 2009 Word focus report where the history of the major explosion of homeless MSM occurred and references to the party DVD that was leaked to the bootleg market which exposed many unsuspecting patrons to the public (3:59), also the caustic remarks made by former member of Parliament in the then JLP administration.

The agencies at the time were also highlighted and the homo negative and homophobic violence met by ordinary Jamaican same gender loving men.

The late founder of the CVC, former ED of JASL and JFLAG Dr. Robert Carr was also interviewed.

At 4:42 that MSM was still homeless to 2012 but has managed to eek out a living but being ever so cautious as his face is recognizable from the exposed party DVD, he has been slowly making his way to recovery despite the very slow pace.

Thanks for your Donations

Hello readers,

Thank you for your donations via Paypal in helping to keep this blog going, my limited frontline community work, temporary shelter assistance at my home and related costs. Please continue to support me and my allies in this venture that has now become a full time activity. When I first started blogging in late 2007 it was just as a pass time to highlight GLBTQ issues in Jamaica under then JFLAG's blogspot page but now clearly there is a need for more forumatic activity which I want to continue to play my part while raising more real life issues pertinent to us.

Donations presently are accepted via Paypal where buttons are placed at points on this blog(immediately below, GLBTQJA (Blogspot), GLBTQJA (Wordpress) and the Gay Jamaica Watch's blog as well. If you wish to send donations otherwise please contact: glbtqjamaica@live.com or lgbtevent@gmail.com



Activities & Plans: ongoing and future
  • Work with other Non Governmental organizations old and new towards similar focus and objectives

  • To find common ground on issues affecting GLBTQ and straight friendly persons in Jamaica towards tolerance and harmony

  • Exposing homophobic activities and suggesting corrective solutions

  • Continuing discussion on issues affecting GLBTQ people in Jamaica and elsewhere

  • Welcoming, examining and implementing suggestions and ideas from you the viewing public

  • Present issues on HIV/AIDS related matters in a timely and accurate manner

  • Assist where possible victims of homophobic violence and abuse financially, temporary shelter(my home) and otherwise

  • Track human rights issues in general with a view to support for ALL
Thanks again for your support.

Tel: 1-876-841-2923




Peace

Information & Disclaimer


Individuals who are mentioned or whose photographs appear on this site are not necessarily Homosexual, HIV positive or have AIDS.

This blog contains pictures that may be disturbing. We have taken the liberty to present these images as evidence of the numerous accounts of homophobic violence meted out to alleged gays in Jamaica.

Faces and names withheld for the victims' protection.

This blog not only watches and covers LGBTQ issues in Jamaica and elsewhere but also general human rights and current affairs where applicable.

This blog contains HIV prevention messages that may not be appropriate for all audiences.

If you are not seeking such information or may be offended by such materials, please view labels, post list or exit.

Since HIV infection is spread primarily through sexual practices or by sharing needles, prevention messages and programs may address these topics.

This blog is not designed to provide medical care, if you are ill, please seek medical advice from a licensed practitioner

Thanks so much for your kind donations and thoughts.

As for some posts, they contain enclosure links to articles, blogs and or sites for your perusal, use the snapshot feature to preview by pointing the cursor at the item(s) of interest. Such item(s) have a small white dialogue box icon appearing to their top right hand side.

Recent Homophobic Cases

CLICK HERE for related posts/labels and HERE from the gayjamaicawatch's BLOG containing information I am aware of. If you know of any such reports or incidents please contact lgbtevent@gmail.com or call 1-876-841-2923

Peace to you and be safe out there.

Love.


What to do if you are attacked (News You Can Use)


First, be calm: Do not panic; it may be very difficult to maintain composure if attacked but this is important.

Try to reason with the attacker: Establish communication with the person. This takes a lot of courage. However, a conversation may change the intention of an attacker.

Do not try anything foolish: If you know outmaneuvering the attacker is impossible, do not try it.

Do not appear to be afraid: Look the attacker in the eye and demonstrate that you are not fearful.

This may have a psychological effect on the individual.

Emergency numbers

The police 119

Kingfish 811

Crime Stop 311

Steps to Take When Contronted or Arrested by Police


a) Ask to see a lawyer or Duty Council

b) Only give name and address and no other information until a lawyer is present to assist

c) Try to be polite even if the scenario is tensed) Don’t do anything to aggravate the situation

e) Every complaint lodged at a police station should be filed and a receipt produced, this is not a legal requirement but an administrative one for the police to track reports

f) Never sign to a statement other than the one produced by you in the presence of the officer(s)

g) Try to capture a recording of the exchange or incident or call someone so they can hear what occurs, place on speed dial important numbers or text someone as soon as possible

h) File a civil suit if you feel your rights have been violated. When making a statement to the police have all or most of the facts and details together for e.g. "a car" vs. "the car" represents two different descriptions

j) Avoid having the police writing the statement on your behalf except incases of injuries, make sure what you want to say is recorded carefully, ask for a copy if it means that you have to return for it

What to do


a. Make a phone call: to a lawyer or relative or anyone

b. Ask to see a lawyer immediately: if you don’t have the money ask for a Duty Council

c. A Duty Council is a lawyer provided by the state

d. Talk to a lawyer before you talk to the police

e. Tell your lawyer if anyone hits you and identify who did so by name and number

f. Give no explanations excuses or stories: you can make your defense later in court based on what you and your lawyer decided

g. Ask the sub officer in charge of the station to grant bail once you are charged with an offence

h. Ask to be taken before a justice of The Peace immediately if the sub officer refuses you bail

i. Demand to be brought before a Resident Magistrate and have your lawyer ask the judge for bail

j. Ask that any property taken from you be listed and sealed in your presence

Cases of Assault:An assault is an apprehension that someone is about to hit you

The following may apply:

1) Call 119 or go to the station or the police arrives depending on the severity of the injuries

2) The report must be about the incident as it happened, once the report is admitted as evidence it becomes the basis for the trial

3) Critical evidence must be gathered as to the injuries received which may include a Doctor’s report of the injuries.

4) The description must be clearly stated; describing injuries directly and identifying them clearly, show the doctor the injuries clearly upon the visit it must be able to stand up under cross examination in court.

5) Misguided evidence threatens the credibility of the witness during a trial; avoid the questioning of the witnesses credibility, the tribunal of fact must be able to rely on the witness’s word in presenting evidence

6) The court is guided by credible evidence on which it will make it’s finding of facts

7) Bolster the credibility of a case by a report from an independent disinterested party.

Sexual Health / STDs News From Medical News Today

VACANT AT LAST! SHOEMAKERGULLY: DISPLACED MSM/TRANS PERSONS WERE IS CLEARED DECEMBER 2014





CVM TV carried a raid and subsequent temporary blockade exercise of the Shoemaker Gully in the New Kingston district as the authorities respond to the bad eggs in the group of homeless/displaced or idling MSM/Trans persons who loiter there for years.

Question is what will happen to the population now as they struggle for a roof over their heads and food etc. The Superintendent who proposed a shelter idea (that seemingly has been ignored by JFLAG et al) was the one who led the raid/eviction.

Also see:
the CVM NEWS Story HERE on the eviction/raid taken by the police

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



THE BEST OF & Recommended Audioposts/Podcasts


THE BEST OF & Recommended Audioposts/Podcasts 




The Prime Minister (Golding) on Same Sex Marriages and the Charter of Rights Debate (2009)


Other sides to the msm homeless saga (2012)


Rowdy Gays Matter 21.08.11 more HERE



Ethical Professionlism & LGBT Advocates 01.02.12 more HERE


Portia Simpson Miller - SIMPSON MILLER DEFENDS GAY COMMENT 23.12.11


2 SGL Women lost, corrective rape and virtual silence from the male dominated advocacy structure


Al Miller on UK Aid & The Abnormality of Homosexuality 19.11.11


Homosexuality is Not Illegal in Jamaica .... Buggery is despite the persons gender 12.11.11 MORE HERE 


MSM Homelessness 2011 ...my two cents


Black Friday for Gays in Jamaica More HERE


Bi-phobia by default from supposed LGBT advocate structures?


Homeless MSMs Saga Timeline 28.08.11 (HOT!!!) see more HERE


A Response to Al Miller's Abnormality of Homosexuality statement 19.11.11


UK/commonwealth Aid Matter & The New Developments, no aid cuts but redirecting, ethical problems on our part - 22.11.11


Homophobic Killings versus Non Homophobic Killings 12.07.12


Big Lies, Crisis Archiving & More MSM Homlessness Issues 12.07.12


More MSM Challenges July 2012 more sounds HERE


GLBTQ Jamaica 2011 Summary 02.01.12 more HERE


Homosexuality Destroying the Family? .............. I Think Not!


Lesbian issues left out of the Jamaican advocacy thrust until now?


Club Heavens The Rebirth 12.02.12 and more HERE


Should gov't provide shelter for homeless msm?


National attitudes to gays survey shows 78% of J'cans say NO to buggery repeal


1st Anniversary of Homeless MSM civil disobedience (Aug 23/4) 2012 more HERE


JFLAG's rejection of rowdy homeless msms & the Sept 21st standoff .........


Atheism & Secularism may cloud the struggle for lgbt rights in Jamaica more HERE


Urgent Need to discuss sex & sexuality II and more HERE


MSM Community Displacement Concerns October 2012


The UTECH abuse & related issues


Beenieman's hypocrisy & his fake apology in his own words and more HERE


Guarded about JFLAG's Homeless shelter


Homophobia & homelessness matters for November 2012 ................


Cabinet delays buggery review, says it's not a priority & more ...........................(November 2012) prior to the announcement of the review in parliament in June 2013 More sounds HERE


"Dutty Mind" used in Patois Bible to describe homosexuals


Homeless impatient with agencies over slow progress for promised shelter 2012 More HERE


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


Homeless MSM Issues in New Kgn Jan 2013 .......


Homeless MSM challenges in Jamaica February 2013 more HERE


JFLAG Excludes Homeless MSM from IDAHOT Symposium on Homelessness 2013


Poor leadership & dithering are reasons for JFLAG & Jamaica AIDS Support’s temporary homelessness May 2013 more HERE


Response To Flagging a Dead Horse Free Speech & Gay Rights 10.06.13