PM Should Decry Homophobic Bigotry says Gleaner but some questions & issues present themselves

The story of Maurice Tomlinson, a lecturer at the University of Technology (UTech), reported by this newspaper yesterday, reverberates with the insensitivity of supposed students of the law and at the same time highlights the mediaeval attitude that still largely prevails in Jamaica towards gays.
And having declared her principled position on the rights of gays, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller should add her voice to the protection of Mr Tomlinson's rights under the Constitution of Jamaica.
Maurice Tomlinson is an attorney. He also teaches law at UTech. He came into public notice more recently when it was reported in Canada that he had married his male partner.

In homophobic Jamaica, where a former prime minister declared that he would have no gays in his Cabinet and his successor waffled, equivocated on and parsed his response to the subject, Mr Tomlinson's action is a potential death sentence.

Myopic law students

Indeed, he has gone into hiding and has told this newspaper that he was advised by the police that it would be unsafe to appear on the UTech campus "because my security has been compromised". Put bluntly, Mr Tomlinson has received death threats.

The university law faculty has been unable, as yet, to find a substitute lecturer for Mr Tomlinson's course, and students were advised - apparently by Mr Tomlinson - to sit in with other lecturers.

What has surprised this newspaper is the response of some part-time students affected by the disruption - an apparent absence of sympathy or concern for a man whose life is reportedly in danger.
They are angry over personal scheduling difficulties caused by Mr Tomlinson's absence, complaining that even with the arrangement he attempted to put in place, "we will still be at a disadvantage".
We would be forgiven if we concluded that this lack of empathy and compassion by the affected law students betrays both deep moral failings and weak appreciation for the course of study on which they have embarked. Put another way, it would seem that the concentration of these UTech students is on certification. The substance of the law is secondary.

Breach to one, breach to all

What even early students of the law, like those taught by Mr Tomlinson, should have already learnt is that their rights as individuals cannot be secure if his can be trampled on with impunity. The ultimate protection of one's rights is a democratic society's adherence to the rule of law. There is no more fundamental right than the right to one's life, which, incidentally, is among the first named rights and freedoms protected in Section 13 (3)(a) of the Charter of Rights in Jamaica's Constitution.

Perhaps, in time, the peeved UTech students will appreciate that the application of the law has to be universal, and universally fair, for it to be worthy. Prime Minister Simpson Miller can help in promoting this understanding.

The prime minister displayed courage in defending people's right to lifestyles of their choice when she declared that sexual orientation would not be a criterion for membership in her Cabinet. She must repeat often that there is no right to impunity against people whose lifestyles the majority does not like. For a real test of a democracy is how it protects the rights of minorities.

The PM should also champion the cause for the repeal of the buggery law.

The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.

ENDS

How much do we want from the Prime Minister in such a short space of time?, this is almost as dumb as the JFLAG error in stating a timeline within 100 days when the issue MUST be discussed then having to turn around and do damage control so as not to make it look like an ultimatum after the fire-storm from both inside the LGBT community and outside especially with that persistent thinking that the ruling party was funded by gay interests outside so as to push the battyman issue. 

Why should the PM only deal with this because it's Maurice Tomlinson, is he so special over all the others before and with him especially those persons who do their respective work quietly in the community without a song and dance? After all he chose to put himself out there so it comes with the repercussions.

The glaring contempt towards persons who work quietly in the local community is showing its head again as JFLAG operatives themselves have brought to bear when some rude criticisms have been brought to the fore regarding the recent departure of Mr. Tomlinson under questionable circumstances. He complained that the Observer for example published an unauthorised photo of him hence putting his life in danger yet he forgot to mention his very public television appearances long before the shots were seen in print and why did he send the shot of his signing the licence in Canada to a Catherine Porter of the Gay Star News? and the subsequent timing of this to coincide with the David Kato award collection in London with the large purse attached has left some doubt in the minds of many as professional dishonesty is reeking from all these circumstances. All the Observer had to do was republish the story under the creative commons license protection originally carried by Star News Canada written by the aforementioned author in a piece entitled: "Jamaican gay activist, Maurice Tomlinson, married a Torontonian" whils stating the source. The photo clearly showed it was courtesy of Tomlinson, if he did not want this issue out there why allow the overseas article to be put out in the first place?

All these set of circumstances so close to each other and so well timed does not look good. 

Criticisms have been rising about these and other issues and reputations are being re-examined to find out why is it some persons seem to easily benefit from activities in the name of defending the community? I have been on record to say it is all about superstardom and not about looking at the community as a whole, this first pass the post drama to see who will get the recognition is just too glaring these days while the least amongst us continue to struggle. The Gleaner also carried this piece: Threats force gay lecturer to flee which has had some reaction from influentials. This is how strong a comment that came from such a person:

"Frankly, from reading this article, I don't get a sense of someone who's been forced to "flee". People who "flee" don't have a return date scheduled. If someone is fleeing for their life because of circumstances beyond control, how exactly did he suddenly regain enough control to be able to"schedule" when his safety concerns had been resolved? What I do get a sense of is someone who's taking advantage of the reputation that Jamaica has gained, and using it to his own ends. That is, how convenient that such "safety concerns" emerge as significant right around the same time when he goes to London to go pick up his award?
http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/jamaican-activist-tomlinson-wins-first-david-kato-award

And who told the newspaper that he was away from work? Let me guess....

Suffice it to say, this story reeks of unprofessional and unethical behaviour on Maurice's part. It may well be that faculty members in Jamaica can and do mistreat students however they want - cancel classes, don't show up, don't give the students their grades, etc. - with no repercussions. But to use homophobia as the excuse for not showing up, ad to have the administration in knots over how to deal with this crisis, when I'm sure they sense that things are not as they appear - that is beyond selfish and self-involved.

I am totally sick and tired of lgbt Jamaican individuals manipulating the already hostile situation at home by making themselves into scapegoats and victims, just so they can appropriate resources and attention for themselves. I was wondering where the leaked story of the wedding was going, and I can already see.

In my opinion, there needs to be a total news lockout against Maurice Tomlinson unless what he's talking about or doing DIRECTLY involves broader community, and there's sufficient corroboration of his accounts. He is being very manipulative in his conduct, and is harming the movement in many ways. Others have pulled similar stunts in the past, but Maurice is taking the situation to a whole other level. And he's counting on the silence and gullibility of lgbt Jamaicans as well as the fears of straight people to help him accomplish whatever he's set his mind to, and which won't benefit anyone but himself. Enough already."

The comment when first made/posted was deleted from a Facebook group where JFLAG operatives converge by one of the administrators who work with the organization I have since gathered. Another dangerous precedence for muzzling and or dictatorship to the rest of the community? yet we ask for tolerance elsewhere.

also see: A marriage and another activist seeks asylum ............. 

ALSO AUDIO: 

Frankly this whole episode has stirred up a hornet's nest and the bigger issue of ethical professionalism is back at the forefront but for how long will it remain as usually when it does make centerstage some other items are quickly found to create a diversion.

Peace and tolerance

H

Milestones in 2011 in LGBT life ..............

originally Prepared and contributed by MT 

Additions and editing done 

1. People's National Party ,whose leader said that she had no objections to gays in her cabinet and that she would call for a conscience vote on the country's anti-sodomy law if selected as the country's 10th Prime Minister, won a landslide victory in national elections.

2. Two extremely anti-gay Members of Parliament, Clive Mullings & Ernest Smith, lost their seats after the December 29th 2011 general election.

3. The first gender non-conforming male elected to the country's Parliament December 29th

4. Jamaicans For Justice lambasts Bishop Herro Blair after his homophobic diatribe.

5. Prime Minister Andrew Holness calls for debate on gay issues.

6. “AIDS free World” launches first legal challenge to the buggery laws at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

7. First tolerance for gays and HIV public service announcement showed on television.

8. Gleaner comes out in support of Portia Simpson Miller’s statement about gay rights and buggery law.

9. Countless amount of supportive letters and articles in media about the buggery law and having gays in the cabinet.

10. Portia Simpson Miller defends her statement about gays and buggery law she made at the National Electoral Debate.

11. Church leader, Reverend Oliver Daley, comes out in favour of buggery law repeal.

12. The Gleaner newspaper lambasts Clive Mullings for his anti-gay rhetoric at JLP rally.

13. Documentary on HIV and Jamaican gays released.

14. Opposition leader Portia Simpson-Miller publicly declared at the National Electoral Debates that she would allow a gay person to be in appointed to her cabinet, would ensure that people are not discriminated because of their sexual orientation, while suggesting she like to would bring the Buggery laws to a conscience vote in parliament and disagrees with the former prime minister’s “Not in my cabinet” statement.

15. UN Gay rights resolution passes. Could spark change in anti-gay countries like Jamaica.

16. Hilary Clinton champions Global Gay Rights at UN Summit in Geneva. Promised to take gay rights into consideration when giving foreign aid.

17. President Barack Obama directed all government agencies engaged abroad to ensure that U.S. diplomacy and aid programs "promote and protect" the rights of gays and lesbians.

18. Thanks to persons like Maurice Tomlinson we had over a dozen pro-gay, incident-free tolerance-themed public events.

19. Police Commissioner publicly declared that members of the police force should not discriminate based on sexual orientation.

20. President of the Senate, Oswald Harding, advocates for repeal of buggery law and protection based on sexual orientation.

21. Health Minister, Rudyard (Ruddy) Spenser advocates for repeal of buggery law and tolerance of gays for the fight against HIV.

22. Jamaica Gay rights activist, Maurice Tomlinson, is the 2011 recipient of the David Kato Vision and Voice Award.

23. Activists at UN demand an end to homophobic bullying in schools across the globe.

24. Pro-gay book launched at “Bookophilia” by Shirley Anderson Fletcher (sister of former first lady) who later came on television to promote the book.

25. UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, come out in support of gay rights globally and promised to redirect aid to nations with poor records on gay rights.

26. Gleaner comes out in support of buggery law repeal after David Cameron’s plea at Commonwealth Summit.

27. Coca-Cola apologizes for sponsoring event with anti-gay lyrics sung by “Sizzla”.

28. Gleaner editorial and letters to the editor in support of JFLAG’s “Unconditional Love” public Service Announcement.

29. Reggae Artiste, Mista Majah P, sings pro-tolerance song against homophobia and re-releases full album/CD. Promoted by Peter Tatchell.

30. “Unconditional Love” public service announcement calling for Jamaicans to love their gay family members launched. Rejected by TVJ and CVM but was shown on Youtube for all to see.

31. Police High Command withdraws Senior Superintendent Fitz Bailey's controversial claims about links between homosexuals and organised crime.

32. Study shows street youth more accepting of gays.

33. Swedish film crew that visited Jamaica to record a documentary on the island's human-rights situation got a first-hand look at our notorious homophobia and police excesses.

34. US embassy pledges to help reduce HIV/AIDS among locals.

35. Dancehall artistes stop direct anti-gay murder lyrics.

36. Jamaican Islamic leader in Germany expelled for calling for the death of gays.

37. Charter of rights criticised by media for not protecting gays. Ian Boyne and Elon Parkinson from CVM agrees with buggery law repeal and protection of gays by Charter.

38. Gleaner calls for gays to be protected by Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms.

39. Homophobic Jamaica Labour party embarrassed when JLP councillor gets charged for buggery.

additions

40. First ever business and lifestyle exposition called PRIDE FEST, making the pink dollar more worthy

41. Record numbers of commitment ceremonies on record in recent history ........ 7 SGL females and 3 SGL males

42. The most LGBT entertainment offerings since recorded history in one year ...... 43

43. Most successful asylum cases for LGBT persons overseas ..... estimated at 24

44. 8 more LGBT blogs added to the independent media list of bloggers

45. DJ Howie celebrates 15 years in the LGBT entertainment business and is awarded by the Sankofa Mgmt team

46. Lesbian community became more visibly in voice on the media landscape .... interviews on nearly all radio stations 

additions to come where applicable 

HAPPY NEW YEAR

The Line in the Sand for the JLP Part 14 ...... but vote ☐ PNP ☐ JLP ☑ Legalize Buggery/Anal Sex in private ........

Now we know the date December 29th with nomination day December 12th after much speculation and an almost anti climatic episode for the Jamaica Labour Party the opposition as we have seen has been campaigning on cass cass and accusations more than issues with finger pointing at selective issues from both sides, since the last entry in this series, Part 13, we have seen a plethora of items pass us by like a breeze.

Danville Walker's entry into politics and the subsequent public persona battering as led by opposition member Peter Bunting.

The resignation of two persons being the Minister of Transport and Works Mike Henry over the messy JDIP funds scandal and the former Chief Executive Officer of the National Works Agency Mr. Patrick Wong, right in the nick if the election campaign and a mess that has tested the mettle of Prime Minister Andrew Holness 

The arrest of a PNP candidate who has been accused of obtaining money by fraud by offering overseas employment in exchange for funds

The appearance in court of a female JLP candidate for tax evasion


The contentious public sector wage bill finally agreed upon and signed to

The murder of a PNP political representative


The old PNP Trafigura scandal which could have been a feather in the JLP's hat is stayed by a court action to avoid it being tried in open court.


The PNP's JEEP program crashing in a sense as they have failed to elucidate on its tenets


The see saw in poll ratings for both political parties


The increase of the seat count in the house from 60 to 63


The crossing of the floor by embattled PNP stalwart Sharon Hay Webster to the ruling JLP

The UK aid removal strategic move to get countries to decriminalize buggery with the Prime Minister avoiding the route of his predecessor Bruce Golding with his Not In My Cabinet rant and saying that actions in private have a public effect which is not clear to many as to what he means, will he be challenging the present buggery laws or strengthening them to further invade and observe private actions of citizens? While speaking of challenge the buggery law has been challenged by a set of advocates and AIDSFREEWORLD with the leading voice being Lord Anthony Gifford, the man who led the Irish repealing their laws in 2006.

The opposition party the PNP thwarting an effort to have their own messy scandal the Trafigura matter aired in open court, the issue is to be heard in the Supreme Court today as a matter of fact.

Sadly both parties have not put out their manifestos as yet prompting speculation that they have nothing new to offer and the amazing thing in regards to the LGBT community is that we readily celebrate and support a People's National Party PNP who once had a leader in the form of Percival James Patterson aka PJ who nearly the entire country had in the back of their minds as gay yet he denied the accusations in 2005 by saying

"My credentials as a lifelong heterosexual person are impeccable," Patterson, then 63 told hosts Beverly Anderson-Manley and Anthony Abrahams of the HOT 102 morning talk show, the Breakfast Club. "Anybody who tries to say otherwise is not just smearing and in vulgar abuse... but when you talk about demonising, what is that?" "I want to put that on the table squarely," Patterson said. But we all knew otherwise JLP leader, Edward Seaga, ignited open public speculation about the prime minister's sexuality in 1993 when he declared from a campaign platform that no one had ever accused him of "Boom, bye, bye", drawing on the song by the Jamaican dancehall deejay, Buju Banton that advocated the killing of homosexuals.

That song seriously derailed Buju Banton's career when American gays encouraged a boycott of the deejay, until he publicly apologized. The rumours have lingered about the bachelor Patterson, who was once married to the late Guyanese lawyer and government minister, Shirley Field-Ridley. The couple had two children before they divorced.  Although Patterson jealously guards his private life, he has been romantically linked to several women over the years, including most recently to a well-known caterer and then to a divorced public health doctor. Before that, he was also reportedly romantically linked to the ex-wife of a former Barbados government minister.

However, the rumours about the prime minister had returned with a vengeance, when the JLP used the anti-homosexual song, Chi Chi Man, by the Jamaican group T O K as the signature for its campaign in the March by-election for the North East St Ann constituency. It had since then been used extensively by the JLP at its public meetings until a decision was taken to stop using anti gay materials in campaigns.

That song says:

'From dem a par in a chi chi man car gi wi fire mek we bun dem'
'From dem a drink in a chi chi man bar gi wi fire mek we bun dem'

While the singers have denied that the song promotes violence, the English translation of the Jamaican dialect would be roughly that people who hang out with homosexuals or effeminate males (chi chi men) should be burnt. One line even proposes to "full dem up with copper shot". The PNP also sided with the ruling Jamaica Labour party again out of political expediency much to the full support by some LGBT people who give violence and Jamaica's non acceptance of homosexuality and gay men in particular as justification to deny us any recognition or rights in the recently debated and passed Charter of Rights using the smoke screen gay marriage ploy to say they won't sanction homosexuality as an alternate lifestyle and this hypocrisy continues. They were deafeningly silent during the last few months when David Cameron issued an economic fatwa of sorts on commonwealth countries to remove buggery laws even though it was mainly African states states that were the target of the supposed threat.

The polls have been close with the PNP inching a few percentage points but things still look as a political dead heat as it draws closer. Silly season has begun, defacing of billboards on both sides, a slightly aggressive ad campaign and a moral battle is on to win hearts and minds of the voters especially those on the fence. As indicated in the title of this post some are asking for more than just partisan politics, real rights recognition is required and the political rhetoric from both sides is unacceptable. Portia Simpson Miller's promise to renegotiate IMF deals was laughed at by some technocrats as it was explained by one of the IMF lead personnel that that is not possible until 2014, her promise to remove general consumption tax GCT from electricity bills also had some laughing as we already have a reprieve on that when residential customers consume under 200 kilowatt hours per their bills are GCT free. The PNP seems to be grasping for straws to try to pin the JLP while the JLP is being accused of cloning former Bruce Golding into present PM Andrew Holness as comically described by Opposition leader Portia Simpson Miller as Papa Doc and Baby Doc, suggesting a continuation of the previous PM's policies. The People's National Party (PNP) says it is not worried about its chances in the Manchester Central constituency today.
The pronouncement follows a just-concluded Gleaner-commissioned Bill Johnson poll which revealed that the incumbent Peter Bunting is slightly trailing the JLP’s proposed candidate, Danville Walker. 

JLP AD promoting female candidates

Thirty one per cent of voters said they would definitely vote JLP, while another six per cent said they would probably make their mark beside the name of the party’s candidate.

This gives the JLP a possible 37 per cent support.

The PNP is behind by four percentage points with 31 percent of the voters indicating that they would definitely cast their ballot for the PNP with a further two percent saying they would probably vote PNP.
PNP deputy General Secretary Julian Robinson said the party is not daunted by the poll results.
According to him, the PNP candidate has been working hard in Manchester Central.

Here is a video with sound bites from all over including the infamous Manatt commission of inquiry with the Security Minister's "I can't recall" line

here is a Smile Jamaica interview with Prime Minister Andrew Holness

Andrew Holness's oratorical skills has also been questioned and the accuracy of some of his pronouncements on the platform too.

But I say vote ...................

☐ PNP ☐ JLP ☑ Legalize Buggery/Anal Sex in private ........
Which one of these parties are going to be bold enough to have the uncomfortable conversations on this issue and honestly so?


When is the LGBT body politic going to move away from the typical politics supporting parties who do not have our interest at heart but use homophobia for expediency?


Will the JLP win another slim majority or fall as the PNP gains traction?


UPDATE 12/12/11
The Youth debate:

Saturday last we saw the youth debate as part of a series of debates which was finally agreed to by the political parties and the others to follow culminating in the leadership one on one with PM Holness and Opposition leader Portia Simpson Miller. The PNP was more favoured in the above first round. The poster above appeared after the debate in one of the supposed JLP youth groups on Facebook which seems to take a swipe at one of


 the participants  Mr. Raymond Pryce who persons have been sizing up as gay due to his so called femmy demeanor, is this an attempt to use homophobic profiling to smear a candidate albeit that the opposition PNP does in reality have a larger LGBT following?


here comes a rebuttal:

Now comes controversial video clips maybe sanctioned or not by the party as they were added to external sources Youtube accounts outside of the JLP's main channel but may also be getting tacit support as an article in the Jamaica Observer seems to hint to. 

Also see: 

Jamaican Anglican head on ….. Money, power and sexuality

Now Mrs Simpson Miller has answered one of those direct questions regarding gays in the cabinet in the leader's debate 21/12/11 when asked by Dionne Jackson Miller host of All Angles

Now that we know her position the sentiments about persons being appointed based on ability have been echoed before in some quarters, it was said before during former Prime Minister PJ Patterson's tenure and supported by even his biggest critic Mutty Perkins yet we ended up with the PNP siding with the Christian right and the JLP as a well in an invented gay marriage smoke screen and removing any protection from the Charter of Rights Bill up to the 2009 passage Besides they are already there in both parties, we know this but the BIG questions are now that we know her position will she and the party stick to it and will the nation agree with her and vote knowing how sensitive this issues is or will voters switch in to Andrew instead, that is where we must now carefully watch and see I believe.

Peace and tolerance


H

Homelessness/Displacement problems again .........

I guess everyone is so caught up in the David Cameron aid withdrawal threat from commonwealth countries and the Buggery law repulsion matters, the clouded if not skewed discourse on the illegality of homosexuality when homosexuality is NOT illegal in Jamaica while others who have the power to make well needed changes for the homeless msms intellectually masturbate to the homophobes in letters, TV spots and social network pages that we now totally overlook the least amongst us, do not get me wrong some of this agitation is needed but certainly not all, today we heard two separate issues emerging of a chase of sorts by men towards members of the homeless populations who were loitering on the streets, several were also seen at the gates of Jamaica AIDS Support for Life this morning as it is surmised they slept nearby as they cannot traverse the property too much due to the civil disobedience actions taken by them August 23 and 24 of this year. Since the security detail was stepped up with a canine team but that feature has been disappearing unfortunately the men make it bad for themselves and by extension supporters who want to see interventions moving for them by entering the property without proper permissions and disturbing neighbours.

There was a mini fracas of sorts last weekend with the nearby health centre staff and some of the men who reportedly used an old building behind the JASL offices to gain access to the rear of JASL. There have been other problems in the New Kingston area nearing the old Super Plus Store where they normally congregated at nights and the rental car agency situated nearby has hired a canine team as well who monitor the building'd periphery at nights. My last visit there the men were talking loudly as the guard looked on intently. There was another beating reportedly nearing the Cross Roads area as well some two weeks ago.

An incident to which I was alerted to by other allies and friends of an attempted beating downtown made its way to the Star News legal section where an excerpt read:

Homosexuals and buggery law

A group of young men who were described as homosexuals escaped a severe beating last month when some men began chasing them in downtown Kingston.
The young men had to run for their lives when their attackers told them to leave the area because they were encouraging schoolboys to be homosexuals. Women also joined in and began cursing the young men and described them as being very dangerous to the society.
One of the men commented that he overheard discussions on the radio that the British prime minister had threatened to cut off aid to countries that do not uphold human rights, including the oppression of gays and lesbians.

“I am not saying that people should abuse them, but my fear is that they have no right to indoctrinate the young schoolboys or lure them into sexual activities,” one of the men said.

He said he was aware that people had sexual preferences but warned that “homosexuals must keep their activities to themselves and be discreet about it”.

“Yes, they have no right to come out here looking young schoolboys to spoil them,” a woman said.

“I observe gay men forcing themselves on the schoolboys all the time and are even offering them money,” the woman added.

“I will beat them if I see them bringing arguments to schoolboys,” the man said.

“Although I am definitely against homosexuals, I am not going to break down a house and interfere with two consenting adults. Once they are in the privacy of their home, they should not be disturbed, but if I see them soliciting schoolboys on the street then they must be beaten,” the man said.

The recent announcement by the British prime minister has led to groups in Jamaica calling for the government to repeal the buggery law. Some Jamaicans are opposed to the abolition and have pointed out that even if the Government is minded to repeal it, there should be no accommodation for same-sex marriages or unions.
It is against the law for persons to attack or beat homosexuals and they can be arrested and charged. If homosexuals are caught breaking the law, then the matter should be reported to the police for them to investigate the matter and make arrests, if necessary.

The sad part however is that LGBT people who do not have any insulation and are stereotyped due to physical misconceptions about us are the first to suffer on the frontlines and our advocacy systems have very little interest to provide any support in that regard to preempt such attacks instead it’s always a knee jerk reaction and intervention after someone has been beaten or stabbed or chopped then a few thousand dollars are given and mostly nothing more after that. We need residential, psycho social services for these persons and also educational and self defense training for our most vulnerable brothers and sisters and transgender folks out there. Bearing in mind however they are the ones who remind the rest of the nation we are here via there aesthetic presentations.

There was another incident as well on Half Way Tree road just near the vicinity of the Institute of Academic Excellence IAE where some men were also chased after it was alleged they were seen acting suspiciously by a group of men heading to the square on foot. All these incidents and reports and even after the embarrassment on our advocates to deal with this population still no concrete moves to deal with this the least amongst us. 

I'll continue to track this as best as I can and work with the other individuals who are so interested in seeing some resolve on this longstanding issue. One displaced young male was represented in an online group with JFLAG personnel included as members where his request for assistance was placed there as per his request to the individual who did so, the response from the Programs Manager of the J was that they have no money for that flat out yet we saw multiple trips by the J team members overseas which I suspect were not subsidised by any foundation or funder or through scholarships, we see a legal challenge to the buggery law overseas albeit through AIDSFREEWORLD but that I doubt that is on a pro-bono basis and high ended salaries plus a new position added that of Executive Director but one simple request could not be handled even via a small stipend just to carry him through, my time at the J I had instituted a small stipend payout just to fill any small requests like that of this young man but not even that was postured to him as a temporary solution. Sad also that an overseas member of said group out-rightly asked if such requests could be made private as if to say we must not highlight these issues in our own country from our official representative, now you see why persons like myself are justified in criticising the imperialistic way our advocates do business. The agenda is more about prime time spots than dealing with lives interrupted.

also see older posts: 3 more brothers displaced teetering on homelessness

and a hand written expression from a homeless young man

FROM THE PEN OF ONE OF OUR HOMELESS BROTHERS ……..

Homeless MSMs Saga Timeline 28.08.11 by glbtqja3

Some considerations ..... would you assist someone who has been displaced ??? by glbtqja3

Peace and tolerance

H

Hypocrisy, Continued damage control via stands or a genuine call for inclusiveness in western Jamaica?

Gays Stage Peaceful Stand Against Discrimination

Hypocrisy eeeh? do you find this ironic that Maurice Tomlinson and the contemptuous incestuous associated groups now complain that the ongoing HIV conference in Montego Bay by stating that the way the organizers had gone about the workshop flew in the face of the internationally accepted principle requiring the Greater Involvement of Persons Living with HIV/AIDS in designing and implementing HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support interventions yet they exclude voices in an insular advocacy structure.

here is my short audio response to the stand:

On Stands and Inclusiveness 28.08.11 by glbtqja3

Was this stand a quickly utilized damage control feature to soften the furor over the homeless MSM civil disobedience actions taken this very week August 23 and 24 after the very groups in this stand banned several of the men from getting care and treatment services for supposed "bad behaviour" so in other words screw them this stand also took place while the ban on the men is still in force and all in the absence of any resident social worker or psycho social services with only one crisis intervention officer serving the entire island.

see more here or posted below: The dark side to the homeless issue .............

Mr. Tomlinson was quoted as saying "While we hope the conference participants enjoyed their stay at the luxurious resort, we, therefore, question their commitment to the populations they purport to serve," yet when they practice the same purposeful exclusions to the lgbt community, influentials and dissenting voices some talk about it it is ignored as well, the groups have no moral authority to cry for inclusiveness when just look at how the organizations treated with the msm homeless matter as the latest glaring example, the same persons demonstrating here have pushed away the least amongst us as they are an impediment to the superstar staus quo that must be maintained, have a read of the piece below and decide for yourselves.

WESTERN BUREAU:

Lamenting the absence of Jamaican men who have sex with men (MSM) from an international HIV/AIDS workshop that was on at the Hilton Rose Hall, Montego Bay, gays here staged a peaceful stand outside the gates of the resort last Wednesday.

Bearing placards which read "Homophobia breeds homelessness", "Homelessness breeds HIV & AIDS", and "Stop Homophobia", "Stop HIV & AIDS", the small group sought to draw attention to the plight of homeless Jamaican men who have sex with men and are vulnerable to HIV.

The men stood outside the Hilton Rose Hall, which was the site of the Caribbean HIV/AIDSRegional Training Network, Caribbean Cytometry & Analytical Society (CCAS), Centers for Disease Control Third Joint Meeting and Eighth CCAS HIV/AIDS Workshop.

The workshop was held under the banner, "Harmonising Quality Clinical Care and Laboratory Diagnostics on Behalf of Persons Most at Risk of HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean, however, international NGO, AIDS-Free World, and local partners from Jamaica AIDS Support for Life and the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians All-Sexuals and Gays were not invited to attend.

"No members of the Jamaican MSM community were invited to participate in this conference, despite the 2009 UNAIDS findings that the HIV prevalence rate among Jamaican MSM is 32 per cent against 1.6 per cent in the general population," lamented Maurice Tomlinson, legal adviser, Marginalised AIDS-Free World Group.

Tomlinson criticised the organisers, stating that the way they had gone about the workshop flew in the face of the internationally accepted principle requiring the Greater Involvement of Persons Living with HIV/AIDS in designing and implementing HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support interventions.

"While we hope the conference participants enjoyed their stay at the luxurious resort, we, therefore, question their commitment to the populations they purport to serve," said Tomlinson.

The event reportedly boasted a top-notch programme with internationally acclaimed speakers, yet claims that it remains relevant to the everyday practice of HIV/AIDS care providers in the Caribbean and beyond.

The meeting opened on August 21 and ended last Friday, August 26.

ENDS

The groups have NO ethical or moral authority let alone credibility to ask for inclusiveness this is just one big hypocrisy to get a shoe in to access funding as word has it that funds presently by the groups here are running low. This homeless issue needs addressing by the very group founded to deal with advocacy which is JFLAG as birthed from the parent NGO Jamaica AIDS Support for Life in 1998.

also see my commentary on the recent MSM civil disobedience and the cold response from the organizations in that protest above:

Other sides to the msm homeless saga part 2 by glbtqja2

These persons have no shame, this is a dark week for our history, a disgrace indeed.

Many of the homeless men came from a party DVD going public as highlighted in this video report from 2009 when JFLAG kinda still meant something and even then the cracks were widening.

The hypocrisy continues as for overseas matters especially in Belize these same Jamaican advocates talk about bringing everyone to the table but locally they DO NOT practice what we preach.

from the debate in Belize on the Buggery Law:
Maurice Tomlinson, AIDS Free World
"This is about bringing everybody to the table, not leaving anybody out. Because when you exclude people, that is when you provide an opportunity for harm and hate and disease to spread. And these diseases don’t generally stay within the vulnerable groups."

Also what is also of  interest is the seeming competition with all kinds of agencies including governmental arms outside of the LGBT advocacy structure now jostling for creating programs for this group, all of a sudden homeless msms are now the next big thing to use as lightening rod for funding. This kind of opportunistic way or advocacy is just a disgrace.

Let us also put into perspective the 2007 MSM survey that suggested homelessness and HIV were closely related issues:

Another instance of the hypocrisy was when we unfortunately lost diva Charms who was found dead, the J released some press release at the time, go here for a post entitled "And The Machinery"  for more. A pilot housing project called the "Safe House Project" which was closed due to "bad behaviour" by the occupants led to the present major problems we now see with very little done by JFLAG to stop the implosion of the project hence leading to ostracism by the advocacy structure itself.

also see: MSM Homeless Issues from 2010 on this blog and The Quietus (safe house project closes)

and  Response to the Shelter issue from a concerned advocate

Think on these things people, listen to the audio commentary

Real Advocacy or Not (the audio) by glbtqja3

UPDATE September 23

Real Advocacy or Not Part 2 -  Transgender Influentials shafted by glbtqja5

Peace and tolerance

H