Did the talk of buggery turn persons off from the polls as well?

As the days roll on since the elections and the new year is in with today being the first official working day more and more as the Christmas and New Year's holiday sheen wears off reality seems to be setting in for Jamaicans, everywhere from radio news reviews, other blogs (gay and straight), barbershop/hairsalons, offices, on buses, downstairs from my workplace and even my African neighbour who is from Nigeria who is married to a Jamaican are adding the talk of the Buggery Law review as one of the turn offs from taking part in the polls. Let us also not forget no vote is still a vote and with the lowest turnout in many decades and the Jamaica Labour Party loosing even once key seats in the polls the shock to both sides is still real, it's as if persons are or were in a daze and are slowly awakening. There is a strong rumour although NOT true or proven that the government in waiting the People's National Party received money from gay contributors overseas hence the overwhelming vote for them supposedly by gays, at my office only this morning the workmen by a hardware were arguing vociferously on it saying they will not tolerate it if "Sista P" the affectionate name for Mrs Miller legalizes homosexuality, although it is not illegal but buggery is but the perception that it is still exists. This rumour I fear if not nipped in the bud and properly countered maybe the ruin of the PNP if they don't get their act together and any hope of a repeal may be delayed tremendously or derailed altogether. 


Many persons seemed more lost in the holiday merriment and making a buck or having traditional family celebrations and or were just upset that the elections were called in the period stayed away from the polls, not even the slick ad campaigns, the alleged vote buying, typical election excitement and online presence could get persons out. Some now conclude that the crowds we saw at both campaign tours on televisions and on online were persons bused in from Kingston or other parts of the island with strong support to create the illusion that there was a groundswell, why else would there have been low turn out by only core support for the PNP/JLP and an almost full ignoring of the voting process by the undecided with vexed feelings by disgruntled JLP supporters. One news review yesterday on radio suggested this as well and the gay vote was included as the LGBT community may have responded to the promise of the review of the buggery law by Sista P. The powerful religious community seems to have also stayed away from the polls whilst opposing the suggestion by Prime Minister designate Portia Simpson Miller to review the buggery law, powerful business interest also were quiet maybe expecting the continuation of the economic policies that benefited some of them, everyone seems caught by surprise on this one even the sharpest of wits on political matters Ian Boyne seemed stunned by the results.

Mark Wignall also who had predicted a possible JLP win retracted in essence his call in the Jamaica Observer, on January 1 Mr. Wignall wrote: Voters prove me horribly wrong. JLP soundly rejected that 

"A dwindling electorate is dangerous"


Where only the diehard, robotic base of both parties participated in the elections and one side captures two-thirds of the seats under such an arrangement, the question must be asked, which Jamaica do the political parties represent?
Can we honestly claim any broad-based representation, or is it that the PNP represents the poor and the JLP the not-so-poor?


As I asked in a recent column, 'Will unemployment, poor roads bite the JLP?' there was always going to be a believability factor facing both parties in terms of which one the people believed would deal with that pressing matter in a more urgent time frame.
The JLP Government had been claiming 'stability' of the macro-economic picture and 'continuity' as a springboard for development. This assumption was always centred on the idea that a poor man without a steady job or, more likely, perennially unemployed, could take that home with him and cook it for dinner.


The PNP countered with JEEP, which the party now says will be instituted. I wish it luck. This proposed emergency employment plan, workable or not, has been bought into by the people.
Because the JLP could not promise anything resembling this proposed crash programme, the assumption on the part of the JLP was always that the people would understand and wait, a most foolish position to hold if the JLP MPs had been in the trenches. What has in fact transpired is that not many discriminating people believed either party so must we assume that only those who walked through the gates of the big dance and arrived early believed it?


With the PNP capturing 53 per cent of the popular vote and 65 per cent of the seats in the lowest turnout in recent memory, it means that increasingly the majority of voters are deciding to remain at home as election cycles continue. The danger of that is that as the voter turnout decreases, the party which wins theoretically only has to pander to the wishes and the desires of its immediate base.
If it takes a crash programme to satisfy that need, then so be it, but that is a dangerous downhill slide in social and economic terms and it operates against the success of any long-term development.


It appears to me that even the PNP was surprised at the win. One JLP supporter who did not vote told me Thursday night, "Last Christmas, nuh work, no money nuh run; this Christmas, same ting. Den a how dem expect fi win?"


One PNP supporter e-mailed me the following: "Well, to say I am surprised is an understatement. Not only did the PNP win, but it was, in reality, a landslide. I never imagined that at all. I can only assume that the voters were upset with the JLP regarding lack of employment, the 'Dudus' affair, the Manatt enquiry, the JDIP scandal and the unimpressive debate between Mr Holness and Mrs Simpson Miller. Surprise, surprise. It was not even close.


"My worry is that the PNP did not expect this. It is like a "buck up". I do not believe they are ready to govern and lead Jamaica to prosperity and development. I say this as a PNP supporter. But I will watch carefully and see what the PNP does." Many people expect jobs next year."


The Buggery review matter has been heating up in the religious front as well since it was postured by Sista P and as we saw on December 31st on a television program "Word Power" restorative advocate and pastor Al Miller has now joined forces with a Singaporean anti gay Christian advocate and law professor Lian Thio 

who proposed among other things that laws that seek to destroy the family must be contested and not allowed to be passed, she is on the island to promote her new book "Mind The Gap" and participate in a lecture series as well on how Singapore mixes moral values and secularism in their society. She was at pains to say she does not support theocracy but as the interview progressed she kept hinting to the homosexual agenda and the need to fight it. She hinted to the gay agenda as very agnostic aggressive with secular humanism and  implanting its power in political circles while slowly opposing Christianity so as to inform laws and decisions. "Unrighteous laws breeds unrighteousness and lawlessness brings judgement, all this is in the book of Ezekiel ...... when it comes to homosexuality though I oppose same sex marriage, I argued to keep anti sodomy laws on the table ..... churches must not say it is wrong but also provide a solution," she continued she believed persons can be changed. Rev Miller agreed and hinted that the buggery review would be opposed from his standpoint. Miss Chio is the current editor of the Asian yearbook of international law and formerly the Chief Editor of the Singaporean International Journal and Comparative Law while also being a formerly government representative.


Clearly persons are now waking up either from a kind of slumber or daze just realizing that review was suggested, anger was the order of the day at a barber shop I was at the other night. The news was being read on television Jamaica TVJ and the buggery issue came up again, the reactions were mixed at first but when one male barber expressed outrage at gays flaunting their stuff in public the whole air of the discussion changed with some of the same persons who were tolerant before adjusting their tone, to me that is an indication of how fragile tolerance can be and can be influenced to the negative in short order as feeling run close to the surface for many persons just by observation.


The composition of the Senate is also of concern for some as the practice when members of parliament loose a seat they are not normally sent to the senate but the outgoing JLP may not have a choice when Andrew Holness thinks how to put voices that can guide the processes seeing that in the upper house the numbers are low and certain key voices such as Christopher Tufton are gone. The wise and tolerant outgoing President of the senate Ozwald Harding who also has been one of those open voices who advocated over the years for the Buggery Law repeal is no longer in the house. Albeit the senate may only be a slowing agent for key legislation reviews but since more younger persons are now in the mix how does a leader mix experience with youth while having proper representation?


My African neighbour who I referred to in the introduction in a spirited discourse yesterday morning by my gate as I bought my newspapers asked what I thought of the results? I told him I had mixed feelings as I was still wondering why the low voter turnout, he proceeded to reiterate some of the other opinions that the JLP was taught a lesson and the PNP too that it cannot sit by and not move quickly on issues to appease the turned off undecided voters. He also mentioned the buggery review issue and said he didn't have a problem with gay persons so long as they kept it private (I suppose a jab at me since he knows of my previous run in with the law and buggery charge in 1996) he was quick to point out though that he didn't think the gay community contributed money to the campaign as is rumoured but that there are obviously gay persons in the PNP just by looking at the makeup of the cadre of persons there. He like myself is concerned about the massive 2/3rds majority she has and her hold on such awesome power to make legislative changes almost a whim with very little counter from the soon to be opposition JLP, in his strong Nigerian accent he concluded: "it can be dangerous for democracy my friend but Jamaica is a fantastic place and one never knows what to expect" 
We were later joined by his University student tenant a 19 year old male who lived upstairs and another much older and experienced male neighbour two doors from me who originally hailed from Waterhouse, a former active PNP stronghold of the seventies and eighties, we recounted the previous elections and all realized that these are indeed interesting times, I was careful to infuse in the exchanges the buggery review component while not declaring my hand but they know very well that I am gay based on previous legal issues that were public except the 19 year old student tenant who is also a Christian, he just moved in some two years now, he said he was jaded by the ads especially the ones that attempted to make Mrs Simpson Miller out to be incompetent and never saw any messages that gave him hope so although he was enumerated/registered to vote he never voted he also went on to say that the buggery matter was a concern as well, the older neighbour somewhat jokingly said " ... a battyman run the werl" (gays that are running the world), an ode that also seems to be a kind of steadily growing resigning position coming from persons who once aggressively opposed any hint to homosexuality discussed publicly. This sentiment was also expressed by my own barber recently as well.


Several things confront us here friends in this time in Jamaica, the buggery issue may have also contributed to the aloofness by chiefly the undecided at the December 29th polls but it also seems to be gaining some momentum post the results, Jamaicans do not forget things easily as the other factors that went against the JLP is on the lips of the nation such as the Manatt Dudus affair, the JDIP program, the surveillance plane over Tivoli during the incursion with the subsequent denial of sorts by the outgoing National Security Minister who also lost his seat and the feeling of mistrust from former PM's Golding's departure coupled with the "Not In My Cabinet" stance that deeply offended the LGBT community. The incoming PNP also has a lot to do and its work is cut out regarding jobs, the hopelessness in the economy, the continuation of things that were functional or positive from the outgoing JLP, gone are the days when political parties running for or are in office can get comfortable and hope for second terms, the JLP is now the first one term administration and the people will put parties to pasture if they do not deliver if it means a low voter turnout, no vote is still a vote.


The gay community obviously had a hand in this time in the polls responding to the promise to review the buggery law by Sista P, it maybe the most votes ever cast by our cohort in any election ever.


Peace and tolerance


H


Also see: Internalized homophobia glaring since the elections …. a worrying trend

Ego-dystonic sexual orientation ........

Egodystonic sexual orientation is an egodystonic condition characterized by perceiving a sexual orientation or experiencing an attraction that is at odds with one's idealized self-image, causing anxiety and a desire to change one's orientation or become more comfortable with one's sexual orientation.

Classifications

The World Health Organization lists egodystonic sexual orientation in the ICD-10, as a disorder of sexual development and orientation. The WHO diagnosis covers when gender identity or sexual orientation is clear, yet a patient has another behavioural or psychological disorder which makes that patient want to change it. F66.1 The diagnostic manual notes that a sexual orientation is not a disorder in itself.

The diagnostic category of "ego-dystonic homosexuality" was removed from the American Psychiatric Association's DSM in 1987 (with the publication of the DSM-III-R), but still potentially remains in the DSM-IV under the category of "sexual disorder not otherwise specified" including "persistent and marked distress about one’s sexual orientation”.

The Medical Council of India uses the WHO classification of ego-dystonic sexual orientation. The Chinese Classification and Diagnostic Criteria of Mental Disorders includes ego-dystonic homosexuality.

The American Psychological Association has officially opposed the category of ego-dystonic homosexuality since 1987.

Diagnosis

Ego-dystonic sexual orientation
Classification and external resources
ICD-10 F66.1
ICD-9 302.0

When the World Health Organization removed the diagnosis of homosexuality as a mental disorder in ICD-10, it included the diagnosis of ego-dystonic sexual orientation under "Psychological and behavioural disorders associated with sexual development and orientation". The WHO's ICD.10 diagnoses Ego-dystonic sexual orientation thus:
The gender identity or sexual preference (heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or prepubertal) is not in doubt, but the individual wishes it were different because of associated psychological and behavioural disorders, and may seek treatment in order to change it. (F66.1)
The WHO notes that for codes under F66: "Sexual orientation by itself is not to be regarded as a disorder."
This is often a result of unfavorable and intolerant attitudes of the society or a conflict between sexual urges and religious belief systems.

Treatments

There are many ways a person may go about receiving therapy for ego-dystonic sexual orientation associated with homosexuality. There is no known therapy for other types of egodystonic sexual orientations. Therapy can be aimed at changing sexual orientation, sexual behavior, or helping a client become more comfortable with their sexual orientation and behaviors. Human rights groups have accused some countries of performing these treatments on egosyntonic homosexuals. One survey suggested that viewing the same-sex activities as compulsive facilitated commitment to a mixed-orientation marriage and to monogamy. Treatment may include sexual orientation change efforts or treatment to alleviate the stress. In addition, some people seek non-professional methods, such as religious counseling or attendance in an ex-gay group.

Disidentify with LGB

A task force commissioned by the APA found that religious identity and sexual orientation identity develop through life, and psychotherapy, support groups, and life events can influence identity development; similarly, self-awareness, self-conception, and identity may evolve during treatment. Psychotherapy, support groups, and life events can change sexual orientation identity (private and public identification, and group belonging), but not actual sexual orientation, emotional adjustment (self-stigma and shame reduction), and personal beliefs, values and norms (change of religious and moral belief, behavior and motivation). The APA has stated that sexual orientation develops across a person’s lifetime".

Gender Wholeness Therapy was designed by an ex-gay Licensed Professional Counselor, David Matheson. "The emphasis in Mr. Matheson's counseling is on helping men — all his clients are male — develop 'gender wholeness' by addressing emotional issues and building healthy connections with other men. He [says] he believe[s] that help[s] reduce homosexual desires.
Gender-affirmative therapy has been described by A. Dean Byrd as follows: "The basic premise of gender-affirmative therapy is that social and emotional variables affect gender identity which, in turn, determines sexual orientation. The work of the therapist is to help people understand their gender development. Subsequently, such individuals are able to make choices that are consistent with their value system. The focus of therapy is to help clients fully develop their masculine or feminine identity".

Several organizations have started retreats led by coaches aimed at helping participants diminish same-sex desires. These retreats tend to use a variety of techniques. Journey into Manhood, put on by People Can Change uses "a wide variety of large-group, small-group and individual exercises, from journaling to visualizations (or guided imagery) to group sharing and intensive emotional-release work." Weekends put on by Adventure in Manhood support "healthy bonding with men, through masculine activity, teamwork, and socialization." Though not specific to gay men, several gay men attended the New Warrior Training Adventure, a weekend put on by Mankind Project, which is a "process of initiation and self-examination that is designed to catalyze the development of a healthy and mature masculine self." Joe Dallas, a prominent ex-gay, leads a monthly five-day men's retreat on sexual purity titled, Every Mans' Battle.

Ego-dystonic sexual orientation and religion

Further information: Religion and homosexuality

Some gay people have turned to pastoral care. Some churches publish specific instructions to clergy on how to minister to gay and lesbian people. These publications include Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination, produced by the Roman Catholic Church, and God Loveth His Children, produced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 1994, a church in the Presbyterian Church (USA) held a conference entitled “The Path to Freedom: Exploring healing for the Homosexual.” The APA encourages religious leaders to recognize that it is outside their role to adjudicate empirical scientific issues in psychology.
Mental health practitioners can incorporate religion into therapy by "integrating aspects of the psychology of religion into their work, including by obtaining a thorough assessment of clients’ spiritual and religious beliefs, religious identity and motivations, and spiritual functioning; improving positive religious coping; and exploring the intersection of religious and sexual orientation identities." Researchers have found that for some clients, identity conflicts can be reduced by reading religious texts, which will help clients increase self-authority and focus less on negative messages about homosexuality. Researchers also found that clients made further progress if they came to believe that regardless of their sexual orientation, God still loves and accepts them.

Alternatively, gay and lesbian people may decide to seek out "minority-affirming religious groups", or change churches to those that affirm LGBT people.

Internalized homophobia

(or egodystonic homophobia) refers to negative feeling towards oneself because of homosexuality. This term has been criticized because holding negative attitudes does not necessarily involve a phobia, and the term "internalized stigma" is sometimes used instead. It causes severe discomfort with or disapproval of one's own sexual orientation.
Such a situation may cause extreme repression of homosexual desires. In other cases, a conscious internal struggle may occur for some time, often pitting deeply held religious or social beliefs against strong sexual and emotional desires. This discordance often causes clinical depression, and the unusually high suicide rate among gay teenagers (up to 30 percent of non-heterosexual youth attempt suicide) has been attributed to this phenomenon. Psychotherapy, such as gay affirmative psychotherapy, and participation in a sexual-minority affirming group can help resolve the internal conflict between a religious and a sexual identity.

The label of internalized homophobia is sometimes applied to conscious or unconscious behaviors which an observer feels the need to promote or conform to the expectations of heteronormativity or heterosexism. This can include extreme repression and denial coupled with forced outward displays of heteronormative behavior for the purpose of appearing or attempting to feel "normal" or "accepted". This might also include less overt behavior like making assumptions about the gender of a person's romantic partner, or about gender roles. Some also apply this label to LGBT persons who support "compromise" policies, such as those that find civil unions an acceptable alternative to same-sex marriage.

Some argue that some or most people who are homophobic have repressed their own homosexuality. In 1996, a controlled study of 64 heterosexual men (half claimed to be homophobic by experience and self-reported orientation) at the University of Georgia found that men who were found to be homophobic (as measured by the Index of Homophobia) were considerably more likely to experience more erectile responses when exposed to homoerotic images than non-homophobic men.