Gay "scrubbed clean" in the United Arab Emirates ???

After seeing this video and the comments it is obvious the supposed gay character was not a real effeminate man and was acting.

Gay people in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have attacked a YouTube video ‘tutorial’ which shows how gays can be ‘cured’ or ‘scrubbed clean’ of their sexuality.

The six-minute ‘tutorial’ entitled ‘Be Yourself’ has shocked the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community of the UAE.

The video depicts five young men as the starring characters: Rashid Al-Muaini, Majid Al-Muaini, Ali Al-Ghaithi, Jamel Al-Ghaithi and Mohammad Eissa. The scene is set in a typical suburban neighbourhood of one of the UAE cities (most likely Ajman), where the five meet.

Two are in a traditional Emirati dress of Kandura and Kiffayeh greeted by a visibly shy effeminate guy with long hair, wearing a t-shirt and jeans, who says ‘Hi guys’ in a high pitched voice, proceeding to shake their hands in a camp manner and playing with his hair.

He is contrasted with two other guys dressed in western style who pass-by and greet in a ‘brotherly’ macho-like manner.

The effeminate guy acts all shy and blushes when he’s invited, with a ‘wink’ to come inside the villa next door.

Once in the villa’s living room, the effeminate man is told that he needs to change his personality. One of the traditional-dressed men asks: ‘will you change it or not?’ He replies ‘yes but now?’ And is told ‘leave it to us’.

They proceed to show the effeminate guy how to mimic masculine gestures. Later he is given a ‘make-over’ where his hands and face are almost violently scrubbed with scouring cloths, and then his nails and hair are cut.

After the make-over the still effeminate guy gets a slap when he is about leave for saying ‘bye guys’ in his high pitch voice, and given a tip: ‘Thicken your voice!’

In the concluding scene all five characters meet up again. The effeminate guy seems less distinguished by his looks. His friends seem happy and proud of what they did and finish by thanking Allah, who helped bring about the ‘change’.

A Hadith appears in the closing scene roughly translating as: ‘If you see something wrong being done, speak up. If nothing happens, do something. If nothing happens then, change things with your heart.’

While the title ‘Be Yourself’ and video may look paradoxical even laughably ludicrous it nevertheless touches upon some profound issues for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the UAE.

Activists’ flashbacks

Gay Middle East spoke to three activists from Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transexual Rights UAE about the video on behalf of Gay Star News.

Abdullah, 24 from Abu-Dhabi, founder of the group commented: ‘The video signifies the level of challenge, we, the UAE LGBT community, have ahead of us. We don’t merely have to change the views of the government but also society itself. It angers me no end, but it also saddens me, this video would have been devastating if my 16-year-old self had watched it.

‘As a 16-year-old, I can still hear echoes in my mind of mom yelling at me not to flail my hand too much when I speak, which only lead to me being robotic and stiff, feeling I must keep both hands down when I speak, something that took a long time to get over.

‘My mom would also shout at me for using English terms like “guys” in her presence because it emulated the westerners and was a direct “attack” to the Arabic language and my [masculine] mannerisms.’

Abdullah told us his parents would force him to get a to ‘a crew cut’ so his hair won’t look like ‘a western propaganda’ gay person, something that deeply humiliated and angered him. He said they refused to buy him jeans and t-shirts because it made him ‘act girly’ telling him instead he must wear the ‘traditional Emirati dress’.

He said: ‘In the UAE, men are required to act in a away that reflects the Bedouin tribe which we are descended from. Many view homosexuality as a western invention and not a very good one.

‘[The video] brought flashbacks to me how on endless hot Friday afternoons I was forced to observe how men interact, or how they drink coffee by my father, so that I should emulate to make him proud.’

He adds: ‘I was banned from hanging out with my sisters too much because my parents alleged they were turning me into a woman.’ Finally his father gave up and rejected him, choosing one of Abdullah’s brothers to ‘make him proud’.

Fatima, a 31-year-old secretary from Abu-Dhabi points out more issues with the representation of the effeminate gay character: ‘The director, having chosen this particular young man and his looks to play the deviant, gender-confused homosexual is openly insulting every gay man on earth.

‘It's typical to have young, macho-wannabe boys chasing a ball in the street, god forbid the director shoots the film in a library or a study room that could really harm the image of what a real Arabic man is supposed to be doing in his free time.

‘They have a femme-fatale gay man to represent the entire population of homosexual men in the region, assuming that gay people are not being themselves, they just spend their lives pretending to be someone else for, I don't know, attention? And then to have a homosexual "cured" with a firm rub and a neat haircut and if he shows signs of relapse, just slap him back to his senses.

‘The massage of this video is ugly, hurtful and very dangerous. I hope whoever came up with this sick idea gets a visit from a gay cupid. Ha!’

Ali, a 25-year-old law student from Dubai was outraged by the video: ‘I found “Be Yourself” extremely offensive. When I read the title, I was thinking “Wow, finally some of these people have actually learnt something! Perhaps we can have a go at acceptance!” only to discover a video filled with prejudice.

‘I was gutted at the confidence in the faces of the actors on the fact that they can treat homosexuality just like that.

‘To all of those who think they can treat homosexuality by grooming, abusing and hurting I want to say “are you proud to be homophobic people? Leading people into an illusion that being gay is all about flapping your hands and having a girly voice?”’

Changing hearts

The UAE is a federation of seven emirates who each have different harsh laws regarding homosexuality, from up to 10 years in prison in Dubai to 14 in Abu-Dhabi, while Article 354 of the Federal Penal Code may even prescribe a death sentence for ‘consensual sodomy’. So punishment for homosexuality can include prison, fines, deportation, flogging and death.

Meanwhile psychologists and psychiatrists in the UAE regard being gay as a psychological disturbance that is, in some cases, to be ‘cured’ with hormonal ‘treatments’, despite global clinical guidance to the contrary.

Abdullah told us: ‘Homosexuality has always been a part of the Arabian world, it existed in poetry and writings that are found in Islam and even predate it. Not to mention it’s a natural part of humanity.’

But stereotyping of LGBT people and the idea that non-conforming sexuality is westernized or can be changed are rampant.

Abdullah said: ‘We want to change that, so that another 16-year-old or the impressionable LGBT youth, wouldn't have to go through what others, including myself, before them did. We will challenge those beliefs and misconceptions one person at a time, and if we don't change them we will reach to their hearts.’

Brain scans used to detect paedophilia ......

Given the sensitivities involved in our caustic homophobic society and the misconception that has been allowed to become so deeply entrenched in our national psyche that gay men are in essence paedophiles and looking for the next piece of young ass to have this study is to be watched closely as it can help to diffuse that stereo type that feeds our violent homophobia but I am almost sure someone from the psychiatric community is going refute this in some way via some alternate theory. We have to keep a close eye on this development.
Source

A study by German scientists shows that it may be possible to identify paedophiles by scanning their brains as they look at pictures of adults and children

In the study, which appears this month in the Archive of General Psychiatry, the scientists showed pictures of naked people of different ages to a group of diagnosed paedophiles and a normal control group. The researchers then scanned the subjects’ brains using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

The differences in brain activity could pinpoint who was a paedophile and who was not at a rate of roughly 90 percent, according to the study.

The research, which involved professors from universities in Kiel, Berlin and Denmark, may have ground-breaking uses in the treatment of sex offenders, said Jorge Ponseti, one of the study's authors at the Christian Albrechts University of Kiel.

It is important to verify whether a first-time sex offender is truly a paedophile – in other words having an inherent attraction to prepubescent children – or merely committed a crime of opportunity, because treatment strategies are different for both groups Ponseti said.

“You can offer a paedophile drugs to lower sex drive or teach him in psychotherapy to avoid situations involving children, but you waste your time if you explain how to have a relationship with adult women,” Ponseti said. “You can approach someone who is not a true paedophile differently. It is important to know what kind of sex offender this is.”

Current techniques to determine whether someone is a paedophile, such as by using a device attached to the penis to measure arousal levels, are notoriously imprecise and not widely used in Germany. Some paedophiles are able to fool such devices by controlling their arousal levels.

Ponseti said he thinks the fMRI technique will be much more precise, although researchers are currently developing another study to see whether its possible for paedophiles to somehow fool it.

“Brain response to an emotional stimulus is very fast and it happens most likely before conscious acknowledgement of a picture takes place, so I think it is unlikely that faking will be successful,” Ponseti said.

Moises Mendoza
moises.mendoza@thelocal.de
twitter.com/moisesdmendoza

External link: Study abstract »

Assessment of Pedophilia Using Hemodynamic Brain Response to Sexual Stimuli

Jorge Ponseti, PhD; Oliver Granert, MSc; Olav Jansen, Prof MD; Stephan Wolff, MSc; Klaus Beier, Prof MD, PhD; Janina Neutze, MSc; Günther Deuschl, Prof MD;Hubertus Mehdorn, Prof MD; Hartwig Siebner, Prof MD; Hartmut Bosinski, Prof MD

Arch Gen Psychiatry. Published online October 3, 2011. doi:10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2011.130

Context Accurately assessing sexual preference is important in the treatment of child sex offenders. Phallometry is the standard method to identify sexual preference; however, this measure has been criticized for its intrusiveness and limited reliability.

Objective To evaluate whether spatial response pattern to sexual stimuli as revealed by a change in the blood oxygen level–dependent signal facilitates the identification of pedophiles.
Design During functional magnetic resonance imaging, pedophilic and nonpedophilic participants were briefly exposed to same- and opposite-sex images of nude children and adults. We calculated differences in blood oxygen level–dependent signals to child and adult sexual stimuli for each participant. The corresponding contrast images were entered into a group analysis to calculate whole-brain difference maps between groups. We calculated an expression value that corresponded to the group result for each participant. These expression values were submitted to 2 different classification algorithms: Fisher linear discriminant analysis and -nearest neighbor analysis. This classification procedure was cross-validated using the leave-one-out method.

Setting Section of Sexual Medicine, Medical School, Christian Albrechts University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany.
Participants We recruited 24 participants with pedophilia who were sexually attracted to either prepubescent girls (n = 11) or prepubescent boys (n = 13) and 32 healthy male controls who were sexually attracted to either adult women (n = 18) or adult men (n = 14).

Main Outcome Measures Sensitivity and specificity scores of the 2 classification algorithms.
Results The highest classification accuracy was achieved by Fisher linear discriminant analysis, which showed a mean accuracy of 95% (100% specificity, 88% sensitivity).

Conclusions Functional brain response patterns to sexual stimuli contain sufficient information to identify pedophiles with high accuracy. The automatic classification of these patterns is a promising objective tool to clinically diagnose pedophilia.

 
also see: Why most "pedophiles" aren't really pedophiles, technically speaking

The Homo-Negativity Surrounding Paedophilia ……. From GLBTQ Jamaica Blog Combo (WordPressEdition)

Another disturbing paedophile accusation, homosexuality & paedohilia miscontrued

Khago's "Weh Dem a Seh?" ...........

So as the war of words continue between the upstarts (my words) Khago and I-Octane in the dancehall the stereotypical traits of metrosexuality, blurred gender lines or feminization are implied in the lyrics as each artist tries to paint each other as closeted gays. Interestingly Khago in this song talks about "gender confusion" when he alludes that rival DJ I-Octane is using makeup and shaving his eyebrows via his contract he is forced to wear particular types of clothing that makes him out to be on the DL at best. In a previous post where I highlighted I-Octane's "Dream Bout Boi" track which also lambasts Khago but also percieved modes of dress that hint at gay life.

I-Octane

Nuh Dream Bout Boi Here:

NUH DREAM BOUT BOY - I-OCTANE by khoolray

and

also see or hear above "Woman Wi Seh" by I-Octane as well.

Why are Jamaican men so insecure about their own masculinity? so much so to the point that anything that involves other men closely or deemed too close is also deemed as something sexual or cohersively so as if in the same way Jamaican men hit on or try to coherse women is somehow the same way another man in this perceived "too close for comfort" position will also try to do. And to think Khago himself is hot in the eyes of many MSMs here.

Khago

The Lyrics from "Weh Dem a Seh?" among other things contend:

"Sister locks wi nuh wear nor bredda locks"

(referring to a particular style of artificial hair interwoven into real hair for locking)

"No lip gloss ...." (suggesting other artists may wear such type make up)

"shaved eyebrows, wi nuh follow fags" (shaved eyebrows we don't follow fags/gays) [the first direct anti gay sentiment associated with perceived gay aesthetics]

"Wi nuh wear turtle neck cause wi nuh drifters" (we don't wear turtle necks as we are not drifters) [turtle neck clothes here suggesting a gay style of dress]

"No makeup to mi face dat a fi mi sisters" (no makeup to my face that's for my sisters) [suggesting feminine mode of dress by rival DJs]

"Wi locks real wi nuh wear fusion, we nuh join the gender confusion" (our locks are real we don't wear fusion {suggesting twisting fake hair and real to get the lengthy look} we don't join the gender confusion) [all this suggesting men who dress otherwise are confused about their gender

"Man str8 like 12 o'clock" ( Man is straight {orientation} like 12 o'clock) [suggesting comparison with the hands of the clock)

"no contract caan mek me over" (no contract can't make me over) [suggesting other artists maybe forced to use perceived feminized modes of dress and aesthetics in their public persona)

In the middle of the Jamaican metro-sexual revolution as I see it there is this back and forth between two possible great artists while instead of producing wonderful hits as we have seen they can, are distracted by this weirdness of perceived blurred gender lines but the real leader in all this metro-change is pushing on none the less despite some haemorrhaging from his Gaza camp and a major loss of support from a marketing guru Vybz Kartel pushes on despite his controversial lightened appearance and rumours of his HIV status. We are in interesting times people.

UPDATE:

Controversial DJ Tony Matterhorn with a new song critiquing other DJs for not calling names when bashing each other called "Dancehall Duppy (Ghost)" says that both Octane and Khago are tracing or quarreling like girls:

Here Khago tries to set the record straight but it seems the attempt only make matters worse and confusing for the viewing public:

Peace and tolerance

H

Cartoons and the use of gay typed characters part 2

cartoon above published July 26.07.11

See part 1 where I briefly looked at the Shebadarization of entertainment on a whole with brief effects on Jamaican psyche and associated gay typed characters on Jamaican stages.

Over these many years cartoonists in particular have been weighing in on the issues with every thing from very disturbing and stereotypical pieces to more satirical ones poking fun at the issues, many persons in the LGBT community and by extension the advocacy groupings have expressed some outrage specifically to today's Observer image as done by resident cartoonist Clovis:

This is following on the recent apology from the police high command on Superintendent Fitz Bailey and his assertions on gays involved in organized crimes without specifically naming the ones they are involved in.

also see:

Apology Accepted JCF but some questions on several fronts still linger ...

Other popular cartoons include the now infamous call from public defender to put prisoners to work however Clovis gave a spin on the issue by showing the two prisoners in a romantic position in jail-house fatigues, another was the barred closet door as hammered blocked by former Attorney General A.J. Nicholson.

Certainly the Boom Bye Bye one I included here was one of many others that were too offensive so I left them out of this entry that was a supposed response to the "Not in My Cabinet" rant on the BBC's Hard talk show in 2008/9 however one can also appreciate the cartoonists are also carrying the views of readers and John Public which may be for or against LGBT issues but given our very slow change to a more tolerant society the toons seem to be reflecting more comedic themes especially the Clovis ones that have a stereotypical cross dresser with male features also visibly shown.

As I said elsewhere sometimes we have to laugh things off sometimes if not we all may go mad.

Peace and tolerance

H

UPDATE July 20, 2011 - in response to the last cartoon (above) a letter to the Observer

Bad precedent

Dear Editor,

This is in regard to your cartoon of July 19.

I find your portrayal of gay people to be most offensive! Do you really believe that all gay people carry themselves in this manner? You are setting a bad precedent and initiating a stereotype that will just help perpetuate the rampant homophobia that plagues the Jamaican society.
Please act responsibly by understanding the ramifications of what you publish! I sincerely hope you will see the gravity of this and take corrective action.

P Valentine
Saxhomes@aol.com

Stereotyping from the police ...............

Senior Superintendent Fitz Bailey asserts that 80 - 90% of white collar crimes and murders are committed by gays with a deep stigma attached that being identified as "how they dress" supposedly in expensive clothing and having materialistic wealth more than normal in enjoying the perks from the illicit trades.

He was speaking at a handing over ceremony of the newly refurbished Organised crime investigations office. Just when the community was in a way settled or settling from problems with the security forces and a seeming cordial relations now reached, sadly the reality is there are some in the LGBT community who may be involved in illegal activities and that may put an ugly face to the community in the eyes of the police and by extension the public but to simply label generally gays as criminals I am not so sure the other non gay underworld bosses are going to take kindly to this assertion.

I am not surprised as it was said before in a subtle way by then Member of Parliament and attorney at law Ernest Smith, one wonders if he will jump on this one to gain political mileage? given all the trouble and stumbling the Jamaica Labour Party Administration has been facing, after all the Prime Minister did use the issue to prop up support in the early days of his entering the hoouse with that "Not in my Cabinet" rant on the BBC.

Public official however need to be mindful of the stuff they put out in the public domain this also reminds of the Public Defender Earl Witter when he said gays should keep it to themselves some years ago and hold their corners, his intentions may have been good but it was interpreted for some to mean profiling and deliberately look out for the stereotypical hints then launch an attack.

My hope is that now the police won't see this as license to be abusive and send the gains made down the drain back to the late nineties when all hell broke loose sometimes when it came to LGBT people and encounters with elements of the security forces.

See more: Witter warns gays - 'Flaunting sexual preference may incite violence'

go to about 2:59 to see the comments by Superintendent Bailey

Ernest Smith on his feet in Parliament making the original statement that gays are in crime etc, the PNP did respond but one wonders if that was to just appease the large LGBT following they had at the time?

see: PNP lashes Ernie Smith on stance against gays

Update July 13, 2011

also see:

J-FLAG Responds To Police’s Assertion About Gays & Organised Crimes

and my two cents attached plus ...........

Observer cartoonist Clovis weighed in with this some what damning piece, I am not aware that the JFJ Jamaicans for Justice were opposed or expressed any such opposition to the issues as expressed by SSP Bailey. Sadly this is what many maybe thinking now as well as profiling and stereotyping has always been an issue with associated the vilified effeminacy in males which is also not only a part of Jamaica's homophobia but also a stinging effemophobia within the LGBT body politic.

also this letter appeared on their mobile site:

Dear Editor,

The Civil Society Forum of Jamaica notes with horror the statement made by Senior Superintendent Fitz Bailey on TVJ's Prime Time News on July 11, 2011, that homosexual men are responsible for 80-90 per cent of organised crimes. This statement could be misused to fuel prejudice against a community that is already faced with the impact of hate crimes.

Such a statement coming from SSP Bailey, a senior police officer, will do more harm than good in our society. This is irresponsible, given the high levels of stigma and discrimination against members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community which makes it difficult to address HIV and AIDS in Jamaica.

It is also very disconcerting, given that in the western region, the HIV infection rate is climbing. SSP Bailey should show us the facts about the perpetrators of organised crimes that his division is investigating. We encourage SSP Bailey not to use broad brush statements in such a thoughtless way to add to the burden of an already marginalised and stigmatised community. We also encourage SSP Bailey to restate his position and set the record straight and protect the lives of citizens of Jamaica as he signed on to do.

Carla Bingham-Ledgister

Interim Chair - Civil Society Forum of Jamaica

blessedcl@live.com

UPDATE July 14th

JCF apologises for 'gay crime' statement

COMMISSIONER of Police, Owen Ellington, says that the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) withdraws the statement by Senior Superintendent of Police Fitz Bailey, head of the Organised Crime Investigation Division (OCID), which identified homosexuals as being prominently involved in the ‘Lottery Scam’ and highly lucrative criminal enterprise.

In a statement this morning, Ellington said that he had spoken to Bailey and that the JCF regretted any prejudice that might have arisen from the remarks.

"He shared information with me supporting his assertion and cited discussions he has had with representatives of J-FLAG (the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays) about the problem. He fully understands the basis of concern for the safety and well-being of members of the gay community who may be targeted by misguided individuals simply because of the statement's under reference," said the commissioner.

He assured the public that the JCF has no policy of singling out individual social groups for special attention.

"Our focus is on enforcing the laws without fear, favour, prejudice or ill-will. The JCF stands willing to receive and deal dispassionately with feedback from our publics. Our mission remains to serve, protect and re-assure all," said Ellington.

He reasoned that the matter demonstrated that the JCF was willing to listen and review its positions accordingly.

Also see another take I came to after talking to persons on the issue:

Apology Accepted JCF but some questions on several fronts still linger ...

An audio response I tried, I hope to restart audio commentary soon

More on the SSP statement by glbtqja1

This video also sheds some new light on the issue as the person named is said to be gay, maybe this is where SSP took his cue to arrive at his conclusion.

Peace and tolerance

H

Vybz Kartel lashes back with "Woman Wi Love" song, has he forgotten it is he who blurred the lines of his own sexuality?

pic from social yaad

One wonders if this is another part of Kartelization of the dancehall industry? No other artist has tested the waters so much without any major fallout in fact it's the opposite that has occurred so far but with the recent problems with a close business partner and other artists from the Gaza Empire is there a backlash/manufactured hate in the making to control him?

Image is everything!

The speculation about his sexuality is still a concern in some circles with his "experiments" with his image, bleaching, pink clothing, braided hair and other stereotypical looks associated with the gay community he has been clear in some of his songs including the infamous cake soap ode where he began the song by saying:

"Mi nuh love man so tek yuh eye off a mi" (I don't love men so take your eyes off me)

That is of course deliberately done to show that while he is embracing these semi feminized or metrosexual traits he is not a homosexual as we value machismo like gold.

Compared to Prince and his own use of Michael Jackson's name to describe himself Kartel - "Michael Kartel Cake Soap Jackson - certainly has deliberately obscured the lines of his own sexuality a practice usually used by celebrities overseas to make themselves into talking points and magnets for the media. He often refers to his public persona "Kartel" as a second person which is why I conclude that he may not be same sex attracted but he or his team, though major changes has come, know what they are doing in marketing the image to the public. He mixes sex and gangster life in a manner almost as to be worshipped and aspired to by his fans as many in the community where he and his family resides have "kartelized" themselves with bleached skin, tight pants exposing all their endowments and the very low baritone of his voice with the infamous "oh" following or ending a sentence. Certainly he has now made bleaching more acceptable which was a once vilified subject and left to be practised by women from the lower socio economic classes and a few men mostly effeminate persons who ply their trade in hair weaves and nail technicians on the street corners in certain parts of urban areas or certain elements within dancehall such as dancers. That is not to say that "bleaching" or skin lightening is not also done by more affluent Jamaicans but not with the more graphic results as seen by the former groups and certainly not some of the ingredients used by this group such as curry powder or milk are employed by those that take the route of a professional dermatologist or cosmetologists.

This practice of releasing women loving songs in response to gay allegations is used regularly from Beenieman, Mr. Vegas, Elephant Man to Busy Signal with his recent woes following the release of "I Love Girls who Love Girls" song he followed up with "Too Many Men" suggesting men must not be seen in each others company and subtly suggesting no to male homosexuality in effect challenging also the homosocial way men have friendships in Jamaica.

Here is the new track released in May 2011

And again he starts the song with the introduction:

"Mi nuh love a man no mi nuh love a man...." (I don't love men no I don't love men) clearly playing into the hands of his detractors especially those from the rival camps of Movado from the Gully crew, with the wounds of that war still not healed for many followers of both artists still have hard hearts for each other although the artists themselves agreed to peace.

More to come as we watch these historical happenings.

Meanwhile he is said to be in a series of upcoming films also he had released a statement:

"Many of you have heard or seen the recent accusations made by my former associates in the past few weeks. I don’t know why all of these individuals, think the most appropriate action to take after a philosophical difference occurs is to go to the press and attack me.

I can only say that I am reminded of Bob Marley’s admonishments when he said man is so unjust, you don’t know who to trust…your best friend can turn out to be your worst enemy…I shall say no more, other than who the cap fit, mek them wear it. I am issuing this statement because I think these accusations are due to a breach of confidentiality as certain individuals got wind of my upcoming projects and initiatives and they know they can’t stop me without resorting to underhanded tactics.

See Jamaica, Vybz Kartel has been carrying a secret for a very long time and I think it is time that I reveal it before persons try to derail the projects that I have put together by continuing to make false reports about me in their attempt to have me muzzled.two years ago, I had an epiphany whilst on stage. I saw thousands of people screaming for Kartel, jumping up and down, listening to ever word that I uttered on stage, it was like the people were eating out of the palm of my hands. At that moment, something strange came over me, as I heard the people screaming for more, I suddenly realized that my calling was to be more than a Deejay.

I realized that the people were not eating out my hands but they wanted to hear Kartel speak because finally somebody was telling their story in a profound no holds barred manner. Whether I was addressing sexuality,poverty, police brutality, injustice,the trials and tribulations of the ghetto I was finally giving ghetto people a voice – a big voice like society never heard before.

I know I am not the first that has ever attempted to do this. Because when I researched I saw that Marcus, Sam Sharpe, Paul Bogle all spoke directly to the powers that be on behalf of the people but were ostracized and in some cases killed. Later, Marley, Tosh, Jacob Miller did the same thing and all died young under unique somewhat mysterious circumstances. I have seen what they have done to ancient Rastamen, People’s Telecom, the Marcus Garvey Political Party and other entities that attacked Babylon head on.

SEE THE REST HERE on Social Yaad

Peace and tolerance

H

Lutan's 'Fire' misunderstood - Says he has no issue with homosexuals

Reggae artiste Lutan Fyah, who is known for songs such as 'St Jago De La Vega' and 'Save the Juvenile', wants to set the record straight after seeing what he described as a 'misunderstanding of his lyrics' in another newspaper.

The matter at hand he said was the 'bunning out' of homosexuals which he was said to have done at the recently held Western Consciousness stage show.

According to Lutan Fyah, this was not the case.

"Yuh always have some people inna the media weh seh me a bun out homosexuality but anuh suh it guh, mi a bun out the Catholic priests dem weh a molest the youth dem when dem guh a church," Lutan Fyah told The STAR.

mi nuh business

He explained, "Mi sing it di other day at Western Consciousness and mi see where the paper tek it an seh mi a bun out gays. Is not even something weh mi guh studio an record, is just a lyric weh mi jus guh di stage show dem an sing."

He went on to say that he does not have an issue with homosexuals because he does not care what one does.

"Really an truly mi nuh business if a man waan have im boyfriend, but mi do lyrics offa the situation weh mi see wid the Catholic priests dem but di way how dem write it a like seh mi guh pon stage an bun out the people for no reason," he said.

Due to the misunderstanding, Lutan Fyah said he has missed out on a show and he doesn't want the matter to get out of hand.

"Mi even lost a show because of the mix-up. The promoter read what dem write and was worrying that corporate sponsors would pull out and cancel di ting. Anuh like seh yuh see nuh bag a gay a run mi dung fi ban mi or nothing but mi want it fi stop before it even reach dem stage deh," he said.

Lutan Fyah said he will now be singing more cultural, roots and friendly songs. He is busy working on his new album and singles and is promoting his latest single, Be Mine, for which he is organising a video shoot.

A recent write up on his last CD Phantom War by Rick Anderson says:
"The big turban and the prominence of fire imagery may have you wearily anticipating yet another hour-long screed on the perfidy of women, the destruction of homosexuals, and the desirability of killing Babylonians by fire, but Lutan Fyah's take on "Bobo Dread" doctrine is refreshingly openhearted and tolerant. "Screaming for the Poor" is more sad than angry, and it's a lovely song to boot; "Blood Stain" rides on a sturdy but not overbearing rockers rhythm, while "Rasta Still Deh Bout" -- a combination track featuring up-and-comer Josie Mel -- is a pop-smart gem, a highlight on Phantom War as it was (in exactly the same version) on Mel's debut.

(The video featured on this album's CD-ROM track also duplicates the one found on Josie Mel's album.) "Reflections" brings a slightly different vibe, a bit more soulful and R&B-ish, and also features what may well be the first-ever use of the "reciprocity" in a reggae song. "Still Deh Deh" does a brilliant job of bringing high energy to a midtempo groove, and "Bet on It" is built on a sharply skanking electronic beat that works perfectly. There's some filler, like the self-indulgent twaddle that opens and closes the disc, but within this hour-plus program there's a truly outstanding 45-minute reggae album."

This response from Lutan was unexpected as he never normally has issues with the quality of his music as he is more a poor people defender and on unemployed youths advocate also on ganja as well. The "other paper" referred to above seems to not exist as a search for this story proved futile unless I am missing something here. What we now know is that Sizzla Kolanji had committed an infraction by performing his version of Buju Banton's Boom Bye Bye at a recent Coke Zero event in Montego Bay. Could this be a publicity stunt to put himself in the limelight following on the Sizzla incident, one gets the impression that not all of the Rastafari movement is in league with this anti gay lyrics but also want to promote their own stuff but are clouded or blocked by mainstream dance-hall which more and more presents a very metro-sexual image which hits close to the stereotypes used in anti gay lyrics.

Let's continue to watch this story if it goes any further.

Peace and tolerance

H

(parts of this post contains excerpts from the Star)

Ephebophilia vs Paedophilia & Male Homosexuality part 2 .... the need to continue the discourse

In part one of this post done some two and a half years ago in November 2008 I took a preliminary look at the subject matter of Paedophilia and the other related philias in layman's terms of course drawing reference from books and online studies and encyclopedias to get a better grasp and understanding of the possible issues involved. I thought it is worth revisiting in light of a hateful post/article though aged that appeared on an anti gay Jamaican news blog. Below is the photo example of a story published on the Kingston Chronicle where a frightening poll was launched to ask readers who are clearly homophobes how gays should be executed? The actual questions were:

WHAT JUSTICE WOULD YOU SEEK?

STONE TO DEATH?

SHOOT TO DEATH?

BEAT TO DEATH? OR ALL THE ABOVE?

Several cases of same sex paedophilia have come to the fore over the years that have negatively impacted on the perception of same gender loving men here in Jamaica and the toxic hate has been further strengthened by the way in which the stories and reports have been embellished by tabloid papers in particular to present gays as predatory beasts intent on raping little boys. They do not bother to properly separate adult consenting male homosexuality from peadophilia or better yet ephebophila and hebephilia which we also see right before our eyes everyday, just take the robot taxis and some illegal music blaring coaster buses. Our female students are sometimes forced into sexual liaisons by adult men who either work on these modes of transport or are associated with the crew who operate them.

Pedophilia or paedophilia has a range of definitions as found in psychology, law enforcement, and the popular vernacular. As a medical diagnosis, it is defined as a psychological disorder in which an adult experiences a sexual preference for prepubescent children.According to the DSM, pedophilia is specified as a form of paraphilia in which a person either has acted on intense sexual urges towards children, or experiences recurrent sexual urges towards and fantasies about children that cause distress or interpersonal difficulty. The disorder is frequently a feature of persons who commit child sexual abuse.

Ephebophilia or hebephilia refers to the sexual preference for adolescents around 15-19 years of age. Experts use specific terms for age preferences: ephebophilia to refer to the sexual preference for late adolescents, hebephilia to refer the sexual preference for pubescent persons, and pedophilia to refer to the sexual preference for prepubescent persons. The term pedophilia, however, has also been used colloquially to refer broadly to sexual interest in minors, regardless of their level of physical development.

Ephebophilia is not listed as a paraphilia in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR), unlike pedophilia, which is categorized as a disorder in the manual.

There is also the reverse that being teleiophiles who are teens who have strong sexual desires for adults as evidenced sometimes in how particularly female students openly and unapologetically say they want older men to fuck them or have sexual relations with and not male teens in their own age group.

Unfortunately the LGBT body politic on a whole has not come to grips with this misconception and our discussions in the advocacy realm have not satisfactorily dealt with the issues in thwarting this continued misconception of us out there, Here are photos taken from the same case referred to above as originally published on WEDNESDAY, JUNE 9, 2010 on my sister blog GLBTQJA entitled Crowds gather at Mandeville Courthouse for Trade show man charged with indecent assault on 13yo boy. Persons had gathered to exact their brand of justice albeit at the precinct of the very halls where real justice is to be dispensed.

the accused (in-front in white tee) being led up the stairs

woman holds up underwear to suggest the victim of the crime and hurls taunts at the accused, another woman seen left bottom of the shot has a pair of pink undies in hand as well

Mandeville coming to a standstill on the first day of the hearings

Everyone basically wanted a piece of him worse yet he was a foreigner this proves we really need to keep this part of the conversations going in whatever part of the sphere you are, please consider it. Details as to where the case is now is sketchy as at the creation of this post.

Peace and tolerance

H

Blakka Ellis on "I love you man" - J'can men afraid of saying it openly

internet image not included in original article

with Blakka Ellis

I love you! Those are three powerful, provocative, delight and disruptive words; words a yard man loves to tell to his woman or his mother or his children; when they are children. But if I as a man say those words publicly to another man in Jamaica, some people get very uncomfortable. Why?

I told a brethren I loved him recently and overheard a man standing some distance away declare not too softly 'a wha kinda man dat a tell man say him love man? mi nuh trust dem man deh yu know? Mi a bad man and mi nuh love man, and mi nuh love nuh man who love man'.

How come women can verbally and physically love each other and men somehow aren't allowed to?
Women can call their girlfriends 'girlfriends' and tell them that they love them without their femininity or sexual orientation being brought into question, but for men it's a different situation.

As a man, you can say you rate a man or you respect a man, but somehow the rules of street talk and dancehall-speak don't allow a man express love for another man. Nuh care how yu waan fi qualify it, some not too bright people who're probably living in a knowledge vacuum tend to get 'dark and ignorant' when a man say him love another man. Even when it's clear that when you say you love this man you're talking about the attachment and affection you feel for the person who's your son or brother or father or friend, some of our Jamaican people just don't want to hear a man verbalising love for another man.

upfront talking

Well mi nuh care who want misconstrue my words. This is upfront talking so I sorry fi anybody who take it the wrong way. There are some men who I love, yeah man, and mi nuh fraid fi speak it to them and to the universe. I love my women; mother, spouse, sisters, sister-friends, etc. But I also have many men who have and continue to play important roles in my life. And mi love dem; so a wha? Mi love my bredda dem and me love my old man (who's really a younger hotter man than me) and I love my sons. I also love my man-friend dem.

I'm spending the next few days with two of the men that I love most in the world, my brothers Aston and Ian, and I'm having the time of my life. We enjoy each other's company so much, that it's not uncommon for anyone of us to hug another and say 'I love you, man!' we usually laugh and remind ourselves that if certain bad man pon certain ends witness such expressions of affection, they may chant lyrical fire pon dat and even threaten gunshot.

The sad irony is that plenty of the bad man dem, like the one to whom I referred earlier are hypocrites who publicly parade machismo, declare intolerance for the expression brotherly love between men, while they privately practise 'otherly' love to each other, like the three of them who we read 'bout in the Monday edition of the STAR!

box-mi-back@hotmail.com

I'm spending the next few days with two of the men that I love most in the world, my brothers Aston and Ian, and I'm having the time of my life.

ENDS

Some notes:

The article Mr. Ellis refers to is the recent incident in Denham Town where alleged shottas were caught naked in a house they eventually pulled guns on the invaders and warned them peeping toms to keep quiet however they eventually had to leave the community.

Read the story here as published in the Star as well where this entry from Mr. Ellis was excerpted and linked.

Of course it goes without saying I have to link the original piece that grabbed me from Blakka's boxmiback columns in the Star from way back in 2008 which is still fresh in my mind and worth reading repeatedly, it's probably the only one of the features that brings some sense to the publication apart from the legal ranglings and health/AIDS Affairs sections as well.

read: Jamaica Homophobic yet Homosocial

also see: Who is in your closet?? as published February 2, 2011 also by Blakka Ellis in the boxmiback series.

Peace and tolerance.

Hug someone today it will do you and the recipient some good.

H

Washington Post on J'can gays seeking asylum

The Washington Post carried an interesting story on February 11th on the ordeal of a Jamaican man who has won asylum in the United States which is by no means an easy feat, here is an excerpt below from the extensive article.

However I was particularly offended by the quote from the Deputy Chief of the Jamaican Consulate in Washington who said to the Post "I don't believe we are more homophobic than anywhere else, I believe we are more tolerant than anywhere else." from Cheryl Gordon. I wonder what planet does this official resides or is she too showing her homophobic side by pretending the persecutions faced by some same gender loving persons in Jamaica is somehow a fib or figment of our imagination in order to get asylum overseas ???

She continued her obvious face saving rhetoric as our officials are known for to hide the truth and real shame by saying "We go after crimes committed against people irrespective of their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and political leaning, as long as people report there has been some crime against them,"

It would be funny if it weren't so tragic.

Here is an section of the three paged piece:

Jamaica's gays finding refuge by applying for U.S. asylum

By Shankar Vedantam

Washington Post Staff Writer

From the time he was in grade school in his native Jamaica, Andrae Bent was the target of taunts and attacks.

A classmate once stabbed him near his eye with a pencil for being effeminate. Another time, a man pulled a knife on him and asked if he was "one of them," Bent said, meaning homosexual. Fearing for his life, Bent denied his homosexuality.

"I was called faggot, gay, batty man, chichi man," he said. "This would be from classmates, from people on the streets when I was walking home. Wherever I went in Jamaica, it was a nightmare."

Five months ago, Bent, now 24, won asylum in the United States on the grounds that he had credible fear of persecution as a gay man if he were to go back to Jamaica. He joined what has become a small wave of gay Jamaicans fleeing homophobia in the Caribbean nation.

Despite its image as a laid-back island paradise for American tourists, Jamaica still criminalizes sodomy and has long been regarded by human rights activists as virulently anti-gay.

The federal government doesn't track how many people are granted asylum on the basis of homophobia or what countries they are from. But of the 92 gays and lesbians who won asylum in 2010 with the help of Immigration Equality, an immigrant gay-rights group,

28 were from Jamaica - meaning that nearly a third were from a single country ranked 138th in world population.

Advocacy groups say they also regularly see asylum seekers from other English-speaking Caribbean countries, such as Barbados and St. Lucia.

"The Caribbean is the part of the world where we see the highest number of cases," said Victoria Neilson, legal director at Immigration Equality, which estimates that it handles about half of all successful asylum cases brought on behalf of gay and lesbian foreigners.

Part of the reason, she said, is that those seeking asylum have to be in the United States when they apply, a formidable hurdle for people from more distant countries such as Uganda. Homophobia in Uganda is so virulent that the parliament is considering a bill to execute gays and a prominent gay activist was slain two weeks ago.

But while many Americans are aware of homophobia in Africa, fewer are aware of the issue in the Caribbean, Neilsen said. "There is a great deal of violence, and in many Caribbean countries there are laws on the books that criminalize consensual sodomy, which makes it difficult for people to report violence to the police."

Human Rights Watch Report

'Hated to death'

additional photo (not in the article) of the man from the Hated To Death HRW report - One of the darkest moments on our nation as a people in general and as lgbt people specifically was in November 2002 where the photographed male was brutally attacked by a machete wielding, stick bearing, cursing mob outside of Falmouth in Trelawny.

(not to be confused with the cross dresser mob attack in 2007 as shown above)

He was chopped several places on his body but survived his ordeal, thankfully to tell the tale. Out of that came the most pronounced collection of data at that time regarding homophobic attacks in Jamaica and related stigma and acts of discrimination as compiled by Human Rights Watch. He has since been promoted to glory after a brief illness but is not forgotten for allowing this report to come to life by contributing his story.

It caused the gay community to pause and look at itself.

Jamaica in particular, she said, "is one of the most violently homophobic countries that exist in the western hemisphere."

That Jamaican government sharply disputes that characterization.

ENDS

Peace and tolerance

H

(photo included in the post only for reference)

"Butt shaking" dance angers Mr Perfect

So a reggae artist has hit out at the continued change in dancehall presentations of dance and style in the form of the new single from Mr. Perfect. There are those who question if "swag" is actually a dance move or a kind of pose to show off or just "floss" as we say here in Jamaica which is an image one creates around oneself at an event to look good. Of course we have been following the new twists supposedly challenging the hegemonic views of masculinity in Jamaica for some time now and with the whole skin bleaching drama still in the public domain this song's release is timely. If it catches on it will add more voices and concerns from certain quarters in reggae and dancehall of note the Rastafarian community who have been always vocal about "burning out" supposed gay themed to linked lifestyles.

Mr. Perfect clearly re-affirms the stereotypical view that anything less masculine is considered gay so the moves and the supposed style of dress by the male dancers in particular is of concern to him. Read below the article from the Star of which I have translated the patios somewhat for better understanding for my non Jamaican readers.

See what you make of it:

Butt shaking angers Mr Perfect

Hasani Walters, STAR Writer

Reggae-dancehall artiste Mr Perfect is concerned about a dance move which he describes as a disgrace to the Jamaican male community.

Perfect thinks that the popular dance, called 'Swag', has what he considers to be 'questionable' movements.

He even went as far as to record a song about the dance. In the chorus of the song, Perfect deejays, Swag but nuh shake yuh bottom/Nuh man, nuh man, nuh shake yuh bottom.

He goes on to say in the first verse,

"Dem seh swag inna di dance now swag inna di ting/ (they say swag is in the dance moves but there is no swag in the thing)

But mi wonda weh some young man guh learn swaggering/ (I want to know where some man learn swaggering)

Dem a swagga like Sunshine, a swagga like Kim/ (they are swaggering like Sunshine and swaggering like Kim)

Come a dance inna tight pants an belly skin/ (coming into tight pants and belly skin - a form of female clothing showing the stomach and navel)

Video man a ketch di movie, a which dancer that a try tek Keiva duty?/ (videographers catching the moves [on cam] which [male] dancers trying to catch Keiva's duty?)

Suh mi seh swag if yuh a swag but jah kno it look bad fi a young man a shake dem booty. (So I say swag if you're swaggering but it looks bad for a man shaking his booty)

not right"

Speaking with THE STAR,

Mr Perfect explained the reason behind his thoughts saying: "Mi know the whole swag thing was made by the Yankees and the word meant, like, your personality and such. What you have found now is that it comes to Jamaica and becomes a dance. I've been to various hotspots and see them doing it. It's a movement where a lot of butt shaking is involved, it's not right for a big man to be shaking his butt like that. Leave the butt shaking to the ladies!"

He continued, "I'm not the first person to complain, but I'm the first to put it in a song. Even Keiva a seh Perfect, di man dem a tek ova mi ting. Of course yuh can swag in the dance, but nuh bodda wid the butt shaking."

small meeting

The creators of the 'Swag' dance is the Swag Team which comprises CP Inc, New Kidz, Singer J and Vybrant. Mr Perfect has no grouse with them, however, as he said he had a small meeting with them and they are not the ones with whom he has a problem.

"I've seen the Swag Team on the move before and I didn't see any of them behaving in that manner. I believe it's the other so-called dancers that add their own style to someone's move, that have turned it into that," he said.

When contacted, New Kidz of the Swag Team said, "Perfect know seh that a nuh our style, because we did already talk bout it with him. Swag was not even a dance, is just a boasy stand up weh mi come out wid, and after that wi turn it inna dance. Mr Lexx seh swag dag diggy weh a total different ting from we. Swag is not a thing for a man weh seh swag dag diggy."

Fans can look out for the SubKonshus Music-produced Swag Team Hot This Year from the group.

Mr Perfect recently finished his Chalice Palace Recording Studio in Bamboo, St Ann.

His latest album, Good Side Of Bad, was recently completed and he is working on a second album to be released in the last quarter of this year, as well.

ENDS

So here we have it.

Peace and tolerance

H