The pondering cynic

Today a surprisingly balanced editorial was published in the daily Gleaner that was progressive in two aspects:

1/ It referred to the Executive Director of JFLAG by his Government name, thus retiring the pseudonym "Jason McFarlane" .

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2/ It took the Government to task for its insistence on expediting the passing of the decade delayed Charter of Rights bill despite the absence of any reference to "sexual orientation" and the removal of "sex" as a basis for discrimination and its subsequent replacement with "gender".

Many have criticized JFLAG for their seemingly tame approach to this critical issue and their lack of a meaningful presence within the community at its most accessible fora in order to drum up support. For many JFLAG is an invisible, inaccessible enclave of well-to-do gay men whose agenda is more in line with advancing middle-class principles of equality through litigation than protecting ordinary battymen from being harassed in the streets in mob scenes such as this:

I don't agree with this line of reasoning but I can see how they could take hold especially among those for whom JFLAG is a foreign concept that is alien to their daily existence.

Some would wish for JFLAG to be a sort of fairy godmother (pun intended) for disenfranchised gay men and women. Somewhere one can go for a hug, a cup of tea, and words of encouragement when things go wrong. Others see JFLAG as a sort of phantom lobby group that speaks for those without a voice but that does not need to have a substantive presence within the community for which it advocates.

Some will argue that since JFLAG has failed to fulfill either of these roles that it is therefore redundant and should make room for other more competent advocates to come to the fore.

Despite my own cynicism about how advocacy for sexual minorities has been demonstrated in the Jamaican context, I cannot deny the critical role JFLAG plays, in theory. There is however a huge chasm between JFLAG and its constituents in terms of the definition of roles and expectations. Perception has been allowed to substitute for reality and in the absence of facts, it is this perception that has taken root.

JFLAG has a lot of work to do within the community to foster support for its initiatives, lest it continues to be seen as a group of self-interested zealots and sycophants.

Importantly, one wonders whether they are interested in initiating the damage control campaign that is so important for it to undertake.

Only time will tell.

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