Unconditional Love

Kudos to the JFLAG team for this new PSA. I am pleased with the message of this ad.

My main reservations revolve around the fact that the subjects are light-skinned Jamaicans of presumed affluence, and more directly the fact that Matthew lives in Europe and not Jamaica which therefore makes the fabulous resort atmosphere portrayed in the ad seem staged and certainly alien. As such the message may not resonate as much with the majority of its audience who are of a darker hue and meager means.

Many have said that tolerance is a concept that is unique to the privileged and in light of this the next PSA must certainly include more identifiable characters that the average Jamaican can relate to.

Much love nonetheless.

Edit: Apparently I'm not as racist and classist and some have accused me of being for noticing the complexion of the subjects of this PSA or perhaps more precisely I am not ALONE in my racism and classism.

Subscribe in a reader

I need this DVD for my birthday.

Thanks in advance :-)

Subscribe in a reader

So today I realized a dream

I've always wanted to be published by both major publications on the same day about two different issues and today was that day!

Why does Clovis make gays look effeminate?

Friday, July 22, 2011

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/letters/Why-does-Clovis-make-gays-look-effeminate-_9272935

Dear Editor,

Certain people in your editorial department may find Clovis's caricatures to be humorous, salient, poignant or whatever positive adjective is usually applied to good journalism, and especially good satire, but for quite a while now it would appear that he has fallen off the wagon and hit his head.

For instance, his insistence on typifying gay men as bleach-faced, cross-dressing, hideously unattractive, deformed and lobotomised may illicit belly laughter from those in the newsroom, but civil society is beginning to grow sick of this insensitivity.

These mis-characterisations are not novel to Clovis as he has gleefully reduced many notable Jamaicans to vulgar market vendors, witch doctors, and bald-headed crypt-keepers, so much so that one is usually left with the impression that he has left the realm of satire and gone into what seems like vitriolic personal attacks. This, of course, betrays the most basic of tenets governing journalism and one would hope that the editor would take the executive decision as a responsible journalist and refuse to publish such drivel or push Clovis to be more creative. Unfortunately, there is no evidence that such a conversation has ever taken place.

Especially in the case of his most recent typification of gay men as weak, effete headcases, he has done the community a great disservice. He must be made to elevate his creativity and become more aware of his personal responsibility to illuminate the minds of the wider community or give up journalism and go and illustrate comic books or write graffiti.

Brian-Paul N Welsh

brianpaul.welsh@gmail.com

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/letters/Why-does-Clovis-make-gays-look-effeminate-_9272935#ixzz1SqAxrHiZ

Seivwright must grow up, show political maturity

THE EDITOR, Sir:

Delano Seiveright's recent pronouncements speaking ill of the media, in general, and certain political commentators, specifically, should be seen as an attack on democracy and press freedom.

In his effort to elevate his political presence in the public eye, he has once more treaded into murky and dangerous waters where the only way to stop himself from drowning is to put his foot into his mouth immediately.

I was not aware that a political persuasion not in keeping with G2K's or the JLP's status quo precluded one from having a political opinion and voicing it in the public sphere. Perhaps what Mr Seiveright is really saying is that dissent is not tolerated in the nation he and his colleagues wish to bring to fruition.

This is along the same vein as his previous faux pas where he expressed a desire to expunge PNP supporters from government ministries as he accused them of espionage and not acting in the interest of the nation.

Mr Seiveright must be made to appreciate that if everyone is speaking with the same voice, democracy is failing. He needs to learn this sooner rather than later before his political aspirations are further mired in controversy, naiveté, and sycophancy.

BRIAN-PAUL N. WELSH

brianpaul.welsh@gmail.com

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20110722/letters/letters5.html

It feels good!

I probably shouldn't be sharing this but....

So I was watching this interview with Terrance Howard on The Breakfast Club and it got me thinking....

It got me thinking about the roots of homophobia and how surprised I am when I encounter straight men that are genuinely comfortable around gay men and yet are still Kinsey 1 str8!

There's this MTF TG that is obsessing over me. At every opportunity she literally begs to suck my dick! Yet I am completely flaccid. Sure, a minor reason for that may be my aversion to vulgarity but honestly she does absolutely nothing for me sexually and I tell her every chance I get that I simply am not attracted to women. I am not repulsed, I am not offended, I don't go creating a scene because this tranny wants my peen...I just smile and move on.

I am secure in my homosexuality so her broad-shouldered amazonian frame and flowing yaki tresses do not bedazzle me.

Conversely, I have a few good friends that are straight men. They live up to all aspects of the Jamaican definition of hegemonic masculinity except the "thou shall bun battyman" prescription. I've noticed that given the fluidity of Jamaican sexuality, albeit clandestinely so, that many gay men feel that once a straight man is comfortable around gay men then he can be broken. They pass lewd remarks that they think are subtle, they ask personal questions about sexuality, and sometimes they even touch the man in a way that crosses boundaries and shocks me, and this is precisely because most other straight men that are vociferously homophobic in public are dick-hungry power bottoms in private.

Once, a particularly forward queen decided he wanted to check the girth of my straight friend's dick through his jeans (while he was wearing them in case you're not following). My heart dropped and I prepared for the ass-kicking of the century and yet dude just stood there, laughingly brushed off his hand and kept it moving.

I was so surprised and yet... why should I be?

I suppose it's because gay men are expected to be more in touch with their sexuality than straight men are and by experience straight men tend to be a bit touchy about probing sexual matters (pun intended).

Therefore it's expected that a gay man won't react like chicken licken when the sky is falling down if a woman thinks her chicken is in need of his lick'n BUT that a straight man would huff and puff and blow that fairy down if the poof offered him a blow.

My friend's reaction reminded me of my own reaction to being sexually harassed by Miss Jay.

This was very encouraging to me as I have this continuing internal discourse about human sexuality, the labels we apply to ourselves and how we define our own identities based on experiences.

Interesting times indeed.

Subscribe in a reader

Published again today

Dunbar's views prejudicial

Published: Tuesday | July 5, 2011 0 Comments

THE EDITOR, Sir:

The duplicity of the evangelical message, as it relates to the 'love the sinner, hate the sin' paradigm, was most obvious in the Rev Carla Dunbar's recent contribution to a discussion on TVJ's 'Smile Jamaica' morning programme regarding the recent passage of the same-sex marriage bill in New York.

Her assertions that gay people are defective, distorted by sin, and given up to reprobate minds as a consequence of their choice not to follow God's law are the type of rhetoric that hate crimes are made of. Her pseudo-psychological recommendations for reparative therapy to 'fix' gay people flout biology, psychology, and anthropology and reveals her own personal prejudice, which elevates the gospel and theology of her particular persuasion over proven scientific fact.

For her to state that homosexuality is solely borne of choice shows a gross misunderstanding of the fluidity of human sexuality. Also, for her to further state that God wants gays fixed and that she and her flock have answers that experts in human thought and sexuality do not is laughable at best, and gravely dangerous at worst.

The host brought up the Church's dismal human rights record, history of subjugation of vulnerable people and the failure to recognise the human dignity of countless numbers of God's children with their complicity (and encouragement) in such atrocities as slavery, apartheid and laws against interracial marriage.

When the host went on to suggest that her opposition to same-sex marriage in particular, and homosexuality more broadly, may be another 'mistake' based on incorrect interpretations of scripture, Dunbar firmly stated, "I am not making a mistake, I am telling you the truth, I am standing upon the word of God!"

This is the kind of religion that turns sensible people away from the Church.

I am seriously beginning to think that any talk of human rights coming from the mouth of an evangelical is mere lip service and politically correct fluff used to veil deeper prejudices against those not of their ilk.

BRIAN-PAUL N. WELSH

brianpaul.welsh@gmail.com

In response to: