Blowing The Whistle: The Attacked From "Behind" - EXPOSÉ -

The Attack From "Behind" - EXPOSÉ - 

Blowing The Whistle On: 

The Jamaican Coalition for a Healthy Society: Deceptive & Inaccurate Advisement 

Sounding Off: from the "Right of Speech" angle which this Blog 'whole heatedly' endorses but with Rights comes responsibilities - or not, considering this Ad - which was a sore sight in the The Jamaica Observer, making a disturbing point that the Jamaican Religious population may commend but was a twisted and crafted message from the Source: Center for Disease Control Reference - portraying "Sexual or Gay Rights" as an avoidable measure, also its "Behavioral Change" message  has a pseudo concerned ring to it but in fact is deeply bellowing "Conversion Therapy Theory" - discredited by its former users -  ending with a fine print, barley visible and/ "noticeable" to a reader. The ad is featured below:

The Jamaica Observer, Nov. 30th Ad Read:

Adopt Behavioural Change: 

REDUCE THE SPREAD of HIV

The 'RIGHTS' Approach is Dead Wrong: "The sexual health of men who have sex with men (MSM) in the united states is not getting better despite considerable social, political, and human rights advances... HIV and other STI's have been increasing for almost 2 decades"

Source: CDC Reference: AIDS Behav. 2011 Apr. 15 Suppl 1 S9-17

The best way to reduce the incidents of HIV is through the adoption of Behavioural change.:

Avoid high risk sex 
Be faithful to one person 
Change behaviour to save lives 
Delay the start of Sexual activity

Enforcing "SEXUAL RIGHTS" will NOT reduce the spread of HIV in Jamaica. Encouraging BEHAVIOURAL CHANGE is our only hope.

Anal Sex    Unprotected Sex    Multiple Parnters

A message from the Jamaica coalition for a healthy Society. The JHCS does not condone the lifestyle of  Homosexuals but unequivocally condemns all violence against them.



*(From the Editor: The adaptation of the Ad. is done to the best of our abilities and be considered proportional. Any mistake or error should NOT be and will NOT be considered a misrepresentation) 

The Sender and The Message

Betty Ann Blaine

We should note with intention that the Organization affiliated with this Ad was created by Rev. Peter Garth (Jamaican Coalition For a Healthy Society) is a conservative - Pro Life and Pro-Buggery Law - group associated with many controversial stance on health and Lifestyle issues: From a main supporter Betty-Ann Blaine who is a heavily-righteous Christian, “Jamaican Patriot” and recently a third party Politician, who in her May 22 Column in said newspaper The Jamaica Observer, entitled: Compassion without Compromise': Church throws down the gauntlet, wrote – “The JCHS, which describes itself as "a determined group of individuals which has decided to tackle the forces that undermine today's family  and thus threaten the health of tomorrow's society", described its mission to be the "cultural watchmen and bearers of God's love and truth,operating under the belief that a society's health — in the broadest sense —cannot exceed that of its smallest grouping, the family”.

The Message

Cartoonist Portray Gays

Clarifying, who the sender is crucial in assessing the meaning and innuendo of the message especially in the case of Issue contested to be a ‘no go’ area in public discourse; with the understanding that our Sender is actively opposed to Homosexuality even with the intention to ‘correct social wrongs’ then I am convinced that the message was intended to stir up a feeling and the question is which feeling? Could they possibly be trying to instill fear and nullify any advances made toward “Sexual Rights” under the guise of Public Education, the line “The RIGHTS approach is DEAD wrong” will agree with me fully on its ‘loose’ use.

Two Sides to Every Story

The JCHS has some explaining to do after cropping a Center for Disease Control and Prevention report to fits its agenda with some efficacy, but we caught them RED handed, and taking half a cookie from the jar. The source provided:  CDC Reference: AIDS Behav. 2011 Apr. 15 Suppl 1 S9-17 - as everything else on the face of the earth can be Goggled – after a quick search on Google and a slight scroll down on the page, the link to the National Center for Biotechnology Information’s - PubMed.gov - a compilation of Public Health Information from the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institute of Health and on that web page, this can be found:

Sexual health, HIV, and sexually transmitted infections among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men in the United States.

Wolitski RJ, Fenton KA.

Source

Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton RD NE (E-35), Atlanta, GA 30333, USA. RWolitski@cdc.gov

Further down on that web page is an Abstract from said report which the JCHS (Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society) may have butchered and plastered in the Jamaica Observer; so the JCHS quite literally may have taken half of the abstract which gave a bleak and acknowledging view of the alarming situation concerning LGBT, HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs)  even as advances had been made on all fronts of society. Unfortunately the Jamaican public was prohibited from seeing the other half, which gave a nod to a “Balanced Approach” not outlining “Behavioural Change” but “Sexual Health” and the true intention of the Report, to “Improve the health and well-being of MSM”.  

The 'Other Half' can be read below:

"The disproportionate and worsening burden of HIV and other STIs among MSM requires an urgent re-assessment of what we have been doing as a nation to reduce these infections, how we have been doing it, and the scale of our efforts. A sexual health approach has the potential to improve our understanding of MSM's sexual behavior and relationships, reduce HIV and STI incidence, and improve the health and well-being of MSM."

The report, although acknowledging that even with Social, Political and Human Rights advances there is still an epidemic among LGBT men - the JCHS plays on this fact - when it tries to dispel that those advances aren't necessary for a “Healthy Society”; but the report didn't seem to be downplaying or removing the “Advances” as essential rather promoting its usage, just sighting its limits. There is an apprehension and gathering despair from conservatives and their religious counterparts that Jamaica is heading towards the Repeal of the Buggery Law – that will rain down fire and bring the ire of God upon us all – a law which has a powerful but “nonentity” presence within our aging Constitution.

Always Read the Fine Prints

I was at first taken aback by the presence of the Ad in the newspaper while I was skipping through its lesser attractive sections to myself, so probably my eyes were with my mind trying to figure out the sense of creating such a ‘backward looking’ Ad, after my first couple of scans over the Ad – I skipped trying to find a suitable memory filler to read as to cover up the conservative masterpiece in my memory banks but Interest and liberal resolve forced me back to the Advertisement and immediately I discovered a ‘disclaimer’ of sorts for the ‘divisiveness’ of the Ad in front of me, a fine print that read: 

Jamaica coalition for a healthy Society. The JHCS does not condone the lifestyle of Homosexuals but inequality condemns all violence against them.  

The silent reasoning and possibly the truth that the ‘disclaimer’ placed away from initial view is unfortunately an attempt to seem on the side peaceful discourse and innocent of any actions that may result from a homophobic reader getting irate – God forbid that there any of those people living in Jamaica.

Here is my ‘disclaimer’: ‘I regret having to “Blow the Whistle” on any person or organization as we all have regrets of doing something we weren’t supposed to, but once you choose to be a public figure any prepare for scrutiny and even I expect the same.’

In ending this Article, the question of the moment must be asked: ‘Will the Human Rights Groups respond?’ as they often allow these types of counter factual slander go unchecked.

What will the Jamaica Observer do as an advocate of Responsible and Factual Free Speech? Our media houses refuse to acknowledge the ‘Pros’ of the Issue, constantly refusing publish or televise Positive Gay content.

Finally, “Who in our Government can be the Adult in the Room and take a step further than Prime Minister Simpson-Miller’s verbal acceptance of gays within her cabinet as she said in the National Debates? Too long our Politicians have kept their tails between their legs and shying away from “Change of the Times”.

P.S.

*THANK YOU

*We thank our loyal readers, whether you Encourage our continuation and our Discourage it, either why you make us STRONGER.*