I hereby introduce Mrs Velma Herod, who became the unscheduled presenter of Queering Paradigms, due to her strong statements and speeches opposed to the religious discrimination against LGBT+.

Queering Paradigms conference, Day 3

Last day of the “Queering Paradigms” conference on LGBT issues on the Cayman Islands and beyond, it went on from 1000 to 1730 hours. Here are my notes for day three.

It is more difficult to summarise this day, as the sociological framework was more complex, and there was a certain somber ambiance due to the Orlando massacre.

Construction of frames of reference and communities or spaces of belonging (kinship) matter in societies where the acceptance of LGBT is not open but part of a transition. A case example is China, where the negotiation between the family and these kinships seems challenging but takes place at the end.

Scenarios of exclusion make this belonging more difficult, sometimes even dangerous, as is the case of prisoners. LGTB prisoners are exposed to mistreatment, discrimination and even torture, creating extra punishments added to a sentence that many times is unrelated with the LGTB condition of the person. Several legal instruments aim to deter or stop this abuse, but the enforcement and application is discretionary and erratic.

During the space of exclusion created by slavery, special frames of reference for LGBT existed within the practice of slavery as such, and liaisons between slaves and master were not uncommon.

Religion, specifically the classic Christian tradition, has been pressed to change and adapt. The Anglican church, for example, has evolved significantly as it has perceived the social need to include same sex marriage and the acceptance of LGBT.

The top organiser of Queering Paradigms at the Cayman Islands, Leonardo Raznovich, was clear in stating that it has never been his intention to challenge the status of the Cayman Islands law, or to even suggest changes. His only claim is that the already existing law would be applied, as his case is not a claim but a complaint in regards of the lack of application of the already existing law. That is, what he faces is the stagnancy/freezing of an administrative procedure already contemplated and applied to most people here by such law.

Probably the most thought provoking presentation, from which I include the picture below, was done by the Bishop of Canterbury, Alan Wilson, with the title "Same-sex marriage and the queering project of Jesus".

Queering Paradigms conference, Day 2

Second day of the “Queering Paradigms” conference on LGBT issues on the Cayman Islands and beyond, it went on from 0900 to 1730 hours. Here my notes for day two.

One avenue to promote LGBT rights is to use the courts to fight specific case of discrimination, abuse of power and violations of the human rights. Since legislative approaches rely on what majorities want, these tend to fail in scenarios as the Jamaican one. With the homophobia being high (around 80 percent of the population in Jamaica thinks homosexuality is wrong, and public demonstrations against LGBT is extended, and not uncommonly yield attacks and murders) there is no way the legislation can be challenged from a purely legislative approach.

So it works better to take cases and fight them in the court system. Approaches as taking to the court the 'murders songs' (songs that openly call for the murder of the LGBT), the ban on the immigration of homosexuals (as in Belize and Trinidad and Tobago) or the reluctance of TV stations to air messages promoting tolerance, are better avenues.

Even if the cases are lost, they are played in the long term as 'losing forward', opening jurisprudence and legal avenues for newer cases.

In the Cayman Islands, the rejection of the gay culture and scene creates special raising practices that aim for boys to become promiscuous with girls, and have children out of wedlock, as in a way to prevent them from 'becoming gay'. This creates a particular child sexual abuse scene, in which older women are socially allowed to initiate boys.

In Africa, homosexuality is taken as a sign of Westernisation/foreignness, constructed as a perceived "if you don't accept homosexuality, you are primitive." So when different foreign aid types were conditioned to the improvement of the human rights levels for the LGBT population, the overall situation worsened for the latter.

In Russia, things rolled in a somewhat similar fashion. Historical alternation between acceptance and repression was the rule, and in modern times, acceptance started with the Perestroika, and the epitome took place in the early 2000s. By then, the persistence of the Russian pop duo TATU created/was the consequence of an atmosphere of widespread acceptance.

However, by the mid 2000s, Russia has become the focal point of the (surprise surprise!) USA anti LGBT activist Scott Lively, whom toured Russia in 2006 and 2007. A quote from his Letter to the Hungarian People is revealing: " I can't point to any country in the world, except perhaps Russia, which has taken the very important and frankly necessary step of criminalizing homosexual propaganda to protect the society from being homosexualized. This was one of my recommendations to Russian leaders in my 50-city tour on the former Soviet Union in 2006 and 2007 [...] Homo-fascism is a form of extreme left-wing regressive radicalism which seeks to establish rigid authoritarian controls over all public discourse and government policies regarding sexual norms." He also postulated that the next phase of a 'Culture War' was for the USA and Russia to unite in the fight against homo-fascism/pink swastika/global gay agenda to save mankind from extinction.

This created the scenario for a catastrophe, that was joined by the challenge posed by rapidly shrinking Russian population, that yielded a movement to promote family values, boost marriage and thus birthrate, and to stigmatise divorce. The economic crisis made synergy with this take, with the rise of the Russian Orthodox Church and overall growing religiosity, the restriction on independent media which narrowed the information avenues available. The LGBT became, of course, the scapegoat. And when the harassment on the LGBT people was responded with a boycott from the Western powers, things got (as in Ghana) worse.

To finish, I attach the most iconic picture of the exchange. The very religious lady on the picture, with a very lively and humorous speech, shared her thoughts: "Even if my church wants, I cannot accept discrimination and hate, it is not what the Lord would want". Below the picture, a video with her sound, kind words.

Queering Paradigms conference, Day 1

“Queering Paradigms” conference on LGBT issues on the Cayman Islands and beyond started on Friday at 1730 hours. This is a watershed event in the Cayman Islands, and some opposed to the conference tried to boycott it, to no avail.

The meeting started with a (good quality) copy of The Abominable Crime documentary (worth watching, linked below in average quality).

The notes I logged down:

Homophobia in Jamaica is prevalent, and mostly supported by a monolithic evangelical religion framework (Southern Baptists, mostly) with started to erode the former already not too good, yet not that bad "One Love" baseline (check the documentary linked at the bottom of this entry for the influence of USA cults in this regard).

Now, for example, children and adolescents in the educational system cannot ask for help if they are experiencing gender-identity struggles, because if they do the teachers/counselors report them to the authorities.

Hate crimes in Jamaica against LGBT are in the rise, and many of these attacks end in murder. Jamaica has one of the highest homicide rates in the world.

The presenter, Maurice Tomlinson, said that the higher the proportion of Catholics in Caribbean nations, or the more diverse religions are in a given island territory, the lesser the chances for experiencing homophobia.

A quote to remember from the Minister or Ethics in Uganda, Reverend Father Simon Lokodo, referred that homosexuality was worst than child rape. Specifically on girls' rape, he specified "it is the right kind of child rape."

The fires in the Bronx. I had to write an extended assay and research project for social sciences in my first year of High School on the matter. The subject still haunts me, as in how come something like this, lasting so long could happen and be tolerated in what was supposed to be the first world. In what, as per the propaganda, is the "greatest country in the world".

I recently came across this two-part documentary. The sound is atrocious, but if the subject interests you, check it up.

The Fire Next Door, part 1 of 2

The Fire Next Door, part 2 of 2