Dear Editor,
I read with interest your news report on 6th July, 2013 in which Karyl Walker reported on a second eviction of some reputed homosexuals at a Dewsbury Avenue location.
My interest was particularly piqued by the comments of J-FLAG in response to this eviction, where the advocacy group remarked: "J-FLAG is deeply concerned about the continued reliance on forced eviction as a strategy to address homelessness among poor and vulnerable Jamaicans. The police operation to remove individuals from a property on Millsborough Avenue on July 3, 2013 is another example of the unnecessarily brutish treatment of the poor and vulnerable who have no place to sleep."
This statement follows a revelation in an article entitled, "Rowdy gays banned from J-FLAG, JSL" which appeared in this newspaper on August 21, 2011.
Said Mr Lewis in that article: "Yes, we have banned those who have violated the space because of their bad behaviour, but it's not everybody that is banned from accessing our services". Oh? These statements are reminiscent of the complaints of the residents in the community concerning the conduct of these homeless young men. In the same article, several homosexuals also complained about the lack of advocacy by the members of J-FLAG, and that they had been abandoned by the group. Such sentiments were repeated as recently as January 27 of this year in this newspaper. It is hypocritcal of J-FLAG to take this position on the actions of the police, given their previous position regarding similar behaviour by some of their members. Ironically, it seems that not even J-FLAG is exempt from feelings of disapproval for distasteful behaviour. I am so grateful to the media for keeping us honest in this debate concerning gay "rights".
On any given day, there are over 100 homeless men and women before the gates of the Supreme Court/Court of Appeal at King Street, many of them afflicted with dreadful illnesses. Yet the voices of advocacy are not so loud in their defence. If the Government wishes to take steps to address homelessness in this country, it should be wary of favouring one group above another.
Janene Laing
St Andrew
Utmost hypocrisy , J-FLAG
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I read with interest your news report on 6th July, 2013 in which Karyl Walker reported on a second eviction of some reputed homosexuals at a Dewsbury Avenue location.
My interest was particularly piqued by the comments of J-FLAG in response to this eviction, where the advocacy group remarked: "J-FLAG is deeply concerned about the continued reliance on forced eviction as a strategy to address homelessness among poor and vulnerable Jamaicans. The police operation to remove individuals from a property on Millsborough Avenue on July 3, 2013 is another example of the unnecessarily brutish treatment of the poor and vulnerable who have no place to sleep."
This statement follows a revelation in an article entitled, "Rowdy gays banned from J-FLAG, JSL" which appeared in this newspaper on August 21, 2011.
Said Mr Lewis in that article: "Yes, we have banned those who have violated the space because of their bad behaviour, but it's not everybody that is banned from accessing our services". Oh? These statements are reminiscent of the complaints of the residents in the community concerning the conduct of these homeless young men. In the same article, several homosexuals also complained about the lack of advocacy by the members of J-FLAG, and that they had been abandoned by the group. Such sentiments were repeated as recently as January 27 of this year in this newspaper. It is hypocritcal of J-FLAG to take this position on the actions of the police, given their previous position regarding similar behaviour by some of their members. Ironically, it seems that not even J-FLAG is exempt from feelings of disapproval for distasteful behaviour. I am so grateful to the media for keeping us honest in this debate concerning gay "rights".
On any given day, there are over 100 homeless men and women before the gates of the Supreme Court/Court of Appeal at King Street, many of them afflicted with dreadful illnesses. Yet the voices of advocacy are not so loud in their defence. If the Government wishes to take steps to address homelessness in this country, it should be wary of favouring one group above another.
Janene Laing
St Andrew
Utmost hypocrisy , J-FLAG
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