Blake's documentary tells harrowing tales of violence against homosexuals on the Caribbean island

It took Queens filmmaker Selena Blake four years to complete ‘Taboo Yardies’, a documentary about homophobia on the island of Jamaica. Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens-filmmaker-selena-blake-confronts-jamaican-homophobia-head-on-taboo-yardies-article-1.1075707#ixzz1unezPCqY It took four years, cost her friends and family and almost the roof over her head, but Queens based documentary filmmaker Selena Blake got her latest project done. The film, “Taboo Yardies,” about homophobia in Jamaica, West Indies, and its costs to the island nation, is well worth the wait. It’s a powerful collection of haunting images, each more powerful, and memorable, than the last: the anger in the voices of two pre-teen boys lounging on the steps of a darkened house as they disdainfully assert that gay men should be stoned; the middle-aged man who describes how he, newly arrived in New York, saw two men kissing near Penn Station and his amazement when his brother stopped him from looking for a brick to throw at them, saying “they don’t do that here.” There is the painful story of a lesbian who tearfully tells how she has been the victim of “corrective rapes,” by men who believe such attacks will make her heterosexual. Police refuse to help her, so she in her anguish has taken to cutting herself and attempted suicide, the latticework of healed scars on her forearm visible proof of her efforts. A mob beats and bloodies a “Batty-man,” island parlance for male homosexuals, in the street. Another man tells of someone setting his house afire. Former Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding, in office at the time, gives an outrageous — but sadly not uncommon — viewpoint among conservative elected officials of any nation: defense of homophobia, comparing same sex sexual relations to bestiality and incest. “I kept looking at my cameraman while the Prime minister was talking, thinking someone was going to stop the interview,” Blake said. “When we were leaving the country we put the tapes in separate bags because we were sure someone was going to confiscate them in the airport.” Blake, 48, is writer/director of the documentary, “Queensbridge; The Other Side.” That film, on the history of Queensbridge Houses in Long Island City, where she still lives, is included in the social studies programs at 50 New York-area public schools. She announced plans for “Taboo Yardies” in 2008, expecting to complete the project in a year. But the project, which involved several trips to the island and others to California and Massachusetts to interview Jamaicans who had left the country, proved more daunting than anticipated. Funding proved hard to come by - at one point Blake was almost evicted from her Queensbridge apartment for back rent, forcing her to take a job washing dishes and doing kitchen prep work in a company cafeteria.

“When I started working there, one of the cooks, a woman from one of the islands, asked me if I knew what I was doing and I said yes,” a smiling Blake recalled. “She watched me and could tell I didn’t know the first thing about what I was doing. But she helped me.” Blake would sometimes work 12-hour days in the kitchen, then come home to edit her film footage into the dawn, hours before heading back the next day. She left that job because “my body could not take it anymore. My knees were swollen night after night and some nights the pain was so unbearable some nights I was afraid to move around in bed because I would get a sharp pain in my hip all the way down to my feet.” The current version of “Taboo Yardies” runs some 70 minutes long, culled from more than 70 hours of interviews. “There is a lot of stuff we didn’t put in the film, because it was just too much,” Blake said. “There are so many stories we didn’t use because it would have been overwhelming.” “This is an important work,” said R. O’Gilvie Brammer, who hopes to screen the film at the Jamaica Diaspora US North East Region — a group of more than 500 Jamaicans who live outside the island — June 16 meeting in Boston. Blake found most of the homosexual and transgender people who appear in the film and still live in Jamaica through word of mouth, and spent hours convincing many of them to appear in the movie. Blake said even though their faces and voices were digitally altered in the film, several people have asked to be taken out of the finished product for fear of reprisals. The situation was similar with the rape victim, whom Blake met in the woman’s neighborhood, drove to a secluded spot and taped the interview with the woman in the back seat of the car. She got the Golding interview because he was a friend of the family — Blake immigrated to the U.S. in 1965. Though she has received dozens of threats - after a screening last month at the General Theological Seminary an email arrived warning her to “Stay the hell out of Jamaica — and even had family members criticize her for making the film, Blake, who is heterosexual, said “this is a human rights issue. “The burden of proof was my responsibility to convey to the audience without preaching the issues,” Blake said. “At the end of the day what I would like from this film is for us, as Jamaicans, to step back for a moment and put ourselves in the place of a gay man, a transgender man, and a lesbian, and say how would you like to be treated. “When we put ourselves in other people’s shoes and are genuine about it, compassion will kick in.” The film was shown in the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and will be next week at the Durban, South Africa film festival.

REPRESENTATIVES OF UNAIDS are faced with the dilemma of how to enlist the support of local faith-based organisations (FBOs) in the HIV/AIDS prevention campaign without violating the institutions' doctrinal principles. A major stumbling block, which was identified in a recent consultation between church leaders and UNAIDS officials, is the traditional association of the HIV/AIDS messaging with gay-rights issues.

The views of the clerics are summed up in the comments by churchman Major Richard Cooke: "The perception is that the homosexuals have used AIDS to push their agenda. Allow the Church to speak to the church. When we feel that our help is linked to a gay agenda we do not want to be a part of it." The Rev Al Miller echoed similar sentiments: "Perception becomes reality. Changing the face of the historical sellers of the message of HIV prevention is an important and strategic move. We will, therefore, have to identify faces that can have broader appeal in order for us to be successful."

In other words, the clerics are suggesting that the gay-rights agenda has stigmatised the HIV/AIDS prevention programme, and, consequently, has alienated the religious community.

Ironic twist

This is an ironic twist, as it is the removal of stigma and discrimination from the HIV/AIDS prevention programme that is the goal of the local and international health-advocacy agencies. In fact, that was the purpose of the recent consultation between representatives of UNAIDS and FBOs. The discussions were informed by the findings of a Ministry of Health (MOH)-commissioned study of leaders of FBOs about the level of stigma and discrimination towards the most-at-risk populations (MARPs) in their organisations, including gay men, sex workers, prisoners and people living with HIV (PLHIV).

The study, which is based on a survey of 41 FBO leaders in 35 denominations across eight parishes, found that senior clerics considered it their "responsibility to uphold moral values and hold society accountable to those values." The findings continued: "Issues of faith and belief go deep and most FBOs have defined principles to which they adhere and which they consider divine and, therefore, are not open to discussion. A related finding is the faulty association of HIV/AIDS with sexual promiscuity (which is not always the case) by some church leaders and congregations.

Al Miller points to the dilemma: "If we are going to solve the problem, we cannot create another problem in order to solve it. We have to separate the issues of stigma and acceptance of behaviour. You have to be careful that you are not selling that 'this is good, this is normal, this is an acceptable lifestyle'."

It is this combination of doctrinal and moral principles that has presented a challenge to both FBOs and health advocates. Where do the twain meet? According to Garth Minott of the United Theological College, "The faith-based community needs to speak within itself. There are differing starting points and doctrinal issues at play here, but we all agree that we want to get to one solution." Keith Ellis, another churchman attending the recent consultation, argued that attitudinal change will not happen from the pulpit. He suggested that FBOs take the findings of the study and "communicate it in a way that is not offensive and is more palatable, such as with a message of love, respect, and compassion, then we can achieve progress."

Despite, their caution about doctrinal and moral issues, as well as their objection to twinning HIV/AIDS prevention messaging with gay rights activism, FBO leaders have expressed and demonstrated a willingness to support the overarching objective of helping to arrest the spread of the epidemic. This response was expressed during the consultation as well as the MOH study. "We need to change some of the language so that it shows the thin line of wisdom. "Let's push the message of 'test and treat' rather than 'stigma and discrimination'," suggested Rev Miller.

Indeed, the MOH study found that several FBOs were engaged at varying levels, in HIV/AIDS care. The report stated: "The attitude of FBO leaders towards persons of the MARPs were mainly favourable. Although they did not support behaviour contrary to their doctrines, they were supportive of rehabilitation of and practical assistance to vulnerable persons reached by their organisations. A few of the religious organisations actually operate facilities that care and counsel PLHIV.

So there is fertile ground for cooperation between the faith-based community and HIV/AIDS prevention advocates, and as the study has found congregations often become supportive of the programme based on exposure to real cases and education.

Byron Buckley is Associate Editor for The Gleaner. Send comments to moc.mjrenaelgnull@snmuloc

original post can be found here!

I dedicate this prestigious honour to the memory of David, Robert Carr, 16 year old Oshane Gordon (who was chopped to death in his home in the early morning of on October 18, 2011 because of “questionable relations” with another man) as well as ALL the other martyrs. “Lift every voice and sing!” he wrote.

Despite these vicious attacks and many more like them, there are still those who argue that Jamaica’s deadly homophobia is a figment of the global North’s gay hysteria and an agenda to smear our country’s good name.

The spirit of the work that David fought and died for is perfectly captured by the very essence of Maurice’s tireless efforts in Jamaica and the region. In a highly competitive process Maurice is a worthy recipient of the very first David Kato Vision and Voice Award.

Despite advances in many countries the fight for the sexual rights of LGBTI people is far from over. The overwhelming response to the David Kato Vision and Voice Award has highlighted that across the world – in far flung places and regions-  LGBTI people are using our voices and vision to achieve human rights for all. It’s a battle that must be won.

Maurice’s courage and unapologetic determination to raise awareness and to bring people together in support of gay men and their families in the Caribbean embodies the spirit of the David Kato Vision and Voice Award.  Maurice’s work is absolutely critical to the fight against HIV.

MAURICE Tomlinson, a leading Jamaican gay activist, got married to a Canadian man this week.

The gay marriage ceremony took place in Toronto and his husband has been identified as Tom Decker, a police officer and pastor in the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto.

The UN's former special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa was the best man. Hawkes married them. Tomlinson reportedly wept with joy throughout the ceremony.

Watch Gay Rights in Uganda on PBS. See more from Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.