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TODAY! HOW LONG SHALL THEY SIT AND WATCH WHILE…
Get a copy of this monthly It is hard to ignore the recent
newsletter delivered international attention that Ja-
directly to maica has been getting since
you the murder of Brian William-
son in early June of this year.
Contact us for more The attention, however, is
information nothing short of appalling and
discouraging for those who
seek to promote a Jamaica
ganisers of Britain’s urban
music award, MOBO, decided
to drop both Elephant Man
and Vybz Kartel from their
nominations because they
have refused to apologize for
the violent anti-gay content of
their music. And still the Ja-
maican authorities sleep…
ognized human rights organi-
sations including Human
Rights Watch, the Gay and
Lesbian Alliance Against
Defamation (GLAAD), and
Jamaica’s own Hotness!
Newsletter, there were discus-
sions as to the next level to
take these ‘sanctions’ against

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Community Notice
,03257$17127,&(
Effective October 1, 2004
HOTNESS! Newsletter will
be re-branded as:
7KH2XW3RVW
that is a friendly, beautiful and
irie place to be.
With Jamaican dancehall art-
ists coming under severe fire
from international advocacy
groups, the Jamaican govern-
ment seems to be ignoring
what is really brewing under
their nose. Some of the key
happenings over the summer
include the cancellation of
several concert appearances
in the U.S. for Beenie Man by
RJ Reynolds, owners of the
‘Salem’ brand of cigarettes
among other appearances in
Canada and Europe. The or-
In reality, it is Jamaica that is
being scrutinized in the US,
Canada and Europe. One
may believe that it is the
dancehall industry and the
artists that are the only ones
who will pay. But with close
analysis, one will realize that
the country in general will pay
a dear price because our
leaders have allowed and
continue to allow our ‘dirty
laundry’ to be washed in inter-
national waters. In a meeting
with No More Murder Music!,
which is a New York based
coalition of many globally rec-
the discrimination being met
out against gays and lesbians
in Jamaica. It is also notewor-
thy that Jamaica is a signatory
to the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, which clearly
states in Article 7 that ‘All are
equal before the law and are
entitled without any discrimi-
nation to equal protection of
the law. All are entitled to
equal protection against any
discrimination in violation of
this Declaration and against
any incitement to such dis-
crimination.’ Jamaica has not
(Continued on page 2)

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7KH1R0RUH
NEEDY BOY’S HOME GETS SOME GAY & LESBIAN HELP
0XUGHU0XVLF&RDOLWLRQ The Back-To-School Drive by York. The supplies included Jamaican youths, especially in

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Hotness! during August has school bags, notebooks, pen- education. It is hope that this
benefited some needy children cils, pens, geometry sets, initiative will continue and that
at a Kingston boy’s home. among others. On receipt of more Jamaican gay men and
Help stop the hate School supplies valued at the supplies, the superinten- lesbians will take active rolls
Dancehall Music $25,000.00 were donated by dent of the boy’s home ex- in helping to create a new
is inflicting on three generous hearts; two gay pressed a true sense of grati- shape for Jamaica by posi-
Gays and Kingston residents and a Ja- tude. She emphasized the tively impacting on different
Lesbians. maican lesbian living in New importance of supporting the aspects of the society.
Email
“more gun fi shot out funny man”- Vybz Kartel
caribbeanlgbtaction@yahoo -
groups.com N O M ORE M U RDER M U SI C!
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If the Bible says homosexuality is a sin, why should the law not punish homosexuals?
This is a very delicate ques-
tion. Delicate because most of
us Jamaicans were brought
up under good Christian prin-
ciples. The truth is, the Bible
mentions many things as an
abomination, including wear-
ing mixed fabrics. So when
you wear certain clothes, you
sin as much as a man who
has sex with another man or
an unwed man who has sex
with a woman. The Bible also
says divorce is ungodly and
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CREATING A BALANCED HEALTH REGIME
When most people think of
health issues, physical health
often comes to mind. But we
are more than physical enti-
ties. We are emotions,
thoughts and, in most people’s
belief, spirits. Since our physi-
cal health impacts all these
other spheres, it is a good
place to start when creating a
balanced health regime. Since
an ounce of prevention is
worth a pound of cure, our fo-
cus should be on proper diet,
regular exercise, and ade-
quate sleep. As members of a
minority group, which is usu-
,QWHUQDWLRQDO1HZV
NEW YORKERS PROTEST DANCEHALL CONCERT
Several New Yorkers turned
out on September 3 to dem-
onstrate outside the Hammer-
stein Ballroom in the heart of
Manhattan, New York City,
the venue for a concert spon-
sored by one of New York’s
leading ethnic radio stations,
Hot 97, featuring Beenie Man,
TOK, Vybz Kartel and Ele-
phant Man. The demonstra-
tion which was organised by
New York based No More
the list could go on and on.
Nevertheless, these are com-
monplace actions. When was
the last time you heard that an
adulterer or heterosexual for-
nicator was stoned to death
here in Jamaica? Check the
high rate of teenage preg-
nancy or the many unwed sin-
gle parents from Morant Point
to the tip of Negril and I am
sure you will see them running
around freely and gaily too!
Mark you, this is the same
ally invisible and persecuted,
we need to pay special atten-
tion to the next two spheres of
our health, emotions and
thoughts. These frequently
get lumped together under the
heading of “mental health”.
Unfortunately, this label often
conjures up images of psychi-
atric evaluations and lengthy
therapy, rather than preventa-
tive strategies for addressing
emotional upset, unwanted
thought patterns, and mental
lapses. It is worth noting that
the first two are often associ-
ated with youth and the latter
Murder Music!, was part of a
campaign to educate spon-
sors of dancehall artists who
incite violence against gays
and lesbians. Both the Ham-
merstein Ballroom and Hot 97
refused to pull the plug on the
concert, but the coalition re-
mains firm in its quest to edu-
cate the New York public
about the sponsorship of mur-
der music and to mobilize the
gay and lesbian community of
Jamaica that is built on good
Christian principles.
Each individual has the right to
accept or refuse any religious
principle, Christian or
otherwise, and choose to live
his or her life based on one’s
own philosophy and notions.
The laws of a land are there to
protect its people without any
prejudice. Homosexuals are
Jamaicans first. Check their
passport! As such, they should
be granted equal protection.
with aging, but no one is im-
mune from any of these at any
stage of life. The final sphere of
health, the spiritual sphere, is
definitely the most nebulous
and often controversial. Some
people deny that there is a
spiritual aspect of our being,
yet others are willing to die or
even kill for it. Few in our cul-
ture link physical health and
spiritual health, but historically
many cultures considered their
medicine men to be the spiri-
tual leaders of the community.
In the next issue, we’ll examine
the concept of spiritual health.
New York to boycott sponsors
of such music. There are plans
to network with other domestic
and international organisations
to vigorously address and
campaign against the sponsor-
ship of music that incites dis-
crimination against gays and
lesbians. In June, similar ac-
tions were taken by UK based
OutRage!, which saw the sud-
den cancellation of a Beenie
Man concert in London and
3DJH
(How long...Continued from page 1)
fulfilled this commitment in its
entirety.
Many Jamaicans, including the
current prime minister of Ja-
maica, the Most Hon. P.J. Pat-
terson, have insinuated that ho-
mosexuality should be viewed
from a cultural stance and not
from a human rights point of
view. Jamaica’s culture is not
tolerant of homosexuality and
as a result, homosexual Jamai-
cans must live under a regime
of oppressive inhumane treat-
ment. It is hard to conceive
what these individuals would
have done to black people in
the hay days if they had been
whites who believed black peo-
ple were ‘culturally’ less than
human. Maybe Elephant Man
would actually be singing ‘log
on and step pon nigga man…
dance wi a dance and a bun out
a nigga man.’ Who knows?
1HZ +271(663ROO
Question:
Do you think conditions will ever
improve for gays & lesbians in
Jamaica?
Text answer to 8641856 Or send
SMS to 8641856@digitextjm.com
subsequent hard hits for various
Dancehall artists. The UK laws
forbid inciting violence as op-
posed to the US laws, which
ironically tolerate it through the
freedom of speech act. This has
somewhat affected the effec-
tiveness of the ‘OutRage’ ap-
proach in the Big Apple.
Any comments?
Please send to
hotnessnews@hotmail.com