Living Under the Radar - Shauna Spence

LIVING UNDER

THE RADAR

Shauna Spence

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Homosexual and Homeless

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n Jamaica faggot, batty man, fish, funny man, and chi chi man, are just a few euphemisms for homosexuality. According to the American Webster’s Dictionary homosexuality is characterized by the tendency to have direct sexual desire to someone of the same sex.

The Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All Sexuals and Gays (J-Flag) states that there is no law against being a homosexual in Jamaica.

According to the ‘Offense against the Person’s Act’ (provisions 76,77,and 79) the act of buggery (anal sex and beastiality) is illegal as well as ill-defined acts of gross indecency.

In Jamaica buggery is primarily enforced against males. Lesbians are discriminated in the wider society but to a lesser extent, and there are no laws prohibiting lesbian conduct.

This can be seen where homosexuals are persecuted by verbal or physical abuse from people who are aware of their sexual orientation.

The Context of Homosexuality on a National and Global Scale Derrisaw (2014), in his writings on Gay and Lesbian Rights on a Global Scale states that, “during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, homosexuality was often regarded as an illness

or a social disease.” However, this was refuted

by Sigmund Freud and Magnus Hirschfield, who expressed that being gay or lesbian was neither an illness nor a crime. Leading up to Hirschfield’s attempts to eradicate the previous view, homosexuality was a topic most people kept in private, especially because identifying as gay or lesbian was considered illegal.

In today’s society being gay or associated with the title is still criminalized in 82 countries across the globe, predominantly Uganda and Russia. As a society one does not have to like the act however, every citizen should be treated with the same level of respect and privacy no matter their sexual orientation Regardless of one’s personal bias, every citizen should have equal rights and opportunities.

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Meet Ricardo Allen affectionately called ‘Coolie’, a 25 year old homosexual who resides in the Cholera Cemetery on Waterloo Road in St Andrew.

Ricardo’s sexual orientation was influenced through an older brother, who he secretly followed to New Kingston. Afterwards Allen started experimenting and found a liking for the act.

Ricardo talks about his past while nursing a terrible toothache.

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Ricardo relaxes after a tiring day of begging.

He likes the idea of working for money instead of stealing or prostituting as some of his fellow ‘roomies’ do.

A friend of Ricardo removes his clothes from where he had them drying before it started raining.

This where Ricardo lives. He had to leave his family’s home at age nine when sexual orientation opposed the norm of the Riverton residence.

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Ricardo tried retuning home but it did not turn out well for him, his chest and back now bear the scares of the stabs he received from family members.

His eyes tells the story of human injustice as they reflect the aftermath of a pepper spray encounter by police the night before.

This was not the life Ricardo chose, but when tried returning home to his family he was greeted knife stabs The scars tell the tale.

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Ricardo sometimes pretends to be handicapped to get money from motorists when cleaning windows is not lucrative.

Notice how his limbs are bent and his face is made up to attract sympathy.

A number of motorists fall for the trick and drop money into his pan.

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This is where Ricardo stays during the days, in the nights he and his friends try to find any available place to shelter. Ricardo dreams that one day he will have a better job and a house to call home. He wishes he did not have to live under the radar but has no choice, because of his sexual orientation.

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