THE Jamaican media is being asked to pay keener attention to the way that it reports on matters pertaining to men who have sex with men (MSM), as negative publicity serves to fuel contempt towards this marginal group from the general public.

“Gay people in Jamaica have had very unfortunate representation in the Jamaican media over the years,” Brian-Paul Welsh, coordinator for the western sub-regional hub at Caribbean Forum for the Liberation and Acceptance of Genders & sexualities (CariFLAGS), told representatives during a forum held to sensitise media personnel last Wednesday.

“In fact, in many respects, I would submit that their representations are a response to the invisibility of the community, ignorance, misunderstanding of who they are, of how they operate and how they live, and as such we end up with dipictions, discriptions and illustrations which are not very flattering,” Welsh said.

“So there are certain qualities which have come to typify gay people/homosexuals — they are [perceived as] tricksters, child molesters, and are deviant. And this is because of a lack of exposure and lack of understanding. So people do not conceive that gay people are full human beings. And in that vacuum of ignorance, then we populate it to be figments of our imagination,” he said.

Welsh was making his presentation at the Spanish Court Hotel during the forum hosted by Panos Caribbean through a grant from World Learning, an international NGO based in the United States, operating in 80 countries worldwide.

Focus was placed on communication initiatives against stigma and discrimination and promoting MSM health in Jamaica.

Hamlet Nation, programme officer at Panos, said that the objective of the project undertaken by Panos was to strengthen the capacity of MSM in Jamaica and to advocate and create awareness about issues affecting the group.

“What we have found is that media reporting in Jamaica on issues dealing with HIV and MSM has contributed to the continued marginalisation of this most at-risk population (MARP),” Nation said. “The health and well-being of men who have sex with men are compromised by pervasive social and legal discrimination, as well as general homophobia in Jamaica. Another issue is that HIV prevalence is highest among men who have sex with men.”

He said that the latest report showed that prevalence of HIV among MSM stands at a high of 32 per cent.

However, in a baseline report on the media’s treatment and coverage of MSM issues in Jamaica, dated August to November 2011, some findings were that there was fairly balanced reporting by most media houses, but that biases by journalists affected their interest in covering MSM issues.

The report also found that there was a high level of cultural intolerance and that this affected the role that stigma and discrimination played in accessing HIV treatment and care.

Baseline recommendations were that initiatives focused on highlighting the human impact of intolerance; that more information on Jamaica’s anti-buggery law and how it affects individuals rights be provided; and that sessions be held with media houses and key MSM stakeholders to provide information and ideas, discuss key issues and concerns and exchange views.

Points brought out during the meeting were that the media should ensure MSM and HIV issues are dealt with in an objective and unbiased manner and that the media monitors and ensure factual, non-judgmental reporting that will not discourage the health-seeking practices of MSM. Also, that the media be the ones to hold the Government accountable to the needs of MARP.

Recommendations were made for training workshops of media personnel, and an increased capacity of local lobby groups in the use of information and their interaction with the media.

The media was also encouraged to use appropriate words in reporting on lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) that will not cause discrimination against the group.

Panos Caribbean aims to promote sustainable development in the wider Caribbean region through empowering all sectors of society to articulate their own information and perspectives on development issues and broadcast them across language and political borders.