Resignation calls after Aids comments
Monday 30th November 2009, 3:00PM GMT.
Edward Trevor
THE chairman of the Joint Charities Christmas Appeal is facing calls to resign after comments he made on a radio show at the weekend about Aids sufferers.
Edward Trevor said that those suffering from Aids generally got it ‘through their own stupidity’ and were ‘generally promiscuous’.
He made the comments after attacking local Aids charity Acet for collecting in the town centre on Saturday as his volunteers were rattling buckets for the appeal.
Mr Trevor, who called the police to complain about the Aids charity, said he believed that only his collectors should have been allowed on the streets to collect cash in the run-up to Christmas.
He said: ‘I can’t believe Acet were out there collecting and I was absolutely amazed because of the time of year and what they were collecting for.
‘People in the west who get Aids get it through their own stupidity and are generally promiscuous. It is usually self-inflicted. I know it is not a very politically correct thing to say today, but it’s true.’
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Mr Trevor, perhaps they were “out there collecting” because 1st December is world AIDs day?! What a stupid comment from someone who really should know better. Hardly a charitable man if he thinks that nobody else should be allowed to collect money apart from him. I wonder if he has any sympathy for those who “through their own stupidity” got HIV from a blood transfusion?
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Childish, churlish and ill informed.
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well isn’t he full of festive spirit and goodwill to all…
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What a clanger he has dropped here. I can’t see him being chairman (or is it judge now) of the Joint Charities Christmas Appeal for much longer.
This comes across like this is my patch how dare anyone else try and get money for their chosen charity.
Where was the man’s charity to others?
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What a shame Edward Trevor has behaved like this, no matter what time of the year. Who will he target his comments at next – the Women’s Refuge, Jersey Hospice?
Hang your head in shame Mr Trevor, resign immediately before you do more harm to Joint Charities Christmas Appeal with your uncalled for comments, a dissociate yourself from any other charity!
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stupid man, blinkered view, typical old jersey mentality
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Mr Trevor is entitled to his opinion. Anyone is free to agree or disagree. Otherwise who can ever express their opinion without fear of reprimand.
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This is a ridiculous comment made by an old man who’s generation often (not all the time) dont know any better.
But saying that, I dont like the fact that these days when a public figure makes a bad comment or humiliates themselves all of a sudden its time for them to resign as if that is some kind of punishment these days. What if he is good at his job? Is there no middle ground? How about a public apology?
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‘I can’t believe Acet were out there collecting and I was absolutely amazed because of the time of year and what they were collecting for…’
I assume that he meant the recent feast of Ei Dul al-Adha, or the muslim New Year next month? Or was he thinking of our Sikh brethren for whom last weeks commemoriation of the Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji is particularly significant.
I suspect however from his radical views that he is pagan, and it is the winter solstice on 21st December that really excites him…
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The more a nation drifts from the truth, the more it will hate and punish those who speak it.
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This is an example of Edward Trevor forgetting to engage his brain before releasing his tongue. His crass stupidity and boorishness towards “Acet” are completely inexcusable.
Edward Trevor would do well to remember that:
• The Public of Jersey owns the streets of St Helier
• He has no right whatsoever to dictate whether a charity other than his own will or will not collect donations on this or any other day.
• St Helier has an appointed and salaried Town Manager. Let him get on with his job and decide which charities are to mount collections.
Until I read this story I was about to donate the £105 gift donated to all elderly folk from David Kirch to the island’s Joint Charities Appeal. After Edward Trevor’s unconscionable outburst, Mr Kirch’s present will be diverted to “Acet”.
Edward Trevor should be thoroughly ashamed of himself. He will not resign though; it would not be “the Jersey way” to which Mr Trevor clearly adheres.
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will now contribute to the Acet charity instead of his one!
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No way back now…got to GO. what a dreadfully sanctimonious and bigoted view, How dare you, it just goes to show what some people are on the on the inside
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The people who are still putting themselves at risk are stupid! The people who know they have it and do not tell the others that they are at risk are evil. And as for charity: help those who suffer through no fault of their own, but leave the rest.
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The guy is quite right – anyone living in Western Europe knows exactly where AIDs comes from and knows how to avoid it. Sufferers only have themselves to blame for their misfortune and should look after themselves – what a bunch of touchy-feely PC people most of your correspondents are.
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I think the problem’s not of his making. Fete de Noue is a week earlier this year so the Joint Charities must be out a week earlier – so they’ve possibly clashed for the first time.
We were told that any carol singing HAD to be for Joint Charities during their period a few years back. Think it’s because Advent is early but I’m sure we could blame TLS if we tried.
NOT that I’m excusing his words but those throwing stones – never said anything stupid and hurtful in the heat of an argument?
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The Jewish winter festival of Chanuka this year falls between 12-19 December.
Mr Edward Trevor may rest easy in his bed; the Jewish community has no intentions whatsoever of mounting any sort of public appeal to mark the occasion.
However, he might pause to meditate on Matthew 22:39 before he speaks out next.
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Typical of that dumb and regressive Jersey attitude to things.
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Johnny @ 6.
I think we have had enough ignorant, ill informed and prediced comments for one day without you having to add to them.
Whilst agreeing that the comments of Mr Edward are stupid and blinkered, I find it offensive that you think this is the thoughts of all local people.
All the Jersey people I have spoken to today about this, as well as many others not from Jersey, are as appalled as the rest of us; The one person I spoke to who agreed with Mr Edwards views on HIV was Irish.
If I were to suggest that this is a typically Irish view, then I would be as guilty of being prejudiced as Mr Edward, and yourself.
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Charity is for those, who through no fault of their own, are in need. Are Aids victims victims?
The life sytle of some of these people make them not worth saving.
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The national press will love this one. Why bother aspiring to get on the White List when we have people like this to wreck the reputation of the island. Still it might help us get more money in from Russia as they are a deeply socially regressive and homophobic society. Given that our ‘finance professionals’ are looking to tap into that market, maybe this guy knew what he was doing!
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What a disgusting bigot.
I hope he doesn’t resign; I hope he’s forced out by the rest of the organisation, anything less shows that they are at least in part accepting of his views.
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Just to put some of the people commenting right ,Edward Trevor is not a jerseyman,therefore its not “the Jersey way” Jersey is known for its generousity to all charities
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I’m glad most people don’t sgree with Mr Trevor.
His remarks are ignorant and ill-informed, his attitude extremely self-righteous.
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I would suggest to Mr Trevor he listens to the song from the Beatles “strawberry fields for ever” part of the song relates to idiots like him.
“LIVING IS EASY WITH EYES CLOSED MISUNDERSTANDING ALL YOU SEE” He should resign immediately and offer a full unreserved apology for all those he has hurt by his self inflicted opinion, which i am sure is not authorised by the joint Christmas appeal committee.
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@ Sarah Hughes.
see post 19.
And, if anyone from Guernsey was to agree with the views from Mr Edward would this mean that this a typically dumb and regressive Guernsey attitude to things also.
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Johnny and Sarah Hughes – Mr Trevor isn’t actually I Jerseyman, I believe he comes from the UK.
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Surely Mr Trevor must realise that as a result of his callous and ill-judged comments his position has become untenable? He has damaged the organisation he represents and must now do the honourable thing and resign.
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What a disgrace! Surely the most UNcharitable remark he could have made – bigoted and ill informed.
Charity is not about passing judgement or taking the lions share of what people wish to give. I feel Mr Trevor has done far more harm than good to
his particular cause because I will not be putting my money in his tins now.
Surely he will be made to resign as he clearly feels he has said nothing wrong.
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Is this not the Parish’s fault for allowing another collection in a period that’s always been Charity Appeal – don’t they know the public has less than ever to give?
…and before we all mount our high horses, how many here were out in the rain collecting for ANY charity on Saturday?
If this bile grows, both charities and all collectors will suffer. Mrs. Ruddy from Acet said as much at lunchtime so please nobody take things into your own hands – if Edward and his collectors are victimisted by people who insist “equality for all”, it’ll be a sad day.
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Forget the calls for resignation- Sack him!
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Saddened by this silly man’s uneducated comments.
Hopefully, after a period of reflection he will decide that the right thing and resign, and not wait until January when his time is up.
This may have done good work in the past, but his comments are totally unacceptable.
He must go.
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My mouth was open…..not believing what I was reading during the whole article.
My first thought was why is it not ok for all charities to be collecting anytime, anywhere, side by side and supporting each other….the further down I read, the more disgusted I was.
Top that off with some people actually backing up his comments and I really wander how these people can fit into society!
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As a lapsed atheist but however still with a christian attitude I agree with Mr Trevor. Aids apart from the innocent partners and the children produced has been,if you believe, God’s way of ridding the world of perverts and no use to society drug takers.
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You stupid, stupid man
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I am incensed with anger over the narrow mindedness of this bigot.
I stopped giving to the Joint Charities Christmas Appeal three years ago. My reason was simple I witnessed many hampers and vouchers going to families who were not in need. On one occasion when I was assisting in the delivery of them I attended a family that had already received two hampers and asked me to place the third next to them. At some stage of their lives they perhaps had been in need for their name to be placed on a list, however hard times are often followed into more affluent years and therefore those who were once in need perhaps are not as needy the following year but still get the goodies because no one has checked the list.
I was please this year to hear that checks were going to be put in place only to find we have a narrow minded bigot at the top who will clearly boycott any family in need if heaven forbid they have HIV or any family in need that has created their own misery which would count for a good 50% I should imagine if your looking at this from a bigot point of view. Who is he to tell us who we can and cannot give to? Every charity is in need this winter/Christmas time.
While I will never give to the joint charities Christmas appeal after this please don’t think I am not charitable. I give and help for many local charities in need.I would just rather come across or be told of someone in need and give it to them direct this way I know it is going somewhere needy
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He’s from London (source – Wikipedia)
So to those two that claimed, “typical of the Jersey way” – I guess that means that is in fact the typical London way?
Indeed, how very typical of the uneducated immigrants to try blaming Jersey for all of their problems and inadequacies.
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He should resign immediately. I’m sure the other members of Rotary de la Manche must be mortified…
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Mo
Firstly, I think we all acknowledge that this was an IDIOTIC thing to say, especially in today’s society (although it is getting ridiculous about what we can and cannot say anymore, everything seems to offend someone.. anyway that’s another story).
Secondly, for all of you out there now deciding that the Joint Charities Christmas Appeal are no longer worthy of your money, please re-think before you make this decision. For it is not Edward Trevor who will receive the charity, but those who actually need it. Both charities are equally deserving.
Thirdly, look at what Edward Trevor said from an objective point of view. What are the stats out there? I would be interested to know. I am aware of the thousands of people who have contracted HIV through blood transfusion (especially in the 70s when they weren’t screening blood at all!). I acknowledge that there has to other ways of contracting HIV also. But let’s cut the bs here, ‘In the West’, yes he said this, ‘It is usually self-inflicted’ (this is the line that killed him eh), but isn’t there some truth in this?
I know three people infected with this horrible horrible virus, and it is horrible. All are good friends of mine who contracted HIV through unprotected sex. Two of these men are gay by the way and cannot remember the last time they had protected sex. I also acknowledge that my exposure to this has been limited to three persons, however, there is surely some truth in what Edward Trevor said ??
Listen, I am not agreeing or condoning what this fool has said but all of you who are stating that he is wrong, would you mind please backing this up with some facts?
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he spoke the the truth ,i think this is still allowed
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Mr. Trevor,
HIV, Alcoholism, Smoking related cancers, Head injuries; all avoidable to some degree.
Gene screening allows us to detect many other conditions (including baldness, but not let’s get personal eh) which could be ‘filtered’ pre-birth.
Should be stop collecting for sufferers of all of these at the exclusion of ‘your’ charity?
Bigotry and small mindedness are nurtured, and clearly you have these qualities in spades. I suggest your attitude is not aligned with any charity I am familiar with.
In the name of God, GO!
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Mr Edward was born in London. He has been in Jersey less than 5 years.
Should we say that his attitude is that of a typically stupid and blinkered immigrant mentality? No? I thought not!
I wonder if Johnny and Sarah Hughes will now apologise for their prejediced assumptions, and now perhaps we can put this little episode to bed and return to the origin of the post.
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I am OUTRAGED by these comments, so i can only imagine how ACET or people living with HIV in Jersey must feel. How can an ignorant, ill informed bigot such as this be head of any charitable organisation, it’s beyond belief???!!!! He HAS to resign, if nothing else, to limit the damage done to the joint Christmas Charities appeal.
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Everyone should bear the foregoing in mind when chosing which charities to donate to.
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Clearly Mr Trevor has no remorse and no intention of resigning, but hopefully his fellow members will be aware of Clause 5.8 of the CONSTITUTION OF THE ASSOCIATION OF JERSEY CHARITIES – it reads “The membership of any Member may be suspended or discontinued by the Committee if, in the opinion of the Committee, the Member’s conduct is likely to bring the Association into disrepute..”.
The only problem is the Clause then goes on to say..” and such suspension or discontinuance shall be reported to the next following Annual General Meeting (or any prior General Meeting convened under Rule 11) where it shall be confirmed or revoked as the case may be upon the Chairman putting the matter to a vote”
Turkeys and Christmas anyone….
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In 2004, Edward Trevor moved to Jersey from the UK and was elected to the position of Rates Assessor and in 2007 as Chairman of the Association of Jersey Rates Assessors. He founded the Shopmobility scheme for disabled persons in Jersey which now operates from the Sand Street car park, Durrell (Jersey Zoo) and the Jersey War Tunnels. In 2009 he took over the Joint Charities Christmas Appeal.
As a new comer to Jersey he should remember that he does not dictate what takes place on this island and if does not like it then go back to the UK
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Mr Trevor’s comments raised a few points; why did he think that his charity had been granted a monopoly to collect in St Helier when it was nearly four weeks before christmas, and why should any proper charity be refused permission to collect at any time?
Why do charities need permission and who has the say as to which charity can collect?
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Edward Trevor’s enormously crass stupidity has probably killed off Joint Charities Christmas Appeal this year. Well done, Eddy.
If Mr Trevor has a single scintilla of honour, he will make a massive donation to the charity to compensate it for its losses, resign and then creep back to south London, from whence he came.
I wonder what his Jersey residence status is? He has only been here since 2004.
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Good editorial tonight. Mr Trevor’s remarks were not in the Christmas or indeed Christian spirit. I think he should go and I feel a donation to ACET coming on!
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Talk about shooting yourself in the foot, that was straight to the head, the comment, or should I say rant certainly will not put me off giving to charities that I think worthy of a donation,the comment/rant from one individual is his choice and I am sure the people of Jersey will still be as giving to charities that matter to them as always.
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Despicable, ridiculous, bigot, shameful, stupid, sad, unbelievable, narrow-minded etc… He must go! and now, not wait till January.
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Nobody has mentioned in this post the purpose of ACET – Aids Care Education and Training. Their website can be found at
http://www.acet-international.org/
Hopefully people will visit the website or contact ACET Jersey where they can learn a bit about blood borne viruses and maybe prevent themselves from catching one – yes, even if you’re not a homosexual heroin addict – the viruses do not discriminate not like people.
Maybe Mr Trevor and some of his followers can educate themselves a bit more!
‘No publicity is bad publicity’ as some say.
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@ J #30
“…Is this not the Parish’s fault…”
No, it is not.
“…and before we all mount our high horses, how many here were out in the rain collecting for ANY charity on Saturday?…”
I would imagine a tiny proportion, but it’s just not relevant to the issue; are you saying that if I was to go and raise funds for charity it would be okay to be a bigot?
@ piston broke #34
“…Aids apart from the innocent partners and the children produced has been,if you believe, God’s way of ridding the world of perverts and no use to society drug takers…”
Of course if there is no God, and I see no proof there is, it would just mean that those that do believe are just bigoted idiots who can’t think for themselves and hide behind what they’ve chosen to believe(without any real proof or evidence) to justify their hatred of others to make themselves feel better about themselves.
Is Islamic terrorism just Allah’s way of ridding the world of ‘no use to society’s’ Christians?
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It is good to see the outrage at his comments. To see support for them is very dismaying. Overall though, writing to this webpage will not do anything. It is easy to type a comment when youare browsing. I think that all against his digusting comments should take 5 minutes and write a realletter to his charity asking for a full and unreseved apology and a donation to ACET from them. As to whether or not they sack him that is an internal matter. I am sure that after this they will, afterall you have a choice of whom to give or not give money to.
Darren
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Mr Trevor is entitled to his opinion on Aids but to voice it very publicly when he represents another charity seems extremely foolish to me.I wonder if he would attack Cancer Research because lots of people inflict themselves with cancer by smoking or Headway because some people sustain a head injury through a sport which they chose to do?
Mr Trevor should also appreciate that people will choose which charities they wish to support as there are so many it is impossible to donate to them all and he may have seriously damaged the Christmas Appeal for future years.
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What a bigot…and I’m sorry to say so are apparently a fairly large proportion of the people on this comments board!!! But of course they are all correct, all of those children with HIV & AIDS were so clearly ASKING for it!…….. No 7 Ann and sadly so many others. The point you appear to be missing is MR Trevor is a public figurehead for a CHARITY, he is not entitled to his opinion if it segregates or denigrates another charity. He cannot make his personnel opinion public when it will alienate a section of the general public and so damage the reputation of anything he is closely linked to, LIKE A CHARITY!!! I’m sorry to say the Joint Charities Christmas Appeal will not be receiving any monies from myself, friends or family while this sorry excuse for a “charitable” man remains associated with them!
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Not the brightest is he.
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I am disgusted at the bigotry and foolishness expressed by Mr Trever. He should resign immediately. Opiniated bigots such as he should not be entrusted with charitable duties.
And to those who believe that he was expressing his right to free speech – Mr Trevor is certainly entitled to do that, but not in this manner in his capacity as Chairman of the Joint Charities Christmas Appeal.
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Edward Trevor has worked extremely hard for the people of Jersey since the day he arrived here. He is determined, single minded and displays total commitment to the task in hand. Sadly this commitment has resulted in an error of judgement, whereby he has aired his personal views. I do not agree with his comments concerning AIDS but he done a tremendous amount of work across a range of Jersey charities and he deserves recognition for this work. If only people who do at least a tenth of Edward Trevor’s charitable work post comments on here we will be able to read them all in five minutes!
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What about those people in the west who:
1) are raped by someone carrying HIV?
2) receive a contaminated blood transfusion?
3) Are working in hospitals and are stabbed by an infected needle (this happens very regularly)
4) Have a married partner who is unfaithful to them and are unwittingly infected?
The list goes on, this bigot should resign!
NJ.
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Mr Trevor was on the News and he said that he will not resign.
He said that his term of office did not have long to run.
He added [and this is perhaps the more relevant part] that he was “working for the people of Jersey”.
That last part has to be open to dispute. He’s not working for me, that’s for sure.
What is worrying (apart from his comments) is that he attempted to harass and intimidate local people collecting for other charities.
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As someone with a close family relative living with HIV I cannot express enough the pain this stupid mans comments have caused. There is still stigma attached to HIV out there and he has reinforced that big time! ACET not only support people living with HIV they educated to prevent other people becoming infected and also work to reduse the stigma attached to HIV. Please do the decent thing Mr Edwards educate yourself and step down from your position.
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It is common knowledge that almost 5,000 people who were given blood transfusions (from the notorious tainted-blood supplies) in the 1970s and 1980s were infected with Hepatitis C and almost a quarter of them also became infected with HIV.
Therefore, this blundering gentleman (who has very probably done far more in his life for charity than all of us and all our friends put together) should not be set upon for his unsubtle and very unsympathetic words but, if anything, should be pitied for his lack of knowledge…but ignorance is not a crime, so let him apologize and let that be the end of it.
@Tobias et al
Peevish comments relating to immigrants/locals are truly off theme. Furthermore, no nation has the possessorship of ‘denseness’…it is distributed proportionately throughout the world!
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A few years ago the JEP published an article about ACET and Jersey’s fight against HIV and AIDS. The article talked about risk groups and – stupidly – remarked that the risk group also included “people whose native language is English”. Needless to say that, not being a native speaker myself, I have lived in absolutely terror since that article. I do not have sex with various partners, I do not do drugs, but I AM a non-native English speaker so I am bound to get AIDS now.
Stupid remarks and attitudes like that and like Mr Trevor’s keep people blinkered. There are MANY people who get HIV positive for NO fault of their own, so Mr Trevor’s remark is extremely disgusting ! Of course he is entitles to his own view, but as a reasonably public person representing a charity he should keep his mouth shut. (Should do that anyway, because very rarely have I heard Mr Trevor say things that are rational and open-minded!)
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To all those who agree with Mr. Trevor,
1) How do you determine ‘through fault of their own’? Should we not help adult victims of domestic abuse because they ‘chose’ to stay in that situation? Should we not help those who are wheelchair-bound because of a life of bad health choices? Should we not help those who ended up in debt because of bad financial choices? Many forms of cancer are lifestyle-related, do people with those forms of cancer not deserve help? I would hazard that the majority of problems people find themselves in are in some way influenced by their own choices at some point – but does that mean we shouldn’t have the compassion to help them?
Are all of you defending mr. Trevor making all the right choices in your lives? You don’t smoke, drink alcohol, eat fatty foods? You exercise regularly? Because you know, all those things are far more likely to cause disease and death than sex is. We should probably stop those evil charities collecting for non-congenital heart disease too, how dare they raise funds for all those fatties who just couldn’t stop stuffing their faces and get on a treadmill. Really? Because that is what follows logically from saying that those with HIV don’t deserve help.
2) One of Acet’s goals is education and awareness raising – prevention, in other words, of people making those choices to which mr. Trevor refers. There are plenty of teens out there who know shockingly little about safe sex, and that is not their fault: their parents and the education system are failing them.
ACET also works in the Czech Republic, Russia, Ukraine, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Belarus, Georgia, India, Thailand, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Nigeria – do you really think that women in particular in a number of these countries have much of a choice about who they sleep with? Or who their husbands sleep with?
3) My cousin’s now ex-husband of 9 years had an affair. It has been the most painful experience of her life, and on top of it she has had to worry about her health because he apparently didn’t even care enough about her to use protection. Thank god she now knows she is physically fine, but someone please explain to me how her lifestyle would have been to blame had she got HIV or anything else. How anyone believing themselves to be in a committed relationship is to blame. What of those who are raped? Who received bad blood transfusions abroad?
Get off your high horses people.
I don’t think that someone as judgmental and lacking in compassion as mr. Trevor ought to be chairing a collective of charities.
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How sad it was to hear the judgemental, ill informed, unhelpful responses from Mr Trevor this morning on the radio. As far as I am aware ACET normally organises a collection for World Aids Day and usually has a campaign to help awareness and to redress stigma around HIV/Aids.
I hope that Mr Trevor resigns immediately and that the Christmas Appeal is not affected by his misguided bigoted attitude. Why he is under the impression that only his charity can collect at this time is uncharitable and frankly despicable.
Clearly ACET has a lot more work to do in the local community!
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using the concept of ’6 degrees of separation’ then as far as AIDS or any other sexually transmitted disease is concerned ‘there but for the grace of god go I’ and many others I suspect! Are we not wrong to look for those we know or have heard of who are ‘innocent’ victims of the AIDS virus? I would suggest that my generation (40-50) was and is sexually promiscuous and the use of a condom was to prevent pregnancy more than anything else so the fact that more of us have not ended up with AIDS or HIV is more by luck than judgement. If I am right then this makes Trevor’s comments even more galling as realistically he is condemning the infected and the uninfected, or if not he is just condemning the unlucky.
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Mr Edward Trevor’s stupid indiscretions (including his embarrassing radio appearances) have already reached the local newspapers here in Sutton, from where Mr Trevor launched himself on Jersey.
Bad news travels fast, and so should Mr Trevor – as far away from the British Isles as possible.
I hear that southern Africa, which has the largest number of AIDS sufferers on the planet, would make him VERY welcome indeed.
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From the very first moment I met him at a Jersey social event, I knew this was inevitable and just took a bit longer than I thought it would.
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Clearly the definition of ‘bigot’ is completely unknown to many posters, especially those who are actually being bigoted on this very thread!
It was a very stupid comment to make, unbelievably stupid, and I imagine it’s safe to assume that he regrets it. Of course it should not be allowed to overshadow the work he has done for others, to allow it to just makes hypocrites of us all. We have all made comments we seriously regret and were very lucky they weren’t made in public.
Were his comments correct? In some cases yes! That’s an extremely sad fact. We should never assume the cause of infection of any individual or group, we should simply treat them all the same, but that doesn’t mean we can afford to ignore the causes. And they are probably now the main causes for new infections in the Western world
We can’t afford to spread the myth that HIV is only caught through rape, transfusions or completely bizarre, unforeseen incidents, because it isn’t! In far too many cases in the Western world it is entirely preventable, save for carelessness and stupidity, often coupled with drunkenness. Does that make it the person’s own fault that they caught it? Maybe the better question would be “Who could have taken steps to prevent them getting it?”, there’s only one answer! We have every right to be angry that the selfish behaviour of some potentially puts us, our children and our whole society at greater risk of this infection.
I’ve spoken to people who won’t ask if a partner has been tested because it ‘ruins the moment’ or ‘I trust him/her’ (usually said about someone they’ve known for a few months). How pathetic is that? That is the kind of attitude we are now up against, utter stupidity. People would rather avoid a few minutes of embarrassment than potentially save their own life.
To make some good from the bad, hopefully Mr Trevor’s comments will bring about more open discussion between people about the need to use condoms, the need to get tested between partners (even if condoms were used) and the need to check that future partners have also been tested. His comments could hopefully be used to prevent others putting themselves at risk of infection.
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Today, 1 December 2009, is World AIDS Awareness Day.
That’s something Edward Trevor will not forget in a hurry.
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The sensible, educated and tolerant comments from ACET contrast sharply with the those of Mr Trevor. As someone who has organised a charity collection in Jersey before, I know full well that collection dates are allocated carefully throughout the year. I cannot believe that someone in charge of the Joint Charities Appeal has so little knowledge in so many different areas.
Happy World Aids Day Mr Trevor.My cheque to ACET is in the post, I trust yours is too?
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Do I agree with said wombat’s blinkered views err no I do not but am I on a witch hunt – no I am not!
I feel that it is wrong to be blinkered about a subject and openly comment in such a way, and to not consider the bigger picture as we know that it isn’t just the promiscuous youth / homosexuals and drug users which are affected by HIV and AIDS but there are also the innocent individuals etc etc. I just wish people wouldn’t act like a pack of blood thirsty wolves hunting down the weaker members of the pack just to make a point which will soon be forgotten! Society, don’t you just love it..!
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Hear hear Mr Trevor!
I wish to thank you speaking up to proclaim traditional Jersey values. Indeed you should consider standing for public office as we need more men of your calibre in the States of Jersey.
Just because it is the season of goodwill to all men, we should not allow ourselves to wallow in indiscriminate politically correct sentimentality.
I shall now make a substantial donation Mr Trevor’s appeal, confident in the knowledge that under his stewardship only the deserving poor in our community shall benefit from it.
However those who are the authors of their own misfortune through idleness or immorality deserve only our scorn and condemnation.
Proud Jerseyman
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Suggest he follow Senators Syvret example and seek asylum at the UK taxpayers’ expense and start his own blog telling the world what a horrible place Jersey is.
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Bl**dy hell! Talk about ‘The Early Lion catches the Christian’…
I’ve just read all the posts in-one-go. And I just don’t get it! Loads of ‘Thumbs-down’ comments simply because this man made an unfortunate comment. Good job it’s Christmas and not Easter, otherwise there would be cries for “Crucifixion!”
“And so, as Tiny Tim said, “A Merry Christmas to us all; God bless us, every one!” (Charles Dickens)
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I would have to agree with those who said he shouldn’t resign, as i beleive that it sould be the trustees and members of that Charity who should sack him. This men is total out of order, however I feel that the charity is then more to blame if they don’t sack him.
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A very sad quote from a very sad little man…. If he was to un-blinker his eyes & therefore “thoughts” he might reflect on such a pathetic view… Okay everyone is entitled to their opinion , but when you are in a certain “position” ie the charities appeal chairman then your comments are appalling!
Sack him , take him to an AIDS hospice & give the bigotted old man a real view of what AIDS does/has to each person there – plus he might realise that his comments are very very poor – but hey, he probably doesn’t care!
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Yes he has made a very large mistake and I believe he is incorrect in what he has said.
But please remember all the hard work and effort over the years this man has made for charity.
It will be a shame if this is what he is remembered for, not all the good work he has done over the years.
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What an idiot……I feel sorry for the hard working “foot soldiers” collecting for the joint charities Christmas Appeal, they are the ones who have been let down as well by this stupid old fool….
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Please get a dictionary and look up ‘bigot’, then ‘tolerance’ (if necessary).
It’s a shame that when faced with an emotive subject rational thought is given so little space, and it is rather disturbing just how nasty some people have been on this thread, yet they probably believe themselves to be better than Mr Edwards?
#65 I’m not going to answer your points in detail, there isn’t the space but… (I’ll stick to talking about the Western world)
“… that is what follows logically from saying that those with HIV don’t deserve help.” It’s not, nor was I aware that anyone said such a hideous thing.
1) Getting HIV usually involves a one-off event, and for more recent cases of infection these were mostly avoidable. Thankfully transfusion incidents, accidental infection, and cases attributed to rape, are quite rare now due to education. Doing your best to avoid getting cancer (virtually impossible for most types anyway), or to lose weight, requires correct information (this can change almost daily), daily modification of behaviour and sometimes even involves monetary considerations. There are 4 easy and cheap methods which should give most people total protection against getting HIV and these are condoms, testing, monogamous relationships rather than promiscuity, and abstinence. The conditions are just not comparable.
If your promiscuity or drunkenness leads to you becoming infected then there is no-one to blame but yourself, how can there be? Same for smokers whose addiction gives them heart disease, or drinkers whose drinking gives them liver disease. I don’t doubt that many do blame themselves. I still have compassion when faced with someone with such a condition, it’s not relevant to me how they (as an individual) became ill, I don’t believe anyone ‘deserves it’ and I will do what I can to help them. However, when educating on preventative measures then knowledge and acceptance of reality is key! Facing the fact that human failings have led so many people to become infected with HIV is essential if we are to educate others to avoid the same fate?
2) You seem happy to accept that the education system has failed teens and parents, but fail to give any such leeway to Mr Edwards. His generation probably received less information on HIV than any other. There are times when ignorance is just ignorance. And frankly, young people have the information, they’re just young and invincible!
3) Who said someone in a committed relationship is to blame if they get HIV? (Sorry if this comment was made and I’ve missed it somehow). In the very sad story you gave someone would have been to blame, but it would have been the husband!
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Quote from Edward Trevor’s mother:
” ‘E’s not the Messiah, but ‘e’s been a very naughty boy!”
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How often does this man read medical or social journals or perhaps even just some international media!!
Typical Jersey, so glad I left! Sorry to all that are left there!
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What did this guy actually say? The JEP, Channel TV and the BBC all differ on the exact wording he used? While it was a stupid comment to make one way or the other and completely devoid of compassion, it is relevant to understand whether what he said was factually correct or not?
The article above says that he said: ‘that those suffering from Aids generally got it ‘through their own stupidity’ and were ‘generally promiscuous’.
The article on the BBC website (http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/jersey/hi/people_and_places/religion_and_ethics/newsid_8386000/8386791.stm) says that he said: ‘”people in the west get it [HIV] from their own actions”. ‘
The article on Channel Online (http://www.channelonline.tv/channelonline_jerseynews/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=467888) says that he said: ‘many aids sufferers in the Western world “get it as a result of their own actions”‘
Now don’t jump down my throat, I’m not condoning his opinions, but if he said ‘many aids sufferers in the Western world “get it as a result of their own actions”‘, then you can’t argue that this is factually correct. But if his comments didn’t attempt to make any distinction between those who get it through sharing needles or whatever and those who get it through no fault of their own, then that needs to be interpreted differently again.
So why can’t our media agree – why have they all quoted him differently. It concerns me that the media isn’t impartial!
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Edward,Mr Ozouf offered you the way out.JEP “withdraw the comment”……
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*83 “Typical Jersey, so glad I left! Sorry to all that are left there!”
Odd comment. The remarks made by Mr Trevor were not tolerated, so why condemn Jersey?
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Jim @ 83.
Please can you explain your comment “typical jersey”.
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More bigotry against the Jersey people, methinks.
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Tre 88.
Sad to say, but it works both ways (read Tobias 37.)
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Merry christmas from Holland, sinners, drama queens, and stone throwers! Enjoyed the pantomime, thanks. The enlightenment happened here a while ago unfortunately, so we don’t get this sort of entertainment any more from figures of minor public insignificance.
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#90 What a bizarre comment. You might consider that it’s a generational view rather than a nationality one! I don’t doubt there are elderly people in the Netherlands who would hold a similar view. And, if we’re honest, what Mr Edwards said has some truth to it, it would hold some truth even in the Netherlands!
#83 Yet another bizarre comment. There are hardly any Jersey people in Jersey so comments coming from Jersey actually represent views from all over the world! Since in Jersey I’ve met people living here (with quallies) that are from Australia, New Zealand, Nepal, China, Kenya, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Britain, Venezuela,… I could go on. Let’s just say that every continent is represented in Jersey.
#84 Your point is brilliant. The backlash has been really quite nasty and vindictive, which is what has disturbed me most about the whole incident. Any one of us could say something that got reported in the media with a lack of accuracy to it and caused this kind of backlash. The fact that people are so quick to believe it totally and respond with such spite is concerning.
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#83 “How often does this man read medical or social journals or perhaps even just some international media!!”
You’re having a laugh. How often do most of society do this?
And, by the way, I’d FAR rather be in Jersey than wherever you are that has caused you to developed such a great stereotyping quality.
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Leah Holmes:
” There are hardly any Jersey people in Jersey so comments coming from Jersey actually represent views from all over the world!”
A heart warming one world sentiment no doubt, but also something which will offend many Jersey people. I am Jersey, so are all my schoolfriends and so are an awful lot of people on this our island.
You have stated in other posts that you have recently arrived in the island. It tends to suit many incomers to deny the existence of the jerseyman and jerseywoman. Believe me, we do exist. Perhaps people coming into the island, primarily from England it seems, should be obliged to take a cultural awareness course. One could not imagine someone lasting very long if they went to Scotland or Wales and began voicing such a strange view.
I am not trying to disparage what you say at all. It is merely that you do not seem to understand the likely offence to which your misinformed post will give rise.
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Indeed. Any pandering to a racial stereotype is something which is likely to be bigoted and offensive, particularly when it is directed against an indigenous populace. In general terms,it is reasonable to conclude that only a person of unsophisticated and weak intellect would indulge in such a thing. Individual institutions, the distinctive language and the culture are prominent, as are the native inhabitants.
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You meet people from all over the world in Australia but you wouldn’t last very long if you went over there and started trying to undermine the aussie people………….
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Thank you #91, people can be quite nasty, naieve and ignorant on these forums, so quick to condemn everything. Some respondents post great comments, while others just seem angry and quick to jump on the band wagon without really considering what they say or why! That’s the way of the world unfortunately, good and bad people everywhere, Jersey or not, why all this stereotyping, don’t people understand or care that stereotyping is so divisive?
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What a stupid selfish man! You could then argue that poppy day should be abolished because many servicemen and women who die in action or are badly disabled are volunteers, and therefor are injured or killed because of thier own actions and out of choice!!
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Sorry “biker” – how would you feel if you had a blood transfusion, after an accident and it went wrong ? – No fault of yours !!!!!!, but it happens.
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I think you are being a little unfair on Mr Trevor. Like so many people in Jersey who hold office he will have got caught up in the ‘big fish – small pond’ mentality. He is the Chair of the Joint Charities Christmas Appeal – don’t you know – therefore he is the personification of charity on this island – if he only wants his charity to rattle tins then he will believe (due to his high status) that this is what should happen.
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I have noted thay nobody has apologised for saying “this is the Jersey way” when the bigot in question is English! If us beans were to say typical English mentality for example, we would be told we were samll minded insular morons. Well, here is one Englishman who speaks for himself. Do I consider all of England to be responsible for his comments? No, because I am not a narrow minded idiot, unlike all the ones who have labelled this “typical Jersey”! I guess Typical Jersey beats Typical England though, because they still choose to live here, with us backward, straw chewing beans! God bless them, but certainly not Mr Trevor!
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#93 My point was not worded brilliantly I admit, but it was simply against the fact that someone was suggesting that this is a typical ‘Jersey attitude’.
I believe what nationality you call yourself is something for the individual to decide, but when it comes to an argument like someone criticising ‘the Jersey way’ it’s surely important to remember that a large number of people on the island are 1st, 2nd, 3rd generation immigrants and their attitudes and opinions have been influenced by other countries. I know many people who were born and raised in Jersey and can rightly call themselves ‘Jersey’, but their influences are from parents and of all the people I’ve met so far at least one parent was born and raised outwith Jersey.
And I’m not English which is something that your post seemed to suggest I mught be and that offended me.
I understand your point as I come from a much smaller island than Jersey and I remember when there was the ‘island way’ but with travel and immigration there is no longer the ‘island way’, now only 5% of inhabitants actually have their heritage within the island. It’s a shame but I don’t get offended when people point it out. If you’re realistic you can surely see that this same change has been happening in Jersey for decades and will continue to do so until such times as there will be only a handful of people left whose heritage is in Jersey. In that time other people will have started to develop a heritage in Jersey.
The world changes whether we like it or not!
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