Behavioural change strategist was promoting the devil’s mission
By: Nadine Wilson-Harris
For 15 years *Deyon Thomas worked as a behavioural change specialist, earning an enviable six-figure salary as she taught members of key populations affected by HIV/AIDS about health matters related to their chosen lifestyles.
The job was very fulfilling in the beginning as she travelled to different parts of the country, showing promiscuous men and women how to use a condom and how to operate a dildo. She also taught men who sleep with men how to treat their battered anus and distributed condoms to minors engaged in risky sexual behaviours.
Although she did not approve of the behaviours of her target audience, Thomas did not condemn their actions but instead provided the remedy to deal with the obvious consequences of their sex-driven lifestyles.
The behavioural change specialist still recalls the married woman she met who was having a sexual relationship with another woman with the permission of her husband. The woman was adamant that nothing was wrong with her lifestyle since she had gotten her husband’s approval.
“I wasn’t a Christian, but my conviction told me that something was not right, because she was saying that from your husband approves of it, then there is nothing wrong with it. Once you have gotten approval from your husband, then the marriage bed is not defiled,” she recalled.
Members of the LGBTQ community, one of the key populations often targeted in the fight to reduce HIV/AIDS transmission, also used the Bible to justify their risky behaviours, but as a professional, Thomas always sought to perform her duties from a public health standpoint rather than from a moral one.
“Many of them were brainwashed, they were wired, they were indoctrinated to believe that the lifestyle is ok, and it was their right to choose a sexual identity and a sexual orientation, and a sexual partner, and one of the things that they used to say is that God is love, and if God is love, and two men or two women love each other, then God is in it, and that was what shook me,” she recounted before adding, “I said, God is love, but these behaviours are abominable, and they are sinful.”
The more destructive their behaviours got, the more conflicted she became, until it got to the point where she decided to walk away. This decision was made after wrapping up a session that caused her to confront the fact that she was contributing to the furtherance of a lifestyle that was displeasing to God.
“I went home, and I said, Lord, this can’t be of you. Lord, I am doing the devil’s work,” she admitted.
For three years after, Thomas was unable to get a stable job as she was blacklisted due to the stance she had taken against promoting the lifestyle. The behavioural change specialist eventually became a Christian, and was shocked to realise that several faith leaders were not only supportive of promiscuity and the LGBTQ lifestyle, but were also actively engaged in these risky sexual endeavours.
“There is quite a lot of nastiness happening, and there are quite a lot of influential persons from all sectors who are involved in this lifestyle. As a matter of fact, some of them, would have wedded locally, though not legally and they would have gone to Canada, Ireland or Holland to legalise the relationship, because same-sex marriages are legal in those countries,” she said.
Justice Minister Dr. Delroy Chuck noted during his contribution to the 2023-2024 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives in May, that there has been an increasing number of marriage applications from the LGBTQ community. Same-sex marriage is illegal in Jamaica.
“Let it be clear: we do not support same-sex marriages as yet, or ever. The truth of the matter [is that] people have been coming, asking us for marriage licence for same sex. This, at the moment, is not permissible,” he said.
Due to her inability to earn a salary in the months following her decision, Thomas’s bank account went dry and she found herself having to secure groceries from a local food bank; still, she always felt assured that she made the right decision. Today, she earns a salary from part-time jobs that utilises her varying skills.
“That is what the enemy uses to lure a lot of us, material gains and money, filthy lucre. These jobs pay well. At one point, I was carrying home over $700,000 per month. There was one point I didn’t have to use my salary because the amount of money that I earned as a result of travelling, I didn’t have to touch my salary,” she told the Freedom Come Rain newspaper.
“Through the goodness of God, I survived; yes, the standard of living I was used to, it declined, but it was far better because I had a peace that I didn’t have while I was living that lifestyle. I didn’t have joy. I had the money, I had the assets, but I didn’t have joy,” she shared.
She believes some Christians are also conflicted in carrying out their jobs, but they have developed several excuses to ease their conscience because they do not want to miss out on the financial gains. However, she said that once these jobs are facilitating the Devil’s agenda, God is not being glorified.
“I recognised that I was an enabler and a facilitator, and God said come ye out from amongst them,” she said.
Thomas admits that it took her a while to realise that she was contributing to the promotion of an evil agenda and suspects others are clueless about the diabolic connections associated with their jobs, but for those who are aware, she believes it’s impossible to stay neutral. As far as she is concerned, these individuals will have to decide whether they will serve God or continue to serve the devil.
“I can’t be saying I am a Christian and I am giving little boys and girls condoms to use. I can’t be saying I am a Christian and telling men how to treat their anus in terms of anal health. If I come up with a strategic plan for any of these vulnerable populations, whether HIV-positive women or men who have sex with men, or gays, and the strategic plan asks of me to develop a communication strategy or a marketing plan to promote the rights of gay people, it is not of God,” she said.
*Name changed to protect the identity of the interviewee
