Skip to main content

Celebration, culture wars, violence - Caribbean IRN Update June 2013

There was celebration in Martinique as Rosemonde Zébo and Myriam Jourdan became the first same-sex couple to be married there.

There was celebration in Guyana as SASOD commemorated its 10th Annversary with a range of events including the launch of their documentary video.



In Guyana as well, the arguments on the Constitutional challenge to the cross-dressing laws conclude.
In the midst of the celebrations though, the violence against Sandy Jackman who was a target of an acid attack is reminder of the hatred which exists.


The Guyana Rainbow Foundation also issued a statement to condemn the sections of reporting on the media which intimated.

Caribbean media though, showed its diversity.  The US Supreme Court ruling on DOMA resulted in editorials in the Jamaica Gleaner and Stabroek News which spoke to the reforms necessary in Jamaica and Guyana respectively.

The Atlantic Magazine carries an interesting article about the "culture wars" as they related to the issues of legal challenges. In Dominica, the Prime Minister reports that there will be no change to the laws. The churches plan a march. However, in another forum , retired Chief Justice Sir Brian Alleyne delivered a lecture in Dominica on law and faith as part of the Roman Catholic Church's "Year of Faith" celebrations and he questioned the illegality of the private acts.  The full text of his presentation explores this view of faith, immorality and illegality of private acts (shared through Maurice Tomlinson).
The religious positions are also challenged in Belize in an oped in the Belize Star by Asa DeMatteo

In Jamaica, JFLAG joins the constitutional challenge by Javed Jaghai. The TVJ challenge is reported on by a Jamaican blogger,

June also saw regional advocacy from Caribbean activists at the OAS. In this OAS video of the 2013 Informal Dialogue with Civil Society,  the OAS  Secretary General Jorge Insulza is engaged by Zenita Nicholson of Guyana (01;54:04 to 01:36:04) and  Colin Robinson of Trinidad & Tobago (02:42:36 to 02:44:05)




AIDSFree World reports on training of police in Suriname.

A reflection on 10 years of LGBT activism in Guyana is published in two parts in the Stabroek News on 27 June and 1 July, 2013.

A new book "Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in The Commonwealth: Struggles for Decriminalisation and Change" published by the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London contains discussions about the issues in the Caribbean. The book is available free for download.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

JFLAG at 15, Mandela, Sizzla and Usain Bolt in a dress - Caribbean IRN Update December 2013

Happy 2014 to everyone - this update covers December 2013 and the New Year's period which had some interesting activity in the work to advance LGBT equality. In December, J-FLAG celebrated its 15th Anniversary, and produced a timeline of the years of LGBT advocacy in Jamaica. ( Click on image to see full size ) Nelson Mandela's role in advancing LGBT equality was recorded in an article in the Stabroek News from Joel Simpson in Guyana In Barbados, Prime Minister Freundel Stuart responds to Barbados GLAD to say that  Barbados remains committed to lending its voice in calls for an end to discrimination against "persons of differing sexual orientation. " Jamaican pastor Sean Major-Campbell continues to speak out against discrimination, a counter to the religiously fuelled homophobia experienced in many parts of the Caribbean. SASOD has published four episodes of its Interacts series on the film festival. Episode 1 is at http://youtu.be/b_Od3Vu_...

Pride in the Caribbean and changing times - Caribbean IRN Update April, May, June 2019

L - Image from BBC News , R - Image from Nation News Barbados Pride in the Caribbean Police arrested LGBT Cubans who decided to march against homophobia , after the Cuban government cancelled the IDAHOBIT  March. The organising committee though said the other activities in academic spaces would continue. NOW Grenada features GrenChap on the 17 May. In Guyana, the pride events and the Pride parade  went ahead without any challenges. While t he Trump administration might be seen to answering the prayers of some Caribbean Christian leaders to save them from gay marriage ,  the US Embassy in Belmopan, Belize held a Pride Month celebration .  In Guyana, the US Ambassador spoke at a IDAHOBIT cocktail. Guyana's Pride celebrations are part of  an article about Global Pride events .  Vogue features Zeleca Julien from Trinidad&Tobago as one of the "LGBTQ voices around the world which would not be silenced."  Jamaica born Stacey Ann Chin is...

Spiritual work 100 per cent guaranteed - Caribbean IRN update January, February, March 2024

 Spiritual Work  "Spiritual work, 100% guaranteed .gay lovers togetherness.. lesbians together .." is advertised in the Sunday Chronicle in Guyana in the Spirituality section.   The healer though probably needs to help the Government of Guyana as the United Nations Human Rights Committee recommends among other things that : "Adopt comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation that explicitly addresses all spheres of life and prohibits direct, indirect, and intersectional discrimination on all grounds including race, ethnicity, age, nationality, religion, migration status, disability, sexual orientation, and gender identity, and ensure access to effective and appropriate remedies for victims of discrimination; Combat violence and discrimination against persons based on their sexual orientation and gender identity and ensure that offences motivated by the victim’s sexual orientation, or real or perceived gender identity are investigated promptly and establish specifi...