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| Top quote from "Barbados Pride combats nation's anti-LGBT hatred" , Bottom quote from "Chief Justice laments murder of Sasha Fierce, calls it a hate crime" |
Love
The murder of Sasha Fierce generated hateful comments. There were responses of love from colleagues and friends, and a campaign #SayHerName. (Update : A man has been charged for her murder )
Newsday had an editorial "RIP Sasha Pierce. " Chief Justice Ivor Archie called for acceptance instead of tolerance while lamenting the murder.
Sasha Fierce was active in the campaign "Not a Straight Thing" by Friends4LifeTT.
Citizenship
In Barbados, a Christian youth group marched to reclaim the rainbow. LGBT citizens and allies did a counter protest. The 'Row over the rainbow colours" though seemed to end peacefully and prayerfully, according to one of the counter-marchers, Luci Hammans, .
Another Church leader said that Christians loved the sinners, not the sin.
The High Commission of Canada in Barbados gave support to the Barbados Pride Weekend.
Alexa D. V Hoffman writes that the Barbados Pride 2017 was held in response to a rising level of hate from some politicians and some church groups.
Dr Rinaldo Walcott in delivering the Dame Nita Barrow Memorial Lecture at the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination said that " Caribbean governments will soon have no choice but to embed in legislation the necessary rights for trans, gender non-conforming people and queer people”.
In St Lucia though, United & Strong had to quote scripture and express hope the walls of hate "built by the Hon Minister Sarah Flood-Beaubrun and her allies would 'fall like Jericho"
The Minister has expressed her opposition to children being raised by same-sex couples.
UNIBAM in Belize had to involve the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in sorting out visas for LGBT Haitians who were invited to a conference. One of the sad realities of the Caribbean is that Haitians require visas for all CARICOM countries even though Haiti is a member of CARICOM.
Our Circle has published a Legal Handbook for LGBT Belizeans.
On 9 December, 2017 in Guyana, Guybow hosted a discussion on LGBT Rights are Human Rights. One presentation "LGBT Rights are Human Rights : A Hindu Perspective" by Vidyaratha Kissoon referenced Hindu Caribbean scholars
On 10 December, 2017 SASOD in Guyana announced that it concluded a "consultative exercise on a proposed legislative amendment that provides legal protection from discrimination in relation to the right to work for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Guyana."
SASOD also announced its intention to go to the Caribbean Court of Justice to appeal the judgments in the cross-dressing challenge.
The third Montego-Bay Pride was "successful and incident-free"
Suriname Pride was held in October. As part of the activities, the LGBT Platform donated an irrigation system to Huize Ashiana, a home for elderly.
Bermuda moves to replace gay marriage with civil partnership, in less time than most marriages last.
Intimate Conviction : A conference on the church and anti-sodomy laws in the Commonwealth was held in Jamaica on October 12,13 2017. Some documents are available on the DLOC collection. The Youtube Channel of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network has the following videos :-
Poetry
Anton Nimblett interviews Rosamond S. King in Mosaic Literary Magazine. They talk about poetry, and walking in backwards in the house.
Don't forget to check our collection at Caribbean Sexualities – Love | Hope | Community – Sexualities & Social Justice in the Caribbean .
The collection includes selected pieces from the Sargasso Print Edition, as well as special online features, including "Write It In Fire - Tributes to Michelle Cliff" (prose, poetry, visual and performance art).
Best wishes for 2018
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