Caribbean IRN Blog

Photographer : Oprheao Griffith By Alessandra Hereman Alessandra Hereman is a young transgender woman who is studying at the University of Guyana “It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.” Audre Lorde When my mother gave birth to me the doctor and nurses said I was ‘male’. However, as I grew up, I did not identify with or adopt anything masculine. As early as age four I knew I was different. My name is Alessandra Hereman and I am a trans woman. This means I was assigned male at birth but identify and live as a woman of trans experience. While still in nursery school I played with dolls and cross-dressed. As I transitioned into primary school I avoided rough outdoor games. I still have memories of my male cousins and other family members making fun of my feminine behaviour. There was no psychologist, child psychiatrist or gender specialist. It was just me and my thoughts: I am a girl… but I

Photographer : Orpheao Griffith By Rae Wiltshire Rae Wiltshire is an award-winning playwright, theatre director and short story writer. His play “Creative Burial Ground” and short story, “Me Fuss Fineral” placed first and second respectively at the Guyana Annual Competition 2018. He is currently in his final year at the University of Guyana, studying Literature and Linguistics “Everybody came to see this trans person, and when they realised it was just a normal human being, everybody left; because they felt it was this big show, this big performance to be a transgender.” Gulliver (Quincy) McEwan laughed as she remembered the response of an audience. In Guyana, LGBT persons are often perceived as outcasts who exist for public amusement – a narrative that sections of the local media and theatre continue to push. There’s nothing amusing about Gulliver, she is not larger than life. She simply wants to educate Guyanese on transgender issues. Prior to 2009, Gulliver hi