by Rae Wiltshire Angel Clarke is an independent woman. She has her own home, has her own transportation, and runs a successful catering business – despite the discrimination and challenges that she faces as a transgender person in Guyana. “Homophobia did not hold me back one bit. I don’t care what society has to say, I live my life to please me,” she said. “I have learned to love myself unconditionally. I have to feel comfortable in my own skin, in my own space. When I see the things that gay people go through, you have to love yourself first.” Angel has been working in catering for 20 years. It’s a skill she learnt by observing her mother in the kitchen. She nurtured it, turned her talent into a business and now dreams of owning a five-star restaurant. She believes that all trans persons should strive to attain economic independence and not depend on someone: “As my father always say, ‘It is better to teach a man to fish, than to give him a fish’. Trans persons s