Caribbean IRN Blog

CENESEX Cuba image from Struggle La Lucha blog     Our thoughts are with all citizens affected by Hurricane Beryl.     All gorgeous gender s  The Dominica High Court has decriminalized consensual same-sex relations as the Government says the ban on buggery has not been lifted if the act is without consent. Daryll Phillip shares about the rest of the fight for liberation. Dominica, Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, St Kitts and Nevis and Trinidad & Tobago are the former British colonies who have since decriminalised consensual same-sex relations. The Barbados LGBTQ+ Coalition writes about the concerns for legal protectio ns as Barbados engages in the constitutional reform process.    CAISO publishes its report Insights 2023 speaking about the experiences of discrimination and violence in Trinidad & Tobago.      Gabriele Hosein writes on Discrimination against Transgender citizens in her Newsday column and Newsda...

Composite Image derived from Left - Cuba Conga 2023 Yamil Lage/AFP , Right - Barbados Pride from Barbados Today   Pride A conga against homophobia and transphobia was held in Cuba in May 2023 , returning for the first time since 2018.     Pride Month in June was commemorated by Pride Barbados , concluding in a march.  The Guyana Pride Festival was held in June and included the Pride Parade .   In July,  Pride Parade was held in Cayman Islands and in Martinique Pride Trinidad and Tobago was celebrated in July. St Lucia Pride Week was held in August for the fifth time. Pride Week in Belize was held in August., around the anniversary of the Court ruling which struck down the sodomy laws in Belize. The theme for Bermuda Pride was 'Homecoming'. Pride Ja was celebrated in August in Jamaica.  The Pride March in Guadelope had six persons.  The US Embassy in Bahamas raised the Pride Flag, and US Vice-President Kamala Harris reportedly e...

By Shivsharan Trasi - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,       Laws and rights The Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE) and the Saint Kitts Nevis Alliance for Equality (SKNAFE) welcomed the ruling of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court on 29 August, 2022 which said that the buggery laws were unconstitutional.     In December 2022, the S upreme Court of the Republic of Barbados ruled that similar legal provisions were unconstitutional. The Joint Court of Justice of Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba ruled in favour of  same-sex marriage in Aruba and Curaçao,   Colours Caribbean in Cayman Islands says the UK Privy Council ' continues to enable the oppression of LGBTQIA+ people in the Caribbean by reversing progressive lower court decisions and upholding the enforceability and constitutionality of anti-LGBTQIA+ laws in those states (most of which were themselves introduced by the UK)." But legislators in ...

   Visibility  The world seems to be easing out of the pandemic and Caribbean LGBTIQ+ continue their work for equal citizenship.  Does oil and gas mean anything for LGBTIQ+ Guyanese? Check P age 12 of the Stabroek News of 26 April, 2022 and offer an answer!  UNAIDS reports that Guyana's transgender community continues to call for an end to discrimination. Cuba continues the 'consultations' on the new family code which might open the door to gay marriage. Cuba's LGBTQ hotel opens up gay tourism in Cuba,  while a 'white gay cisgender' traveller lists Belize, Curaçao, Puerto Rico, Cartagena and St Barts as places where he felt safe. The Times UK puts Aruba on the list as well. Romanian activist Luca Istodor writes about an " Unlikely queer journey from Bucharest to Georgetown (Guyana) Our Circle in Belize spoke out against comments by the Minister of Religious Affair s in which he affirmed Christian Fundamental principles in public service. The Minister s...

Loss Brandy Rodriguez President of the Trinidad and Tobago Transgender Coalition died and activist groups remembered her work on HIV/AIDS and on dealing with other forms of discrimination .   Republics and homophobic laws Barbados became a Republic on 30 November2021 and activists expect that the colonial laws could be removed. Article 1 of the The Charter of Barbados which was debated in Parliamen t stated that "All Barbadians are born free and are equal in human dignity and rights regardless of age, race, ethnicity, faith, class, cultural and educational background, ability, sex, gender or sexual orientation." Barbados joins Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago as Caribbean Republics evolving from the British Empire. Guyana proudly maintained its anti-sodomy laws as part of its Republican status, Jason Jones was successful in his challenge to the Trinidad & Tobago Republican anti-sodomy laws. The Jamaican Minister of Health and Wellness called for an end to anti-LGBT di...

Extract from EL MATRIMONIO Y LA UNIÓN DE HECHO AFECTIVA COMO FUENTES DE CONSTITUCIÓN DE LAS FAMILIAS Changing costly laws  4.2 billion US Dollars is the cost of homophobia in the Caribbean according to a study published by Open for Business Caribbean.  Guyana Trans United organises a panel led by Candacy Gulliver McEwan, Alessandra Hereman ,  Annie Megnauth and Kenny Harrinarine to talk about the recent removal of the 'cross dressing' laws from Guyana's books and the impact on transgender lives in Guyana.   CAISO launches " Finding an Equal Place at Work : A Model LGBTI+ Workplace Policy for Trinidad & Tobago" In Cuba, version 22 of the draft Family Code opens up the definition of family to include families with same sex partners and unions of persons regardless of gender. The IOM publishes the "Guyana Needs Assessment on Migration Governance " i n which they note that "LGBTIQ+ migrants in Guyana remain in a vulnerable state as they are crimi...

L - From Sunday Graphic 12 July, 1959; R - Demerara Daily Chronicle 28 September , 1884  All male weddings The Demerara Daily Chronicle (Guyana) of 28 September, 1884 had a story " An Extraordinary Story : Alleged Marriage of two men in Camp Street " which started "It having been reported to us that a scandalous occurrence had taken place in Camp Street on Friday, we yesterday instituted close and searching inquiries into the truth of the extraordinary story which had been brought to our notice. This was, in short that two persons of the same sex had been parties to a so-called marriage ceremony...."  The rest of the story gives a glimpse into the lives of 'Aunty Men' at 19th century Guyana (British Guiana). A Letter to the Editor in September 1893 refers to 'outcasts in female attire' while the Police News in December 1894 report on men being charged for dressing in female attire for improper purpose.  These items were donated by Dr Jeremy Peretz...

  We are wired to love.. "..we're wired to love" Colin Robinson shared in one of his many discussions on love. Colin Robinson - activist, poet, hopeful citizen of Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean and the world died on March 4 2021.  Andil Gosine wrote his memorial column in Newsday TT. Gabrielle Hoosein also writes about Colin and his activism. Friends and family also shared L oving memories in a Life Portrait and Libation event which has been recorded on the CAISO TT Facebook page In Guyana, Namela Baynes-Henry died on March 25 2021. Namela worked in the media, a nd was also a strong ally and activist for LGBTIQ+ equality and in responding to HIV/AIDS.  She was a member of the Board of Trustees of SASOD . Rights and Politics The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights publishes its decision on the petition brought by Gareth Henry and Simone Edwards. The decision calls on Jamaica to repeal its sodomy laws.   Tina Brown and "Sean" who fled Jamaica ...

Message from Jamaica Gaily News Law In Barbados, there is talk that Barbados will recognise same-sex marriage as they relinquish the Queen. They seem to want to do this without decriminalizing sodomy. However, the Anglicans ,  Methodists and others were against it. Alexa Hoffman files a transgender discrimination case against the Government. The Jamaica Gleaner refers to Barbados in its Editorial : Conversations needed about the Buggery Law , even as " TVJ wins court battle against Gay Activist " . The Jamaica Observer seems to agree about the time to deal with Thorny Issues.  However the majority of Jamaicans in a poll want to keep the anti-sodomy laws. In Cayman Islands, a law allowing same-sex parternships comes into place. In Cayman , activists come under threat from an online group , even as the Police Commissioner does not seem to take the threats seriously. In Guyana,  SASOD launches a campaign a gainst cyber-bullying.   Just before the UNC lost ...

Politics In Jamaica, the People's National Party affirmed " its commitment to non-discrimination based on class, colour, creed or sexual orientation, " as it apologised for the homopohobic comments against MP of the Jamaica Labour Party. There was public outrage at the homophobic attacks. In Cayman Islands, MLA  Anthony Eden says that natural disasters and diseases are warnings over the gay lifestyle. In Guyana, the rainbow spreads over Elections 2020 as SASOD presents its LGBTQ Manifesto to the political parties. The agenda does not have anything like "Make Guyana Gay" or "destroy the family" and so most of the parties contesting the elections attend a Town Hall meeting organised by SASOD. The parties  presented a spectrum of positions on LGBTQ+ rights ranging from uncertainty and need for 'public consultation' to outright support . One party Peoples Republic Party is contesting with a manifesto which states "It...

Image from article "Men in Dresses - and a village is divided," The Sunday Chronicle, Sept 5 1971. Charlot Jeudy, Haiti Charlot Jeudy, leader of Kouraj was found dead on November 25, 2019. "Men in dresses" "Men in dresses - and a village is divided" is an article in a 1971 article in the Sunday Chronicle in Guyana. The story tells of Anita the Iceberg, Miss Diamond, Shakira, Penny and Miss Viking Queen who lived in Grove village, East Coast Demerara. This article was reported on by Akola Thompson in her  column The Minority Report in Stabroek News. The title of the column is" Trans history and remembrance: Beyond the stereotypes "  Almost five decades later, in Jamaica, Renaè Green and Donique Givans from Transwave Jamaica tell their stories of dealing with discrimination .  Neish Maclean shares his story in the Jamaica Gleaner, and makes the front page of the Sunday Magazine. In Guyana,  the CCJ ruling struck down the cross-dre...