Caribbean IRN Blog

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 ...

  Antigua and Barbuda Orden David and Women against Rape challenged the constitutionality of the laws which criminalised homosexuality in Antigua and Barbuda. The  Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court in the High Court of Justice ruled the laws unconstitutional. SASOD in Guyana claimed this a s a victory for all Caribbean people. CariFLAGS also welcomed the ruling, as did ECADE .  The Caribbean Observatory on Sexual and Reproductive Health a nd Rights also praised the judgement.   Citizenship In Cuba, a September Referendum on the new Family Code would be done to get the 'people's decision' on  same-sex marriage and  adoption by LGBTIQ+ families among other things. In the BVI , the BVI Christian Council lost their appeal in dealing with a same-sex marriage case. The Montserrat Christian Council said they oppose same sex marriage as the UK tries to make it legal in the overseas territories. A gender neutral person Natino Thompson questions Bahamas' Prime Mini...

  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 ...

Guyana Trans United leads March for Transgender Visibility - 31st March, 2019 , Georgetown, Guyana "Transgender rights are human rights" the marchers called as they walked past the Brickdam Police Station where many transwomen had been locked up , and passed the courts where transwomen were told to find God or asked to leave the court room. "I thought the Cathedral was a bar" one young transwoman who did not visit Georgetown regularly said as the marchers walked through the area around St George's Cathedral, in Guyana. Some Church people in Trinidad & Tobago object though, as the Church Council and Rebuild TT say that LGBTI people do not deserve human rights.  This all started when a politician, Bhoe Tewarie told religious groups to accept LGBT citizens. Politicians across the Caribbean seem to be coming out in support of their LGBT constituents. In St Kitts & Nevis, a young person asks Ministers about LGBT rights, and the Ministers said tha...

L: Cartoon Kaieteur News, 3 June, 2018; R Extract from Judgement in Jason Jones vs AG of Trinidad and Tobago and others Judgement On 12 April, 2018 Trinidad & Tobago, Justice Devindra Rampersad  ruled in favour of Jason Jones in declaring that the country's sodomy laws are unconstitutional. . The case and the judgement saw protests and counter-protests.  Writer Monique Roffey reflects on the circumstances of case, and describes the win in Trinidad and Tobago as  "A Win against Homophobia in the Caribbean" . There has been backlash as some persons have been fired from their jobs or evicted from their homes. Three Barbadians petition the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights against the 'buggery laws ' in Barbados. The Democratic Labour Party had protested gay marriage  as part of their campaign, but it seems the Barbados electorate rejected them entirely, and Barbados got its first woman Prime Minister who didn't really say much about LGB...

On Left - image from thepolitic.org , Right - image from San Pedro Sun Divergence Recent votes at the United Nations on the role and function of the SOGI expert show the tendency of the Caribbean to keep voting against gay rights at the UN. Global politics might be the reason as countries like Suriname which does not criminalise homosexuality and Guyana where the political parties committed to equality for all in the last elections seemed to succumb to things other than family values and colonial culture . Trinidadian Colin Robinson writes about being   thrown out of a meeting he was invited to by the Office of the Prime Minister.  He and others protested the lack of representation of communities affected by HIV/AIDS on the National AIDS Co-ordinating Committee. Jamaica continued to provide nuances to the story of the homophobic Caribbean. J FLAG celebrated its 18th Anniversary at the US Embassy in Jamaica, while Jamaican refugee Gareth Henry tells his story of ...

L-R Hon David Granger, President of Guyana; Hon Ronald Jones, Minister of Education, Barbados; Hon Ronald Thwaites, Minister of Education, Jamaica The President of Guyana, David Granger  made statements in support of LGBT rights, the Minister of Education in Jamaica , Rev Ronald Thwaites said that there is on place for bullying or discrimination in Jamaica's schools,   Minister of Education in Barbados , Ronald Jones in Parliament said 'Let's accept gays" even as others stay silent or call for preservation of the family. And if the University of the West Indies will be the place where future leaders will come from , then at least let them be from this year 's Council of the Student Guild  where they called on CARICOM Governments to review the buggery laws. In 1998, the Gay Cruises were not welcome in Belize, in 2 016  .."Over 3,000 gay couples and singles arrived on the Royal Caribbean Navigator Of the Seas today and they freely roamed the city str...

The message of loving the sinner from the persons who p rayed and worshiped against  homosexuality" at Half Way Tree, Kingston was different from the other citizens who tried to attack a gay man a few days earlier in the same spirit. However,  Sergeant Robert Cameron of the Jamaica Constabulary Force intervened and  "rescued" the gay man, Sky,  from the citizens who do not believe in loving the sinner.  The UK Prime Minister David Cameron also came in for some love from Christian citizens who believed he was on the island to push for gay marriage and repealing the buggery law. Cuba's LGBT citizens reportedly hoped for changes in the Catholic church on the visit of Papa Francisco to Cuba. Activist Alberto Guerra spoke about LGBT life at an event in Chicago. Prime Minister Keith Mitchell of Grenada also preaches about who should judge who in  Brooklyn New York, USA  (Kellon Bubb video) Colin Robinson has an interview on St Kitts & Nevis...

Pride Flag at Big Black Box formerly Bohemia, Woodbrook, Port of Spain, TT Image from Shane McCutcheon Kaieteur News in Guyana recognises gay citzenship in an editorial  calling for Divine Intervention in Guyana saying that "Let the familiar adage of “one hand washes the other” continue to ring true. Gay man, straight man, every man, every woman and child from every race or ethnicity; let us unite like we do in times of disaster and pray for our leaders to lead the country in the right path. " Caribbean newspapers wrote editorials related to the Same Sex marriage ruling in the USA.  The Jamaica Gleaner wrote A Matter of Fundamental Rights , In Trinidad & Tobago, The TT Express talked about The Right to Be Gay  and the TT Guardia n was more measured. Guyana Times  seems to lament that "The debate in Guyana on LGBT rights has lagged." as activists and advocates and others called fo r Visibility and Inclusivity on LGBT issue s. Other Caribbean...

The j udgement was handed down i n the cross-dressing challenge in Guyana, ruling that the law only applied when cross-dressing was for 'improper purpose' The judge also ruled that the Magistrate did not do anything wrong in recommending Jesus to the litigants.  The litigants plan to appeal. The commentary in Guyana included an editorial in the Kaieteur News on the separation of church and state  and an a nalysis from Dr Alissa Trotz  in which she notes about the litigants "Their advocacy asks us to consider whether the freedoms that some of us enjoy in the Caribbean are based on the unfreedom of others. Surely this is not the lesson to be learned from the struggles of our ancestors." Dr Rosamond King wrote Trans in Guyana: Recognised but not Protected ; Scott Long wrote   Decision on Guyana’s dress code: Teheran on the Caribbean  and Se-shauna Wheatle gave a summary in the article Criminalising Cross-Dressing in Guyana: Quincy McEwan et al vs. Attorney Ge...