Caribbean IRN Blog

St Lucia  The Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE) alongside United and Strong welcomed the ruling of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court which struck down St Lucia's 'buggery' laws . This is the latest ruling in a five country challenge brought by ECADE. St Lucia joins Barbados, Belize, St Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, and Dominica in creating what ECADE's Kenita Placide described as a vision   " .. that our Caribbean can and must be a place where all people are free and equal under the law."  Exclusion, inclusion and gay sex without marriage In Trinidad and Tobago , Dr Terrence Farrell writes about the 'savings law' clause which the Court of Appeal used to preserve t he colonial homophobia despite the 2018 judgement w hich struck down the buggery laws.  The TT Pride Parade 2025 was described as lively . In StPride SVG was held for the third yea r , organised by Equal Rights and Opportunities SVG and others.  In Ba...

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...

 Spiritual Work  "Spiritual work, 100% guaranteed .gay lovers togetherness.. lesbians together .." is advertised in the Sunday Chronicle in Guyana in the Spirituality section.   The healer though probably needs to help the Government of Guyana as the United Nations Human Rights Committee recommends among other things that : "Adopt comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation that explicitly addresses all spheres of life and prohibits direct, indirect, and intersectional discrimination on all grounds including race, ethnicity, age, nationality, religion, migration status, disability, sexual orientation, and gender identity, and ensure access to effective and appropriate remedies for victims of discrimination; Combat violence and discrimination against persons based on their sexual orientation and gender identity and ensure that offences motivated by the victim’s sexual orientation, or real or perceived gender identity are investigated promptly and establish specifi...

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...

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...

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...

L - Image from BBC News , R - Image from Nation News Barbados Pride in the Caribbean Police arrested LGBT Cubans who decided to march against homophobia , after the Cuban government cancelled the IDAHOBIT  March. The organising committee though said the other activities in academic spaces would continue. NOW Grenada features GrenChap on the 17 May. In Guyana, the pride events and the Pride parade  went ahead without any challenges. While t he Trump administration might be seen to answering the prayers of some Caribbean Christian leaders to save them from gay marriage ,  the US Embassy in Belmopan, Belize held a Pride Month celebration .  In Guyana, the US Ambassador spoke at a IDAHOBIT cocktail. Guyana's Pride celebrations are part of  an article about Global Pride events .  Vogue features Zeleca Julien from Trinidad&Tobago as one of the "LGBTQ voices around the world which would not be silenced."  Jamaica born Stacey Ann Chin is...

Second Photo (Guyana Trans United) - Protest in 2016 against the actions of Magistrate Dylon Bess Difference  In November, 2018 the Caribbean Court of Justice ruled that the cross-dressing laws in Guyana were unconstitutiona l. After the appeal filed by Gulliver (Quincy) McEwan, Isabella (Seyon) Persaud, Angel (Seon) Clarke and Pheches (Joseph) Fraser and SASOD, Quincy McEwan explained the ruling in a TV interview Tracy Robinson and Arif Bulkan from the University of the West Indies reflected on the case during the seminar Modern Vagrancies, LGBTQI lives, Discrimination and Strategic Litigation in the Caribbean  . Caribbean Solidarity Network shared the video. Prime Minister Nagamootoo said that Guyana 'respects the ruling'. The ruling generated some regional responses. The Jamaica Gleaner  editorialised "Judicial Courage and the Buggery Law"  . In Trinidad & Tobago, Colin Robinson wrote about the CCJ being a 'small man court" , and Ga...