Caribbean IRN Blog

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...

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...

Left (Snap shot from Guybow/Sherlina Nageer; Right - George Alleyne via CaribbeanLifeNews Pride  Pride celebrations continued in the Caribbean in Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, Barbados and Belize. The celebrations in Trinidad & Tobago  started with a flag raising. "amid resistance".  The six weeks of events ended with a parade , and in memory of Sasha Fierce , There was rich reporting and commentary in the Trinidadian media including a reflection by   on the Pride  and the anniversary of the coup; that tolerance is good for the economy , Angelique V Nixon , Caribbean IRN member , read a piece The story of resistance at the parade. (video from Silver Lining facebook page) B-GLAD in Barbados also had a month of activities   ending with the first pride parade on 22 July, 2018 Donya Piggot explained in  Barbados Today news clip. J-FLAG in Jamaica also had Pride celebrations The second Pride Week was celebrated in Belize ...

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 perso...

Photographer : Orpheao Griffith by Rae Wiltshire (Pheches (Joseph) Fraser is a litigant in the challenge to the cross-dressing law of Guyana. 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.) For Pheches Carlina, depression is being in Guyana: “Guyana is a very depressing country. It’s a nice and beautiful place but the thinking of the people is bad. Everything is a threat to them. If you’re black, you’re a threat to Indian. If you’re Indian, you’re a threat to black. To make it worse, if you’re gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, it is seen as out of the norm.” Pheches describes herself as a dominant person. This dominance has ensured her survival as a transgender wom...

Isabella (Seyon) Persaud is one of the litigants who brought the constitutional challenge to Guyana's Cross Dressing laws.

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 ...