Happy Holidays to All

Press Release: SASOD Child Protection Policy Launched

SASOD Child Protection Policy Launched – Initiative praised by Child Care and Protection Agency, UN and other partners.  

Georgetown – December 14, 2012

In what was deemed a ground-breaking initiative, the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD), yesterday, Thursday, December 13, 2012 launched its Child Protection Policy at Sidewalk Café. At the event, Secretary on the SASOD board of trustees, Zenita Nicholson, stated that the launch of the policy highlights SASOD’s commitment to the protection of children in Guyana. She spoke of reports of abuse and violence against children made to SASOD’s members and partners which propelled the organization towards this initiative. “It is in this vein that we recognized that the organization needs a Child Protection Policy to govern how we operate when our representatives encounter these situations,” she said.  Nicholson stated SASOD envisioned a society where every child has the right to grow and develop to their full potential in a secure, safe, environment, free from poverty and exploitation in their home, community, school and other institutions mandated to work with children.

The feature speaker, Teresa Gaime, Deputy Director of the Child Care and Protection Agency (CPPA) congratulated SASOD on the initiative saying, “child protection, we recognize, is everyone’s business and therefore the Agency wishes to welcome this initiative by SASOD who has really established a policy that would ensure that in their services and interactions with children, they will be handled with care.” She also encouraged other organizations to create a system that would allow for the protection of children.  

UNAIDS Country Coordinator, Roberto Brandt Campos, in his brief remarks also congratulated SASOD as he spoke of civil society organizations being a voice for the voiceless. He highlighted the link between child protection and the reduction of HIV. 

Also in attendance was Executive Director of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Marissa Lowden, who spoke of SASOD’s recent engagement with her organization to collaborate on future activities. She complimented SASOD on the launch of its Child Protection Policy.

Other attendees including members of SASOD echoed their congratulations to the organization and spoke of how proud they were to be a part of the historic occasion.

SASOD in collaboration with Help and Shelter conducted a child protection training last week at Lifeline Counseling Services, another partner of the organization, to train its members and partners on the new policy. SASOD praised Help and Shelter and Child Link for their support in helping to develop the policy.

SASOD’s Child Protection Policy was officially presently to the Child Care and Protection Agency, UNAIDS and other partners present at the event.

SASOD’s Trusteeship Secretary, Zenita Nicholson (right) presents its Child Protection Policy to Deputy Director of the Child Care and Protection Agency, Teresa Gaime (left)

The policy can be accessed online on SASOD’s website at:  http://www.sasod.org.gy/childprotectionpolicy

Launch of SASOD's Child Protection Policy

Opening Remarks by Sir Shridath Ramphal at the showing of the film

‘Call me Kuchu’:    London  - 28 November 2012

EQUAL MEMBERS OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF GOD

Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen.

My first words must be of thanks to Tim Otty for the generosity of his words of introduction.  I have been fortunate to have lived a life in which I was privileged to pursue noble causes like the one that brings us here tonight and in doing so to work with dedicated men and women like Tim.  I learnt that together, against the odds,  we could prevail.  If there is one message I could leave tonight, it is to counsel you that in this matter, too, we shall prevail. 

Not so long ago, a noble spirit of our time, with whom I had worked and prevailed in another cause, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, said in a United Nations context

‘all over the world, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are persecuted. They face violence, torture and criminal sanctions because of how they live and who they love.  We make them doubt  that they too are children of God – and this must be nearly the ultimate blasphemy’.

We make them doubt that they too are children of God !  In his inimical fashion, Desmond Tutu captured  the essence of the wrong we perpetrate upon these persecuted people.  How akin were his sentiments to those that the Anti Slavery Movement in this country turned into their slogan in the 19^th century when they cried out in the name of every slave ‘am I not a man, and a brother’!

The abolitionists were pilloried, but they prevailed.  The abomination was not their campaign, as the plantation owners complained,  but the evil of slavery itself.  The slaves too, every man, woman and child bound in chains, were also ‘children of God’.  The blasphemy was in the system. 

And was it any different in that cause in which I worked with Archbishop Tutu – the struggle against apartheid.  Were not its victims too – almost a whole nation -   also, all children of God?  Human history is replete with these blasphemies.

When the Lord Bishop of Leicester, spoke recently in the House of Lords, in the debate on the ‘Treatment of Homosexual Men and Women in the Developing World’, he mentioned something which touched a special cord within me when he likened that present treatment to the burning of witches in this country.  In my own ancestry, is a line through my mother’s side of the family which goes back to a settler in Barbados who sought his fortunes in Guyana.  His name was Nurse, and he was one of the Nurses who we believe came to Barbados from the new England Colonies as descendants of Rebecca Nurse fleeing the abominations of the witch hunts of Massachusetts, and of Salem in particular.  Rebecca was hanged – though later pardoned for the innocence of being herself.  The hand of evil reaches out beyond our imaginings –and over generations.

Let me add one thing more before I invite you to watch the moving film we shall see. 

It is a reminder that for most of the developing countries of the Commonwealth, the desecration of our fellow citizens began in the law.  The unreformed law of England was transported through criminal codes by imperial masters to far flung outposts of empire.  Starting with the imposition of Macaulay’s Indian Penal Code -  criminalising same- sex relations was to spread throughout the  empire to the point where today 42 of 54 Commonwealth countries have virtually the same legislation enacted almost as a matter of course by colonial administrators – not by the societies they governed. By the time reform came to Britain in 1967 under the influence of the Wolfenden Report, these jurisdictions were free of British control, and the attitudes that had followed the law remained with the law unreformed.   That law is still on our statute books – a relic of empire that has no place in a modern Commonwealth.   As with the abolition of slavery, the decriminalisation of homosexuality in our time must be an act of law. 

The wisdom of Sir John Wolfenden which he urged on Britain in 1957 is of universal application.  I remind you of it:

‘unless a deliberate attempt is made by society, acting through the agency of the law, to equate the sphere of crime with that of sin, there must remain a realm of private morality and immorality which is, In brief and crude terms, not the law’s business.’

That wisdom must now inspire us in the developing countries of the Commonwealth to rid ourselves of this archaic legal inheritance. We are here to call for that decriminalising act of law, and by it an end to the wrong we do to our brothers and sisters -  who are, like us, all members of what Dr Rowan Williams called ‘the commonwealth of God.’

Press Release: Human Rights Day 2012

December 9, 2012

In observance of World Human Rights Day, December 10, the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) stands with all who suffer violations of their human rights and echoes the theme for this year, set by the United Nations (UN) Office for the High Commissioner of Human Rights, which is: "Inclusion and the right to participate in public life." It aims to highlight the rights of all people to be included in decision-making processes and participate in public life. The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, in his Human Rights Day message stated “Everyone has the right to be heard and to shape the decisions that affect their community. This right is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and fully integrated in international law, especially in Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).” Not only has Guyana signed and ratified the ICCPR, it is directly into the Guyana constitution under Article 154A and therefore is part and parcel of the ‘supreme law of the land.’

Every human being is entitled to be treated fairly and equally, but yet in 21^st-century Guyana, archaic laws still exist which criminalize same-sex intimacy and cross-dressing while perpetuating many forms of discrimination and social stigma against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Guyanese. The appointment of a special select parliamentary committee to hold public consultations on these and other key human rights challenges, corporal and capital punishment, present a golden opportunity to emancipate Guyana from these colonial practices. But inclusivity and equality must be our guiding principles as the nation embarks on this process if we are serious about our commitment to human rights for all Guyanese. Public consultations should not be a euphemism for a popularity poll. As Article 13 of the Constitution of Guyana makes clear, “The principal objective of the political system of the State is to establish an inclusionary democracy by providing increasing opportunities for the participation of citizens, and their organisations in the management and decision-making processes of the State, with particular emphasis on those areas of decision-making that directly affect their well-being.” It is the people whose lives these laws directly affect who have the greatest stake in this issue and their voices must be heard and play a central role in this process. That is inclusivity in operation. And given the homophobic nature of Guyanese society, the state has a duty to create the conditions where LGBT Guyanese, their organisations and their allies feel safe and comfortable to come forward and participate meaningfully in this decision-making process, without fear of intimidation, stigma or discrimination. This is the real challenge we face as the process unfolds.

LGBT Guyanese continue to experience rights abuses in their daily lives. Youth continue to suffer homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools by their peers and those supervise them. They are being assaulted and verbally abused while others witness and do nothing to help. Many of their painful stories never make official reports because they fear retaliatory acts and re-victimisation by those who should protect them. Transgender folk continue to be harassed and extorted by the police to perform sexual favours. Discrimination impedes the rights to work, housing and health for many LGBT Guyanese. Our laws offer them no protection, but instead, brand them as unapprehended criminals for their private acts and choice of clothing. This must stop! Human rights are not a privilege; each and every one of us is entitled to them as human beings. We must all be treated fairly. Our rights must be protected, respected and fulfilled. Equal rights for all Guyanese must become a reality, and it is our human duty to speak out until it does.

---

ENDS

Media Contact:

Richard Pitman

Advocacy and Communication Officer: SASOD - Guyana

Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD)

169 Charlotte Street, 

Lacytown, Georgetown

Email: sasod.officer@gmail.com 

Website: http://www.sasod.org.gy

Phone: (592) 225-7283 (O); 600-5124 (C).

Guyana Equality Forum hosts “Walk for Equality” for Human Rights Day

December 7, 2012

Red Thread, Justice Institute Guyana and the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination, on behalf of the Guyana Equality Forum (GEF), all believe in the inherent dignity of each and every human being.

Human Rights Day, observed on December 10, is an opportunity to celebrate human rights, highlight challenges, and advocate for the full enjoyment of all human rights, for everyone, everywhere.

This year, the spotlight is on the rights of all people — women, youth, minorities, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, the poor and marginalised — to make their voices heard in public life and political decision-making processes.

Members of the public are invited to join our “Walk for Equality” with any banners, tee-shirts and posters reflecting support for full equality and human rights of all Guyanese.

The Walk for Equality will take place on Saturday, December 8, 2012. It will start at 15:30 hrs so persons are asked to gather at the assembly point in Parade Ground, Middle Street in good time. The route will take us west along Middle Street, south into Main Street; east into Church Road; south into Avenue of the Republic; continue south into High Street; east into Brickdam; north down Camp Street; west into Middle Street and ending at Parade Ground.

After the walk, representatives of the GEF convening organisations and guest speakers will share their messages for Human Rights Day with the gathering at Parade Ground.

Guyana Equality Forum hosts “Walk for Equality” for Human Rights Day

December 7, 2012

Red Thread, Justice Institute Guyana and the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination, on behalf of the Guyana Equality Forum (GEF), all believe in the inherent dignity of each and every human being.

Human Rights Day, observed on December 10, is an opportunity to celebrate human rights, highlight challenges, and advocate for the full enjoyment of all human rights, for everyone, everywhere.

This year, the spotlight is on the rights of all people — women, youth, minorities, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, the poor and marginalised — to make their voices heard in public life and political decision-making processes.

Members of the public are invited to join our “Walk for Equality” with any banners, tee-shirts and posters reflecting support for full equality and human rights of all Guyanese.

The Walk for Equality will take place on Saturday, December 8, 2012. It will start at 15:30 hrs so persons are asked to gather at the assembly point in Parade Ground, Middle Street in good time. The route will take us west along Middle Street, south into Main Street; east into Church Road; south into Avenue of the Republic; continue south into High Street; east into Brickdam; north down Camp Street; west into Middle Street and ending at Parade Ground.

After the walk, representatives of the GEF convening organisations and guest speakers will share their messages for Human Rights Day with the gathering at Parade Ground.

Guyana Equality Forum hosts “Walk for Equality” for Human Rights Day

December 7, 2012

Red Thread, Justice Institute Guyana and the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination, on behalf of the Guyana Equality Forum (GEF), all believe in the inherent dignity of each and every human being.

Human Rights Day, observed on December 10, is an opportunity to celebrate human rights, highlight challenges, and advocate for the full enjoyment of all human rights, for everyone, everywhere.

This year, the spotlight is on the rights of all people — women, youth, minorities, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, the poor and marginalised — to make their voices heard in public life and political decision-making processes.

Members of the public are invited to join our “Walk for Equality” with any banners, tee-shirts and posters reflecting support for full equality and human rights of all Guyanese.

The Walk for Equality will take place on Saturday, December 8, 2012. It will start at 15:30 hrs so persons are asked to gather at the assembly point in Parade Ground, Middle Street in good time. The route will take us west along Middle Street, south into Main Street; east into Church Road; south into Avenue of the Republic; continue south into High Street; east into Brickdam; north down Camp Street; west into Middle Street and ending at Parade Ground.

After the walk, representatives of the GEF convening organisations and guest speakers will share their messages for Human Rights Day with the gathering at Parade Ground.

National AIDS Committee warns against complacency on WAD 2012 - Stabroek News

AIDS Committee warns against complacency in fight against HIV

Posted By Stabroek staff On December 4, 2010

While the availability of anti-retroviral therapies (ART) has transformed HIV from a killer to a chronic condition, there are no grounds for complacency as such an attitude is most likely to undermine gains made in recent years in the fight against the epidemic, according to the National AIDS Committee (NAC).

In the meantime, the NAC contended that certain conclusions can be drawn from recent trends. The body pointed to "the need for legal and social action to de-criminalize outdated buggery laws and equally outdated religious attitudes to homosexuality; and operationalizing the need for more effective, evidence-based strategies to stop the feminization of HIV.

It added also the need for a resurgence of prevention strategies targeting young people, with an emphasis on relationships and respect as well as sexual and reproductive health.

After almost 30 years the HIV epidemic in the Caribbean has hit something of a plateau with numbers of People Living with HIV (PLHIV) slowly increasing as a result of the dramatic decline in AIDS-related deaths due to availability of ART, the NAC stated in a press release.

The body also pointed out that the most pressing priority under the universal access theme in Guyana must be reduction in new infections and this issue requires the Guyana government to finally face up to needed legal and social reforms, having secured universal access to treatment.

Transforming the virus from a killer to a chronic condition has been possible for an estimated 51% of PLHIV in the Caribbean, and owing to substantial overseas support made available by international funders, Guyana can make the claim of universal access to ARTs for PLHIV in need of them, the NAC noted.
These developments, however, offer no grounds for complacency.

In a recent speech, according to the release, former Surgeon-General of the United States (1982-1989) Dr Charles Everett Koch, also a keen advocate of sex education in schools, identified complacency as the attitude most likely to undermine gains made in recent years  in the fight against HIV.

"This warning is particularly appropriate in the Caribbean which remains the region with the highest incidence of HIV after sub-Saharan Africa," the NAC stated.

Feminization

Meanwhile, in Guyana and the English-speaking Caribbean in general, the areas of concern which ought to dispel any inclination towards complacency remains the feminization of the epidemic, stubborn resistance to introducing legal reforms in areas relating to men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM) and emerging problems with in-school youth.
Heterosexual women are slowly being recognized as a priority category, the NAC noted, while international priorities have in the past year began listing women as a vulnerable sector along with MSM, injecting drug users, and sex workers.

Unlike the other categories, however, no strategic priority is assigned programmatically to addressing women despite the feminization of the epidemic.
Women in Guyana are calculated, according to PANCAP, as 59% of the PLHIV.

Programmatically this is reflected nowhere and the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) programme, much lauded for its effectiveness, is inspired by protection of the unborn child, not the mother as a woman, the NAC observed.

Unlike categories such as security guards, miners, prisoners and blood donors, the real prevalence rate among heterosexual women is hard to find in the Guyana UNGASS Country Report. Of the estimated 58% of infected women a percentage is presumably accounted for by female sex workers whose prevalence rate is estimated at 16.6% (Guyana UNGASS Country Report) or 27% (PANCAP).

And the UNGASS Report has no statistics for condom use in heterosexual relations with a regular partner, "although it contains the most meaningless statistic on the indicator: the percentage of men and women who had more than one partner in the past twelve months and reported use of a condom during the last sexual encounter." (UNGASS 2009)

The vital link between coercive sexual activity within settled partnerships and the extent to which this contributes to new HIV infections can only be speculated upon, the NAC said.

Regular partners

"The fact that the number of women sexually active with more than one partner in the previous year was extremely low at 1.3% (Guyana UNGASS Report 2009) suggests that the great majority of women in Guyana acquire HIV from regular partners," the NAC stated.

The absence of such information compared to that available for small, even micro-sectors, "reinforces the impression that half of the population is virtually invisible to the priority-setting of both international agencies and national governments." Despite the rhetoric, therefore, there is no information in the Guyana UNGASS Report which sheds light on the feminization of HIV in Guyana.

For different reasons official statistics on MSM are equally unsatisfactory, the NAC said. Guyana's official statistics, for example, on the prevalence of HIV among men who have sex with men (MSM) is 19.4%, UNAIDS refers to between 20-32% and PANCAP does not provide a figure.

Sodomy laws

Figures for Jamaica and Trinidad are also estimated to be of a similar high order.  Earlier this year UNAIDS  drew a comparison  between these high prevalence rates in the English-speaking Caribbean and the low prevalence rates in the Dominican Republic (6.1%) and Cuba (1%), deducing that the abolition of sodomy laws in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean has led to reduced prevalence  of HIV among MSM.

A more logical reaction to the disparity between the English-and-Spanish-speaking MSM rates might be that the decriminalizing of homosexual activity allows for more accurate statistics to be collected.

In this case, the NAC said, the speculative rates in the English-speaking Caribbean would seem to be inflated. This suggestion is also supported by the information in the Guyana UNGASS Report 2009, to the effect that MSM have a 95% awareness of the link between condom use and risk of infection, and 75% levels of condom use.

"However, as long as homosexual activity  remains criminalized  and homophobia is fuelled by bigoted religious attitudes, speculation will continue to substitute for evidence in assigning HIV priorities," the NAC asserted.

The body noted also that Guyana, along with the rest of the English-speaking Caribbean, continues to reduce MSM to a technical issue, thereby avoiding taking steps to correct the reality of discrimination on the ground. And international agencies are not prepared to condition their financial assistance on law reform on this issue.
In-school children
The NAC said further that it is alarming to note the significant lowering of the age of first sexual experience reported in the Guyana 2009 UNGASS Country Report for the category of in-school children under the age of 15 years. Moreover, the category also manifested decreased knowledge of HIV prevention.

Article printed from Stabroek News: http://www.stabroeknews.com

URL to article: http://www.stabroeknews.com/2010/archives/12/04/aids-committee-warns-against-complacency-in-fight-against-hiv/

Walk for Equality

                                                    Walk for Equality:

                                        Saturday December 8, 2012 at 15.30 hrs

Red Thread, Justice Institute Guyana, the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination of the Guyana Equality Forum all believe in the inherent dignity of each and every human being.

Human Rights Day, observed on December 10, is an opportunity to celebrate human rights, highlight challenges, and advocate for the full enjoyment of all human rights, for everyone, everywhere.

This year, the spotlight is on the rights of all people — women, youth, minorities, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, the poor and marginalised — to make their voices heard in public life and political decision-making processes.

We invite you to join us on a “Walk for Equality” as an individual or as a member of your organisation. We invite you to bring your banners, tee-shirts and posters reflecting your support for equality and human rights.

The Walk for Equality will take place on Saturday, December 8, 2012. We will start at 15:30hrs so please join us at the assembly point in Parade Ground, Middle Street in good time. The route will take us west along Middle Street, south into Main Street; east into Church Road; south into Avenue of the Republic; continue south into High Street; east into Brickdam; north down Camp Street; west into Middle Street and ending at Parade Ground.

We look forward to your participation and support.

SASOD's Statement at the Help & Shelter's observance of IDEVAW 2012

International Day for the Elimination of 

Violence Against Women 2012

Statement at Help & Shelter Vigil 

November 25, 2012

The Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) stands with all women today as we observe International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. As the world observes this particular day many women are still suffering violence daily. Some are raped, some are subjected to physical, emotional and psychological abuse while some have the challenging task of moving beyond the abuse as survivors. In Guyana we continue to witness a pandemic of intimate-partner violence in the daily news across the local media as women continue to be abused and killed.

The prevention of gender-based violence needs to be high on the national agenda of our policy-makers, and education on this issue should be increased so that the message of zero tolerance for violence resonates more and more across the length and breadth of Guyana. Gender equality is not an ideal, but an imperative we must achieve for women to reach their full potential and live their lives independently and free from all violence.

We continue to see the psychological, emotional and economic effects of violence against women whether they are heterosexual, lesbian, bisexual or transgender women. Today, we should be encouraged to continue to vigorously campaign to raise awareness nationally and internationally to end all forms of gender-based violence, including homophobic and transphobic violence, by lobbying our leaders to prioritize actions to prosecute perpetrators, support survivors and break the cycles of violence.

To the women and girls who have lost their lives due to domestic violence, today we remember you. To the women and girls who continue to face violence in their daily lives, we hear your cry and we are here for you. To those who are survivors, we are thankful that you are alive and well today and we pray for your continued healing.  And even as we gather here today for International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, another Guyanese woman has lost her life at the hands of her male partner. Forty-year Indranie Sugrim of Cummings Lodge was killed by her husband today – five years into an abusive relationship, which relatives knew about. The killing of our women must stop! Domestic violence is everybody’s business. Indranie Sugrim could have been alive today if someone had intervened. Let’s observe a minute of silence for Indranie Sugrim and all the women we have lost to gender-based violence.

Thank you.

Richard Pitman

Advocacy and Communication Officer: SASOD - Guyana

Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD)

169 Charlotte Street, 

Lacytown, Georgetown

Email: sasod.officer@gmail.com 

Website: http://www.sasod.org.gy

Phone: (592) 225-7283 (O); 600-5124 (C).

Gov’t abdicating responsibilities in protecting rights of gay citizens - SASOD

Posted By Stabroek staff On November 4, 2012

GDF sanctioning of two female soldiers
Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon’s suggestion that the sanctioning of two female soldiers presents an opportunity for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons to press their case for decriminalisation is an abdication of the government’s responsibility to protect all of its citizens from discrimination, according to rights group SASOD.

“What this incident does demonstrate is that there is inadequate legal and constitutional protection and means of redress for discrimination based on sexual orientation in Guyana,” Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) Zenita Nicholson told Stabroek News.

Early last month, two female soldiers were reportedly sanctioned by the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) after a recording of them leaked to the public and went viral locally.
Luncheon said he was unable to provide a comment on behalf of the government because the issue has not been raised before the Defence Board, of which he is the Chairman.

Questioned on government’s stance on gays serving in the military, Luncheon told his last post-cabinet press briefing last week that he could not provide one, since the issue was not raised at the level of the Defence Board.

Said Luncheon, “We haven’t had this is at the level of the Defence Board; we haven’t had a specific solicitation from the Guyana Defence Force where this matter is concerned about gays serving in the military.”

However, he added that the recent case of the two women provided an opportunity for gay rights to be brought to the forefront and decisions made on a national level. “It is our contention this consultation that arose after our UPR (Universal Periodic Review) presentation in Geneva in 2010 and the foray to the parliamentary select committee would maybe I should say should provide… opportunities for this matter to be gotten into,” he said.

“Even if it didn’t… the gay community is not without a certain amount of resources, both domestic and international, to put over their viewpoint and I’m certain that the opportunity that these events provide would more than allow them, the community, to introduce aspects of the military and its position on gay soldiers and a national position on homosexuality,” he also said.

“I am happy, in a kind of a convoluted way, the event has contributed to fostering this appetite to deal with this issue,” Luncheon added.

Numerous efforts to contact GDF Chief-of-Staff Commodore Gary Best for comment proved futile.

SASOD feels that Luncheon’s nexus between the issue of the women in the army and the criminalizing of sex between males is a ruse to justify sanctions against the female soldiers. “Sex between women is not criminalised in Guyana, so it is unclear why Dr Luncheon makes this linkage between an apparent case of employment discrimination by the state, resulting in an unjust dismissal of two women and the decriminalisation of male-male sex and cross-dressing,” Nicholson said.

SASOD charged the GDF to uphold the constitution, which guarantees each and every citizen, including LGBT Guyanese, the right to equality. “While Dr Luncheon himself points out that employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is commonplace in Guyana and cites examples of teachers being dismissed, of which SASOD is also aware, he provides no solutions to avert these pervasive problems which attest to the government’s failure to meet its human rights obligations to all its citizens. The Guyana government itself is violating the rights of LGBT Guyanese,” the SASOD Secretary added.

Luncheon had indicated government was investigating the claim by at least five teachers who were disciplined or threatened with dismissal and who had appealed to the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) following the threats. He said that the TSC was investigating whether the teachers were engaging in pornography, since explicit sexual material of them had emerged in public.

Gay teachers in public schools are not new to the education system. When questioned, many who work in city schools said that they had been employed for almost two-and-a-half decades.

In commenting on the current case involving the soldiers, former Speaker of the National Assembly Ralph Ramkarran has criticised homophobia in the disciplined forces as well as the government’s evasive approach on the issue of same-sex relations.

Article printed from Stabroek News: http://www.stabroeknews.com

URL to article:http://www.stabroeknews.com/2012/news/stories/11/04/govt-abdicating-responsibilities-in-protecting-rights-of-gay-citizens-sasod/

Vacancy Announcement

SASOD/Equal Rights Trust 

VACANCY

Project Title: “Empowering civil society to address societal prejudice and undertake advocacy on discrimination against LGBT persons,”

Vacancies exist within Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) for the following positions:

Administrative Assistant:

The Administrative Assistant will be responsible for:

·         Clerical and general office services.

·         Supporting other project by performing administrative services.

·         Provision of logistical and administrative support for project activities.

Qualifications and Experience:

·         Minimum of 5 subjects CXC including English and Mathematics.

·         Relevant tertiary education or training.

·         Experience in a similar post.

Finance Assistant

The Finance Assistant will be responsible for:

·         Maintaining records of all project and other funds.

·         Managing petty cash.

·         Managing the disbursement of funds.

·         Procurement of goods and services.

·         Maintaining an asset register.

·         Preparation of financial reports.

Qualifications and Experience:

·         Minimum of CAT Level 1

·         Proven experience in the field.

·         Knowledge of procurement processes.

·         Experience working on projects and budget management would be an asset.

E-mail sasod.coordinator@gmail.com for Terms of Reference.

Applications accompanied by a statement of 150 words on LGBTI rights, must be submitted by October 11^th, 2012 via email only to:

Programme Coordinator, Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD).

Email: sasod.coordinator@gmail.com and copy to sasod_guyana@yahoo.com. 

SASOD urges action to stop homophobic bullying in school

Guyana Times article 

October 1, 2012 

By Danielle Campbell

The Society against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) has expressed dissatisfaction at a growing trend of bullying in both the public and private education system perpetrated on students perceived to be overweight, of a different race, or a certain sexual orientation.
As such, the organisation is again urging a comprehensive review of a broad range of policy statements and is calling for the development of clear guidelines with specific reference to the education sector.
During an interview with Guyana Times, SASOD co-chair Joel Simpson revealed that the organisation has received complaints from at least two young students, who have faced homophobic bullying – one at a senior secondary school in the city.

Joel Simpson

The society is attempting to have the information provided by the students, documented for research purposes.
"One of the challenges is that when these students are being harassed by classmates, they don't want to complain for fear of reprisal and further victimisation. So our strategy becomes to work with them just after school to see how we can address the issue in a systematic way," Simpson said.
He added that in such cases, school becomes a challenging environment to work in as there are no formal counselling mechanisms in place for support, guidance, and even solidarity when students face discrimination, harassment or any form of bullying.
The organisation was quick to point out that bullying does not have to be homophobic, but can range from racist remarks to jokes about size, stature, physical features, and deformities.
"We have seen in one particular instance where the school administration has sanctioned this type of bullying by sending a strong message that the confused student should change his orientation," Simpson remarked.
He described this dilemma as problematic and said this situation needs to be addressed at the policy level in terms of educating and training school administrations and to provide a mechanism for students to seek redress.
SASOD Secretary Zenita Nicholson emphasised that there is also no systems in place to deal with holding teachers accountable for allowing any form of bullying and even sanctioning and contributing to it.
Nicholson said when it comes to education and children, once a child is different, they are exposed to the worst forms of schoolyard bullyism and discrimination.
"If that child is too fidgety, let's label him as having Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or ADHT, and more or less if that child has a suspicion of a sexual orientation, they are called names and taunted and this is encouraged by some teachers."
She noted that when such incidences occur, it is very unfortunate since the child is not encouraged to study and may eventually drop out of school or even commit suicide.
Nicholson believes that this creates unequal rights to education, as well as an imbalance in the way bullied youths have access to schooling without interference.  "They deserve the equal opportunity to an unhindered education just like every child, regardless of their abilities or orientation," Nicholson said.

Cross-dressing and men in the closet
Speaking on the laws against cross-dressing, Nicholson said SASOD has received numerous complaints about police perpetuating crimes against lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transvestites (LGBT) who are found in default.
"Some policemen break into their homes, steal their wigs, and carry away their clothes and shoes. They harass them, demand sexual favours, and would even strip them naked on the seawalls and have them walk into the spotlight of their cars," she alleged.
Nicholson said these are reports that she has personally documented, and she is extremely saddened by this state of affairs.

Zenita Nicholson

She explained that during recent consultations, some officers in the disciplined services, who prefer to keep their orientations secret, have expressed embarrassment that their homosexual partners would point them out in public.
"One of the things they told me is that they didn't want to be identified on the street and they didn't want these men to be calling out to them when they are with their workmates.
"They believe that gay men needed to stay in the closet. They claim they needed to be homophobic when they meet their partners on the road, because if they admit to knowing them, their colleagues would subject them to the taunts of being gay."
Nicholson stated that so-called macho men would throw slurs at homosexuals during the day and seek them out for sex at night.

Homophobia
Commenting on the issue of homophobia, Simpson stated that psychological research has proven that one of the factors which drive violent homophobia is a fear within a person that they may have homosexual inclinations.
"Many times when we see people act out violently against gays, it is sometimes because they have struggles within themselves and may themselves be battling with homosexuality," Simpson stressed.
He believes that most of the responsibilities for addressing homophobia reside with state actors, since many of the difficulties surround "legislatory red tape", as homosexual behaviour is still considered criminal.
"So that cross-dressers who are stripped naked by police and placed to walk home in the headlamps of their cars would not want to make a report to police because the law says it's illegal to cross-dress.
"So how do we even start to address issues of justice, if the law already rules out certain lifestyles as criminal?" Simpson questioned.
He remarked that some gay men experience extortion at the hands of police, since they would opt to pay a bribe rather than face arrest or imprisonment.
"For them, the law accentuates the shame and stigma attached to certain behaviours.
This is what we need to change if we want to address the extortion, the harassment, the bribery, and discrimination that come with these issues," Simpson stressed.
He detailed that SASOD has been engaging the Guyana Police Force in an ongoing conversation and is working through all available avenues to continue its mandate of preventing discrimination.
The organisation has printed and distributed brochures on the police powers of arrest, search and questioning so that members who may have committed a crime would not face further violation of their rights due to ignorance.

Homosexuals can be cured
Simpson said the religious community and conservative elements are of the view that sexual orientation is a choice and can be corrected and cured. Referring to remarks by Pandit Reepu Daman Persaud, Simpson indicated that research from all parts of the globe has discounted this notion and has proven that attempts to fix homosexuals can cause severe damage to their psyche.
"There are people who struggle every day with homosexuality and trying to change who they are. Some eventually commit suicide and many of them live unhappy lives entering into heterosexual relationships which eventually lead to divorce.
"They don't last; they don't work out and years after when they have children, then they decide they need to face their true orientation. We see all these stories across the world and on Oprah," Simpson related.
He questioned which person in their right mind would choose to live a lesbian, gay, transvestite or bisexual lifestyle knowing the stigma and discrimination that comes with it.
"It doesn't make any sense to me who would choose the most difficult path when it's easier to just live a heterosexual life. So I think it's important that such messages be discounted and be called out for what they are – a psycho-social attempt to reform LGBT people which can be met with very, dire consequences."

Lobbying for law reform
Government recently tabled a motion which was passed in Parliament to hold countrywide consultations with the Guyanese people on three outstanding recommendations outlined by the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC), on the 2010 Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
The motion asked that a special select committee be established to hold consultations on the death penalty, corporal punishment, and homosexuality and present a report on the findings to the National Assembly.
"I think the parliamentary process will help to strengthen the consultations and how they are viewed. It's important, because it allows for participation from all the parliamentary political parties.
This is important if we are aiming for law reform to address many of the issues which relate to removing the discriminatory laws and policies," Simpson reiterated.
SASOD said it looks forward to when Parliament reopens on October 10.
"We are expecting that the communities directly affected by these laws, that there will be mechanisms for hearing these views and to have them play centre stage in these consultation process," Simpson pointed out.
The Constitution in Article 30 requires that people have a stake in the decisions that directly affect their lives.
"And because we are dealing with issues surrounding marginalised people, we are already starting from the perspective where these groups have less access to mainstream mechanisms… Many of these decisions are dominated by voices which do not have a stake in these issues," Simpson said.

Article can be found on the Guyana Times website at http://www.guyanatimesgy.com/sasod-urges-action-to-stop-homophobic-bullying-in-schools/

Regards,

Richard Pitman

Advocacy and Communication Officer: SASOD - Guyana

Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD)

169 Charlotte Street, 

Lacytown, Georgetown

Email: sasod.officer@gmail.com 

Website: http://www.sasod.org.gy

Phone: (592) 225-7283 (O); 600-5124 (C).

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.  - Martin Luther King Jr.