In observance of the International Day Against Homophobia,
Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOTB) on May 17, the United States Embassy
in collaboration with Guyana’s Society Against Sexual Orientation
Discrimination (SASOD Guyana) hosted a reception at Aura Sky Lounge, Pegasus
Hotel Guyana, on Wednesday, May 15, 2019, to celebrate recent victories.
Guyana’s lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) movement has had some small triumphs over the
past year. Guyana was the first country in the English-speaking Caribbean to
host a Pride Parade in early June last year. And then in November, the Caribbean
Court of Justice, Guyana’s highest court, delivered a landmark decision
declaring a colonial-era law against ´cross-dressing’ unconstitutional and
striking it down. On World Day for Social Justice on February 20 this year,
SASOD Guyana closed its first phase of two-day training workshops where 153
police officers from all across the country were trained in Gender, Sexuality
and Human Rights.
In
her opening remakes Her Excellency Sarah-Ann
Lynch, US Ambassador to Guyana, posited, “In Guyana and many
other parts of the world, members of the LGBT community have sometimes faced violence,
harassment, intimidation, and disregard of their basic human rights. More
troubling is the fact that despite being signatories to the many United Nations
human rights agreements, many governments still seem far from establishing real
legal protections for members of the LGBT community.” “[However,] Gay rights are
human rights [and] If we as a society are committed to ensuring that all people
are respected and treated equally, then it is imperative to remember that this
includes the LGBT community as well. Justice and protection must be for all.”
US Ambassador Sarah-Ann Lynch delivering opening remarks at the reception.
The
Ambassador commended SASOD Guyana for leading the effort to bring about
judicial and legislative change to ensure justice and protection for all
Guyanese. “We are encouraged by the small triumphs for the gay community in
Guyana recently,” Ambassador Lynch added. “The Government of Guyana has
signaled a softer tone towards the LGBT community, permitting the first gay
pride parade in June 2018. We commend
the government for its support. And last
November, the Government said that it respects the Caribbean Court of Justice’s
landmark decision that found that the Guyanese law against cross-dressing was
unconstitutional. These are slow but
promising changes in attitude at the national level,” Ambassador Lynch
remarked.
US Ambassador Sarah-Ann Lynch (second from left) delivers opening remarks while US Deputy Chief of Mission Terry Steers-Gonzalez (left), First Lady Sandra Granger (second from right) and SASOD Guyana’s Managing Director Joel Simpson (right) listen from the stage.
Speaking
on behalf of SASOD Guyana, Managing Director Joel Simpson echoed Ambassador
Lynch that IDAHOTB 2019 was a moment for Guyana to celebrate the recent LGBTQ+ victories.
Simpson, however, noted that the struggle for non-discrimination and equality
still continues as LGBTQ+ Guyanese face violence and discrimination in every the sector of their lives. He reminded the gathering that Guyana’s laws still
criminalize same-sex intimacy between consenting adult men and that
colonial-era “small crimes” like vagrancy and loitering target “the poorest of
the poor” in society. Simpson mentioned the social and economic challenges that
LGBTQ+ persons face accessing public transportation, education, healthcare and
work in the formal economy. He noted that the IDAHOTB 2019 theme which is
“Justice and Protection for All” is timely as SASOD Guyana is proposing a simple amendment to the Prevention of Discrimination Act 1997 to include sexual
orientation, gender identity and gender expression as categories of protection
from discrimination. While alerting the gathering that the 1997 Act only deals
with discrimination in relation to the right to work, Simpson posited that just
adding those three terms would be an important first step in providing
legislative protection from discrimination for LGBTQ+ Guyanese who face social
and institutional discrimination and have no specific recourse under the law.
In the foreground, First Lady Sandra Granger (left), US Ambassador Sarah-Ann Lynch (middle) and SASOD Guyana’s Managing Director Joel Simpson (right) sharing a light moment with some of SASOD Guyana’s Board Directors (in the background).
