“They were wrong then and they are wrong now” – British Envoy on Laws Criminalizing Same-Sex Intimacy at Media Launch of Guyana Pride Festival 2022

 

Georgetown, May 12, 2022

On May 11, 2022, the Guyana LGBTQ Coalition, comprised of the Guyana Rainbow Foundation (GuyBow), Guyana Trans United and SASOD Guyana, with support from Her Excellency Jane Miller OBE, British High Commissioner to Guyana, launched the Guyana Pride Festival 2022 ahead of the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOTB). 

In providing brief remarks, the British High Commissioner to Guyana, Jane Miller OBE noted that “the UK is very proud to be a champion for LGBT rights across the whole world. LGBT rights are fundamental human rights, and we are committed to the principle that everyone, everywhere, should be able to love the person they love and express themselves without fear of violence”.

The Pride Festival will be celebrated this year under the IDAHOTB theme, “Our Bodies, Our Lives, Our Rights.” Joel Simpson, Managing Director of SASOD Guyana, stated that the advocacy focus of this year’s Pride Festival would centre around sexual rights, noting that, “we want to draw attention to laws which criminalize same-sex intimacy; we know that these laws are colonial in nature and they are relics we inherited from colonial rule.” He shared that as part of the festival’s advocacy plans, there would be various opportunities during the course of the activities for there to be discussions around the impacts of the criminalization of sexual rights and how they particularly impact the LGBTIQ people in Guyana.

When asked what she thought about the laws criminalizing same-sex intimacy, High Commissioner Miller stated that “Guyana has inherited laws that were brought in many, many years ago, British laws, the UK has now repealed that. We now have very progressive laws in the UK that protect the rights of the LGBT community and there are many countries like Guyana where that has never changed. The UK has changed, and I am very proud of the fact that the UK has changed, which is why I am very proud to be championing the rights of the LGBT community. My view is that they [the laws] were wrong then and they are wrong now and I will do all I can to be championing changes that protect the rights of the LGBT community.”

Simpson stated that the festival would see “us celebrating ourselves, our communities and who we are and we are saying that we will not shy away, we will not cower in the face of stigma, discrimination and prejudice. We will stand proud because we are a part of the Guyanese society and we are championing a one Guyana these days and we believe that we are part of that one people, one nation and one destiny that is promised to everyone in this country.”

The Coalition presented that Guyana Pride will return to the streets of Georgetown in 2022 after 2 years of being confined to virtual Pride events due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of the Festival’s activities will be in-person events this year.

Guyana Pride Festival will open on Sunday, June 19, 2022, with a Virtual Inter-Faith Forum hosted in collaboration with the Caribbean Inter-Faith Network (CARIN) at 18:00hrs on SASOD Guyana’s social media pages. Then, on the night of Saturday, June 25, 2022, the Guyana Trans United will be hosting the much anticipated “Drag Fest” event, further details will be provided by the GTU in the coming days.

On the evening of Friday, July 1, 2022, the Coalition will host an “Open Mic” Night where attendees are invited to take the stage to showcase their talents in music, dance, poetry, prose, spoken word and other art forms. On Monday, July 4, 2022, SASOD Guyana will host a Movie Night.

On the following Friday, July 8, 2022, the Coalition will also be hosting a Games Night which will see competitors battling to win a number of exciting prizes. Then, in the afternoon of Sunday, July 10, 2022, GTU will be hosting a Tea Party and Hat Show. The following day on Monday, July 11, 2022, GuyBow will host the Pride Symposium which is slated to start at 17:00hrs.

Finally, Pride 2022 will conclude on Saturday July 16, 2022, with the two of the most anticipated events: Pride Parade 2022 and the Pride Party. As customary, the Pride Parade will move off from the Parade Ground at Middle and Carmichael Streets at 14:30hrs and is set to conclude at the Square of the Revolution. GuyBow will then host the Pride Party from 21:00hrs at Cocktails Hotspot Bar and Grill on High Street, Kingston. 

The calendar of events and details of all activities will be available on the social media pages of the members of the Guyana LGBTQ Coalition: GuyBow, GTU and SASOD Guyana.

Please access the live streamed event here: https://youtu.be/EAD28OobzG8