International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia (IDAHO) 2011

SASOD launches cross-dressing documentary and ‘soft’ launches quarterly newsletter for International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia (IDAHO)

WHO: SASOD with support from the Caribbean Treatment Action Group (CTAG)

WHAT: Launch of “My Wardrobe, My Right” video documentary and ‘soft’ launch of the inaugural edition of quarterly newsletter, “Spectrum Vibes,” with feature remarks by His Excellency Simon Bond, British High Commissioner to Guyana

WHERE: Sidewalk Café & Jazz Club, 176 Middle Street, Georgetown

WHEN: International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia (IDAHO), Tuesday, May 17 at 10:00 hrs

WHY: SASOD with support from CTAG, the regional funding and advocacy mechanism of the Collaborative Fund for HIV Treatment Preparedness - A Project of the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC) and TIDES Network – is producing a series of video documentaries. On the occasion of IDAHO 2011, SASOD launches the first in the series, “My Wardrobe, My Right” which examines the criminalization of cross-dressing in Guyana. SASOD also takes the opportunity of IDAHO to ‘soft’ launch the inaugural issue of its quarterly newsletter, “Spectrum Vibes,” which is dedicated to the life and work of the late Dr. Robert Carr, who passed away last week. Dr. Carr was the director of advocacy and policy of the International Council of AIDS Service Organisations (ICASO), co-chair of the Global Forum on MSM and HIV (MSMGF), founder, co-chair and first executive director of the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC), former executive director of Jamaica AIDS Support and former coordinator of the Graduate Studies Unit at the Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication (CARIMAC) University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, among many other affiliations.

Information Note on IDAHO Launch of “My Wardrobe, My Right” Video Documentary

What is IDAHO?

On May 17, over 50 countries around the world celebrate the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO), marking the anniversary of one of the most powerful steps in advancing human rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people globally – the declassification of homosexuality as a mental illness by the World Health Organization 21 years ago. IDAHO is recognized by the State in a number of countries, including Brazil and Cuba, which includes a month of government-sponsored activities, and is observed in Jamaica and in Guyana, this year for the sixth year. IDAHO is a global collaboration to take local action to engage violence, stigma, unequal treatment and state oppression, including criminal laws, that target people on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity. It is an occasion to call for and demonstrate political action, to build public awareness, and to mobilize alliances within and across borders. The international celebration of a day against homophobia was spearheaded by a Caribbean man, Martiniquan Georges-Louis Tin.

What is this SASOD/CTAG video-documentary about?

The goal is to create a more supportive socio-cultural environment for sexual and gender minorities through public education efforts which aim to mitigate stigma faced by these marginalized groups. It aims to create a supportive infrastructure by building a more enabling socio-cultural environment which encourages ordinary people to embrace these groups who are stigmatized because of sexual taboos and gender non-conformity. It is envisaged that this locally-made film, which can have a wide reach and mass appeal, will buttress other ongoing efforts to build supportive infrastructure through policy and law reform, training and skills-building by various stakeholders. Film technology provides an invaluable tool to humanize these taboo issues in mainstream television media and address sensitive areas where lack of knowledge is pervasive among Guyanese and Caribbean people.

Guyana’s laws criminalise cross-dressing. Section 153 (1) (xlvii) of the Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act Chapter 8:02 which makes an offence of “being a man, in any public way or public place, for any improper purpose, appears in female attire, or being a woman, in any public way or public place, for any improper purpose, appears in male attire… ” This antiquated piece of legislation dates back to the 19^th century, colonial period, but is still being selectively enforced today – in the 21^st century. In 2006, Ronell Trotman, better known as ‘Pertonella,’ a cross-dressing sex worker, was fined for vagrancy and wearing female attire; $5000 for each offence (Stabroek News, Tuesday 16 May 2006). And then between February 6 and 10, 2009, police detained at least eight people, some of them twice, charging seven of them under section 153 (1) (xlvii) of the Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act Chapter 8:02. The first arrests took place on February 6, when plainclothes policemen detained three persons in downtown Georgetown, near Stabroek Market. On February 7, the police detained five more. In both occasions, the then acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson fined the detainees GY$7,500 each. On February 10, the police detained four people; three of whom had been among those arrested on February 6 and 7. In court, when handing down the sentence, the then acting Chief Magistrate Robertson told the detainees they were not women but men and exhorted them to “go to church and give their lives to Christ.”

Laws which penalize cross-dressing effectively criminalize persons whose ways of expressing themselves, in their manner of dressing, goes against certain stereotypical expectations for gender roles. In this regard, dressing, as a form of gender expression, is a question of freedom of expression. Laws against cross-dressing therefore violate the right to freedom of expression, as all persons have the right to express their gender freely through the way in which they dress. These insidious provisions should therefore be urgently expunged from the law books given their contravention of basic, democratic freedoms.

On February 19, 2010, the eve of World Day of Social Justice, four cross-dressers and SASOD filed a notice of motion before the Supreme Court of Judicature for redress claiming, among other relief, to have section 153(1)(xlvii) of the Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act, Chapter 8:02, invalidated as irrational, discriminatory, undemocratic, contrary to the rule of law and unconstitutional. The matter is sub judice, presently before the High Court.

“My Wardrobe, My Right” explores these issues related to the criminalization of cross-dressing in Guyana. It captures the stories of two of the cross-dressers who were victims of the February 2009 crackdowns and the views of SASOD and one of the human rights attorneys representing the litigants in the constitutional suit against Guyana’s laws which penalise cross-dressing.

Submission to the Global Commission on HIV and the Law

Submission to the Global Commission on HIV and the Law

Contact Details

Name of Authors: Anton Rocke and Joel Simpson

Name of Organisation: Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination

Are you submitting as an Individual or on behalf of an organisation?

Answer: Organisation

Please note that you can only make 1 submission per person and per organisation.

Phone Numbers: (Office) +592-226-5155; (Cellular)+592-623-5155.

Email addresses: sasod.officer@gmail.com and sasod.manager@gmail.com

Website: www.sasod.org.gy

Date of submission: March 14, 2011

Address: CIDA PSU Building – 56 Main and New Market Streets, North Cummingsburg

City: Georgetown

Country: Guyana

Laws and practices that effectively criminalise people vulnerable to HIV

In Guyana, sex workers suffer violence and discrimination on a constant basis. This is supported by the UNAIDS report - “Whoring,’ ‘Boopsing,’ and Other Business: A Situational Analysis of Sex Work and the Sex Industry in the CARICOM” which categorises the physical violence and harassment that sex workers experience, because of the type of work they do, into two main groups of perpetrators: police and non-state actors.[1] Guyana’s laws criminalize cross-dressing, consensual sex between men and aspects of sex work, thereby making vulnerable, these groups, transgenders, gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men and sex workers, to discrimination which causes disempowerment, barriers to effective prevention, treatment, care and support services, thereby exacerbating their vulnerability to HIV.

Under Section 166 of the Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act 1894, of the Laws of Guyana, every person who:

a) being a male person, knowingly lives wholly or in part on the earnings of prostitution; or

b) being a male person, in any public place persistently solicits or importunes for immoral purposes; or

c) loiters about, or importunes any person in, any street or other public place for the purpose of prostitution.

Transgender persons are criminalised for expressing their identity by ‘cross-dressing’ under section 153 of the Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act, Laws of Guyana, which establishes as an offence:

“being a man, in any public way or public place, for any improper purpose, appears in female attire or being a woman, in any public way or public place, for any improper purpose, appears in male attire… ”[2]

This denial violates the right to freedom of expression, the right to privacy and personal dignity and gives tacit approval to the frequent attacks cross-dressers face in the streets, especially at nights.

(1) Police Assault and Abuse:

In Guyana, police have been accused by cross-dressers of harassment and physical violence. Transgender sex workers reported to SASOD that police often extort sexual favours from them, and even rape and brutalize them. Most of the cases are not reported to the police, due to the lack of confidence in their response. “Petronella,” (alias) a cross-dressing sex worker, that some police further participate in the harassment of gay men on the streets, adding that there is no recourse to complain since the existing laws criminalize consensual sex between men and cross-dressing.

In February, 2009, seven persons were charged for cross-dressing. The charges were not dropped and the seven were each fined for the offence. The detainees reported to SASOD, that police refused to allow them to make a phone call or to contact a lawyer. They were photographed by police and then told to take off all of their “woman clothes” in front of several police officers. One defendant stated that “after stripping [us] the police told us to bend down and they search us as if to make fun of us and our sexuality.”

The cross-dressers also reported that they were ordered to put on “man clothes.” Police kept five of the seven in solitary confinement until the day of the trial, contending that it was for their safety. In court, when handing down the sentences, the then acting Chief Magistrate Robertson told the detainees they were not women but men, and exhorted them to “go to church and give their lives to Christ.”[3]

Some police have reportedly used the existence of the laws for extortion. Males who are found in compromising positions are made to pay bribes rather than face charges and the possibility of prosecution. Although consensual same-sex activity between adult men is difficult to prove, the damage is really in the accusation itself because of the stigma attached to homosexuality.

(2) Abuses by Non-Sate Actors

Sex workers in Guyana, and other parts of the world, face disproportionate levels of violence which is often unreported. The assault, battery, rape and even murder of sex workers, which is all too common in the industry, goes unnoticed because of the existing legal framework around the profession which prevents sex workers from reporting violence. The stigma and discrimination perpetuated by sex-work related offences has made violence against sex workers acceptable.

SASOD is a founding partner in the Guyana Sex Work Coalition and recalls the violence faced by a female sex worker at the hands of a male client:

“Soon as the sex was over, this man started slapping and cuffing me up and he empty my purse and take away all my money, not just what he pay me,” recounted a female sex worker based in New Amsterdam, who had been assaulted and robbed by a client, to an advocate at United Bricklayers, a local AIDS-prevention, community-based organization. “Now how could I go to the police and make a report when sex work is not really legal,” she added.

The Terborg (2006) report, which details interviews with female, gay male and cross-dressing sex workers, concluded that the majority felt rejected by society.[4] An interviewee stated:

“Society doesn’t try in any way to understand the position of gays. I have experienced stigma and discrimination when looking for a job. When I went to a store for a job and the proprietor told me to find my own work, then, chased me’!

Some people want to appear to be non-judgmental and still want to find out why you are like that.”

Social stigma and discrimination based on gender identity is common in many parts of the Caribbean, including Guyana, and in some cases resulting in violent attacks, some of them fatal, against people perceived to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.[5] In 2003, during a debate to revise Article 149 of the Constitution to include a ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation, SASOD and other civic organizations supported the move to prohibit such discrimination but some sections of the religious community and the bill was never voted on, as the government presented but did not support it.

Men who have Sex with Men (MSM)

In Guyana, the Criminal Law Offences Act (8:01) under section 351 criminalizes consensual sexual activity between men while Sections 352 and 353 criminalizes 'buggery'. The laws do not distinguish consensual and non-consensual acts.

The existence of these laws reduces access to treatment, care and prevention services by men who have sex with men. These so-called ‘sodomy laws’ facilitate discrimination within the health and social services sectors. Moreover, these laws therefore place an added burden on the health sector and this is an additional reason to repeal them.

According to Amnesty International, “discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, including men who have sex with men, manifests itself in a number of ways including the criminalization of same-sex relationships. Men who have sex with men often face additional stigma because of the incidence of HIV/AIDS in gay men and the history of the pandemic that was initially associated mainly with gay men in the global North.”[6]

The latest surveillance study finds a HIV prevalence of 19.4% among MSM,[7] which is ten times the national average, according to UNAIDS estimates. The Government of Guyana has also acknowledged that MSM are also a vulnerable group. The problem is that there is an inconsistent response to sexual and gender minorities who are in need of healthcare and related social services since there is an accepted norm of discrimination. There are some healthcare professionals who would exercise their own discretion in terms of how they treat sexual and gender minorities. Persons who are discriminated against do not have recourse to any remedies within the health system.

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[1] Kempadoo, Kamala, et al. ‘Whoring,’ ‘boopsing,’ and other business: A Situation Analysis of Sex Work and the Sex Industry in the CARICOM - Final Report, page 88. UNAIDS, Caribbean.

[2] Laws of Guyana, Chapter 8:02, Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act; Section 153, (1)(xlvii), In: http://www.gina.gov.gy/gina_pub/laws/Laws/cap802.pdf

[3]http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2009/03/07/halt-abuse-of-transgenders-%E2%80%94-human-rights-group/

[4] Terborg, J. Report on HIV Prevention and Care among FSW and MSM in Georgetown, Guyana, 2006, pg. 75.

[5] Human Rights Watch, Hated to Death: Homophobia, Violence and Jamaica’s HIV/AIDS Epidemic. New York 2004. Available at: http://hrw.org/reports/2004/jamaica1104

[6] Amnesty International, Report on HIV/AIDS in Guyana and the Dominican Republic. AI Index: AMR 01/002/2006

[7]Ministry of Health, Guyana Behavioural Surveillance Survey 2008/2009 Report, page 60.

Vintage Mash' Costume Party - Feb 18, 2011

CARIBBEAN GROUPS JOIN INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY IN SALUTING MURDERED AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS WORKER

Caribbean associations working on reproductive, sexuality and HIV issues have issued a brief joint statement of condolence and tribute to the life of slain Sexual Minorities Uganda human rights defender David Kato. The statement, signed by over 25 groups in 16 territories, calls attention, in the United Nations Year of People of African Descent, to Kato’s international inspiration as an African defender of sexual rights. It notes the continuing danger that sexuality, and the human rights defenders who work in this area, face in the Caribbean and elsewhere; and Governments’ failure to champion people’s freedom over their own bodies when it comes to sexuality.

In the face of a proposal in the Uganda parliament to execute citizens for consensual homosexual acts and a clergy-led campaign to whip up animosity against gay sexuality, several Ugandan human rights groups have fought back. Kato’s picture, captioned “Hang Them” was featured on the cover of tabloid Rolling Stone in November, one of a number of instances of media attempts to “out” gay and lesbian people, several of whom, like him, received death threats and other harassment. He and others successfully sued for damages, and the courts blocked the paper from further outing three weeks ago. On January 26, he reportedly suffered blows to his head with a hammer in his residence, and died. The European Union, United States President Barack Obama and others have condemned the killing and paid tribute to Kato’s work.

Across the Caribbean, those of us who knew Sexual Minorities Uganda advocacy officer David Kato Kisule as a friend, as well as those who only read of his work, are deeply moved by his powerful and courageous life. As fellow sexual rights advocates, we convey deepest condolences to all his loved ones and fellow activists on his awful murder. We have been horrified by the inhumanity and hysteria of Uganda’s parliamentary, media and clergy campaigns to deny gay people like David the simple right to liberty, privacy, dignity and joy. We join others throughout the African diaspora in our pride in David’s conviction and passion as an outspoken African champion of sexual autonomy – even when it put his liberty and life in great danger – and his record as an internationally recognized human rights defender. His inspiration stretches around the globe to those who also struggle against ignorance, indifference and violence to create countries and a world where everyone can enjoy our sexuality as something good and wholesome and worthwhile, free from shame and coercion.

Were it not for advocacy late last year, 13 Caribbean countries would have allowed “sexual orientation” to be removed from an international statement of commitment to protect persons from unlawful killing because of who they are. David’s death, following threats against his life, is a gripping reminder of the importance of those protections, and a sobering one of how much more work needs to be done to give people the right to freedom over their bodies in places like Africa and the Caribbean, where battles against slavery, colonialism, racism, apartheid, genocide, gender inequality and religious persecution ought to have taught us better lessons. David’s life and death are reason to renew international commitment to sexual rights, to increase our vigilance for our colleagues in danger in Uganda. We respectfully urge Uganda’s politicians, media and clergy and international Christian advocates who have become entangled in this hostility to seize the opportunity to bring an end to yet another painful chapter of intergroup violence in Africa.

AIDS Action Foundation – St. Lucia • AIDS Free World • ALFA: Alternative Life Foundation Aruba • Alianza GTH – República Dominicana • Amigos Siempre Amigos – República Dominicana • ASPIRE: Advocates for Safe Parenthood-Improving Reproductive Equity – Trinidad & Tobago • Barbados Family Planning Association • Belize Family Life Association • Belize National AIDS Commission • CAISO: Coalition Advocating for Inclusion of Sexual Orientation – Trinidad & Tobago • Caribbean Family Planning Affiliation • Caribbean Harm Reduction Coalition • Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition • CariFLAGS: Caribbean Forum for Liberation & Acceptance of Genders & Sexualities • DiBo: Diversity Bonaire • DominicaChaps • Family Planning Association of Trinidad & Tobago • Foko Curaçao Pride • Fondation SEROvie – Haiti • GrenCHAP – Grenada • J-FLAG: Jamaica Forum for Lesbians All-Sexuals and Gays • MOVADAC: Movement Against Discrimination Action Committee – Barbados • Pink Orange Dutch Caribbean LGBTI Alliance • Pride In Action – Jamaica • RevASA: Red de Voluntarios de ASA – República Dominicana • SASOD: Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination – Guyana • SASH Bahamas: Society Against STIs & HIV • Tjenbé Rèd: Fédération de lutte contre les racismes, les homophobies & le sida issue des communautés afrocaribéennes • UniBAM: United Belize Advocacy Movement • United and Strong – St. Lucia • Women Against Rape, Inc – Antigua • Women’s Institute for Alternative Development – Trinidad & Tobago • Women Way – Suriname

Call on Guyana to vote at the UN to condemn extra judicial killings of LGBT people

This coming Monday, December 20, the United Nations General Assembly will vote on whether to include protection for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in a crucial resolution on extra-judicial executions and other unlawful killings.
For the past 10 years, this resolution has urged states “to investigate promptly and thoroughly all killings, including… all killings committed for any discriminatory reason, including sexual orientation.” It is the only UN resolution to ever include an explicit reference to sexual orientation. Just last month, Guyana voted with a number of states to remove the reference to sexual orientation from this important resolution.
States will have the opportunity to restore the reference to sexual orientation – and hopefully extend it to also include gender identity – when the resolution comes up before the UN General Assembly on Monday, December 20.
We call on the Government of Guyana to change its vote and to reverse the removal of sexual orientation from the resolution. This resolution seeks to bring attention to the most serious human rights violation, the loss of the right to life. The Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial executions has constantly underlined that people are subject to extra-judicial executions because of their actual or presumed sexual orientation or gender identity.
On International Human Rights Day, 2010, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon addressed a UN side event:
‘Ending Violence and Criminal Sanctions on the Basis of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.’ This panel was convened by, among other countries, Norway with whom the Government of Guyana is keen to benefit from the LCDS funding; and Brazil, whose President recently received our Order of Excellence.
The Secretary General in his remarks noted that “When individuals are attacked [or] abused … because of their sexual orientation, we must speak out… It is not called the ‘Partial’ Declaration of Human Rights. It is not the ‘Sometimes’ Declaration of Human Rights.
It is the Universal Declaration, guaranteeing all human beings their basic human rights, without exception.”
We call on the Government of Guyana to do as it has done in the past, and to ensure that regardless of what the perceptions of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender persons are, that the government will not endorse the torture or killing of people because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
To fail to do so is to reverse the progress Guyana has made locally and internationally in advancing human rights.