SASOD to approach CCJ on cross-dressing laws
SASOD Managing-Director Joel Simpson (centre) and two other regional participants at the Regional Civil Society Forum hosted by the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition last weekend (CVC Coalition photo)
SASOD Managing-Director Joel Simpson (centre) and two other regional participants at the Regional Civil Society Forum hosted by the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition last weekend (CVC Coalition photo)

THE Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) will be seeking leave from the Court of Appeal this week with the aim of appealing Guyana’s cross-dressing laws at the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

This is according to Managing-Director of SASOD, Joel Simpson, at a Regional Civil Society Forum hosted by the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities (CVC) Coalition in Jamaica last weekend. In his presentation, Simpson examined challenges the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender (LGBT) community face in challenging what they consider “discriminatory laws.”

In February of this year, the Court of Appeal upheld a 2013 ruling by former Chief Justice (CJ), Ian Chang that cross-dressing is not a crime, once not done for “improper purposes.”
In 2010, a group of trans-gender men had asked the Supreme Court to strike down laws that left them open to arrest, following a police crackdown the year before on male cross-dressers. While Chang’s subsequent ruling allowed men to dress in women’s clothing, it did not say what constituted “improper purpose,” which led to concerns about interpretation.
Subsequently, an appeal was filed by members of the LGBT community, seeking clarity on what constitutes “improper purpose.”

Former Head of the National AIDS Programme Secretariat (NAPS), Dr. Shanti Singh (centre) and Joel Simpson (right) with other participants at the recently-concluded Regional Civil Society Forum (CVC Coalition photo)

But in February, then Chancellor of the Judiciary, Carl Singh, Acting Chief Justice, Yvonne Cummings-Edwards, and High Court Judge, Justice Brassington Reynolds, unanimously upheld the decision made by Justice Chang in 2013.
SASOD subsequently indicated that it would be appealing the case at the Region’s highest judicial body – the CCJ. Following up on his promise, the organisation’s managing-director told regional stakeholders that on October 5, SASOD will be approaching the Appeal Court for leave to take the matter to the CCJ.

Simpson also outlined some other legal challenges facing the LGBT community in Guyana, including the exclusion by legal agents, of organisations which represent these groups. Using the same cross-dressing case to illustrate his point, Simpson shared that in the 2013 ruling, the then CJ had described SASOD as a “pot salt.” He said that in this year’s ruling, the Court of Appeal again asked why SASOD was still involved in the issue when the CJ (in 2013) had excluded them.

And according to the managing-director, “…that has major implications for organisations working with vulnerable communities.”
He shared too that the approach of LGBT groups has been to get victims to claim their rights through the courts. He referenced several cases, including a prominent one, in which a pastor from Linden has allegedly been demonising members of the LGBT communities via his television shows and through social media posts.

Simpson noted that SASOD has since sued the individual for in excess of $8M for damages caused and that matter is still before the court. He said too that other cases, including violence and discrimination, are being pushed in the courts to advance the rights of the LGBT community, even as they are in the process of challenging legal barriers.

However, he was keen to note that in relation to the vulnerability of the LGBT community, “hearts and minds are reaching out to key stakeholders [in Guyana] to bring them together and create more allies in our society.”

Guyana is the only country in South America which still criminalises homosexual acts. Last year, when asked about advancing the rights of the LGBT community, President David Granger had said that: “I am prepared to respect the rights of any adult to indulge in any practice which is not harmful to others.”

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