SEVERAL groups across the Caribbean, including in Guyana, are demanding that regional governments put adequate systems in place to protect members of the Lesbians, Gays, Bisexual and Trans-Gender communities.
The groups are calling on the governments in the respective states to ensure that the legal frameworks which guarantee basic human rights and protection are activated. In addition, there is a call for some meaningful investments in the mechanisms that effectively respond to the question of violence.
In a press release yesterday,the leading gay rights advocate group in Guyana, the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) called for ensuring that under no circumstances should the right to freedom of expression be allowed to endanger the right to life, liberty and security of persons and their right to privacy.
The calls of SASOD were supported by other Guyanese groups, including Red Thread, Help and Shelter, and Artistes In Direct Support.
CVC DEEPLY CONCERNED
The outburst came in support of the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC) and other civil society groups within the Caribbean as they together denounce the increasing homophobic and transphobic violence across the Caribbean.
The release added that the CVC and its partners are deeply concerned by the stream of reports coming from civil society organisations about incidents of violence towards lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people.
An incident which disturbed the groups deeply was the recent anti-gay march held in Haiti last week which was led by the Evangelical Churches in that Caribbean country and which followed violence towards LGBT members.
The incidents have saddened the groupings in addition to reports coming out of another Caribbean country, Jamaica, last week which stated that a gender non-confirmation 17-year-old was mob attacked and stabbed to death. SASOD and the other local groups expressed condolences to the relatives and friends of the teen as they described his death as hate-fuelled violence.
The CVC noted that it will be a very difficult task for Caribbean nations to expect a better future for its younger generations once there is continued fundamentalist discourses which undermine dignity and rights while promoting a culture of human rights that prevent the Caribbean states from developing.
The CVC noted that it remains in solidarity with all Caribbean civil society groups, organisations and movements which are working towards a more just and equal society where everyone’s rights and dignity are respected.
The tragic incidents of violence, protest murders and other offences against the LGBT community are not isolated acts but instead a reflection of systematic discrimination and violence experienced by the target group, particularly the most visible and vulnerable ones, the group added.
The release added that organisations in countries such as St Lucia, Belize, Jamaica and The Dominican Republic are often faced with similar, horrific threats, harassment and violence towards their LGBT communities because of their sexual orientation, gender identity and expression.
The violence against this group, the release noted, is often fuelled through fundamentalist and hateful discourses towards members of the LGBT community and will likely be replicated if urgent actions are not taken.
In light of the developments, the concerned group is calling on progressive faith leaders, trade unions, feminist organisations and civil liberty groups to join in the condemnation and denouncing of views which fuel violence towards LGBT groups within the Caribbean.
The Caribbean countries which boast of being democratic states should not tolerate hate speech and extremism, since these should have no place within their borders, especially since resistance against discrimination, unity and strength in diversity are the hallmarks of the Region’s shared history, the group asserted.
