FOR some time the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) has been working on the revision of the Prevention of Discrimination Act and the new Act is one step closer to fruition.

Speaking to the Guyana Chronicle recently, SASOD’s Managing Director Joel Simpson noted, “We’re at the stage now where we’re waiting on the Attorney-General to produce the final report and our draft of the Bill.”

In January, the Director had indicated that SASOD engaged in consultations with stakeholders on the proposed legislative amendment, which would provide legal protection from discrimination in relation to the right to work for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBT) people in Guyana. At the time, the Bill was not ready and needed “technical” enhancements vis-à-vis; areas such as its fashioning and wording.

The organisation is lobbying for an amendment to the 1997 Act to protect vulnerable persons within the LGBT community; the inclusion of “sexual orientation” will legally protect persons identified as lesbians, gays and bi-sexuals, while “gender identity” will offer protection to transgender persons.

This amendment has been called for since the Bill prohibits discrimination in the workplace based only on “race, sex, religion, colour, ethnic origin, indigenous population, national extraction, social origin, economic status, political opinion, disability, family responsibilities, pregnancy, marital status or age…”

While the crafting of the Bill may be completed or almost completed, it must still be presented and debated in Parliament before it is assented to.

Although Simpson does not foresee much opposition to the Bill, he did indicate that the human rights organisation will be seeking to sensitise Parliamentarians.

“We’re also planning to have sensitisation workshops with two Parliamentary Standing Committees: the Social Services Committee and the Economic Services Committee,” he noted and explained, “At the heart of it, this is a socio-economic rights issue and we think that we need more parliamentary champions before the Bill gets to the House.”

These sensitisation measures will take the form of two half-day sensitisation workshops which will be helped through support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) offices in Guyana.

Simpson further noted that the organisation is seeking to engage in these workshops within the next few months.