IT’S one thing to be subject to constant ridicule, violence and harassment by total strangers, but coming from your own family does take some getting used to.

And that’s exactly what a recent study here has found, that members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community are constantly subject to harassment, even violence on occasion, all because they are unable to readily access legal recourse.

And this harassment and violence, the report says, is all because of their Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, called SOGIE in LGBT parlance, and occurs frequently in public spaces where there is a lack of safety from verbal and physical aggression.

But that’s not all, as researchers have found that the harassment and violence are not just confined to public spaces but occur even in the supposed safety of the home, at the workplace and Online.

According to the study, “Pervasive levels of violence confront LGBT persons in Guyana, and limit their ability to exist freely in public spaces; violence and harassment against LGBT people are endemic in Guyanese society, and jeopardise their security and ability to freely express their identity.”

One transgender woman living in New Amsterdam named Grace recalled that back in 2013, a transgender man was tied up and burnt to death in his own house.
Grace said, “I lost one of my best friends; he was a transgender, and he was burned to death in a house. They tied him up and then burned the house.”

After the police failed to investigate the incident properly, Grace said, “I just said, ‘May your soul rest in peace’. I collected a black plastic bag with the remains, and we gave him a burial.”

Still traumatised by what happened to this day, Grace asked of no one in particular “How bad is it going to get before good comes?”

NOWHERE’S SAFE
According to Executive Director of the Guyana Rainbow Foundation, Colleen McEwan, in the report, “You can’t really afford to assume that you are safe all the time.”

This fear of which McEwan speaks was echoed by all the LGBTs that were interviewed.
As was observed in the report, “The State has a positive obligation, under international law, to protect and promote the rights to life, security, and free expression, yet discriminatory laws and anti-LGBT prejudice create an enabling environment where such crimes against LGBT persons are rampant.”

The police force has been identified as one agency that has hindered the process of legal redress, since it was reported that law enforcement officers refuse to take or investigate reports proffered by LGBT individuals.
And the persons who shared their futility with reporting violence also shared that they are unlikely to attempt reporting in the future.

SASOD Human Rights Coordinator, Valini Leitch recalled an incident where a transgender woman was doing sensitisation work at a local bar, when some men made a pass at her, but she laughed it off.
But after leaving the bar, Leitch recalled, “One of them broke a bottle and slashed her from ear to mouth. Police officers were close by but they left her on the road to bleed, even though they knew about the situation.”

Others reported that police discrimination includes a lack of timely investigation and cases left unsolved. “The inability to report crime leads to a lack of access to the complete justice system, including courts and remedies,” the study shared.
Through Guyana’s “discriminatory” laws that criminalise same-sex consensual sexual relationships and cross-dressing, LGBTs are intimidated and not allowed easy access to redress.

CALL TO ACTION
The study, however, states, “The Guyana Police Force must act to abide by international standards of investigation, beginning with investigating whether the crime was motivated by prejudice, including homophobia or transphobia.
“Perpetrators of even the most horrendous crimes against LGBT persons too often enjoy impunity.”

Generally, the report outlined, “LGBT individuals in Guyana experience violence and discrimination across all sectors of their lives, with instances combining and intersecting to create an existence in which LGBT persons are trapped in a life cycle of violence and Discrimination.

According to Adam, a gay man, “To be a gay person in Guyana and survive, you have to have a lot of tolerance; you have to be brave; and you have to be proud of yourself.
“If you are not brave, if you are not proud of yourself, if you are not tolerant to the ignorance that is going to be approaching you, then you can’t survive here.”