–SASOD’s Head calls for sensitisation

THE government, during the wee hours of Tuesday morning, successfully amended the Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act of Guyana, which sought to remove cross-dressing as a criminal offence.

The amendment passed by the National Assembly comes three years after the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) handed down a ruling which stated that Guyana’s cross-dressing legislation violated human rights, and prevented a person’s freedom of expression.

The CCJ’s ruling stemmed from a 2009 case which saw several transgender women being arrested and kept in custody for being in breach of the 1893 Act. The legal challenge to that particular piece of legislation made its way to the CCJ.

Spearheading a debate on the Act, Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, S.C., said that Guyana has a duty to remove from its legal architecture, laws that have been found to be repugnant and repulsive to our constitution.

“We are simply delivering on that responsibility,” Nandlall asserted.

Similar sentiments were not shared by some Opposition members of the House who argued that decriminalising cross-dressing would be against what God intended.

As a matter of fact, Richard Sinclair and Annette Ferguson of the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) went as far as to give their interpretation of Bible verses which denigrated cross-dressing.

Well after midnight, Sinclair took to the podium to argue that: “The word of God affirms a clear distinction of what our dress code should be.”
His colleague, Ferguson also expressed her belief that cross-dressing “crosses the line that God set” for gender expression.

To this end, she contended: “God forbids crossing these lines and, therefore, forbids cross-dressing.”

Meanwhile, in her arguments, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira, reminded the House that the CCJ had already ruled on the matter, and that the Amendment Bill was only being brought for the sake of formality.

As the Bill was being voted on, Opposition Members of Parliament such as Khemraj Ramjattan and Dineshwar Jaiprashad offered their support for the amendments.
Commenting on the passage of the amendments, Joel Simpson, Head of the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD)lauded the government’s efforts to ensure that the discriminatory piece of legislation was removed.

“They were able to do that in just one year of being in office,” Simpson recognised.
He noted, however, that even though the “symbolic” act of removing cross-dressing as an offence is good, it is not the only thing that is required.

The rights activist emphasised the need for government to embark on an effective public awareness campaign geared at ensuring that all “state actors,” including policemen and women, fully understand what the amendments mean.

Simpson said that he was disappointed by the arguments put forward by the Opposition parliamentarians, particularly Sinclair and Ferguson.
“Those are extremely dangerous and discriminatory views that only do further damage to LGBTQ persons in the community,” Simpson said.

He believes that the Opposition’s arguments have the influence to intensify the existence of hate crimes and discrimination throughout the country.

“These are problematic remarks,” the SASOD official lamented, adding that by going down the road that they did, the Opposition lost an ideal opportunity to lend its voice and make solid contributions towards the fight for human rights within certain vulnerable populations.

Simpson is hopeful that once the Law Reform Commission is up and running, reasonable and comprehensive efforts would be made to amend and, in some cases, discard, archaic laws that contradict basic human rights.