Lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) people Sat Vcent and the Grenad face bias-motivated vlence and discrimatn their daily life, Human Rights Watch said a report released today. The legislature should repeal the untry’s lonial-era laws that crimalize nsensual same-sex nduct and pass prehensive civil legislatn prohibg discrimatn based on sexual orientatn and genr inty. The 58-page report, “‘They Can Harass Us Bee of the Laws’: Vlence and Discrimatn agast LGBT People Sat Vcent and the Grenad,” expos the physil and verbal asslts, fay vlence, homelsns, workplace harassment, bullyg, and sexual vlence that sexual and genr mori face unr the shadow of discrimatory laws. Those rponsible for mistreatment clu people close to LGBT people – fay members, neighbors, workers, classmat, and teachers – as well as strangers and police officers.
Contents:
- JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US-BASED PRO LEAGU
- COMG OUT AT WORK: WHAT 'S LIKE TO BE A GAY P NEW JERSEY
- PRI SAID GAY COPS AREN’T WELE. THEN CAME THE BACKLASH.
JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US-BASED PRO LEAGU
Kev Maxen, an associate strength ach wh the Jacksonville Jaguars, has bee the first male ach a major U.S.-based profsnal league to e out as gay. * gay police office *
Michael Sam beme the first openly gay player to be drafted when the then-St. Jam Tracy me out as gay to his police joed the Englewood Cliffs police partment 2002, but 10 years passed before he revealed his secret. “I was gettg lls om gay police officers all over the untry sayg thgs like ‘Hey, thanks for the publicy and gettg out there', ” he said.
”It's not always easy to be a p who is gay, but each step forward helps pave the way for a better future work environment, Tracy ntu below galleryWell before Tracy ever put on the police uniform, Wtwood police Officer Larry Schwartz helped pave the way for gay officers. Schwartz remends other gay ps get volved and take the time to fd peers and seek help if there are road for officers who e out as gay to lleagu has not always been smooth. “It’s part of the tnal program bee people might not nsir themselv homophobic or racist, but have unrlyg patterns that are, ” Tracy said.
I thk the laws [crimalizg nsensual gay sex] create a system of homophobia. — Andrew Williams (psdonym), a 28-year-old gay man om Sat Vcent, January 11, 2023. If people are havg an argument, that’s [their] jtifitn for homophobia.
COMG OUT AT WORK: WHAT 'S LIKE TO BE A GAY P NEW JERSEY
— Samuel Sayers (psdonym), a 25-year-old gay man om Sat Vcent, October 25, 2022. This progrs has been slow and cremental, spearhead by civil society efforts the regn to abolish laws that crimalize gay sex. The laws rerce societal prejudic, effectively givg tac legal sanctn for stigma, discrimatn, and vlence agast lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) people.
The laws are vaguely word, have broad latu, and sgle out nsensual gay sex the “sexual offens” sectn of the crimal that is otherwise rerved for crim like rape, ct, and sexual asslt.
PRI SAID GAY COPS AREN’T WELE. THEN CAME THE BACKLASH.
In July 2019, two gay men om Sat Vcent and the Grenad livg abroad filed a se challengg the nstutnaly of the discrimatory provisns the crimal . Along wh Domi, Guyana, Grenada, Jamai, Sat Lucia—the other five untri the Caribbean that crimalize gay sex—Sat Vcent and the Grenad ntu to be an outlier a hemisphere that has chewed the crimalizatn of nsensual gay sex. Every LGBT person terviewed by Human Rights Watch said they wished to leave the untry immediately or had envisned their future abroad due, part, to the homophobic or transphobic vlence and discrimatn the untry.
Some terviewe noted that fay rejectn was often uched moralistic terms, echog the homophobic rhetoric preached some church, which are a rnerstone of social life and shape social attus. The human rights ab and the ntued crimalizatn of gay sex Sat Vcent and the Grenad ntravene ternatnal human rights law.
In ls than a , five Caribbean untri have crimalized gay sex, brgg the Wtern Hemisphere closer to beg pletely ee of the discrimatory laws. Decrimalizatn may also facilate the ernment’s abily to further addrs homophobic and transphobic discrimatn var sectors, such as work and tn.