Victory for gay rights - Tridad and Tobago Newsday

Contents:

• ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL
• GAY SEX IS STILL ILLEGAL THIS CARIBBEAN ISLAND; HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH WANTS BAN REPEALED
• TOP 11 GAY FRIENDLY HOTELS IN TRIDAD AND TOBAGO
• VICTORY FOR GAY RIGHTS
• CHRISTIAN AND LGBT GROUPS HAVE BROUGHT THE BATTLE FOR GAY RIGHTS TO THE CARIBBEAN

ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL

In every facet of life you see tolerance and unrstandg, however tolerance is not often manifted when to the rights of lbian, gay, bisexual or trans-genred persons this untry. 18:01 provis that prostut, homosexuals or people livg on the earngs of prostut or homosexuals, or people reasonably spected as g to Tridad and Tobago for the or any other immoral purpos, are prohibed om enterg the untry.

It is a roundg w for lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr (LGBT) activists the untry and particular for Jason Jon, the claimant the se.

Jon, who challenged the law, is an openly gay cizen of Tridad and Tobago who left the untry bee of severe discrimatn on the basis of his sexual orientatn.

GAY SEX IS STILL ILLEGAL THIS CARIBBEAN ISLAND; HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH WANTS BAN REPEALED

Gay sex between nsentg men Tridad and Tobago uld soon be crimalised followg a urt judgment that mpaigners said might spark siar cisns elsewhere the a lg on Thursday, judge Devdra Rampersad said sectns of the Sexual Offenc Act, which prohibed “buggery” and “ser cency” between two men, crimalised nsensual same-sex activy between adults, and were unnstutnal. In Grenada, St Lucia and St Kts and Nevis, “unnatural crime” or “abomable buggery” between two men is punishable by up to 10 years prison, but sex between two women is legalised gay sex 1979, as did the Bahamas 1991 and the Brish Virg Islands 2016, LGBT activist Caleb Oroz succsfully challenged Belize’s buggery law.

TOP 11 GAY FRIENDLY HOTELS IN TRIDAD AND TOBAGO

The then Attorney General stated that there are 27 addnal laws on the books that some way perm discrimatn on the basis of sexual orientatn, cludg the Cematograph Act, Sedn Act, Hotel Proprietors Act, and Immigratn Act which bans “homosexuals” om enterg the untry.

Vcent and the Grenad, where gay sex is still homelsns to ongog physil and verbal abe, the gay muny the small natn of some 100, 000 people says is unr nstant threat. Vcent, anal sex is punishable by up to 10 years prison, while “gross cency” wh another person of the same sex is punishable by up to five years, acrdg to lonial-era laws that are mon the socially nservative Caribbean rarely voked, the rights group and a lol activist said the laws help legimize hostily and abe agast gay people. ”Human Rights Watch terviewed more than 20 members of the island’s LGBTQ muny who shared their stori but were not intified to protect them, notg that lol police are often openly discrimatory toward gay people who seek help.

Several reported that their fai are homophobic and physilly and verbally abed them, g them to bee homels and promptg some to nsir also stggle to fd jobs amid a high unemployment rate and said they face discrimatn, cludg a 19-year-old gay man who said he has rorted to beggg: “Sometim I am so hungry.

VICTORY FOR GAY RIGHTS

”González wh Human Rights Watch noted that 2019, the ernment held a workshop for public employe on the importance of rpectg gay rights, a rare move for a nservative Caribbean natn. Vcent and the Grenad is known for s volnic terra, spectacular ral reefs and yacht-filled the ty Eastern Caribbean untry loted the Lser Antill also has a dub reputatn when to the treatment of lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr people: Its lonial-era gay sex ban. “The laws sgle out nsensual gay sex the ‘sexual offens’ sectn of the crimal that is otherwise rerved for crim like rape, ct and sexual asslt, ” the report said.

CHRISTIAN AND LGBT GROUPS HAVE BROUGHT THE BATTLE FOR GAY RIGHTS TO THE CARIBBEAN

Vcent and the Grenad, the level of homophobia the untry and ntued effect of s archaic law on rights of LGBT dividuals warranted report’s release while there is currently a trial si St. Vcent and the Grenad should repeal the gay-sex provisns s crimal and pass prehensive civil anti-discrimatn legislatn that clus protectns based on sexual orientatn and genr inty. “Every LGBT person terviewed said they wished to leave the untry and envisned their future abroad due, part, to the homophobic or transphobic vlence and discrimatn the untry, ” the report said.

González said the crimalizatn of gay sex giv “tac state sanctn to the discrimatn and vlence that LGBT people experience their daily liv and pels many to look abroad to live eely and fulfill their dreams. Gay Marriage⚭✖ UnregnizedCensorship✔ No censorshipNon-bary genr regnn✖ Not legally regnizedDiscrimatn✖ No protectnsEmployment Discrimatn✖ No protectnsHog Discrimatn✖ No protectnsDonatg Blood✖ Banned (3-month ferral)Conversn TherapyAmbiguo.

Current statSce Jun 13, 1947Sgle only Spo and sgle persons may adopt but the law do not regnise same-sex spo and favours femal as sgle onlyHomosexualy got legalized 2018. But they share one mon tra: they all give social and legal sanctn for discrimatn, vlence, stigma, and prejudice agast lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) dividuals. Exampl of legal measur that have been taken to addrs vlence and discrimatn clu: 2012 Argenta beme the first state to pass a genr regnn law based entirely on self-intifitn[15]; 2010 Brazil enacted the Natnal Human Rights Actn Plan (NHRAP), which stipulat specific measur and objectiv to addrs vlence and discrimatn based on sexual orientatn and genr inty[16]; siarly, 2014 Mexi tablished specific teams and uns to ensure that homophobic and transphobic hate crim are vtigated and prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and law enforcement officials have been traed acrdgly[17]; and 2016 Uguay took several measur to addrs employment discrimatn and create job opportuni for margalized trans people, cludg a specific ll for trans ndidat for vanci at the Mistry of Social Development and wh the “Uguay Trabaja” programme.

The Organizatn of Amerin Stat (OAS) and the Inter-Amerin Commissn on Human Rights (IACHR) have also taken steps to addrs human rights vlatns perpetrated agast lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and tersex (LGBTI) persons the Ameris. In 2015, Jamain activist Mrice Tomlson filed a challenge agast the ernments of Belize and Tridad and Tobago to overturn laws that on their face seek to prevent gay people om enterg their untri.

The current immigratn laws Tridad & Tobago and Belize bar "unsirable” persons om enterg—a list that clus homosexuals, prostut, and members of other margalized groups. [40] The Caribbean Court of Jtice ultimately dismissed the ‘gay travel ban’ se, clarg that the laws, while discrimatory nature, have not been ed practice. Charl, a 24-year-old gay man om Antigua and Barbuda, told Human Rights Watch he would never be openly affectnate public wh another male.

For example, 2000, Elephant Man’s “A Nuh Fi Wi Flt, ”[56] urged listeners to “When yuh hear a Sodome get raped/but a fi wi flt/’s wrong/two women gonna hock up na bed/that’s two Sodom dat fi ad” (“When you hear a lbian gettg raped/’s not our flt/’s wrong/two women bed/that’s two sodom who should be ad”), Beenie Man[57] sgs, “I’m dreamg of a new Jamai, e to execute all the gays, ” and Babycham and Bounty Killer’s[58] enurag “Bun a fire pon a kuh pon mister fagoty, ears ah ben up and a wce unr agony, poop man fi drown a yawd man philosophy” (“burn gay men ‘til they wce agony, gay men should drown, that’s the yard man’s philosophy”).

As the followg ttimoni show, those who are known to be gay or lbian, or merely perceived to be, have a realistic fear of beg social pariahs, alienated by fay and muny. [Whenever] I did somethg feme [they would] jump on me…Mother was a very homophobic person, she asked me to change the way I talked and walked, I didn’t like …. He was also mdful of the fact that an openly gay iend of his, aged 18, had been beaten up and had bottl thrown at him by fay members and villagers.

To avoid stigma and huiatn, and some s to spare their fai om sufferg the same, LGBT people told Human Rights Watch that both gay men and lbian women mataed relatnships wh the oppose sex, sometim gettg married, while secretly ntug same-sex relatnships. Vcent and the Grenad, told Human Rights Watch: “I was 19 when I started to work for my own dollar, I me out and told my grandmother and my s that I was gay.