Trapped: Cycles of Violence and Discrimination Against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Persons in Guyana
Human rights fact-finding aims to uncover and describe human rights concerns to expose both the abuses themselves and the factors that enable their perpetuation. Giving voice to survivors and victims is central to the fact-finding methodology: After all, “…if one really wishes to know how justice is administered in a country …[o]ne goes to the unprotected – those, precisely, who need the law’s protection most – and listens to their testimony.” Footnote #1 content: JAMES BALDWIN, NO NAME IN THE STREET (1972).
Through Georgetown Law’s Fact-Finding Practicum, the Human Rights Institute works with a small group of students on a cutting-edge human rights research project each year. Student researchers develop the focus of the project and design their research methodology, con-duct extensive interviews with stakeholders on the ground, draft a com-prehensive report on their findings, and engage in related advocacy. The report you are about to read, “Trapped: Cycles of Violence and Discrimination Against LGBT Persons in Guyana,” is a product of these efforts.
Globally, forty-five states criminalize relationships between females, and seventy-two states criminalize relationships between males.
Footnote #2 content: Sexual Orientation Laws in the World – Criminalisation, THE INTERNATIONAL LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANS AND INTERSEX ASSOCIATION, (May 2017), https://ilga.org/downloads/2017/ILGA_WorldMap_ENGLISH_Criminalisation_2017.pdf.
Guyana, a small Caribbean country located in South America, is the only country on the South American continent that still criminalizes same-sex intimacy. Recently, a few Caribbean countries have repealed or overturned laws criminalizing same-sex intimacy — including Belize in 2016
Footnote #3 content: Brooke Sopelsa, Belize Supreme Court Overturns Anti-Gay Law, NBC NEWS, (Aug. 10, 2016), https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/belize-supreme-court-overturns-anti-gay-law-n627511.
and Trinidad and Tobago in April 2018
Footnote #4 content: Trinidad and Tobego: Court Overturns Same-Sex Intimacy Ban, Human Rights Watch, (Apr. 13, 2018), https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/04/13/trinidad-and-tobago-court-overturns-same-sex- intimacy-ban.
. While Guyana still criminalizes buggery, there has been at least one positive development since the publica-tion of this report: The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) ruled that Guyana’s law criminalizing “cross-dressing” for an “improper purpose” is unconstitutional on November 12, 2018.
Footnote #5 content: CCJ Declares Guyana’s Cross-Dressing Law Unconstitutional, CCJ Press Release No. 44:2018 (Nov. 12, 2018).
Guyana’s Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo affirmed that Guyana will respect the CCJ deci-sion.
Footnote #6 content: Guyana Respects CCJ Decision on Cross-Dressing – PM Nagamootoo, (Nov. 20, 2018), http:// guyanachronicle.com/2018/11/20/guyana-respects-ccj-decision-on-cross-dressing-pm-nagamootoo.
Eliminating laws that perpetuate and legitimize violence and dis-crimination against LGBT individuals is a step in the right direction. However, there is still a great deal of change needed to disrupt—as detailed in this report—the pervasive cycle of violence, discrimination, and abuse that permeates all aspects of life for LGBT individuals in Guyana.
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