Global conflict: Gay rights, repression in the Caribbean

Colin Stewart is a 45-year journalism veteran living in Southern…

As pro-LGBT-rights protests and anti-LGBT initiatives continue in dozens of countries, here’s a sampling of the news and commentary about what’s going on. A quick recap of news from the Caribbean is below. Also see updates on the furor over Russia’s anti-gay crackdown as the Sochi Olympics approaches and a sampling of coverage of events in Africa and of new pro- and anti-gay activism by faith-based groups.

ACTIVISM AND REPRESSION IN THE CARIBBEAN

The International Resource Network recaps recent events related to LGBT rights and LGBT repression in the Caribbean, including:

Guyana Trans United’s march for justice in Guyana. The Caribbean IRN Blog reported that “members of the transgender and sex worker community … marched through sections of Georgetown to demand justice for the number of gays who were killed last year. The march was held to coincide with the first anniversary of the killing of 19-year old Wesley ‘Tiffany’ Holder on January 11, 2013 and the dumping of his body near the St. Phillip’s Anglican Church.
Joseph Sanchez

Murder of 18-year-old cross-dresser Joseph Sanchez in Belize. Unibam reported: “Sanchez’s family is disputing the police’s theory that his death is as the result of a robbery … They believe that the well-known cross-dresser was killed simply because he liked to dress as a woman. … he had been receiving death threats, and had been told on several occasions that he would be killed.”

Plus TV reported that Sanchez “was wearing a white sleeveless blouse and short green and black skirt, and reports to us are that he is apparently a known cross-dresser, but police have not said whether they are investigating the incident from any angle other than a robbery attempt.”
Update on the court challenge to Jamaica’s sodomy laws
Maurice Tomlinson’s video Betta must come about his experiences as a gay man growing up and living in Jamaica