As elections approach, Guyana activists demand decriminalization of homosexuality
SASOD issues 10 demands for LGBTQ rights and health
LGBTQ rights activists in Guyana are calling for decriminalization of sodomy, LGBT anti-discrimination laws, DEI initiatives in government, education, and health care, and emergency shelters for youth.
Guyana’s national LGBTQ advocacy group SASOD (Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination) released its demands last week in anticipation of the upcoming Sept. 1 national elections.
Guyana is the only South American nation with an anti-sodomy law.
This report about their proposals was published on the Newsroom.gy online news site:
Queer community seeking laws, provisions for protection from political parties
Better provisions to protect queer youth community are among the proposals for political parties contesting the upcoming elections from the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) on Wednesday.
Better provisions to protect queer youth are among the proposals for political parties contesting the upcoming elections from the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD).
On Wednesday, the group made public the demands of its LGBTQIA+ Manifesto 2025 and said it will be seeking support from political parties contesting the elections.
Joel Simpson, SASOD’s Managing Director, revealed several areas of focus during the media launch at the Herdmanston Lodge, Peter Rose Street, Georgetown.
These measures include Constitutional Reform, healthcare, education and training, sexual and gender-based violence protection and the establishment of shelters to provide safety for persons.
“As a human rights organization, SASOD Guyana strongly believes that in order to sustain the gains that the country is making as it relates to social attitudes law reform is of paramount importance.
And in that regard, our first four priorities relate to eliminating discriminatory laws and providing legal protection,” Simpson said.
These measures are part of a recommendation from the United Nations Human Rights Committee that SASOD was informed of after Guyana underwent its review on their international covenant and civil and political right in 2024.
The group demands that these measures are implemented by the elected officials over the course of their term in office. Simpson said the latest that these measures should be implemented is 2030.
A massive part of the measures remains the repeal of sections 351 to 353, of the Criminal Law Offenses Act Chapter 84:01, which criminalises same sex intimacy between consenting adult men in private. Focus is also being placed on the safety of youths living in less progressive households.
“We’ve seen younger people come out as LGBTQIA to their families who might have older parents or people who don’t necessarily have as progressive views and unfortunately we’ve dealt with way too many cases where this has resulted in violence and the options to support, especially minors who are fleeing that violence are very limited,” Simpson said.
Anti-discrimination education should be established in classrooms to promote social protection of persons in school.
Simpson said SASOD will engage the political parties who will be contending the elections in a townhall on July 29. As it relates to openness to any social activity pertaining to LGBQTIA persons’ protection, Simpson said the parties that won seats in Parliament previously have shown interest in 2020 and one outcome of the previous manifesto was the inclusion of PReP in the public healthcare system. This makes it possible for persons to get preventative medications for exposure to HIV.
The group is also relying on support from private businesses to ensure that at the community level, persons are aware that LGBTQIA+ community is respected and treated as such.
“There are over 100 businesses that has endorsed the Guyana Together Campaign, what that means is that it doesn’t matter what sexual orientation you are, what type of business you run, the objective of the Guyana Together campaign is really and truly to see if people are willing to come together,” businessman, Enzo Christopher said.
The measures in the Guyana LGBTQIA+ Manifesto 2025 are as follows:
- Repeal sections 351 to 353 of the Criminal Law (Offences) Act Chapter 8:01, which criminalise same-sex intimacy between consenting, adult men in private, by 2026.
- Include sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression as protected categories from discrimination in the Prevention of Discrimination Act 1997 by the end of 2027.
- Develop and implement comprehensive legislation to eradicate all forms of discrimination, whether direct or indirect, in every sector, including discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics, by the end of 2028.
- Include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected categories in the non-discrimination provision of the Guyana Constitution (Article 149) by 2029.
- Implement mandatory, ongoing training on Justice Equity Diversity and Inclusion for the uniformed services, social workers, healthcare workers and other state providers to eliminate discriminatory attitudes and unconscious bias in the provision of state services.
- Develop and implement a clear policy to end all forms of violence and discrimination, especially bullying based on sexuality and gender, in the schools by the end of 2026.
- Train education officials, school administrators, teachers and social workers in schools as part of a comprehensive, anti-bullying programme that is inclusive of LGBTQIA+ issues.
- Provide employment and entrepreneurial training programmes for vulnerable groups, including LGBTQIA+ people, and make capital accessible to develop micro-enterprises and small businesses through start-up grants and low-interest lending schemes.
- Provide free, quality mental health services which are LGBTQIA-friendly and accessible and invest resources to ensure that the skills and systems exist to deliver these services.
- Provide emergency shelter for LGBTQIA+ youth who are fleeing violence.
