A new coalition of LGBTQI organizations in the eastern Caribbean is setting its sights on improving the lives of the region’s sexual minorities. The Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality Inc. (ECADE), which was launched late last year, issued this update: Continue reading
A new coalition of human rights and LGBTQI organizations in the eastern Caribbean marked its official launch on Human Rights Day 2016. ECADE, the Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality, focuses on Grenada, Saint Lucia, Barbados, Saint Martin and Dominica. Continue reading
Several Caribbean countries with laws against same-sex intimacy are at least discussing the possibility of repealing them. In Belize and Jamaica, those laws are being challenged in court. In Guyana, the prime minister talks about repealing them. In Dominica, the prime minister says they’re not enforced. But sexual minorities suffer from intense social stigma in … Continue reading
Commonwealth nations have been unwilling to talk formally about dropping the anti-LGBT laws that remain on the books in 40 of the 53 countries that once were part of the British Empire. That might change in 2018, says the next secretary-general of the Commonwealth, Baroness Patricia Scotland, who is a citizen both in the United … Continue reading
Gabrielle Bellot, an exiled transgender woman from Dominica, tells how the prize-winning work of exiled gay author Marlon James of Jamaica resonates with her and leads her to thoughts of how much change is needed in Caribbean attitudes toward LGBT people. Excerpts from her commentary in today’s New York Times: On Being Queer in the … Continue reading
Attorneys and activists met this week in Grenada to discuss strategy for litigation and advocacy seeking an end to anti-LGBT discrimination in countries in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). This is a press release from United and Strong Inc., Saint Lucia, and GrenCHAP, Grenada, describing the work: Is litigation around the criminalisation and … Continue reading
Dominica does not enforce its law against homosexual activity, at least in private homes, and has no plans to do so, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit says. In a recent statement to the Caribbean Media Corporation, the Dominica leader denied reports that police have threatened to arrest people at home during same-sex intercourse. “This has never … Continue reading
LGBT rights activists and supporters — even those in 20 nations where homosexuality is illegal — will celebrate International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT) on Saturday, May 17. The day is billed as a worldwide celebration of sexual and gender diversity. Erasing 76 Crimes has been tracking IDAHOT activities in nations where LGBT activities … Continue reading
Human Rights Watch has challenged Pope Francis to speak more directly in opposition to violence and discrimination against LGBT people worldwide and to ensure that other Catholic officials do so too. In a letter to the Holy See on Oct. 16, HRW praised church teachings that uphold human dignity for all, but added that “too … Continue reading
Jamaica was recently selected to chair the United Nations World Tourism Organization. Ironically, our homophobic laws and practices cuts the country off from a very lucrative segment of global tourism, namely gay travelers. Together, the estimated spending power of this group is about US$140 billion annually. Just a portion of that sum could effectively eliminate … Continue reading
