Leadership training for 15 LGBTI rights activists was the focus of the first session of the new Caribbean LGBTI Leadership Academy. Activists from Belize, the Dominican Republic, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad & Tobago attended the training sessions in Guyana on Sept. 14 to 16. Continue reading
In the Caribbean, 16 officers from the Royal Barbados Police Force took part in sensitivity training sessions aimed at helping them to improve their understanding LGBTI people and the local LGBTI community, the Nation News of Barbados reports. Continue reading
The island of Grenada is probably best known for the 1983 US-led invasion. However this beautiful tropical paradise — also called the “Spice Isle” for the abundant nutmeg trees, as well as the exotic feel of the country — may soon achieve a much more enviable reputation as one of the English-speaking Caribbean nations that … Continue reading
An open letter to all Jamaican parliamentarians On Sept. 17, 2014, a joint select committee of the Jamaican Parliament will begin reviewing the country’s 2009 Sexual Offences Act. Among other things, this law retains sections 76, 77 and 79 of the 1864 British colonially imposed Offences Against the Person Act, which criminalizes private consensual adult … Continue reading
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and intersex (LGBTI) Pride has a very political history. These events are often held to mark major milestones in the gay liberation struggle. For example, the world’s first Pride parade took place in New York on June 28, 1970 and commemorated the brutal police raids on the infamous gay bar, the … Continue reading
The Caribbean is the only region in the Western Hemisphere that still criminalizes same-gender intimacy. Recently, fundamentalist religious groups across the region have mounted large demonstrations condemning homosexuality, and appear to have successfully lobbied local governments to keep these British colonially imposed anti-gay laws. Not coincidentally, attacks often occur against LGBTI people, most recently a … Continue reading
