“PPP/C Govt has employed me & that speaks volumes” – Min Rodrigues on support for LGBTQ+ community

The Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) Guyana has launched a manifesto, ahead of the 2025 General and Regional Elections, calling for political parties to commit to addressing legislative, socio-economic and other critical issues affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual (LGBTQIA+) Guyanese.
The document lists ten priority issues for political parties to address.
On Tuesday, SASOD hosted a town hall meeting where representatives of five of the six political parties contesting the September 1 elections shared their views on several issues relating to the LGBTQIA+ community.

The Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) was represented by Susan Rodrigues while the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) was represented by Ubraj Narine, the Alliance For Change (AFC) by Beverley Alert, We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) by Odessa Primus and Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) by Dorwain Bess.

Workplace discrimination
One of the questions posed to the panelists was if their organisation would support legislation ensuring workplace non-discrimination protections for LGBTQIA+ people. In response, Rodrigues explained that while legislative reforms are needed, what is equally important is changing the culture of society.
“We know that discrimination of LGBTQ persons is wrong but we live in a society where we don’t want to impose that on others and that’s why stakeholder engagement is extremely important to try to change attitudes, belief and patterns,” Rodrigues, who is the Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water, highlighted. Nevertheless, she emphasised that as a political party, the PPP/C does not support any form of discrimination against citizens, including discrimination based on sexual orientation. In fact, she expressed that “the [PPP/C] has employed me and that speaks volumes, to be able to be comfortable in my own skin and to have a public portfolio.”
Meanwhile, APNU’s representative shared that his party does not support discrimination and that if elected into Government, “we will move forward with policies and so on for this organisation or this sector of society because we feel that it is too long that this sector of society has been marginalised.”
FGM’s representative said his party believes that all Guyanese should be treated as equals whereas WIN’s spokesperson contended that any minority group should be able to access jobs without discrimination and there should be published rules on nondiscriminatory practices in the workplace.
AFC’s Alert stated that all forms of discrimination are wrong and when it affects a person’s fundamental human right, then it becomes criminal; she said under an AFC Government, there would be systems in place for persons who have been discriminated against to file complaints.

Criminalising
same-sex intimacy
Another question posed to the participants is if they would support overturning local laws that criminalise same-sex intimacy. Most of the political representatives expressed that law reform must take into consideration feedback from wider society. Alert said the AFC supports review and discussions that “lead us where we want to grow and develop as a nation”. Similar views were expressed by Primus who said “I’m not a gay man, this law does not affect me by any stretch of the imagination and I may not understand a lot of the intricacies in terms of challenges that may be facing”.
APNU and FGM were in full support of amending the law with Narine stating “that is a must…yes, we will go down that road”. For her part, Rodrigues explained that public policy is driven by society but she affirmed that “the Peoples Progressive Party Civic does not support discrimination based on sexual orientation…Nobody should be discriminated against based on sexual orientation.”
She admitted that there is much left to do when it comes to law and constitutional reforms but highlighted that the PPP/C Administration has made significant strides in the last five years towards modernising several pieces of legislation, many of which were inherited from the colonial system.

Access to Govt services
The panelists were also asked if they would support comprehensive legislation ensuring nondiscrimination protections for all Guyanese, inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity. The question was premised on the basis that many LGBTQIA+ Guyanese report facing discrimination in many facets of their lives, including when accessing public services, such as health, education and social services. The FGM representative said “yes, we will support” while APNU said it would develop a national LGBTQ+ commission which will be funded by the State to monitor, advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, investigate complaints and make recommendations. AFC indicated that the root cause of this problem is a lack of professionalism among public servants and that they would seek to better train public sector workers. Meanwhile, both PPP/C and WIN indicated that law reform may not necessarily address the issue.
Primus said “we can change as many laws …come up with greatest of policies and have awesome projects” but what is truly needed to tackle the issue is a change in culture among the population.
Rodrigues explained that the PPP/C does not support any form of discrimination but emphasised that laws do not mean prevention. She too explained that change in attitudes and culture is needed. Rodrigues pointed to situations in other parts of the world where laws were amended to support gay marriage but yet it is still not safe for gay couples to “hold hands and walk down the streets”.
In this regard, Rodrigues said “of course, we support laws that prevent discrimination but we also strongly have to change attitude.”

Bullying in schools
Another question was “would you support developing a policy to keep Guyanese students safe by addressing bullying and violence in Guyanese schools, including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity?”
All parties were in favour, many of them emphasising the need for societal changes outside of the school environment. For instance, Alert explained that homophobic tendencies are oftentimes learned outside of the schools and in the homes.
Narine, in his response, emphasised the need for sensitivity training among educators, noting that sometimes, teachers contribute to the problem.
Rodrigues echoed similar sentiments, sharing her own example whereby her son took a doll to school as part of a project to display their favourite toy but the teacher informed that a doll cannot be his favourite toy since he is a boy. The Minister stressed that these types of learned perspectives must be changed and it is not just limited to a school environment.