On Saturday last, Guyana held its first historic Pride Parade and March through the streets of Georgetown, and it saw prominent members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual community seeking to raise awareness about a number of issues which are affecting their ability to lead peaceful, productive and fulfilling lives.
Among other objectives, the parade called for an end to discrimination against members of the LGBT community while simultaneously lobbying the current A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance for Change coalition Government to deliver on the promises made to the minority grouping at the last General and Regional Elections, held back in May 2015.
From all indications, the parade was peaceful, and saw the attendance of several heterosexual personalities, human rights activists, and non-governmental organisations who were supportive of an end to the discrimination faced by the LGBT community here. There were also others who went as far as telling the media that they saw nothing wrong with the decriminalisation of same sex relations between consenting adults above the age of consent.
The parade, which marked the culmination of the Pride Week, was deemed successful because Guyanese who were present and lined the roadways demonstrated tolerance, public decency, and sympathy to the plight faced by sections of the LGBT community, who are often times the victims of unsolicited violence and aggression, public scorn and victimisation, as well as verbal abuse.
As a matter of fact, Guyanese who were against the idea of the Pride Parade were given the time and space in the media to voice their concerns and contribute to the ongoing debate about how such activities could potentially harm the moral and social fabric of our society.
Specifically, the religious bodies, too, were allowed, via social media and other formal mass media platforms, to share their perspectives on how the Government should respond to the pressure from the minority LGBT community to advance certain legislative changes that would further protect the human rights and freedoms of the grouping as Guyana continues along the path of socio-economic, cultural and political advancement.
Expectedly, there were also passionate and emotionally strong arguments put forward by activists who support the school of Queer Ideology and the need to codify legislation to protect the LGBT community from the wrath and aggression that flows from those with homophobic tendencies and ideological perspectives.
The movement, too, within the Caribbean — specifically in countries like Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, the Bahamas, and even Jamaica to a lesser extent — is indicative of the challenges that lie ahead for states that are based on secularism and founded on the principle of democracy as well as the protectionism of everyone’s entitlement to the basic human rights, regardless of their race, gender, religion or social standing.
Governments within the region must learn from the experiences of others within the Anglophone Caribbean and further afield, in order to ensure that they make the right decisions about how to respond to the demands of the LGBT communities while not offending the sensitivities of the other groupings within their societies, who obviously will form the majority.
In this respect, Governments must ensure that they stand on the principles that will shape the type of Caribbean countries which will not earn the reputation of promoting the proliferation of violence – systemic and otherwise – upon minority groupings. They must not be foolhardy, and they must understand the burden to move in the same direction as modern democracies; which, if nothing else, protect the human rights of all their citizens, because everyone is equal before the law.
Also, Governments within the region must understand that all of the people who form part of their republic must either have a say or be heard in the ongoing debate about the decriminalisation of same sex unions between consenting adults, and the call for an end to the prosecution and persecution of minority groupings.
Perhaps it is easier said than done, and those who are seeking to achieve a shift in the traditional gender assignment roles and the way in which societies are constructed must prove their case.
The truth is the issue of LGBT rights and demands is complex, and maybe that is why Executive Governments have stayed clear of going further than condemning violence and discrimination against the members of that minority. In fact, most Governments fear facing the polls after making sensitive decisions, because they know that the power of the ballot, which lies in the hands of the majority, is even more powerful than the support they may lose from a minority LGBT community.
In the end, there may be no urgent need to rashly address all of the demands of the LGBT community at once, if the leaders of regional Governments start to promote higher levels of tolerance, social cohesion, equality and inclusion. The time has to be right and the stage has to be set for any revolution or threat to the traditional structure of our society to succeed. Is the time right for Guyana?
