During the constitutional reform process of 2001, the inclusion of a phrase specifying that persons should not be discriminated on the basis of sexuality was included. Due to vociferous protest from a section of the religious community, the term was removed.  What has remained is an overwhelming societal stigma on persons from the LGBTQ community; one that has had direct impact upon their access to education, health services, housing, employment and economic activity.

We believe that LGBTQ persons qualify for clear cut and specific inclusion in legislation, including the Constitution, that speaks to protection against discrimination.  This is not a special gift to the community but a basic human right to be afforded to a group of citizens that suffer oppression and alienation as citizens of this country.  As is the case with women, we believe that we are facing – as oil revenue comes in – a reinforcement of the damaging prejudicial infrastructure in Guyana and hence direct and relatively radical intervention is immediately necessary.

Amendment of the Constitution to simply say that persons should not be discriminated against on the basis of their sexuality is the fundamentally decent thing to do and does not impinge upon the fundamental rights of any other group. Beyond that basic measure however, there are other direct interventions that need to be made in the short to medium term.

Justice – LGBTQ persons, particularly gay men and trans women, face disproportionately high levels of abuse and exploitation with basic justification being found, both legally and socio-culturally, in Guyana’s retention of buggery laws.  We intend to push for the repeal of sections 352-355 of the Criminal Law (Offences) Act.  Further, we intend to ensure – both by sensitivity training as well as procedural sanctions – that LGBTQ persons are afforded the basic right to justice particularly in the cases of sexual and physical assault.

Education – we believe that a basic component of social inclusion is education.  We intend to reform the current Health and Family Life Education (HFLE) curriculum as well as to introduce Comprehensive Sex Education(CSE) at the senior levels of the secondary education system.  As part of our overall commitment to student care, we will ensure that awareness of and sensitivity to LGBTQ student concerns are part of a menu of measures.

Health Services – we will work with the LGBTQ community in crafting an overall national health sector reform plan, that takes into account specific community priorities (such as access to pre-expose prophylaxis) as well as the potential benefit from expanded mental health services across Guyana.

Housing – we recognize that a critical problem affecting the community due to stigma and discrimination, is that of adequate housing.  Many young people on coming out, or being outed, find themselves being evicted from family homes.  Our Habitations (public housing policy) will specifically address ways in which both permanent and transitional housing can be provided to vulnerable members of the LGBTQ community.

Employment/Economic Opportunity – in addition to ensuring that there are explicit protections against sexual orientation-discrimination in employment, our plan for conditional cash transfers recognizes that LGBTQ persons are an economically vulnerably population and hence eligible for both individual and communal assistance.