Leaders of Barbados’ legislature, judiciary and churches have been warned to brace for stiff challenges aimed at removing “draconian” and “colonial” laws, which criminalise buggery and indecency.
A press release obtained by Barbados TODAY indicates the action will be mounted by the Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE) in the courts of Barbados, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada and St. Lucia disputing the constitutionality of the laws.
According to Executive Director of ECADE, Kenita Placide, this step is the next one in a four-year journey which involved tremendous research and dialogue with lawyers, members of the LGBTQI and other groups to better understand the impact of laws targeted at the community.
“We are already aware of the position of the states and the position of the church… the litigation has not been done without thought, because we had to consider the political climate, the social climate, the safety and security of every person involved in this and even those not involved but maybe affected, the families of everyone who is putting themselves out there,” explained the St Lucian activist.
“Unfortunately there are persons who believe that LGBT persons do not have rights and that infringement is sometimes violent and whether our culture, our governments, or our people want to admit it or not, people feel they have the right to hit or kill LGBT people for being who they are.”
She added it had been difficult to get people to come forward and “put themselves on the line” amid the current social climate, but revealed persons from each of the five targeted countries have expressed interest for reasons beyond just a change in the laws.
“While the process of litigation is important, the main part of this journey was to strengthen the organisations and the communities within the countries they serve. We also needed to understand how these laws contribute to the stigmatisation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) people, how they legitimise hate speech, discrimination and violence and tear at the heart of the family that our society, including our governments, have sworn to protect,” said Placide.
Recent cases of stigma and discrimination, according to Placide range from the eviction of tenants, people losing their jobs and parents refusing to support their children through school as a result of their sexual orientation and hopes a change in the laws would go a long way in slowly erasing the existing mindsets.
“At the moment what you have is a constitution that beats you on one hand and the bible, which the religious folks use to beat you on the other. We are removing one aspect. Someone will always play the moral card and from a personal stance, I always believe there is a place for religion and to allow persons to have some level of faith and that looks differently for different people. There’s a difference between faith, religion and spirituality,” she argued.
“ When people say things to you or do things to you and you understand and ask why people are treating them so differently and so badly. I don’t think any one person chooses this [LGBTQI lifestyle] on himself or herself, so it’s about time the law reflects this… As much as our governments might say the constitutions protect all people, they have to recognize there are stiffer penalties that need to come into play because somebody who is being marginalised, will be further discriminated against by people who have more privilege.”
Efforts to ascertain the identity of those spearheading the effort in Barbados as well as Attorney General Dale Marshall have been unsuccessful up to the time of publication.
