– stakeholders urge dialogue to stamp out discrimination
By Iana Seales
Often it is a glance or a whisper that creates an uneasy feeling. Sometimes it is something more blatant like a foul remark that underscores the thorny, cutting reality of homophobia in Guyana, and which has created setbacks in the national AIDS response.
There is rarely any open dialogue on the local community of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Guyanese that has retreated into obscurity afraid of venturing out for HIV-related information, HIV testing and more importantly, treatment.
No exact figures are out but it is widely believed that only a few HIV-infected LGBT Guyanese are currently receiving anti-retroviral treatment, solely because of homophobia, which is aligned with that chronic phrase that has seriously affected HIV efforts — stigma and discrimination.