Throughout most of my life and growth as a young woman in Guyana, I was taught to abide by the laws and expectations of the heteronormative patriarchy. In short, man’s word was law and straight was the only way to be. Any deviation from this was quickly denounced and punished, because to challenge existing oppressive power structures is a threat to those who benefit the most from their maintenance. So from an early age, I had to learn how to navigate my gender and sexuality in ways that would not bring harm or injury to me. This meant buying into the concepts of shame over my body, silencing my thoughts on hetero-patriarchal beliefs and suppressing my identity in favour of one that was not my own. This was all done in an attempt to fit into the “norm” so that I could exist without constant fear of ridicule, verbal abuse and violence.
It took many years of unlearning and expanding my thoughts and experiences before I found surety within myself. Many of us are not privileged enough to ever reach that stage and go through life being shells of ourselves. While we often speak of a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans (LGBT) community, it would be more apt to speak of the many communities and intersections that exist within it aside from sexual orientation and gender identity. One’s race/ethnicity, gender, religion, socioeconomic status and geography all combine and have significant impacts on the lives, physical and mental health of LGBT persons. The social and psychological effects of homo and bi-phobia we face, causes heightened levels of minority stress that is extremely detrimental to our lives and wellbeing.
Minority stress often presents itself in the forms of anxiety, depression, isolation, suicidal ideations etc. The hostile homophobic culture in which many LGBT persons find themselves existing causes many to hide, reject or try to cure themselves of their sexuality. This discrimination presents itself in many ways from verbal abuse, denying access to treatment and services and often, violence. Even aiming to donate blood in the aid of public service is contentious for LGBT persons. There remains today, a three-decade ban on gay and bisexual men and women from donating blood, even in the face of severe blood shortages. This refusal to accept blood donations from persons such as myself is consistent with the promotion of stigma and discrimination in the health services and wider society.
This is an unfortunate but unsurprising reality. After all, religious fundamentalists constantly tell us that our “lifestyles” are unholy and unworthy. Given the power and influence these fundamentalists hold in our society, their beliefs and preferences often trumps our need for equality and protection under the law and in our communities. Often, they encourage violence and shunning of LGBT persons. Despite the mostly optical progress we have made in Guyana so far, this maligning remains the standard in which LGBT persons are treated as the discrimination is seen as justifiable.
With many of Guyana’s political leaders being convinced of the superiority of their religions, their beliefs of exclusion often come before the secularity of the State. Despite a history of many homo-bi-sexual parliamentarians, a largely homophobic populace and surrounding leaders see entrenched feelings of self-hate and suppression. This is why despite Guyana’s revisions and overhauling to many of our laws governing sex crimes, discriminatory laws that promote heterosexuality as the only way of life, have been maintained and fiercely protected. We are for the most part still a mentally colonized people and it does not seem as if it will change anytime soon. We cling to relics of British colonialism that does not serve our collective benefit and which have mostly been struck down and replaced with equal opportunities in the empire we received it from.
The maintenance of these laws sees continuous hardships for those whose only crime is loving a little differently from how we were taught. Oppressive laws and exclusionary policies maintain stigma and discrimination. This results in LGBT persons facing considerable legal, social and economic challenges that prevent us from living free lives and having access to opportunities and services. It should come as no surprise that LGBT persons suffer from high levels of hate crimes, police abuse, homelessness and family and community violence. Our access to jobs, education, housing and health services is very low and often it is only through careful navigation of our sexualities that many are able to access/retain some elements of a normal life.
There is always the inarticulate view that persons belonging to the LGBT community are seeking special rights and protection. This is a slippery slope fallacy that is centred on homophobic ideas. Its only purpose is to maintain the status quo. The rights and protections LGBT persons seek are not more or less than what our heterosexual counterparts have. Our goals are centred on equality: meaning equal rights under the law, equal access to developmental opportunities and equal access to social services. The freedom to exist and live in one’s truth should not be cause for targeted stigma and discrimination, but unfortunately in 21st century Guyana, this is still our reality.
