Caribbean & Central America - April 2019

The English-speaking Caribbean (ESC) and Latin America present two distinct realities as it relates to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ+) legal rights. On the one hand, some of the most progressive legislation in the world in favour of LGBTQ+ rights can be found in Latin America. For instance, several Latin American states have enshrined in their constitutions laws that proscribe discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, including Bolivia in 2009, Mexico in 2011, and Brazil from 2000- 2015. Cuba, Chile, Nicaragua and Uruguay have all banned discrimination against LGBTQ+ persons seeking employment and in the workplace. Additionally, same-sex marriage has been legal in Argentina since 2010, Brazil and Uruguay since 2013, and Colombia since 2016, while same-sex civil unions are permitted in Chile and Ecuador, since 2015 and 2008, respectively.

On the other hand, LGBTQ+ legal rights in the English-speaking Caribbean are either non-existent or laggard. Specifically, nine out of the 15 Caribbean Community (Caricom) member states criminalise homosexuality. Caricom countries that have removed laws criminalising same-sex intimacy include Belize in 2016, the Bahamas in 1991, Monserrat in 2001, Haiti in 1791, Suriname in 1869, and most recently Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) in 2018.

Some of these countries have maintained legislation that criminalises same-sex intimacy, specifically the sodomy laws. The sodomy laws, which police sexual intimacy between men, and in some cases, women, are remnants of British colonial rule, which date back to 1861.

Others have found innovative ways to amplify these laws, such as the case of the immigration acts in T&T and Belize, which debar LGBTQ+ persons from entering those countries.

Moreover, with a few exceptions, namely St. Lucia, Jamaica, and Belize, in the vast majority of the English-speaking Caribbean LGBTQ+ persons are not protected by law from discrimination, on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, at school, in the workplace, or elsewhere. While it should be noted that the sodomy laws and immigration acts have not been enforced in recent time, as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has argued, the fact that they exist promotes bigotry and increases the likelihood of violence against LGBTQ+ people.

However, Latin America is no utopia for LGBTQ+ people. Homophobia and transphobia run rampant, even in those countries where progressive laws exist. In 2017 in Brazil, for example, at least 445 LGBTQ+ persons died as victims of homophobia, marking a 30% increase from 2016, according to Grupo de Bahia, a local LGBT watchdog group. In Honduras, between 2009 and 2017, some 275 LGBTQ+ persons were violently murdered, according to Cattrachas, a Honduran LGBTQ advocacy group.

Violence towards trans women in Latin America is especially alarming, since trans women are the most visible, and as such, the most vulnerable group on the LGBTQ+ spectrum. A 2015 IACHR report on violence against LGBTQ + persons revealed that trans women in the region are killed mostly before 35 years old and they are particularly susceptible to violence perpetrated by law enforcement agents.

Furthermore, the spread of LGBTQ+ legal rights in Latin America has not been linear across the region. While countries such as Argentina, and Uruguay can boast of the highest levels of acceptance towards LGBTQ+ people and inclusive laws, the reality in Central America, particularly in countries such as Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, is starkly different.

LGBTQ+ persons in those countries do not only face discrimination and violence but also, they remain largely unprotected by the law. On 27 November 2017, Amnesty International (AI) reported that LGBTQ+ persons in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador are at a heightened risk of violence, in already violence-prone territories, because the authorities fail to protect them. The report added that gay men and trans women are fleeing due to soaring levels of discrimination and gender-based violence committed by criminal gangs and members of the security forces.

More recently, Guatemala came under heavy criticism both locally and internationally when a bill threatening the rights of women, girls and LGBTQ+ persons was introduced in September 2018, prompting AI to issue a call to the Guatemala congress to reject the piece of legislation. Put another way, besides the variance of LGBTQ+ legal rights between Latin America and the ESC, there is also disparity within Latin America itself.

In the same token, it would be inaccurate to conclude that progress in terms of LGBTQ+ laws has not been made in the English-speaking Caribbean. Albeit slow-moving, Caribbean countries are becoming more and more inclusive of LGBTQ+ people and rights. For instance, since 2006, St Lucia included in its Labour Code the prohibition of unfair dismissal of employees based on their sexual orientation.

Similarly, in 2017, Jamaica, which was once named “the most homophobic place on earth”, included a non-discrimination clause on the basis of sexual orientation in its 2017-2030 Youth Policy. In 2016, Belize granted constitutional protection for its LGBT citizens, while in April last year a high court in T&T ruled that the sodomy laws were unconstitutional. Additionally, last year, several English-speaking Caribbean countries, including Guyana and Barbados in June, and T&T in July celebrated their first official Gay Pride parades.

Bearing this in mind, and despite some similarities between Central America and the English-speaking Caribbean, as far as the push back to LGBTQ+ legal rights is concerned, there exists a notable disparity between Latin America and the English-speaking Caribbean. In this regard, scholars attribute this variance to several factors, including the strong influence of the Evangelical church on everyday life and on politics in the English-speaking Caribbean, compared to a less influential Roman Catholic church in Latin America.

Furthermore, the legacies of colonialism and slavery are also taken into consideration to explain this variation. Particularly, it is argued that British colonial laws, concerning homosexuality were far much harsher than those implemented by their Spanish counterpart. Additionally, it is also contended that the experience of slavery has heavily shaped attitudes towards homosexuality in the English-speaking Caribbean especially as it relates to perceptions of gender roles and of masculinity.

However, these attitudes are not exclusive to the English-speaking Caribbean. ‘Machismo’ or the sense of being ‘manly’ can be found in all corners of the globe, including Latin America. It may be worth examining the work of LGBTQ+ grassroots organisations in both Latin America and the English-speaking Caribbean, as well as the political opportunity structures that are available to them to shed more light on the divergence of LGBTQ+ legal rights between Latin America and the English-speaking Caribbean.