Doing the work of Wholeness and Justice

Posts

Provide Redress for LGBTQ Human Rights Violations

At the recently concluded LGBT+ & People Of Color Global summit, transgender activists representing a variety of Caribbean islands, all lamented of experiencing a pandemic within the COVID-19 pandemic. We have seen some progress with the successful constitutional challenge against outdated and oppressive laws that sought to criminalize intimacy within the LGBT+ community with imprisonment for up to 25 years. However, despite having these laws struck down members of our LGBT+ community are still victimized on grounds of their gender, sexuality, gender presentation and a number of other factors. COVID-19 has not made it easier, without family support and in economic uncertain times many of us remain isolated and lacking resources. Within the LGBT+ community, trans persons are the most affected; experiencing barriers to economic security, food security, home security, redress for Human Rights violations and adequate access to healthcare. While many of us stood on the steps of the Ha

LGBTQ Word of the Day: “Passing”

Passing is a term largely used in Trans culture and lexicon. It is when a Trans person is so successful at their transition that they “pass” for the gender that they want to live as. However, if you ask any Trans person, passing is not just about looking the way that you want to look. It is about smaller things that we do not consider every day. It is training your voice to match your gender, adjusting your gait and hand gestures, changing your vocabulary, your cadence, training yourself how to laugh, or hold everyday items. It is all of these things at once, all the time, while engaging the rest of the world as if it is not on your mind at all. The more Cis gender you appear, the less threatening you are to others. For homophobic persons, spotting and exposing an LGBTQ person, makes them feel like they have uncovered a sinister conspiracy, at least that is how it comes across to me. I do not claim to speak for every person of trans experience, but mostly people want to pass, because

COVID-19 and People Living with HIV

The LGBTQ community is no stranger to worldwide pandemics. It is not lost on me, in the middle of this Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that I have also lived through the pandemic of HIV/AIDS. Lifesaving antiretroviral (ARV) medication has meant that persons are now living longer with HIV, but as these two pandemics collide, and persons were asked to self-quarantine in their homes, HIV positive persons found themselves caught between venturing out at the risk of contracting COVID-19, so as to able to get their life saving ARV medication. With nationwide lockdowns, the closure of none essential businesses, massive job and income loss and the disruption in the food supply chain, so many of the country’s most vulnerable found themselves ill equipped to weather the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Lockdowns, curfews, economic restrictions and social isolation associated with the COVID-19 pandemic are having a disproportionate negative effect on vulnerable populations” (UNAIDS 202

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) in the LGBTQ Community

There is discrimination in violence. On the surface this appears to be an untrue statement. However, when we examine how violence is perceived by the public, and treated within the legal framework, the statement is justified. For far too long there has been silence about the ways in which violence is experienced by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT+) community. There is no insistence for justice, cries of indignation, or galvanized marches from the nation when a transgendered or gay person is murdered. There is no deep concern, or queries regarding “what about the children?!” when an LGBT+ youth is abused at home, shunned and/or abandoned by family. Finally, there certainly is no national conversation about intimate partner violence occurring between same sex couples. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is related to any behavior between a couple that involves acts of physical and sexual violence, emotional and psychological abuse, and controlling behavior (World Health Or

COVID-19 and the Early Work of Wholeness & Justice

In May of 2020, amidst the COVID-19 lockdown, Wholeness and Justice began early-stage work to provide support to members of the LGBTI+ community from the resulting fallout. Initially, the scope of the programme’s work was aimed at helping LGBTI+ persons, displaced by the COVID restrictions, access Government relief services. However, the project soon expanded to included female sex workers, people living with HIV (PLHIV), and migrants regardless of sexual orientation. As the Caseworker for this project, I had a chance to see the impact of COVID in the daily lives of the communities we were serving; moreover, the ways in which these government systems exclude some of the more vulnerable members of its own citizenry. Killing Fields of Uncaring A needs assessment was done with over 60 persons, most of whom were recommended by the Trinidad and Tobago Trans Coalition, and comprised trans women, sex workers, and persons living with HIV. In some instances, persons fell into each category, and

The Wholeness of Justice: Origins of the Programme

For decades, feminist organisations have been advocating for inclusive and responsive laws and services that make available, and accessible, protections and support for members of marginalised communities in Trinidad and Tobago. In more recent years, the voices of LGBTI+ communities have become prominent as advocacy has sought to reconstruct the human rights landscape in pursuit of equal rights and protections for queer folk. Out of this work, particularly that of the Alliance for Justice and Diversity (AJD) and given the lack of responsiveness from the State to protect the LGBTI+ community, CAISO: Sex and Gender Justice established the Wholeness and Justice programme. Funded by grants from the Arcus and Astrea Foundations, the Wholeness and Justice programme is the first of its kind in Trinidad and Tobago, offering a combination of legal, clinical, and wholeness services to members of the ITLGB+ community in the country. ITLGB+ is the acronym used by the programme as it places at the