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 these were the ones who were most vulnerable; unable to apply for the grants meant to support those hardest hit by the pandemic. Furthermore, it was reported that at the “HIV & COVID-19 Social Development Meeting”, Ms. Seecharan[i] in response to a question posed by Brandy Rodriguez[ii], implied that Key Populations (KP’s)[iii] were placing the general public at risk for HIV infection. Also, she was not sure, that in her capacity as Permanent Secretary, that she supports any suggested interventions to assist KP’s. as her personal beliefs are at variance with the lives of KP’s.
At an already critically tumultuous time in the lives of so many, this lack of understanding of gender awareness and psychosocial factors exemplified the exacerbation of barriers KP’s face in accessing services and care. CAISO responded to Ms. Seecharan’s reported statements with a letter to the Honourable Camille Robinson-Regis offering their services to provide a knowledge sharing and relationship building workshop between the LGBT community and members of her staff. The letter was acknowledged as received, with no further communication from the Minister. Nonetheless, the reality remains that the best thought out policies carry built in prejudices and blind spots to the ways in which those who live on the margins are technically denied access to government services.
Difficult Realities of Exclusion and Discrimination
A powerful example can be made of the salary relief provisions made for those who lost income due to the restrictions. A young and new single mother from Morvant who supported herself as a sex worker lost all access to income. To begin with, her resources were severely depleted as work became difficult to come by as she went further along in her pregnancy. Then, lockdown measures were implemented around the same time as her delivery. Unable to work, single, and with an extremely limited support system, she attempted to apply for the maternity grant. She was repeatedly turned away from the NIS office as she was not allowed to enter with her infant. Her application could not be fully processed as protocol required that she presented herself with her ID to the interviewing officer. Understandably, with no one to leave her infant with, she abandoned efforts to apply for any relief. I became aware of her situation when she was referred to me by another sex worker. However, by that time the opportunity to apply for the maternity grant had expired. Fortunately, we were able to assist with an online application for a food card, which was being processed at the end of Wholeness and Justice’s targeted COVID-19 support work.
In another instance, a sex worker who was supporting six children and herself, could not apply for a food card or salary relief. For one, ‘sex work’ is not recognized as legitimate work by state institutions, and she was unable “to prove” that the pandemic affected her income. A survivor of an extremely violent relationship, her ex-partner burnt all her documents, including her NIS card, and Birth Paper. Furthermore, she is diagnosed with depression, epilepsy, and asthma and has been hospitalised on numerous occasions. Organizations that received government funding to provide hampers were unable to assist her, as part of their protocol required that individuals present some national form of ID to receive food baskets. Under the casework project, Wholeness and Justice was able rally support from the community through our own food drive efforts and collaborative efforts with other organizations and provide her family with food and clothing. As the Caseworker, I helped her to apply for a new Birth Paper which proved a tedious task due to the reduced staff and work hours of the Government offices.
Some businesses simply terminated employees without protocol or adherence to due process. A Jamaican trans man who endured verbal, physical, and financial abuse at the security firm where he was employed was told at the end of the first lockdown, that “the schedule was not ready and he should call again.” After three weeks of calling, he realized he was essentially “fired”. By that time, he was behind on his rent, his partner also lost her job at a casino and their landlord evicted them. A “friend” invited them to stay in a room at his aunts’ unoccupied home, but when he was unable to extract sexual favours from them, forced them out. With assistance from community members, funds were collected, and a place was rented for them for just under three months. They were also provided with food and sanitary products until they were relocated through IOM to Australia (which was their initial intention that was impacted by COVID-19 border closures and travel restrictions).
Unfortunately, abuse and marginalization in the workplace are not as rare as we would assume for members of the LGBT community. Many trans women resort to sex work because their employers shun them or hire them to do the ‘grunge work’ in the business. Oftentimes they (trans women) speak about the micro-aggressions they endure at work, and how their places at work are almost always relegated to the “back rooms”, away from front end service provision. These human injustices are allowed to continue as there is no avenue for redress against this type of discrimination. The Equal Opportunity Act does not offer protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, further excluding already vulnerable populations from the rights of full citizenship. Their already diminished positions in society are aggravated because they are as affected by COVID as fellow citizens, but without buffers to temper the effects being removed from stable income generating sectors of the economy.
Specific Disadvantage
COVID relief programs neglected the specific ways trans women were affected by this pandemic, and the ways in which stigma and discrimination complicated their situation. Those who are sex workers had no access to state-instituted salary relief. The lack of non-gender reaffirming ID cards resulted in some persons having no ID cards or incongruity with their gender expression and ID card. The latter left many unmotivated to face the scrutiny of service providers at government buildings or organisations that required identification to provide support. Some trans women found public transport particularly arduous, as maxi drivers were choosing not to pick them up in, preferring to use their 50% capacity for those who appeared to them as cis-gendered customers. Consequently, sex work had to continue during the pandemic as no support was meted out to this population. In my capacity as Caseworker, it seemed that the most immediate and achievable form of help for this population was through food hamper drives and rental assistance.
Throughout the duration of the project, the needs assessment conducted revealed that persons were either ineligible and/or uninterested in accessing government services or were already in the process of acquiring assistance. The most immediate concern was food, as food cards were not providing enough assistance to families. In particular, large families with mostly minors. The program adapted to meet the concerns of its population, and there was much activity centred around organizing food and clothes for distribution. The needs assessment interviews indicated that KP’s need assistance with accessing grants outside the scope of the project. Persons were living in house that leaked profusely when rain fell, or on land that was slipping. One young woman had no running water, indoor or outdoor kitchen or bathroom facilities. Her house comprised of some plywood and galvanize. Though there are grants to assist persons as herself, living ‘hand to mouth’ leaves little energy to navigate the labyrinth that is accessing government assistance. Especially when so many of our referrals were living with prolonged psycho-social disadvantages and personal struggles with mental wellness.
Some Success but More to be Done
At the end of Wholeness and Justice relief work, the programme was able to assist all referrals with food, clothes, and/or applications for food cards. The programme was also able to share knowledge on how to navigate what oftentimes appears to be a nebulous government system. Some clients were able to access free therapeutic counselling provided the programme’s clinician. There is still a lot of work to be done in the community and renewed efforts to connect and partner with the current Minister of Social Development is under construction. The removal of barriers to LGBTI+ people accessing state services and protection is a long-time engagement and commitment by CAISO and its affiliates and continues until achieved.
[i] The then Permanent Secretary, of the Ministry of Social Development & Family Services
[ii] President of the Trinidad & Tobago Trans Coalition (TTTC)
[iii] Trans women, Sex Workers and Men who have sex with Men (MSM)
Rae Alibey
Community Caseworker
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