A 2018 community discussion hosted by the Alliance for Justice and Diversity in the Port of Spain City Hall had its beginnings on the night of February 6, 2009 in Georgetown, Guyana. That evening, seven transgender women were scooped up by the police and detained over the weekend. The following Monday in the Georgetown Magistrates Court, they learned that they had been charged with cross-dressing. They pleaded guilty, were convicted and were each ordered to pay a fine. But not before being admonished by the Magistrate that they were “confused about their sexuality”.
“Go to church,” she told them. “Find Jesus Christ.”
With support from the Faculty of Law University of the West Indies Rights Advocacy Project, U-RAP, the group has been challenging the 19th century Guyanese law which bars men from dressing like women, and women from dressing like men, “for an improper purpose”. There have been mixed-bag judgments from the Guyana High Court in 2013 and the Guyana Court of Appeal in 2017. On June 28, 2018, the Caribbean Court of Justice in Port of Spain heard the final appeal in the case. In a sense, this was the end of the road.
Learn more about the case and meet one of the litigants, Gulliver, in the video below.
But following the hearing, an esteemed panel set about explaining why many Caribbean people remain as vulnerable to the whims and abuses of the state as those seven transgender women… why there is quite a bit more distance to cover in the journey toward just and equitable societies.
“One of the ways of thinking about this case is using the term 'administrative violence',” explained U-RAP Co-coordinator, Tracy Robinson, by way of introduction. “This is the sort of state action—especially by courts and the police—that shows up as unequal power and unequal life chances" (Dean Spade, Normal life: Administrative violence, critical trans politics, and the limits of law. Duke University Press, 2015).
"Laws do not apply evenly to everyone: those with the least [resources] and those marginalised are at greatest risk. The concept of 'administrative violence' asks us to not only think about what the law says, but also what it does to some of us (Spade). The legal system has grave implications for those who are already marginalised and impoverished. Trans women are not the only ones who face lives which are cut short by state action and state inaction. Tonight’s discussion is to illustrate the connections between cases like this and many other instances in our societies in which we leave out and exclude those who are integral and part of our societies.”
Political leader of the Movement for Social Justice and career trade union leader, David Abdullah, pointed to the enduring legacy of violence, condescension and control embedded in Caribbean culture and law. References to "idlers", "imbeciles" and "rogues" remain in the statutes. Access to justice is uneven. Crimes committed by the wealthy and powerful are rarely prosecuted. Everywhere from our education system to our land rights regime, vestiges of our colonial past remain intact.
"We have a society that perpetuates the power of the elite, the wealthy, [the] technocratic and professional class, men and adults over children. Unless and until we address the reform of that state... we will continue to get the problems we have. It also means that all of us have to change our culture and our attitudes and our understanding of 'the other' in society," he ended.
The Very Reverend Shelley-Ann Tenia, an Anglican Diocese Dean and Holy Trinity Cathedral Rector, acknowledged the dichotomy of the church's place in Caribbean society. On one hand major religions have helped prop up existing laws and participated in the marginalisation of entire communities. On the other hand, churches have increased access to education, healthcare and psycho-social support for many. Rev. Tenia called for the community of faith to reimagine its role in increasing acceptance, inclusion and access to justice.
"There are some things that are common about us in our humanity: trying to make meaning, seeking what is best for us in our lives and the lives of people that we love, hoping we would all experience dignity and respect... and knowing there is a place for us," Rev. Tenia said. "Even if we are different or if we are born into vulnerable spaces we hope someone will contribute toward evening the playing field."
Roberta Clarke, President of the Coalition Against Domestic Violence, began with a couple truisms. The state does bad things to poor people. And the harm is worse when those poor people are from communities that are discriminated against. She noted that while Caribbean societies are composed of multiple and overlapping inequalities—colour, ethnicity, socio-economic class, disability, sexual orientation—gender is a cross-cutting issue. "We have not conquered patriarchy," she said. "Patriarchy has an extraordinary capacity to refresh."
But while many have experienced social mobility by dint of the state's redistributive role and strides made in access to social protection, education, healthcare, labour rights and anti-discrimination, she points to the persistent idea that poor, disadvantaged people are responsible for their situations through some moral or personal failing. Clarke called for three lines of action. First, more strategic litigation to challenge state actors on mal-administration. Second, research, documentation and publishing on social justice matters. And finally, organisation and solidarity to achieve change.
"To one degree or another the mass of people in the Caribbean have been living lives of 'improper purpose'," Sunity Maharaj, Managing Director of the Lloyd Best Institute stated, referencing the disputed phrase in the Guyana cross-dressing law. She pointed to several examples: the Trinidad and Tobago immigration law which bars entry to the deaf, mute and idiots; strict and decidedly non-tropical dress codes for entering official buildings; or the need to be either compliant or connected in order to access state services. This Maharaj contrasted with the vast legal and financial accommodations made by the state for the powerful and moneyed.
"We cannot expect a state devolved out of central power to evolve into democratic government. It would only do so by force. We have to make the sacrifice to make the next generation spiritually, psychically and emotionally better off than us. The most radical action in the Caribbean is unity. We have a history of... a minority managing large numbers of people... by division. Whenever we start to unite and reach out of our silos to each other, it becomes a revolutionary environment," Maharaj said.
