Organisers of Sunday’s PrideTT parade emphasised the need for legislation to protect members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and Asexual (LGBTQIA) community from discrimination.
Almost 200 people gathered at One Café Alcazar on Maraval Road to celebrate the LGBTQIA community.
PRIDETT co-founder Kennedy Everett Maraj said this year’s theme, ‘The right to…’ was intentionally left open-ended to place a spotlight on all the various issues affecting the community.
“Given that we are such a diverse community and we are not a monolith, not every single issue is going to impact each and every one of us the same exact way. Different issues impact all of us differently.
“So it's really to give the community a platform to come out and say, what is affecting them the most and put a spotlight on that.”
Maraj said PrideTT and the parade are important in trying to change the narrative of what society thinks and feels about LGBTQIA people.
“There's a lot of misinformation, disinformation, negative stereotypes and prejudices that defines who we are. But we are trying to show a positive light to show this is not who we are and we are just like everyone else.”
He added, “The only difference is that there are a lot of issues that prevent us from having the same sort of equal rights that every other citizen enjoys and trying to create a sense of community within our community and create safe spaces so people can come out, be free, be safe, and enjoy themselves.”
[caption id="attachment_1099083" align="alignnone" width="1000"] Ivaek Archer parades the costume, The Joy of Carnival is Colour, in the annual Pride Parade in celebration of Pride Month on Maraval Road, Port of Spain on July 28.- Photo by Faith Ayoung[/caption]
Maraj said LGBTQIA representatives have had discussions with legislators in the past about the necessary change in laws that are required to place the community on an equal footing with the rest of the country.
He pointed to discrimination as one of the most pressing issues facing the community.
“Something that our community has been advocating for well over a decade is changes to the Equal Opportunity Act. We do not have any protections for LGBTQIA persons that prevent them from being discriminated against. We have been trying to get legislators to put sexual orientation and gender identity into that act to protect us from discrimination, especially within the workplace.”
He said despite these discussions, there is no indication that legislative change is coming any time soon.
“We have made a little bit of movement on getting interviews and meetings with various legislators, but nothing has been put on the table for Parliament to really amend that act.”
Maraj said rather than protecting citizens, the act reinforces discrimination on several grounds, including sexuality, age and HIV status.
“Those are still grounds where employers and anyone can discriminate against someone based on those factors and there's no protection.”
He said there are many people who h
