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The Caribbean today is characterized by grave intolerance and mistrust at all levels.
Exploring our history, society and concepts of identity, we will be looking at the intolerance for gay marriages in the Caribbean with respect to religion and culture.
We also take a look at the mistrust among religion and how it leads back to colonialism in the Caribbean as it relates to and contributes to the discrimination of gay marriages in the Caribbean.
Key concepts of Cultural identity and carribean civilisation will be used to further analyse these topics as we explore our history and society in today's world.

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Mistrust is defined at having a lack of confidence or trust or having suspicions or doubts towards something or someone. In the Caribbean we see mistrust among religion where different religions have suspicions towards others. For instance, a common example of mistrust in religion in the Caribbean is where Christian grandparents teach their children to stay away from Hindu prayers and not eat the "parsad" from the prayers because it is unsafe or is somehow related to "black magic". Another common example of mistrust among in the Caribbean is shown when people "run away" when they see Baptists. This is because they have been taught that the Baptist religion is "scary".

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Mistrust Among Religion Leading Back to Colonialism

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Mistrust Among Religion Leading Back to Colonialism

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From a historical point of view, religion was not a means by which a society would use to maintain discipline by instilling a belief in a higher power. Dating back to the indigenous people, the Europeans used religion to justify the mass genocide caused by their methods of oppression. Throughout slavery, this era of “converting to Christianity” was used as a means of oppression for the upper classmen to maintain dominance over lower classes in the society. Therefore, the use of religion as a tool of greed for power and authority resulting in the suffering and oppression in the society initiated the mistrust among religion.

In today’s society, religion is a persistent factor for mistrust within our societies. In the Caribbean specifically, it is highly regarded that every individual belong to a certain faith and is rarely seen for a person to freely not be affiliated with any religion. However, this has affected beliefs and norms among the Caribbean people. The mistrust, at one perspective, begins amongst the religions. People of different faiths are not acceptably permitted to interact with outside religions other than their own. For example, a Christian would not usually be seen attending a Hindu prayers or a Muslim jummah salah.

In addition, considering the roles of gender identity, it is frowned upon in a Caribbean household for an individual to identify as gay, bisexual or any other version of gender known of today. Coherently, parents are not typically accepting of same sex marriages. In the Caribbean today, it is disappointing and even made a mockery of if you a member of the LGBTQ community. Gender discrimination does not just exist within this premises though, it is still evident simply among the roles of male and female. For example, women in the workplace of certain occupations are not treated the way a man would be. This ties in the androcentric views of the colonial period. There was noticeable improvement since feminist and women activists continuously fought for women’s rights throughout the years, however, the existence of the male-dominated view in Caribbean societies are still precedent and they stemmed from religious perspectives.

In consideration, the mistrust among religion in society was born centuries ago. This mistrust managed to continue from generation to generation and from society to society each passing year. Though a global improvement has been made regarding religion being used as a tool of oppression, it still exists as a method of discrimination of things not typically accepted in the society. Therefore, religion today is still correlated to colonialism in the sense that it is intolerant of customs and beliefs outside of a specific faith. Altogether, there exists mistrust among religion in the Caribbean society today that leads back to colonialism.

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Intolerance to Gay Marriages In the Caribbean (Trinidad and Tobago)

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Intolerance to Gay Marriages In the Caribbean (Trinidad and Tobago)

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It is popularly known that in the Caribbean that religious groups are more prejudiced towards gay marriages than non religious persons. Studies have shown that in a multi-religious environment, the highly religious persons were more likely the persons to be intolerant of homosexuality. Culturally speaking, gay marriages are not of tradition and frowned upon. For years, there has been many same-sex marriages, however they have always been kept quiet because It was not traditional. As of recent, the LGBT community has become open about same sex marriages and has become dismissive about the traditional view of marriage.
In Trinidad and Tobago, Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons face legal challenges not experienced by non LGBT residents. Households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same rights and benefits as that of opposite-sex couples.
Same-sex relations are illegal Trinidad and Tobago. It is a remnant of colonial-era laws outlawing sodomy, and the twin-island Caribbean nation does not legally recognize same-sex marriage or unions.

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Intolerance is known as a lack of  respect for beliefs or practices other than one's own. Intolerance also involves rejection of persons whose we may perceive as different. For instance, people who are of a different sexual orientation.
Discrimination in its many forms is a common form violation and abuse of human rights. Discrimination affects millions and millions of people each and every day. It is one of the most difficult things to recognise. The concepts of intolerance and discrimination are closely related. Discrimination occurs when a person or a group of people are treated less favourably than someone else simply because they belong to a certain category of people. People can be discriminated against for various reasons. We will be focusing of discrimination among persons due to their religious beliefs, sex or gender and sexual orientation.

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Current Issue of Gay marriages in Trinidad and Tobago

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Current Issue of Gay marriages in Trinidad and Tobago

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On April 12, Trinidad and Tobago’s high court ruled Sections 13 and 16 of the Sexual Offenses Act “unconstitutional, illegal, null and void.” The law makes buggery (sodomy) illegal, even if it takes place between two consenting adults, with a maximum 25-year prison sentence.
The encouraged the country’s estimated 35,000 LGBT citizens and advocacy groups to celebrate the new ruling.
As many citizens prepared for the island's first ever gay pride parade, other citizens started openly supporting the eradication of the laws which criminalise homosexuality.
However, many of the country’s religious leaders are not celebrating. In response to the ruling, on June 12, religious leaders of Trinidad and Tobago, called on the government to uphold traditional marriages and oppose LGBT rights. They represented 90 percent of the island's population that is Christian, Muslim and Hindu

and they called on the government to amend the country’s Marriage Act to ensure that only a biological man and a biological woman be allowed to marry. They also called on the government not to amend the Equal Opportunity Act to accommodate LGBT people. The act prohibits specific forms of discrimination and doesn’t currently offer protection for gays and lesbians.
The government has not responded to the religious leaders’ request. So contentious is the issue that the new executive of the Inter-Religious Organization of Trinidad and Tobago, the country’s main religious governing body, has put the legality of homosexuality on its agenda for discussion and is expected to make an announcement on it in the near future.

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Racism with respect to Discrimination In the Caribbean

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Racism with respect to Discrimination In the Caribbean

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Racism was an important issue throughout history and even today. Social stratification restricted upward movement in society due to discrimination based on the pigmentation of one’s skin. In the era of slavery, racism was a major played in how the society was run and who had power over whom. There is a famous quote by Dr. Eric Williams, “Racism was not born of slavery but slavery was born of racism.” There were many perspectives on this this premises, however, it could not be argued of the degree of oppression and lack of opportunities afforded to those of darker skin colours. The black man was seen as lesser in the Caribbean society mainly because Eurocentric views were praised. The whites were seen as superior to the blacks. This was trickled down into Caribbean society today. It exists everywhere, in schools, the workplace and even on social media. It is a real issue in the Caribbean. The black rights movement was an activist movement initiated to put an end to the discrimination and oppression on the coloured people. Although things like such exist, racial discrimination still exist in the society as black people are not afforded equal opportunities and privileges.