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"The Caribbean today is characterised by grave intolerance and mistrust at all levels"

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"The Caribbean today is characterised by grave intolerance and mistrust at all levels"

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The Caribbean is a melting pot of different cultures, races, views, and identities coexisting and thriving together. It is joined together by a shared history of colonialism, oppression, and resistance as well as the present which has been focused on finding their identity. This history, however, has brought with it views of intolerance and mistrust. These views have bloomed into the divisive force which has separated people and has led to distrust and violence at many levels of society.  Issues such as the LGBTQIA community and race have faced a history of intolerance and mistrust through many aspects of society and on varying levels. Thus, this essay seeks to describe the extent to which both issues are met with intolerance and mistrust in the Caribbean.

One of the issues which have been surrounded by intolerance and mistrust is LGBTQIA issues. The LGBTQIA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual) community is a community of people with varied sexual orientations and/or gender identities. Due to a history fraught with abuse and homophobia, people in the LGBTQIA community have faced grave intolerances in different parts of society. The history of intolerance in the form of homophobia first appeared during slavery. According to Thomas A. Foster, the sexual assault of male African slaves by planters was a form of punishment and was not talked about by male slaves due to homophobia, as well as the feeling of the loss of masculinity. This form of punishment which mainly occurred in Jamaica, called ‘Buck breaking’, for male African slaves was essentially used for domination of the planters as well as for the “feminization” of the slaves. This abuse was also joined by the teaching of slaves of Christianity which they adopted as part of their own. The ex-slaves, who were taught Christianity by the plantation masters and later the Baptists, adopted the rules and commandments of it. This includes opposition towards homosexuality. Thus, these were the main historical reasons for homophobia.

The effects of buck breaking as well as the reinforcement of Christian teaching had long term effects and in the present day there is still intolerance towards the LGBTQIA community, mostly by the religious sector and older generations and is also enforced in the judicial system, which according to Philip Dayle, is “government-supported homophobia”. There are a variety of religions in the Caribbean with most persons being Christians. Some of these Christians are against homosexuality mainly due to passages in the bible. This has led to protests, calls to ban LGBTQIA persons from entering islands and acts of violence in many different islands. Examples of this are when Christian groups protested the changing of the ‘Buggery’ law in Trinidad in 2018, as well as when Christian groups led by the archbishop of the Anglican church attempted to stop Elton John from performing in Tobago in 2007 citing that he will “corrupt the island” as well as when the Christian group “Save the Bahamas” protested a cruise ship with gay passengers from stopping in the Bahamas (Gaskins Jr. 438). Additionally, transgender women, Sasha Fierce aka Keon Alister Patterson and Dwayne Jones in Trinidad and Jamaica respectively were murdered in 2017 and 2013 allegedly due to their gender identities. It can be said that these cases portray the extreme intolerance as well as homophobia and transphobia of the people of the Caribbean by showing their distaste towards repealing “buggery” laws, and by showing their hatred of LGBTQIA persons to the point of wanting them banned from entering islands and killing them.

The government and judicial system have also allowed for the spread and normalisation of homophobia and transphobia in the Caribbean. They have assisted in this by refusing to change laws that allow for the prosecution of LGBTQIA persons, by refusing to provide laws which prevent discrimination of these people and by giving in to the religious majority, who they (the government) rely on to get elected. Most Caribbean islands adopted British laws including “buggery” laws that viewed sexual intercourse between men as “unnatural” and “gross indecency”, and perpetrators of these laws were given prison sentences lasting many years, with a maximum sentence of 25 years in Trinidad and Guyana (435). Also, in the case of Trinidad and Tobago, laws which prohibited gay people from entering the country shows that LGBTQIA people are viewed to be dangerous to the nations as they are bunched together with person’s with chronic illnesses  The correlation of the LGBTQIA community with being unnatural and dangerous according to Joseph Gaskins Jr, has caused homophobia as it provides a judicial backing as support for persons against. It also leads to injustice in cases of rape, sexual assault and abuse towards LGBTQIA people as they may not be able to report cases in fear of incriminating themselves and not receiving justice or even being listened to.  By refusing to change laws that allow for persecution as well as add laws that prevent discrimination and provide aid for LGBTQIA persons, increased vigilante acts have occurred such as releasing the sexualities of LGBTQIA persons for the public to lynch them or refusing to treat HIV positive gay men as people feel as if they can get away with acts of discrimination. In addition, police have committed violent acts against them in implementing the law and the government has turned a blind eye towards acts of discrimination in the country. The government has refused to change these laws, partly because of their own views on the matter, as well as their need to appease the religious majority who controls which political party will be voted in. An example of this, in Jamaica, the documentary “Young and Gay: Jamaica's Gully Queens” talks about “Gully Queens” who are gay men and transgender women living in a storm drain after they were kicked out of their communities. During this documentary, it was shown that the government was unwilling to provide housing, protection or financial assistance to these people, stating that it was not their responsibility which led to these people living in squalor conditions and committing crimes to earn money. Thus, the government and judicial system have allowed for intolerance and mistrust towards the LGBTQIA community in the Caribbean.

Although the Caribbean may seem to fully be intolerant and mistrusting towards the LGBTQIA community, there are many signs that this view is changing. Many countries such as Jamaica and Barbados have moved to decriminalise homosexuality, with Trinidad and Tobago, the Bahamas, Belize and Bermuda already decriminalising it and Bermuda legalising gay marriage. This regional movement towards decriminalisation has been led by persons such as Jason Jones of Trinidad, and Maurice Tomlinson of Jamaica and groups such as J-FLAG and CAISO (the Coalition Advocating for Inclusion of Sexual Orientation) and has seen a small but growing success. According to The Guardian newspaper, Jamaica is no longer the “most homophobic place on earth” thanks to these people and groups and was able to host a gay pride parade. In fact, throughout the Caribbean, many countries such as Barbados, Belize, Trinidad were able to have pride parades, which would not have happened in the past. In addition, LGBTQIA rights groups have finally begun to be taken seriously which according to Glenroy Murray is “A huge step forward”. The movement towards decriminalising homosexuality has even gained religious supporters. Pundit Satyanand Maharaj of Trinidad condemned religious groups against decriminalizing homosexuality, stating that gay rights are human rights and that the religious groups were hypocrites for marching against gay rights as they too were once denied their rights. Even the Catholic archbishop for Trinidad and Tobago supported the move to remove the ‘buggery law’. This shift into tolerance is also being caused by international support due to calls denouncing the buggery law from both former British prime minister Theresa May and former American president Barack Obama. From these examples, it can be concluded that the Caribbean is shifting to be more tolerant and trusting, though it is a slow progression, fraught with acts of hate crimes and discrimination. At present, there is still to a large extent, intolerance and mistrust towards the LGBTQIA community in the social, judicial and government levels.

Another issue that has caused intolerance and mistrust is race. Race is the different morphological traits that groups of people may have which can be socially significant and can affect the way they are treated in society. Race has been a driving issue due to the history of slavery and indentureship in the Caribbean. During slavery, African slaves were treated like chattel, forced to work for long hours with brutal punishments. They lived in squalor conditions and had no rights. The first race division made was between the lighter-skinned people who were the children of slaves and plantation workers and who had less grueling work. They wore better clothes, ate better food and were more likely to be manumitted than the field slaves (Paton, 250). After emancipation and during the colonial era, it was observed that the lighter one’s skin the better and higher-paying one’s job was. Thus, there were many issues related to race between the darker and lighter-skinned Africans. There was also a racial divide between the ex-slaves and the east Indian indentures. This racism was propagated by the white planters in order to prevent both groups from teaming up and overthrowing their rule (Stewart). The indentured laborers were kept away from the ex-slaves and the planters spread negative stereotypes about the group. They were also paid more than the ex-slaves who could not protest their wages. Finally, the east-Indians indenturers had rights and were able to maintain their families, culture, and religion, which the ex-slaves could not do. This led to sentiments of inequality from the ex-slaves leading to further division (Zacharias, McAfee, 71). Thus, these two aspects of racial divide led to intolerance and mistrust in the Caribbean.

In the present-day Caribbean, there are still instances of intolerance and mistrust between persons of African origin and those of Indian descent as well as lighter and darker-skinned black persons, (colorism) though it is very small. The Caribbean is a plural society where groups stay individual and unmixed, only interacting in the workplace (72). They are also divided by political parties, as in places such as Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago people tend to vote according to race. In terms of lighter and darker-skinned black people, there are also small amounts of division, one example being skin bleaching. Skin bleaching is done by darker-skinned people in order to appear ‘prettier’ as they view darker skin as ugly and it is done to climb in social class and obtain better jobs (Bissoy). However, despite these examples of division the Caribbean, in general, is more tolerant than in the past. Caribbean islands such as Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago have become culturally mixed, birthing things such as chutney soca which is a mix of African and Indian musical elements. They have also celebrated the food, religion and cultural events of both races such as Divali, Emancipation Day and Indian Arrival Day, of which everyone takes part and celebrates. In terms of skin colour, thanks to a growing acceptance and love of dark skin stemming from movements such as Pan-Africanism, people are shifting from the view that lighter skin is favourable. Lighter skin is also no longer needed to climb the social ladder as education is now viewed as being more important. Lastly, laws penalising discrimination based on race such as the equal opportunities act have aided in reducing racism. Thus, the intolerance and mistrust of the Caribbean towards races in only to a minor extent.

The intolerance and mistrust of the Caribbean towards the LGBTQIA community are to a large extent, encompassing the social, judicial and governmental aspects of society. This is due to a history of abuse by the white planters and a present of religious and judicial homophobia. In contrast, intolerance towards race is to a minor extent despite a shared history of oppression. This is due to the present mixing of cultures and black acceptance.

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