In a summit in Trinidad last weekend, a number of LGBT young people from the Caribbean met with the aim of reducing discrimination and lobbying for the rights of gender and sexuality diverse people in the region.

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The summit was held under the banner ‘Generation Change’ in Port of Spain, Trinidad’s capital.

Jeremy Steffan Edwards, one of the event organizers had this to say:

“‘The younger generation of LGBT people are not prepared to wait forever to be treated equally.”

‘We are not asking for any special rights, just the same rights as every other Caribbean citizen. It’s our future and it’s time for those who can make change happen to do so.’

The conference at the Kapok Hotel hosted activists from Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Barbados and St. Lucia. Representatives of Guyana and Belize also made contributions. The British High Commissioner Arthur Snell also spoke, expressing his support.

Some of the issues covered at the summit include the following:

Prime Minister Stuart of Barbados responded to an appeal from local LGBT group B-GLAD, stating that he will remain dedicated to to lobbying against discrimination of all Barbadian citizens, including those who are L, G, B or T. However, at the summit, Donnya Piggott from B-GLAD had this to say:

“‘The laws still discriminate and sometimes the police do not take attacks or threats against LGBT people seriously. The situation causes great physical, emotional and psychological damage. ”

In 2012 Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bisessar said she wanted the National Gender Policy to  ‘forge the way forward for Trinidad and Tobago as my government seeks to put an end to all discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation’

However, Rian Merrick of the Silver Lining Foundation said: ‘Despite the PM’s words young LGBT persons and LGBT advocates were compelled to argue before a National Constitutional Reform Commission that their recognition under the law should not need to be up for discussion.

‘The priority is to find ways in which discrimination and prejudice can be reduced.’

Ceara Roopchand of Caribbean American Domestic Violence Awareness (CADVA) spoke of issues affecting LGBT people in Guyana. She said that same sex couples and transgender people were able to socialize in some areas, but harrassment and abuse remained common, including from police officers.

In St Lucia, same sex intimacy can be punishable by up to ten years in jail. Jamaica has been described as one of the most homophobic nations in the world, and footage was shown at the summit of Jamaican LGBT youths forced to live in drains under the city.

Jae Nelson of the Jamaica Youth Network said: ‘Young people are visibly defiant to status quo – a kind of way being that says there is only one way of being; that some of us are more equal than others and that those who are LGBT do not belong in our society.

‘Many young people are doing this by just embracing their lesbian and gay friends, being open about their sexuality and declaring they believe in equal rights and justice for all.’

Activist Caleb Orozco was unable to attend, but had a spech read on his behalf detailing the state of life for LGBT people in Belize.

“The struggle of the Caribbean LGBT youth is a struggle of invisibility, quiet resistance and passive protest that has its foundation in the need to protect individual expression and dignity.

Sophie Joske