Angel Clarke: “Transgender persons must be independent”
get out, run as fast as you can. Once there is life there is hope.”
A second chance
Angel feels lucky to be alive. One of her worst memories is when she was attacked by four gunmen, who stole her car. One of the men lashed her in her head with a piece of wood and she was then gun-butted on the road. One of the bandits then stood over her and cranked his gun – but decided not to shoot. Today, Angel uses her second chance at life to fight for transgender rights. She was arrested with six other transgender persons for crossdressing in 2009. In 2010, Angel and three of the others who were arrested – Gulliver (Quincy) McEwan, Pheches (Joseph) Fraser and Isabella (Seyon) Persaud – with the support of the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD), put forward a constitutional claim that the law prohibiting cross-dressing was inconsistent with the Guyana Constitution (1980).
They argued that the Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act – which uses terms such as “improper purpose”, “male attire” and “female attire” – is vague and fails to give “the person of ordinary intelligence a reasonable opportunity to know what is prohibited”, as laws should do. The litigants argued that the Act violated their right to freedom of expression, since clothing is a form of expression, as well as the constitutional guarantee of non-discrimination and equality before the law. In 2013, thenChief Justice Ian Chang ruled that trans persons have a right to express their identity – as long as it is not for an improper purpose. Angel said since that ruling, harassment from police is less frequent. The litigants filed an appeal.
In 2017, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, rejecting the appellants’ arguments that the law in question was uncertain and violated the equality provisions in the Constitution. On June 28, 2018, they appealed the case again at the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). Angel said she believes the ruling will be favourable because the lawyers presented a strong case. She said a positive result will be good for the entire LGBT community, and hopes Guyana will be a better place for LGBT people who would like to come out and be more free and comfortable with themselves.
In the spotlight
One place where Angel feels free is on a pageant stage. “On stage it feels like [trans women] against the world,” she said. She explained that pageantry empowers her and makes her feel comfortable in her own skin. She has won three pageants: Miss Gay Glory in 2001, Miss Leopold Pageant in 2013, and Miss Queen of Queens in 2015. Winning pageant contests is one of her dreams that came true. She said she would have liked to become a lawyer or a pilot but was unable to do so because of finances. However, she added, such dreams are not out of reach – “Where there is life, there is hope” she said, a mantra which she continuously repeated throughout the interview.
She would like to see the LGBT community in Guyana embrace this positive attitude: “Trans persons should believe in themselves, believe in their dreams and pursue them. Unite, love one another and uphold your belief. Don’t let anybody tell you that you not worth anything.” One of her greatest dreams is to see gay and straight people living as one in Guyana – and that when death comes knocking on her door, God will tell her, “You are accepted.”