Trans history and remembrance: Beyond the stereotypes
When it comes to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans histories, in the Caribbean we are usually at a loss for positive representations. Stories of persons who defied the weight of stereotypes to love and live freely in societies plagued by colonial puritanical expectations did not come around often. When it did, our recorded presence (even now) often did not veer far away from certain favoured narratives grounded in homo/trans-phobia and intolerance.
As queer persons, there are so few ways in which we can resist the barriers set up against us, particularly when it comes to self-identity and expression. We often have to adopt a sort of radical self-love in order to cement our presence in spaces that are resistant to having us. There is a battle to have our stories and voices represented in a population where we are seen as deviants or non-existent. There have been some commendable strides as it relates to positive representations focused on public education in our media here but comparatively, I’m unsure as to how much has really changed.
Last year, while doing casual research work at the Walter Rodney Archives, I came across a Guyana Chronicle article dated September 5, 1971 titled “Men in dresses – and a village is divided.” The article commented on the “peculiar” lives of four transwomen in Grove, East Bank Demerara whose acts of dressing in a manner fitting with their gender identity, seemed to have caused some division. Decked out in Saris, miniskirts and highheeled shoes, the trail-blazing Miss Anita the Iceberg, Miss Diamond, Shakira, Penny and Miss Viking Queen were said to simply ignore the men who had a problem with the way they lived. Working as cooks, hairdressers and housewives they were known to host elaborate mock weddings and stage shows which the other women of the community would enjoy.
The article was an important find for me as it validated the existence and experiences of trans persons in our local history but also displayed how significant change has not been made socially or politically since then. Most of the trans women ended up as cooks due to their inability to access jobs in the formal sector after their “peculiar behavior was found out.” This is a reality that transgender persons still have to face today where they are pushed into the informal and underground economies in order to survive. Even in cases where trans persons are suitably qualified and experienced, they are overlooked for jobs or are let go when their gender identity is revealed. Given Guyana’s lack of inclusion of gender identity in the Prevention of Discrimination Act, LGBT persons have no protections when it comes to employment, which makes them more susceptible to discrimination, poverty and violence.
Only two days ago, Transgender Remembrance Day was observed here and around the world. The day of remembrance is necessary given the fact that transgender persons remain the most targeted and affected by social and state institutionalized violence which sees them being killed and violated at disproportionate rates. According to the Trans Murder Monitoring report released annually, 331 trans people have been killed for 2019 alone. In Guyana, our ragged veil of intolerance has seen the killings of several trans persons over the years such as Jason John, Carlyle Sinclair and Nephi
Luther. These are of course the ones that reach the media and whose killings weren’t misclassified as being due to something other than transphobia driven violence.
With trans persons usually being unfairly targeted by the police, there is usually no protection or satisfaction to be found for them in the law. The added element of some being involved in sex work due to societal limitations that sees their access to education, jobs and finances being limited, trans persons are constantly having to resist against an unfair police and political system that thrives on inequality and division.
It is here that I would like to shine a light on the revolutionary Guyanese trans women; Gulliver McEwan, Angel Clarke, Peaches Fraser and Isabella Persaud who resisted the oppressive weight of an 18th century colonial era law against cross dressing. Under the law, trans women were frequently targeted and abused by the police. This law had also seen transwomen such as Twinkle Bissoon being hindered in their ability to access their right to justice due to being unable to enter the courthouse dressed in “women’s clothing.” Refusing to bow to a dysfunctional police force, outdated laws and a society that refuses to grow, they began a challenge to the cross-dressing law in 2009 successfully overturning it in November 2018.
When it comes to the prevailing narratives that surround LGBT persons, we would all do well to analyze the reasons we only like to hear a certain type of narrative. There is no shortage of diverse histories and experiences of queer persons in the Caribbean, we just have to look beyond the stereotypes. For the baby queers and those questioning their sexuality and/or gender identity and feel uneasy in a place that seems against you, you should know that your existence is valid and needed. You are part of a history of revolutionary persons whose presence made the world a slightly better and much cooler place.