Guyana

Guyana

Despite having a well-developed framework of equality laws, Guyana retains laws which criminalise same-sex conduct between men and cross-dressing by both men and women. LGBT persons are subject to severe stigma, violence and discrimination in all areas of life. We are working to increase support for LGBT equality and to improve implementation of laws protecting from all forms of discrimination.

Our achievements include:

Guyanese Court Falls Short of Protecting Equal Rights of Transgendered Persons

London, 20 September 2013

On 6 September, the High Court of Guyana issued its judgment in the case of McEwan and others v the Attorney-General (No. 21-M 2010) finding that a legal ban on cross-dressing for an “improper purpose” was not unconstitutional but that the wearing of “attire” in order to express or accentuate “personal sexual orientation in public” could never be considered “improper”. The Court did not accept that the ban on cross-dressing was a violation of the Constitutional rights to be free from discrimination (Article 149) and equal before the law (Article 149D). The applicants now plan to appeal.

ERT Submission to the CEDAW review of Guyana 2012

This is The Equal Rights Trust's submission to the 52nd session of the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in relation to the combined seventh and eighth periodic reports submitted by Guyana, submitted in June 2012. The submission identifies a number of problems with the legal framework in the country, including a number of gaps in protection, notably in failing to provide protection from discrimination on grounds which intersect with sex and gender, leaving certain groups of women exposed to discrimination and discriminatory violence.