The contradictions in the laws

Apr 21, 2012 Editorial

There is a study on the social impact of laws affecting people of different sexual orientation in Guyana. Done by Dr. Christopher Carrico, the study finds that although the constitution guarantees every Guyanese the right to live in a society without discrimination, there is rampant discrimination against a certain section of the society.
To make matters worse there are laws that fuel the discrimination and the society is by and large silent. And this is happening at a time when there are Rights Commissions that have as their primary focus, the protection of the rights.
A group of legal minds and social activists have decided to focus on the discriminatory nature of the society. Needless to say, the findings are shocking to the point that they highlight the fact that the very society that should protect its citizens, force a section of those citizens to become criminals. It also forces people to hide whatever preferences they might have with the result that some of them actually place their lives at risk.
For example, people who may wish to know their ‘status’ may be scared to admit their homosexuality. They may even shy away from contact with the medical personnel with the result that they could deny themselves medical attention.
One must wonder at the duplicity of the Guyanese society. On the one hand it tells people that every Guyanese is protected under the law and on the other, it says that some Guyanese have a right to be more equal than others. At the receiving end of the discriminatory treatment are the gays, lesbians, transgenders and bi-sexuals. These are the people who are stigmatized.
In the olden days when society ordered itself along certain lines it refused to cater for any difference in attitudes on the part of any citizen. However there have been significant changes since then but to live in Guyana is to deny that those changes have actually taken place.
The study notes, “Sodomy has been illegal in Guyana from the beginning of the colonial era…The current laws were included in the Criminal Laws Act of 1893 and have remained unchanged… Everyone who commits buggery, either with a human being or with any other living creature shall be guilty of a felony and liable to imprisonment for life.”
Lawyers and social activists contend that such laws make criminals of a minority who dare to be different. They argue that the stigma attached now fuels the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and corruption.
And indeed the very society therefore, by keeping the laws on the statutes, allows policemen to prey on this sexual minority by threatening the members with the very laws which are rarely enforced by the tolerant few. This is what some members of the legal profession describe as the law creating an enabling environment.
Some policemen arbitrarily enforce the laws against vagrancy and loitering on persons whom they suspect of being homosexuals.
But this should not be. There should be no contradictions in the society; but there is. These laws from 1893 became part of the constitution when Guyana became independent. Society has changed. The result is that there are anti-discrimination laws but these very anti-discrimination laws exist side by side with those that discriminate.
One would believe that the law is a straightforward series of notes and documentations. They are not. And it is here that one needs to ask about the perennial judicial review. Many countries routinely expunge archaic laws from the statutes. This does not seem to be the case in Guyana.
And to show that it is not entirely averse to sexual discrimination the very society that talks of democracy and tolerance, sought to legislate against sexual discrimination. In the face of protests and despite the passage in Parliament, the President declined to assent to the legislation. The life of the Parliament came to an end and the decision simply fell off the radar.
Perhaps the time is now when we may need to bring our statutes in line with other countries in the world. But with the society being as divided as it is with the religious zealots and those who are scared to challenge the status quo, it is unlikely that Guyana may never dispense with those laws that conflict with the constitution and those that discriminate against a most unfortunate minority.

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The contradictions in the laws

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