UN criticized for human rights book launch in Trinidad and Tobago

Gay rights advocate Maurice Tomlinson says gays are 'prohibited class' in island's immigration policy


Activist Maurice Tomlinson has criticized the United Nations for participating in a book launch hosted by a Caribbean country whose immigration legislation prohibits entry to gays, The Associated Press reports.

The book is entitled, “Legal and Policy Perspectives on HIV and Human Rights in the Caribbean.”

Section 8 of Trinidad and Tobago’s Immigration Act prohibits entry to homosexuals, people with mental health issues and those with physical disabilities. AP quotes Tomlinson as saying that it’s “an affront” to his dignity to be aware of the discriminatory measure but to choose to ignore it. Last year, Tomlinson pursued a lawsuit against the Trinidad and Tobago government over its entry ban, after he rejected invitations to attend a United Nations HIV workshop and a Caribbean Community (CARICOM) human rights conference there because of the anti-gay provisions.

Margje Troost, acting managing director of the HIV/AIDS project at St Maarten’s public health ministry, has also questioned why the UN has not been more assertive in demanding that Caribbean countries ban “clearly outdated laws and regulations” that are violating human rights.

A spokesperson for UNAIDS says the group, Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP), is the sponsor of the book launch, not the UN agency. UNAIDS was asked to deliver closing remarks at the event.

An invitation to the launch bears the logos of the University of the West Indies, PANCAP and UNAIDS.

There was hope last year that a new national gender policy being undertaken by the Trinidad and Tobago government would include support for LGBT people. That hope increased after Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar told a British activist that “stigmatization of homosexuality” must be addressed “on the grounds of human rights and dignity to which every individual is entitled under international law.”

But in the months after that statement, to Lance Price of Kaleidoscope Trust, there has been little momentum or follow-through.

In May, the Trinidad Guardian reported that then-gender affairs minister Marlene Coudray dismissed the notion that the policy would include protections for gays.

Natasha Barsotti is originally from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. She had high aspirations of representing her country in Olympic Games sprint events, but after a while the firing of the starting gun proved too much for her nerves. So she went off to university instead. Her first professional love has always been journalism. After pursuing a Master of Journalism at UBC , she began freelancing at Xtra West — now Xtra Vancouver — in 2006, becoming a full-time reporter there in 2008.

Keep Reading

The new generation of gay Conservative sellouts

OPINION: Melissa Lantsman’s and Eric Duncan’s refusals to call out their party’s transphobia is a betrayal of the LGBTQ2S+ community

Over 300 anti-LGBTQ2S+ bills have been introduced this year. This doesn’t mean we should panic

OPINION: While it’s important to watch out for threats, not all threats are created equally. Some of these bills will die a natural death

Xtra’s top LGBTQ2S+ stories of the year

The best and brightest—even most bewildering—stories from a back catalogue brimming with insight

Elon Musk and Texas attorney general Ken Paxton are suing Media Matters. Here’s why queer and trans people should care

OPINION: When politicians and the rich leverage the power of the state to quell dissent, we all lose