In Grenada, arrests for homosexuality - and public denials of homosexuality

By Paul Canning

Police on the Caribbean island of Grenada have arrested a man for gay sex in the same week that a group of men are front-page news denying they're gay.

A 41-year-old man was charged with having sex with an unidentified 17-year-old man, Grenada's director of public prosecution, Christopher Nelson, said 25 May.

21 May three men - Kenny Francis, Finbar Peters and Sherwin Cadore - held a press conference to deny rumours originating on the internet that they were recently caught engaged in "homosexuality activity". They blamed a police officer.

“I just want to take myself out because there is nothing like that,” Peters said. He claimed that the policeman stole some parts from his vehicle and was now out to tarnish his character.

When Peters confronted the police officer and threatened to report him to the Commissioner of Police, the police officer begged him to be compassionate since he did not intend to do it again.

“Although I did not go to the Commissioner, I did tell (a) couple people (about the incident),” he said. The rumour on the internet, Peters says, has started to impact his business negatively, and he is seeking legal advice.

Francis who is a barber shop owner and bus operator from St. Paul’s said he learned of the rumour after someone came to him saying a neighbour said she heard a bawling coming from his house. He was told of the story being circulated that police had found the group of men naked. The driver of one of the buses he owns informed him that whenever he passes through the St. George’s Bus Terminus he is also being heckled by the police about the alleged act of homosexuality.

“When they (the bus drivers) ask certain people if they are going up, they say they’re not going up with no buller man bus,” Francis said. He said the rumour is hurting his business since people are refusing to come to the barbershop.

Bar owner Cadore said:

"It (has) affected me a lot because people are saying they’re not going in no batty man bar."

When asked by a journalist if they had previously engaged "in acts of homosexuality", Francis, Peters and Cadore all "scoffed at the suggestions and indicated that they are known to be “star boys” in their own rights".

In 2007 questions were raised over gay cruises docking at the island. An editorial in The Grenada Informer said that the public displays of affection shown by same-sex tourist couples were "immoral and abnormal"

In 2003 ILGA said that the government of Grenada is among those in the Caribbean region that support "repressive and even violent policies against the local communities of gays and lesbians."

Related articles

• In the Caribbean, homophobia varies widely (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

Persecution claims of Caribbean LGBT asylum seekers 'not exaggerated'

Source: Trinidad & Tobago Guardian

By Wesley Gibbings

At least one T&T national was granted asylum in the United States last year, based on the claim that he faced continued persecution in this country as a result of his sexual orientation. Immigration Equality (IE), a US-based human rights NGO, handled 37 asylum claims from T&T in 2010. There were 38 successful actions by Jamaican nationals and four from Grenada.

The names of applicants are not usually disclosed and not all claims are handled by the organisation. Legislative shortcomings that do not address discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation were cited in most instances.

“In many cases, the clients who turn to Immigration Equality for help are literally running for their lives,” IE executive director Rachel B Tiven said in a press release. This, US-based Puerto Rican immigration attorney Sheila Velez said, frequently occurs because there was a lack of access to adequate anti-discrimination legislation in the Caribbean and the result can often be acts of violence including torture and outright job and other discrimination. Local activists do not believe such claims were exaggerated.

Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) spokesman, Cyrus Sylvester, told the Guardian: “While some may be of the opinion that this claim is overstated, for many members of the GLBT community here in Trinidad and Tobago, persecution based on sexual orientation is a frightening reality.

“While all claims for asylum will not be of the same merit, I strongly believe that some of these cases can amount to legitimate claims for asylum in other, more tolerant societies,” he said, adding he was aware of other successful applications in Canada and Europe.

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