150 kilometers from freedom. We LGBT people fleeing Guyana

Article by Nicola Lo Calzo published on the monthly Tetu (France) n.209 of April 2015, pp. 92-97, freely translated by Marco Galvagno

The murky waters of the Maroni river and 150 km of a concrete road separate gay, lesbians and trans (GLBT) of Guyana from the freedom to be themselves, to escape daily attacks and live, a few hours, in the light of the sun. GBLT people from this area of ​​over French sea, located in South of America, must go to the nearby Suriname (ex Guyana Dutch) that history has made it so different from their country. Saint Laurent du Maroni, an ancient penitentiary colony, is today the second city of Guyana after Cayenne. On this day of October a small group of HSHs, that is, of men who have sex with other men (here they prefer to call themselves that) are about to leave for Paramaribo, the capital of the nearby Suriname.
Since 2012, a Gay Pride organized by a local association takes place in the former Dutch colony. After various meetings and a remarkable hesitation, the small French committee, supported by the Aides association, has decided to respond favorably to the invitation of the associations of the neighboring country.
But because we could never ask ourselves, a gay pride has never been held in Saint Laurent du Maroni, a French territory, theoretically a place that protects freedom.
The answer can be read in the faces of these men and these women, excited and disturbed at the same time. They are different in origin, origin, age and social class, just as their country is heterogeneous: the Guyana.
Among them we find Creoli, Guyanesi, the antillanes of the metro (i.e. French white came from France) and Bushinguénés, that is, the descendants of the slaves who in the 17th century fled from the Dutch plantations to live freely in the Amazon forest.

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We are not free to live

In Guyana you are not free to live her sexual orientation says Netty Nzila, founder of gay attitude Guyane, the only existing gay association, created a year ago by a group of women. We suffer harassment of all kinds. Recently in Cayenne a boy from a middle school was beaten by classmates for his alleged homosexuality. The family preferred not to file a complaint so as not to cause a sensation.
Among the influence of the evangelical churches, that of the Jamaican reggae hardcore and that of tradition (in which a man is considered mature only when he marries and has children), social pressure often gives way to the tragedy.
At 12 I tried to commit suicide, he confides Mc Gravier of 23 years of which today is Ndjuka (one of the six Creoli groups of Bushinguenés and French of Dutch origin) and states in having saved himself thanks to the discovery of the theater. Today he is the actor in Kolalampoe among the huts of the ancient criminal bath. After the pirogue crossing of the river that connects and separates the two states, the group rises discreetly on a local bus, no rainbow flag to be waved, nor a distinctive of the group. This first trip has the aim of allowing Ssh Laurent's young HSHs to find out what happens in Suriname in terms of freedom and give them the opportunity to meet the LGBT organizations of Paranaribo and to motivate them to organize something similar to one day to Saint Laurent states Romaric Zeriah, president of the Aides Guyane Association, local headquarters of the Association that fights against AIDS, located in Saint Laurent for fifteen years.

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A real debate

On a deafening reggae background, caressed by the fresh product from an air conditioner (here there are 40 degrees) Mc Gaver and the other members of the group arrive in Paramaribo of the early afternoon. The capital of Suriname presents itself as a cosmopolitan and heteroclite city that brings together many communities within itself: Giavanese, Indian, Chinese, American, Bushinguenée. It is in this urban context that in 2011, after the homophobic intervention of a parliamentarian who had suggested to eliminate gays from the country, the local LGBT community chose to take to the streets to protest in the form of recurring Gay Pride. The meeting with the gay community of Paramaribo is fixed to Zu and zo an ancient colonial wooden house, transformed into a guest house with a bar and a restaurant.
It is in this place that the headquarters of the march is located. His manager Ricei, militant himself welcomes us. A round table is organized to speak of gender identity, discrimination, fight against homophobia and reactions are not long in coming.
“I due terzi della stampa ci sostengono. Ad esempio, il mese scorso un gay che si prostituiva è stato fermato dalla polizia e picchiato a sangue. In seguito a questo episodio, trasmesso dalla stampa nazionale, la direzione della polizia ha chiesto che i gruppi e le associazioni gay organizzino laboratori per educare i poliziotti a reagire in modo da evitare ogni comportamento omofobo. In Guyana, come nel resto delle Antille francesi non vi è questo tipo di sensibilizzazione. L’ultimo incontro annuale della rete di associazioni Aides aux caraibes aveva per tema l’omofobia in Martinica ed è avvenuto sull’isola stessa. In questa occasione è stata evocata l’idea di proporre formazioni simili a quelle del Suriname per i poliziotti, ma ci si è resi conto rapidamente che non era possibile organizzarle”, si rammarica Romaric. E il presidente di aides Guyane prosegue a proposito dei mass media: «l’anno scorso giornalisti di tele Guyane ci hanno proposto di seguire il gay pride di Paramaribo e le azioni lgbt previste nel corso della settimana e di avere ogni sera una diretta televisiva. All’inizio tutto ha funzionato bene, ma già dalla prima diretta la redazione del telegiornale e stata disturbata da numerose telefonate. Alcuni guyanesi hanno chiamato per protestare, non sappiamo esattamente le ragioni della protesta ma il telegiornale ha ricevuto talmente tante pressioni che già dal giorno dopo la diretta è stata interrotta. I giornalisti non sono riusciti a rispettare i loro impegni.»

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Ethnic neighborhoods

The problem of homophobia in Guyana is linked to the geography of the cities, historically built in neighborhoods divided on ethnic bases: the Chinese neighborhood, the Bushinguené district, the Indian neighborhood. A form of community segregation persists in Guyana which does not favor the acceptance of homosexuality. Each community is folded into itself, while in Suriname people and ethnic groups mix. Gender identity and ethnic belonging call into question the same vocabulary: the acceptance of the other. Identitarian discrimination accumulate to those related to migration and clandestine status, which have now become on the agenda in this French territory.
A part of the current population of Saint Laurent du Maroni is in fact forced to live in clandestinity, for twenty -five years, after the civil war that broke out in the Suriname from 1986 to 1992 several thousand Bushinguenés have taken refuge on the French banks of Maroni. Despite their repeated requests, the status of political asylum seekers was not granted by the French state. People "temporarily moved by the Suriname" are still defined and have been put in four refugee camps, near Saint Laurent. The new generations daughters of these refugees have neither French nationality nor that of Suriname. The result is catastrophic. They are forbidden to leave both the French Guyana and the Suriname, they cannot find a stable employment, nor do they have access to medical care, they are condemned to a precarious existence.
This is how Gween, a young transgender woman Ndjuka. Born from a mother of Suriname, a refugee in Guyana during the civil war, has never been recognized as a French town by the Prefecture. Its name is not recorded anywhere, in the registers of the civil status. Greater than eleven brothers had to leave the family nucleus after revealing his sexual orientation to his mother. His reaction was very hard.
Then he began to tell me that I had to earn money for the family if I wanted to go out with men at least I had to make myself paid well. He also advised me to go and find a gentleman in the neighborhood who went to bed with men and paid them. After taking refuge from his uncle he suffered the unleashing of hatred by his brothers, their friends, the inhabitants of the neighborhood, both old and young.
“My female appearance was unbearable for them. There are places in the neighborhood that I cannot cross, I risk my own life. I would like to go to live in France or Brazil, I could start a sexual transition path there. Here I don't have the right. "

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Tear -up freedom

In Paramaribo the Gay Pride begins at five in the evening. The new organization of the trans of the Suriname Trans into the parade opens and is followed by another strong symbol, a fanfare formed mostly by Bushinguenés under the fragassant rhythm of the drums and the acute sound of the trumpets Gwen, McGywer, Romaric and the other members of the group join the parade accompanied by 200 demonstrators on the semi -desert streets of the cities. He parades great steps.
The route granted by the police allows you to pass in front of the presidential palace, but prudently avoids the commercial neighborhoods of the city where there are many people. In the midst of colorful disguises and eccentric costumes, the Gay Pride del Suriname does not conceal its political connotation, flyers are distributed to remember that the equality of rights is a struggle still to be fought.
The claims carried out by the demonstrators mix with the sounds of the fanfares and cross the city to the Pride headquarters. From Zu and Zò, in a festive and family atmosphere, the organizers will take the floor to discuss Glbt rights in Suriname, the fight against homophobia and themes related to the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. It is also the time to cool off with an icy bottle of Parbo, the local beer of Paramaribo, which is served to the demonstrators exhausted by the route.
"In the end what matters is to be there, walk together, share," says Gwen enthusiastically. “And take advantage of this freedom that we have torn. Tomorrow let's go back to life ever in Saint Laurent ”.

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Original text: Guyane: at 150 Bornes de la Liberté. A reportage sur les lgbt de guyane