Ahead of the 2025 General and Regional Elections, the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) hosted a town hall meeting to engage various political leaders on issues plaguing members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ+) community.Representatives from five of the six political parties approved to contest the elections were part of the engagement held at the Herdmanston Lodge in Georgetown on Tuesday. There was no representative for the Assembly for Liberty and Prosperity (ALP) party.Workplace discrimination was one of the topics the candidates delved into, sharing commitments and views on countering this. There was unanimous opposition to discrimination in any form.Representatives of five of the six political parties contesting the September 1, 2025, General and Regional Elections at the SASOD town hall (Photo: News Room/ July 29, 2025)Susan Rodrigues, Guyana’s current Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water and a candidate for the governing People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C), clearly spoke about her party’s rejection of any discrimination.“The PPP/C does not support discrimination based on sexual orientation, and we will make that very clear.“This has been part of our rhetoric, it has been part of all of the messages sent to this country, and whenever we have been in government, we are going to ensure all policies and programmes benefit all people of Guyana, including our minorities and including our vulnerable groups,” Rodrigues said at the town hall event.Asked specifically about non-discrimination in the workplace, Rodrigues reiterated the party’s support for any legislation that ensures there is no discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.The governing PPP/C and the APNU+AFC coalition in office before had been engaged on amendments to the 1997 Prevention of Discrimination Act to explicitly protect queer persons from workplace discrimination.Members of the queer community and allies participated in a recent Pride Parade. At this parade, there were calls for an end to discrimination against members of the LGBTQIA community (Photo: News Room/ June 28, 2025)Currently, the Act prohibits discrimination in the workplace based on: “race, sex, religion, colour, ethnic origin, indigenous population, national extraction, social origin, economic status, political opinion, disability, family responsibilities, pregnancy, marital status or age…”SASOD has, however, been advocating for the prohibition of discrimination based on an individual’s sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics.The amendments have not been made yet, but Rodrigues, like other political party representatives at the town hall, committed that more would be done to stamp out discrimination and engage other groups that may have more conservative views. Rodrigues also said the PPP/C would support laws and public policy to guarantee that there is no discrimination faced when seeking government services.Odessa Primus, General Secretary of the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party, agreed that any Guyanese, regardless of their sexual orientation, should be able to access jobs.And though agreeing that there are segments of the population that may not be accepting of the LGBTQ community, she said political parties and other stakeholders should work towards policies and programmes that promote greater respect among all citizens.“… at the very least, what we can do is respect people’s choices,” Primus contended, later adding that education is an important vehicle to effect behavioural change.So why is this conversation on workplace discrimination so important?Well, in 2018, researchers from the Georgetown Law Human Rights Institute found that LGBTQ+ people in Guyana were worse affected by discrimination, particularly in the workplace.Even when LGBTQ+ individuals can secure jobs, the study showed that those who disclose their non-normative (or presumed) sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression (SOGIE) in the workplace risk being harassed, bullied, and fired.This discrimination was exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a 2020 Caribbean LGBTQ+ survey done by members of the University of the West Indies (UWI). It was also found that members of the community encountered great difficulties accessing much-needed services.So getting legal protection against discrimination, through amendments to the Prevention of Discrimination Act, has been a focus area for SASOD.Back in the town hall, the representatives of the other political parties seemed keen on addressing this issue.Dorwain Bess of the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) affirmed, “No one should be held accountable because of how they choose to live their lives.”However, Bess clarified that the views expressed were his, not the party’s, as he did not discuss these issues with them before. What is known is that the Prime Ministerial candidate of this party, Nigel London, has been criticised for prejudicial comments against the LGBTQ+ community in the past.Meanwhile, the Alliance For Change’s (AFC) Beverley Alert said all forms of discrimination are wrong, and when discrimination infringes upon an individual’s fundamental human rights, then it must become criminal. So she vowed that the AFC would pursue law amendments that change antiquated, inherited colonial laws that perpetuate discrimination.She also opined that public servants must be trained to execute their duties without bias and prejudice. So, beyond discrimination in hiring, as faced by LGBTQ+ individuals, there must be a focus on discrimination in the delivery of services, according to her.But it was Ubraj Narine, representing the coalition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), who had bolder statements and promises to tackle discrimination and other woes faced by members of the LGBTQ+ community.One bold promise was that APNU, if elected after the September 1, 2025, polls, would establish a state-funded LGBTQ commission. This independent body that should have representatives from religious bodies, Narine said, would monitor and advocate for LGBTQ+ rights while investigating any complaints brought before it.“All of this was discussed at the APNU level,” Narine assured the audience.Curiously enough, several Parliamentarians of the APNU+AFC opposition objected to the passage of a Bill brought by the governing PPP/C in 2021 to decriminalise cross-dressing, in keeping with a Caribbean Court of Justice ruling.The APNU+AFC parliamentarians had argued that this legal move was an affront to their Christian values. Two years before, the CCJ, which is Guyana’s apex court, had ruled that the law which prohibits cross-dressing must be struck out as it serves no legal or social purpose and inhibits the right to freedom of expression. This case was brought by several transgender women who were arrested and convicted under the 1893 Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act of the offence of being a “man” appearing in “female attire” in public for an “improper purpose.” They spent three nights in police detention in Georgetown after their arrest for the minor crime.Cross-dressing formally removed as criminal offence from Guyana’s lawStill, Narine, a pandit (a Hindu religious leader), vowed that his party was ready to support members of the LGBTQ+ community in tackling workplace discrimination and in other areas.“Yes, we will go down that road.“… We will engage, we will have discussions on further discrimination affecting this organisation and sector of society,” the APNU representative told the town hall.Beyond workplace discrimination, the party representatives were quizzed on several other issues, from efforts to repeal the law criminalising same-sex intimacy to anti-bullying ventures in schools. This town hall was part of SASOD’s advocacy efforts ahead of the upcoming elections. The organisation has also launched a LGBTQIA+ Manifesto 2025, focused on several key measures.Queer community seeking laws, provisions for protection from political parties The post Elections 2025: Political parties oppose LGBTQ+ discrimination at town hall appeared first on News Room Guyana.