LGBT rights in Guyana
| LGBT rights in Guyana | |
|---|---|
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|
|
| Same-sex sexual activity legal? | Male illegal. Female "indecent acts" illegal. |
|
Penalty:
|
2 years in prison for gross indecency between men, 10 years in prison for attempted buggery, life in prison for buggery |
| Gender identity/expression | Unknown |
| Military service | Yes, according to the Army Chief of Staff Commodore |
| Discrimination protections | None |
| Family rights | |
| Recognition of relationships |
Same-sex marriage illegal |
| Adoption | Unknown |
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Guyana face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Guyana is the only country in South America where homosexual acts are still illegal. Under the laws of Guyana, homosexual acts carry a possible punishment of life imprisonment.
According to the Criminal Law (Offences) Act of Guyana:
Section 352. Any male person who, in public or private, commits, or is a party to the commission, or procures or attempts to procure the commission, by any male person, of any act of gross indecency with any other male person shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and liable to imprisonment for two years.
Section 353. Everyone who-
(a) attempts to commit buggery; or
(b) assaults any person with intent to commit buggery; or
(c) being a male, indecently assaults any other male person,
shall be guilty of felony and liable to imprisonment for ten years.
Section 354. Everyone who commits buggery ... shall be guilty of felony and liable to imprisonment for life.
Section 355. Everyone who-
(a) does any indecent act in any place to which the public have or are permitted to have access; or
(b) does any indecent act in any place, intending thereby to insult or offend any person,
shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and liable to imprisonment for two years.
The law does not specifically define "buggery", "gross indecency", or "indecent".
Following a call from Dr. Edward Greene, the United Nations Special Envoy on HIV/AIDS to the Caribbean, to decriminalize homosexuality, the Guyana government announced in April 2012 that it was launching a national debate on whether to overhaul the country's laws that discriminate against LGBT people. Religious groups voiced their opposition to any changes in those laws.
In 2013, the Government created a Parliamentary Commission to decide whether to scrap the country's buggery laws. It will start receiving public submissions in early 2014.
In April 2017, the Government announced it would hold a referendum to decide whether to decriminalize homosexuality.
According to a 2013 survey by the Caribbean Development Research Services Inc. (CADRES), roughly 8% of Guyanese society identifies as LGBT, with roughly 2% identifying as gay, 1% as lesbian, and 4% as bisexual. Another 15% answered that they did not want to state their sexual orientation.13 The same survey found that half of Guyanese people have a gay friend and a quarter have gay family members.
In December 2000, the National Assembly of Guyana unanimously approved a proposed amendment to the constitution that would have prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation. But the efforts of religious leaders prior to the March 2001 elections caused President Bharrat Jagdeo to deny his assent to the amendment. A new amendment, containing only the sexual orientation clause, was put before the assembly in 2003, although it made no progress and was later withdrawn by the government.
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