Translator: Leonardo Silva Reviewer: Peter van de Ven
In my class,
at the University of the West Indies,
I like to ask my students to put up their hand
if they are willing to show that they are going to be part of the movement
to end sexism and homophobia in the Caribbean.
But before they put up their hand,
I like to give them my most powerful speech
where they are able to learn about the importance
of challenging sexism and homophobia.
I like to tell them that sexism and homophobia need to be challenged,
or else we will not be able to pursue equality;
and not only that,
but that when we challenge sexism and homophobia,
life is better for everybody.
Additionally,
for me, with those students,
it's important that they understand
that we come together to find the strategies
and to share the analyses
that will help us understand how to make that change together.
I tell them that even when you think that you can't make that change,
immediately there is something that we can do,
and wherever it is we are, whoever it is we are,
there is something that each of us can.
And even after my most powerful evangelical hard sell on this issue,
it turns out only some of the students put up their hand.
I then ask
those students who wish to be discriminated against
because of who they are
to put up their hand.
And funny enough,
no hands go up.
It seems that those students
who don't wish to take action against sexism and homophobia
are also the students who don't wish to be discriminated against
on the basis of who they are.
We ponder this as a class, and what it means.
And what I tell them is that we have to understand
that the next time I ask this question,
I want to see all of their hands.
Because there is only one position to hold:
either you are for equality for all,
or you are not for equality at all.
Now, this is especially important for us in the Caribbean,
in postcolonial societies
where we have experienced the inequality of bodies
on the basis of race, sex, color, labor.
We understand unequal citizenship across centuries.
And for me as a Caribbean person and as a Caribbean feminist,
tackling the questions of sexism and homophobia now
is part of that long struggle of emancipation
going back to indentureship and slavery.
And you might be asking,
"Why sexism? Why homophobia?
Surely, gay rights is a minority issue.
Surely, women have won already.
And what about the bigger challenges, like the environment and the economy?"
Well, the truth is that we can't tackle those challenges
without tackling the questions of equality that run through them too.
And so, if we want to make transformation there,
we have to make transformation in terms of sexism and homophobia too.
You might ask, "Well, okay. What is sexism? What is homophobia?"
Sexism is when the fact that we're male or female
is used to assign us more or less value,
status, power and opportunity,
and homophobia is when people or institutions
have the idea or act on the idea
that same-sex desire is wrong.
But homophobia is more than that.
It polices how we dress, how we walk, how we talk,
ways of living that have absolutely nothing to do with our sexuality.
Like sexism,
homophobia polices our gender,
that is, it imposes these narrow, rigid and often harmful rules and regulations
about what it means to be a man or a woman.
And that's why for me homophobia is a weapon of sexism.
Do you know what that means?
It means that we cannot seek to challenge one
without being prepared to challenge the other.
Not everyone is willing to do that.
But it's necessary.
Back in class,
after this hard sell with my students,
I then tell them to envision a world without these,
because it's by envisioning that we get to identify our own power.
I tell them, "Think about how the world may be different.
Think about how individuals may change.
Use your imagination."
[@Putin #I'msototallyovercomformity]
This is just joking, but not if you're the KGB.
So, I ask them
to think about not only what they want to change,
but also some of the challenges, some of the difficulties.
And my students,
for example those who are part of a group called "Support for Change,"
in their answers, this is what they told me.
Renelle says,
"Homophobia dehumanizes men, distancing emotions and human touching.
It can make men feel inhibited and even repressed,
which is psychologically debilitating, regardless of [their sexuality]."
And this shows up in the regional literature.
It also shows up in the support groups being led by men like Hal Greaves,
in places like Laventille, here in Port of Spain.
Warren says, "Because homophobia is not a fear" - which it is not -
"but the idea that one group of people deserves to be treated
as more human than another,
ending homophobia means accepting human equality,
socially, economically and politically."
And finally, Stephanie puts it simply,
"Violence of any kind is a direct threat to peace and community building."
And isn't this what we all want with our government spending?
Safer, more peaceful communities?
And that's why if I was prime minister -
You know what?
Let me do this proper.
(Music)
People of the Republic,
citizens of Trinidad and Tobago,
if I was prime minister,
I would tackle homophobia and sexism fearlessly!
Don't worry.
(Laughter)
I'm being serious, this is what I mean.
So in case Kamla and Rowley are in the audience, this one is for you.
I would tackle sexism and homophobia fearlessly,
not only, for example, by approving a national gender policy,
but in a range of legislation that needs to change.
Let me give you an example of something.
Let's talk about the Children's Act of Trinidad and Tobago.
Now, this is an awesome piece of legislation
designed to protect children
from sexual abuse and exploitation of all kinds.
What does it legislate?
Well, for example,
if there are two 15-year-olds of different sexes
engaging in touching that involves the genitals,
this is now completely decriminalized,
which is extremely progressive
because we don't want to send our children to jail.
We want to give them guidance, counseling,
we want to give them support and even contraception.
But if you are two 15-year-olds of the same sex,
the penalty for that same act is now life imprisonment.
This is to be contrasted with the Sexual Offenses Act,
which, for the same "crime," there termed "serious indecency,"
the penalty was 10 years in the first instance
and 15 in the second.
We are actually making the penalties more severe for our children.
And don't think it was just the government,
it was the PNM and the UNC.
Read the Senate debates and you will see.
Watch this when you vote for them in 2015.
What does this do?
Not only does it protect some children
while punishing others for the same act,
it also institutionalizes the very silencing, the very shame,
the very second-class citizenship that results from homophobia,
now in another generation.
And this is a generation that we need to work together
to solve the very challenges that are not ours any longer,
but now theirs.
Such legislation,
in essence,
divides the children,
our future Trinidad and Tobago citizens,
against each other.
When they need to tackle the big issues,
like land planning and development,
or corruption, or creating those peaceful communities,
how many children are divided against each other by this legislation?
238,731.
What else does homophobia do as these children grow into adulthood?
It promotes the rejection of those qualities associated with femininity.
So, one woman told me that she was not going to give her son dolls to play with,
because she wanted him to grow up and get married
so that she could be a grandmother someday.
But her son is a child,
and children have a right to toys of all colors and all kinds.
The fact that we sell toys in segregated aisles
tells you something about what "dehumanizing" means.
It means that we are telling our children
that we will value them for growing up as boys and girls,
but not as whole human beings!
What else does homophobia do?
It ties "real manhood" to violence and therefore to crime.
It silences boys from reporting child sexual abuse.
A hundred and seventy-two boys under 18 years old
reported child sexual abuse between January and June of 2013.
Do you think those boys will speak openly about the experience
if they are worried about how their masculinity will be perceived?
These are our people, right?
It discourages older men from being tested for prostate cancer,
prostate cancer being the highest cancer killer in the country.
It makes school uncool for boys.
"Boys aren't marginalized. School is something for girls.
That's what girls do."
It forecloses "unmasculine" jobs in the legal labor market,
sending men and boys into the informal and illegal economy.
It denies acceptance of men if they don't excel at these masculine ideals.
And because it creates a sense of powerlessness,
despite men's unequal power,
it's also linked to suicide, alcoholism
and even risky heterosexual behavior,
as men use their sexuality to prove their masculinity.
Homophobia promotes sexism.
It's one of the reasons men don't get involved in the women's movements.
Yes, they'd have to challenge their unequal power,
but that's also "woman thing," a thing that they are not supposed to do.
And what about for women?
If in a homophobic world -
Women wouldn't fear being called lesbian,
and it wouldn't shape then how they walk, how they talk, how they dress,
how they stand up for themselves
and even what university courses they take.
All women are affected by this.
How many?
656.829 of us.
And in two minutes, I'm going to talk about this
as building constituency.
In fact, you know what?
This affects all of us in T & T,
and that's why.
If I was prime minister,
I would stand before you today and say that we have to connect people
across the old divisions of race and party and geography,
because it is the job of the government
to provide the greatest access to justice and equity.
And if you think that it is my responsibility as prime minister,
hear what: it is your responsibility too.
You and you and you.
You know why?
Because you want me to represent you.
(Applause)
Is there anybody in this room
who wishes to be discriminated against because of who you are?
Put your hand up and let me see.
None of you.
If you don't want to be treated unequally for who you are,
then whatever you believe,
whether it's from your religion, or your family, or your generation,
it's for you,
but either equality is for everybody, or it is not for you too.
And this is how we build constituencies,
on the basis of rights, public health, peaceful communities.
Like taxes,
some will have to lose power for those things that everyone should have,
and one of them is equality.
Why should sexism and homophobia, why should ending them matter to you?
Why should these numbers matter to you?
Because in them are your neighbors, your coworkers, your students,
your children,
members of this nation's family.
Why do these numbers matter to me?
They matter not only as prime minister,
not only as a Caribbean person,
not only as a feminist,
but also because I'm a mother of a three-year-old daughter.
I think we owe this generation what they need.
You feel me?
That's why.
If you can connect to this idea,
just for this moment, just right here,
if you can understand why your numbers, your numbers must count too,
women, men, girls, boys,
right now, what I want from you is that you put your hands together.
I want you to make some noise!
(Applause) (Cheers)
Thank you.
(Applause)