Guyana

Demographics

Estimated Total Population:

779,000

World Bank, 2018

Estimated SGM Population:

N/A

N/A

Estimated Total SGM Adult Population:

N/A

N/A

Estimated % of SGM Adults (18+):

7%

Wickman & Hinds, 2013

Guyana is not generally accepting of SGMs, a result of homophobic leadership in politics and religion. The majority of Guyanese politicians regularly use anti-LGBT+ rhetoric, and the popular Evangelical Christian organizations actively discriminate against SGMs. The Criminal Law Act of Guyana makes “committing acts of gross indecency with a male person” and “buggery” illegal; though this law is not often enforced, it continues to create a homophobic culture. Guyana’s intolerance likely stems from its colonial past and prevalence of religion.

Guyana's Laws and Policies from ILGA World Report (2019)

RECOGNITION
Marriage for Same-Sex Couples
No
Civil Unions
No
Joint Adoption
No
Second Parent Adoption
No
PROTECTION
Employment Nondiscrimination Laws
No
Broad Protections
No
Criminalization of Violence
No
Ban of Conversion Therapy
No
CRIMINALIZATION
Consensual Same-Sex Acts are Legal?
No
Gender
Male Only
Max Penalty (Yrs in Prison)
For Life

Selected Published Studies, Reports, and Other Documents

Guyana. (n.d.). [Text]. OutRight Action International. Retrieved June 3, 2020, from https://outrightinternational.org/region/guyana

“I Have to Leave to Be Me.”(2018, March 21). Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/03/21/i-have-leave-be-me/discriminatory-laws-against-lgbt-people-eastern-caribbean

International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA), ILGA-Europe, the Caribbean Forum for Liberation and Acceptance of Genders and Sexualities (CARIFLAGS), International UPR Submission. (2008). Retrieved from http://www.uprinfo.org/sites/default/files/document/barbados/session_3_-_december_2008/ilgabrbuprs32008internationallesbianandgayassociationetaluprsubmissionjoint.pdf

Jackman, M. They called it the ‘abominable crime’: an analysis of heterosexual support for anti-gay laws in Barbados, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago. Sex Res Soc Policy 13, 130–141 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-015-0209-6

Rambarran, N., & Simpson, J. (n.d.). An exploration of the health care experiences encountered by lesbian and sexual minority women in Guyana. International Journal of Sexual Health, 28(4), 332–342. https://www.academia.edu/39643719/An_Exploration_of_the_Health_Care_Experiences_Encountered_by_Lesbian_and_Sexual_Minority_Women_in_Guyana

Wickham, P., &Hinds, K. (2013)."Attitudes toward Homosexuals in Guyana"(PDF). Caribbean Development Research Services Inc. Retrieved 20 April 2017. https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/AA/00/01/61/51/00001/Attitudes_Toward_Homosexuals_in_Guyana.pdf