– Businessman Enzo Matthews Joins Call for Inclusion
On Wednesday, July 16, SASOD Guyana launched its Manifesto, ahead of the 2025 General and Regional Elections, calling for political parties to commit to addressing legislative, socio-economic and other critical issues affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual (LGBTQIA+) Guyanese. The Manifesto lists 10 priority issues for political parties to include in their manifestos or to give clear and definitive commitments to.
SASOD Guyana’s Managing Director Joel Simpson said the Guyana LGBTQIA+ Manifesto will be shared with all the political parties contesting the General and Regional Elections. “Our goal is to have the political parties to include our top 10 priorities in their parties’ manifestos,” Simpson shared. SASOD Guyana launched its first manifesto in 2020, and Simpson pointed out that while only a few parties included the issues in their plans, the organisation is hopeful that all six contesting political parties will do so in 2025.
Simpson noted that a 2022 national poll found that 54% of Guyanese want the outdated laws criminalising same-sex intimacy between consenting adult men in private to be repealed – which is the first priority in the Manifesto. The Manifesto also calls for the Prevention of Discrimination Act 1997 to be amended to include sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression as protected categories. Supporting this recommendation, the 2022 poll also found that 72.4% of Guyanese believe that LGBTQIA+ workers should be protected from discrimination. “These are common-sense issues that most Guyanese of all backgrounds can agree on,” Simpson noted.
The launch also featured special remarks by businessman Enzo Matthews of the Lezo Group, who commended the LGBTQIA+ Manifesto and called on Guyanese to support its priorities. “We can not pick and choose when we want to come together as a people. We should always come together as a people, holistically for every cause,” the businessman said. “Everyone should be treated fairly regardless,” he added.
Matthews also shared that the LeZo Group is proud to among more than 100 Guyanese businesses and organisations that have endorse the Guyana Together campaign, calling for the repeal of the outdated laws criminalising intimacy between men – which is the 2025 Manifesto’s first priority.
Matthews called for all political parties to “adopt” the “golden rule” on the treatment of Guyanese, “treating other people the way you would want to be treated. I take pride in encouraging the values of fairness and equal opportunity in my establishments,” Matthews declared.
“LGBTQIA+ people and our allies are voting this year because we understand what’s at stake in the 2025 General and Regional Elections,” SASOD Guyana’s Joel Simpson added. Appealing to LGBTQIA+ voters, Simpson called on all to ensure that their “voices are heard,” through their votes. “Show our elected leaders that they must represent Guyanese who want them to uphold our shared values of respect for all families,” Simpson emphasized.
In addition to legislative reform, the Manifesto also prioritises training, policy and programmatic interventions to address the critical socio-economic challenges faced by LGBTQIA+ Guyanese. Mandatory, ongoing training in Justice Equity Diversity and Inclusion is proposed for the uniformed services, social workers, healthcare workers and other state service providers to eliminate discriminatory attitudes and unconscious bias in the provision of state services. The Manifesto underscores that homophobia is a huge barrier for sexual and gender minorities to access public services in Guyana.
In terms of programmes, SASOD Guyana is calling on the elected Government to provide emergency shelter for LGBTQIA+ youth who are fleeing violence in their homes. The Manifesto notes that LGBTQIA+ youth face disproportionately high rates of housing insecurity due to unique challenges, such as family rejection and lack of support systems. Simpson noted that this an especially challenging issue in Guyana when minors are put out of their homes or escape from homophobic violence. “The state has no shelters in place to deal with these dire emergencies,” Simpson lamented.
Since launching the 2025 Manifesto, SASOD Guyana has been meeting with the contesting political parties to engage them to include the 10 priority issues in their own manifestos and plans. The 6 political parties that have made the ballot have all been invited to the 2025 LGBTQIA+ Elections Town Hall, which will be hosted by SASOD Guyana and the Guyana Press Association on July 29.
See manifesto below:
