Gay Today: Viewpoint

The Caribbean Territories:
Britain's Best Intentions go Awry

By Susan Raffo

Sometimes the best intentioned acts end up causing more harm than good. That was certainly the case when Britain announced in November that it would be scrapping the antigay laws in its five Caribbean territories. The territories--Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, and the Turks & Caicos--are, unsurprisingly, fuming against this power play.

The exact laws under consideration vary among the island nations but most carry some provision making “homosexual intercourse” illegal. Like sodomy laws in the United States, these laws are rarely enforced. However, Britain states that by maintaining such laws in its territories, it's violating a number of international human rights agreements.

Despite Britain's best efforts, Caribbean territories like Anguilla, the Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands are showing gays to the exits

Now, I'm right at the front of the line when it comes to slashing laws that criminalize the bodies of gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people. Whether we're talking sodomy, adoption, marriage or immigration, legal infringements on our lives prevent us from accessing full citizenship. But there's something about Britain's behavior that hurts.

Democracy is not a pretty system. The majority is not always right and individual freedoms are constantly at battle with communal interests. But at this point in time, I prefer a democratic system, warts and all. Britain's act of legal repeal against the wishes of the majority of the island populations is not an act of democracy. It's an act of imperialism, the forcing of a particular cultural standard against a people's will.

I am overjoyed every time another nation rescinds its anti-queer legislation or recognizes domestic partnership for the purposes of immigration and general legal rights. Britain was one of the more recent nations to radically change its internal law, opening the door for gay marriage. I applaud their decisions and take this opportunity to thumb my nose at the United States for refusing to do the same. But even as I am thrilled by every change that allows GLBT people greater freedom around the world, I am saddened by Britain's actions in the Caribbean.

I keep trying to find an example that would help illustrate what this action must feel like to people on the five islands. But I can't. There currently is no national or international body that has policing power over the United States. If anything, the U.S. is often the nation that keeps its heels dug in the path of international human rights law, even when the majority of nations on the planet disagree with us. At the international level, we don't have to worry about fighting imperialism because we're usually the nation spreading it around. Imperialism takes place when a national body forces legal policies or cultural practices on another nation without the agreement of the people of that nation. It's a kind of bully-politics. Acts of imperialism don't result in lasting cultural change. Instead, imperialism usually disempowers local populations. After all, imperialism takes the decision out of the hands of the people in a neighborhood and puts it into the hands of a bunch of strangers.

I truly wish that all five Caribbean nations would vote to remove their antigay laws. That would be the right thing to do and shame on them for not yet taking the righteous path. I would also applaud a homegrown Caribbean queer revolutionary movement that took to the streets, demanding an end to laws against their lives and seizing it if necessary. But I do not applaud Britain's actions, however much the ends might work in our favors.

The ends never justify the means, not if you want lasting change. If the population of these islands are still voting to keep such regressive laws, then we need to find ways to help empower the local people who want to change them. They're the ones who need to make this decision, not the government of an island thousands of miles away. Britain's decision doesn't necessarily make the lives of the island queer people easier, by the way. If anything, it might make it worse as the local population angrily backlashes against the closest available target.

Related Articles from the GayToday Archive:
Cayman Islands Turns Ship Away with 900 Gays on Board

800 Lesbians Scorned by Bahamian Fundamentalists

Jamaican Churches Decry Village People's Arrival

Related Sites:
American Family Association Supports Cayman Islands
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So, when we get off our cruise ships in many of these island ports, rather than using these nations as our sun-drenched playgrounds, let's put some of our vacation money into local queer pockets, and not just the pockets of those we pay to get us drinks or massage our northern skins. Take the idea that tourism fuels local economies and put your tourist dollars into the bank accounts of local people working to make lasting social change in the neighborhoods where they live.

Susan Raffo is a writer and activist living in Minneapolis.