Joel Simpson
Joel Simpson is the Founder and Managing Director of Guyana's Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD Guyana). SASOD Guyana was formed in 2003 by mostly students advocating for the inclusion of sexual orientation as grounds for discrimination in the Guyana constitution.
SASOD Guyana seeks to have discriminatory laws repealed which criminalize lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and other (LGBTQ+) people, while advocating for state and non-state actors to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of these groups. In order to do so, SASOD Guyana has a Human Rights Programme, which engages in multi-pronged advocacy to challenge violence, discrimination and injustice, a Homophobia Education Programme which focuses on engaging key sectors of society where anti-LGBTQ+ prejudices are prevalent and a Human Services Programme, which provides services, referrals, researches and develops solutions and services to address sexual health, mental health, literacy and remedial education, entrepreneurship and employment, and emergency shelter and housing for LGBTQ+ people.
On 16 June 2019, Joel Simpson went out with other friends to the Palm Court nightclub in Georgetown. In the club, a beer was thrown at him and his friends. Later on, a group of six unknown men mocked and looked at Joel and friends menacingly, seemingly motivated by homophobia. Although Joel reported this incident to the bar staff and requested to speak to the manager, he received no support. At around 1:30 A.M, he decided to leave the Palm Court club and go to another club. Before heading home and after parting ways with his friends, at around 4:00 a.m, Joel went to his regular breakfast spot in Bourda Market. At the Market, Joel was met by the same group of men who were harassing him and his friends earlier that night. The men pushed the defender to the floor and kicked him repeatedly. A police officer tried to intervene but was also pushed to the ground. As a result of the attack, Joel Simpson had to be taken to the Georgetown public hospital where he received treatment for the injuries suffered. So far, only one of the six perpetrators has been identified and none of them has been arrested. Guyana's government condemned the attack on June 2019.
Continuous violence and harassment deprive the LGTBI+ community of their full rights to life, security, and freedom of expression. As the only country in the Americas outside of the Caribbean where same-sex sexual relationships are still illegal, Guyanese authorities and society tend to view homosexuality and transgender and non-binary people negatively.
