HGP Nightly News – For SASOD Guyana founder Joel Simpson, Pride in Guyana is still more than a celebration. It is a protest. Simpson says that while Guyana has seen growing social acceptance of LGBTQIA people, the country’s laws and institutions have not kept pace with that change.
“At this juncture in our movement, Pride is a protest for LGBTQIA people in Guyana,” Simpson said. “It’s a protest because we still, in 2026, are advocating for laws which criminalise same-sex intimacy to be repealed. We still don’t have laws which protect us from discrimination.”
He said Guyana has made important social strides, noting that it became the first country in the English-speaking Caribbean to host a public Pride parade, with Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados following soon after.
Simpson also pointed to growing public support through initiatives such as the Guyana Together campaign, where parents, relatives, allies and civil society voices have called for equality and law reform.
But he said the pace of legal and policy change remains too slow.
“We still are not seeing the institutional change, the legal change, the systemic change, the policy change, to match the social change that we’re experiencing,” he said.
That gap, Simpson argued, is why Pride cannot be treated only as a party.
“Pride is not a party, not a celebration, but a protest,” he said.
Simpson identified two urgent areas for legislative reform. The first, he said, is the repeal of provisions in Sections 351 to 353 of the Criminal Law Offences Act, which criminalise same-sex intimacy.
He described those provisions as the last set of laws in Guyana that directly discriminate against gay, queer and same-sex practising men.
The second priority, he said, is amending the Prevention of Discrimination Act of 1997 to include sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.
According to Simpson, SASOD Guyana has been advocating for that change for more than a decade.
He said the amendment would provide much-needed protection for LGBTQIA people facing discrimination in everyday life, including in work, services and public spaces.
Simpson acknowledged that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic administration has again promised, in its manifesto, to pass laws outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation. However, he said the change should not be delayed.
“We think this is a simple amendment, and it really needs to be done urgently,” he said.
Simpson said advocates want to see the reform completed before the end of 2026, arguing that Guyana’s laws must finally reflect the growing acceptance already taking place in society.
