Redefining rights

It would appear that the gay rights movement may be seeing some gains much closer to home, very soon. According to a report in a recent Trinidad Guardian, that country’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has promised an end to discrimination against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in the proposed national gender policy.

It was only a few weeks ago, following popular votes in some US states that approved same-sex marriages, that this some editorials speculated about how soon changes would occur in the region. According to the Guardian report, Trinidad & Tobago will be looking to remove the discrimination against homosexuals that currently exists in that country’s Sexual Offences and Immigration Acts.

Mrs Persad-Bissessar made the pledge in a letter to a UK-based NGO whose director had written a letter of complaint to the Prime Minister about the stigmatisation of homosexuals stemming from such laws. The letter stated, “I share your view that the stigmatisation of homosexuality in T&T is a matter which must be addressed on the grounds of human rights and dignity to which every individual is entitled under international law.”

If Trinidad & Tobago’s gender policy does in fact begin to address this issue, it could get the momentum going for Caribbean governments to take concrete action, in support of the rhetoric that they all subscribe to – in theory – with regard to human rights and discrimination.

It is certainly the belief of the international community that defending these values are critical to long-term development. On Human Rights Day (December 10), UN Resident Coordinator for Barbados and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, Michelle Gyles-McDonnough, said, “As countries in the Eastern Caribbean continue to further development progress, it will be critical to also change some patterns of our development process so far and give true meaning to the independence movements of the Caribbean that were rooted in the pursuit of social justice and the right to development for all, irrespective of colour, creed, class, sex, national or ethnic origin or other status.”

It is not unreasonable to assume that ‘other status’ could refer to sexual orientation. However, while in some instances, governments institute policies for the greater good and then attempt to garner public buy-in, when it comes to homosexuality and related issues, it seems governments around the world are content to let that be a people-driven issue.

It certainly seems to be what’s happening in the US and here too. At a recent HIV research symposium, Family Minister Stephen Lashley noted that since there had been no large outcry to have the anti-buggery law repealed, it was highly unlikely it would be addressed soon. But, given the shift in outlook with regard to gay rights taking place across the United States, and now apparently, closer to home, how long might it be before a similar change in thinking occurs among our own population?

New frontier

Moving away from the area of human rights, another news item that caught our attention, it seems that intellectual property rights are also heading into new territory.

International technology website CNet is reporting that the popular photo sharing site Instagram, has changed its terms of usage, laying claim to the perpetual right to sell all photos uploaded by users without payment or notification. This means that they will in effect be creating one of the world’s largest stock photo databases.

This development has the potential to influence the evolution of social media, reignite privacy concerns and perhaps even shape the definition of intellectual property rights. For a country still struggling to navigate its way around such issues, we would do well to pay attention.