🏳️🌈 Gender and Sexuality Visibility in Barbados 🏳️🌈
- boycemartin
- Jun 1, 2021
- 2 min read
Updated: Aug 4, 2022
A few reasons I write and publish LGBTQ-themed stories:
Societal Inclusion
To help promote societal inclusion, ultimately strengthening community relationships by dispelling myths surrounding differences, showing that people are more alike than they are dissimilar in their basic motivations and need for belonging. Diversity is also known to be positively linked to creativity and innovation.
To Fight Stigmatisation
Psychosocial anxiety of stigmatisation, self-concealment to avoid harassment and violence have a disregarded negative economic impact resulting from undue stress on the health system (alcohol and drug use as coping mechanisms, depression and suicide) and loss of talent when victims of discrimination seek asylum or relocate to more welcoming societies overseas.
Representation
LGBTQ+ readers want representation. It’s an opportunity to tap the market of gender and sexual minority readers with Caribbean heritage and general readers not only interested in this aspect of the human rights struggle in a Caribbean context, but in seeing how real people think and feel, expressed through excellent writing.
To Help Improve Barbados’ Image Abroad
Publications like mine can help improve Barbados’ image overseas as it represents social justice by recognising that LGBTQ+ people exist and are worth, as human beings and citizens, having their voices heard. The publishing of gender and sexual minority literature represents the inclusion of this marginalised group and an action against institutionalised homophobia and heterosexism and this can positively impact travellers choosing Barbados as a destination.
It’s the Truth
“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.” Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)
The truth is different types of people have always existed. History has shown that what may appear to be obvious may be the result of a limited/unevolved viewpoint. There is much that is not understood about natural diversity, and the assumption that human morality commands it is a fallacy. The question isn't whether sexual diversity exists in nature, as there are thousands of examples, it is what is to be done about it. Stay out of the bedrooms of consenting adults, I say!
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