Publication Language: English

Dignity and liberty for all: Why Jamaica’s sodomy law must go

December 9, 2015 Please note, an abbreviated version of this commentary was published earlier today by The Jamaica Gleaner under the headline “Why the sodomy law must go“. On December 10, 2015, International Human Rights Day, a new constitutional challenge to the Jamaican anti-sodomy law is being launched in Kingston. This outdated holdover from the … Read more

Constitutional challenge to Jamaica’s anti-sodomy law: Questions & Answers

Jamaican human rights activist Maurice Tomlinson has filed a claim in the Jamaican Supreme Court of Judicature, challenging the country’s laws criminalizing “buggery” and other consensual sex between men as violating numerous rights guaranteed in Jamaica’s constitution. This backgrounder answers some key questions related to this constitutional challenge. Related news release: Jamaican Gay Activist Launches Constitutional … Read more

Jamaican Gay Activist Launches Constitutional Challenge

TORONTO, December 9, 2015 — Jamaican human rights activist Maurice Tomlinson has filed a claim in the Supreme Court of Judicature, challenging the constitutionality of Jamaica’s laws criminalizing consensual sex between men. The legal challenge — which will be announced at a press conference tomorrow in Kingston, Jamaica — is being supported by the Canadian … Read more

Increasing the visibility of LGBTI people and their rights in the Caribbean

December 4, 2015 Two separate, but related events supported by the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network took place in the Caribbean last week: Police LGBTI Sensitization Training in Antigua and Barbuda from November 24–27 and the launch of the Barbados Pride Committee in Barbados on November 28 and 29. The police training in Antigua was facilitated … Read more

Canada’s New Government Must Take Action on HIV

Toronto, November 30, 2015 — In a briefing paper released to parliamentarians in advance of World AIDS Day (December 1), the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network is calling on the new federal government to take decisive steps to address the HIV epidemic, both in Canada and abroad. Laying out five key areas and recommending associated actions, … Read more

Remembering trans lives lost … and agitating for change, in Canada and abroad

November 20, 2015 Today is the 17th International Transgender Day of Remembrance. Since 1999, this day has been an opportunity to raise public awareness of the ongoing violence experienced by trans people, and to honour the lives of those trans people murdered because of stigma and hate. It is an appalling global tragedy that, even in … Read more

HIV stigma and Charlie Sheen’s outing: things to remember

November 17, 2015 In a television interview this week, actor Charlie Sheen revealed he is living with HIV, claiming that part of his reason for doing so is to put an end to years of rumours as well as extortion through threats of revealing his status. His revelation has prompted a flurry of media attention … Read more

Fears Confirmed: Access to medicines and the Trans-Pacific Partnership

November 13, 2015 Last week, the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement was finally made public. Running to more than 6000 pages, it raises a host of grave concerns about its impact on everything from environmental protection to labour and other human rights, from internet privacy to food safety… and much more, including access … Read more

Letter to Prime Minister and Ministers of International Trade, Health, and International Development re: Access to medicines and the Trans‐Pacific Partnership

“We write to you as Canadian civil society organizations concerned about access to medicines, in Canada and globally. A number of us are members of the Global Treatment Access Group (GTAG), a working group bringing together various Canadian organizations advocating for greater access to medicines, and other aspects of the human right to the highest attainable standard of health, in … Read more