Queer Narratives of the Caribbean Diaspora: Exploring Tactics (original) (raw)
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This dissertation interrogates the work being done by activists and non-governmental organizations in the Anglophone Caribbean, and theorizes that current interventions fail to adequately address the complicated ways that queer people negotiate and resist homophobia and transphobia in the region. In this work I draw on transnational feminist, Black queer theory, and Caribbean studies frameworks to posit that queer sexual praxes extend beyond dominant human rights tropes of disease, mortality and the imperative to escape a violently homophobic region. I am also particularly interested in the ways that working class gay men and trans people create communities of exile within the region as a radical praxis of space making despite being deeply affected by politically and culturally sanctioned homophobia and transphobia. My multi-sited ethnographic study is based on fieldwork conducted between 2016 and 2018 in Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. In these sites I conducted extensive online ethnography and participant observation, as well as semi-structured interviews with representatives from prominent queer advocacy groups. I also collected life histories from trans and gender non-conforming persons in order to better understand how they make life in the region. My scholarship offers an interdisciplinary intervention that engages and extends transnational feminist theory, critical race theory, human rights theory, queer theory, anthropology, and Caribbean studies by focusing explicitly on the under-interrogated area of This was indeed a long and tiring, but fulfilling journey! I am amazed that my little brain has been able to write these words, especially since I flunked high school and was almost unable to pursue tertiary education. Thank you mummy for investing in me emotionally, financially and otherwise. Thank you for accepting me and helping me to achieve all my goals. Thank you Mr. John Baptiste for recognizing my talent and being a mentor at a time when I needed one the most in my troubling teenage years. Thank you to everyone who made this dissertation possible. To my friends and colleagues at the University of the West Indies, thank you for giving me an opportunity to expand this work from a somewhat naïve project into what now stands on these pages. A special thank you to the Institute of Gender and Development Studies for providing me a space to work, and to engage with your brilliant scholars. Marcia Howard, you gave me an opportunity to visit Toronto and provided access to a world of opportunities that was unavailable to me in Trinidad. My friends from the sweetness and light crew, we started this journey together. Aduke Williams and Rhoda Bharath, without your support and encouragement this project may have never been completed. Special thank you to Darrell Baksh for spending countless days listening to my crazy ideas and supporting me through my growing pains. And Melissa Maraj, I will always cherish the memories of our outings across the city in search of the next best comfort food joint to relax and revive our souls in sometimes unliveable Canadian winter temperatures To my official and unofficial advisors and mentors, thank you for supporting me and pushing me to the limit, even when I ran out of steam and felt like giving up. A special thank you to Professor Rinaldo Walcott for seeing my potential long before I realized it. Thank you for all the opportunities that you have provided me, and for your endless support. Thank you Dr. Alissa Trotz for going beyond the call of duty as a member of my doctoral committee, and Professor Kamala Kempadoo for asking me hard questions and continuously pushing me to excel. Dr. Marieme Lo, your encouraging words have always lifted me up and for that I am grateful. To the administrative staff at the Women and Gender Studies Institute, thank you for all your support, and for helping the space become more welcoming. Thank you POCA for providing a space for students of colour to share our energies with each other. I will always cherish our enriching conversations over hot food in the dead of winter v in this frigid place! To the collective, it was easier to fight racism in Toronto knowing that you are in my corner. Drs. Nicole Charles, Cassandra Lord and Krystal Ghisyawan, your expert guidance, especially in my final days, was invaluable and for that I owe you big time. Sonny Dhoot, I keep smiling because of the great days we had in our office together, even when we weren't even sure what would be our next move in this whole process. Reaching this far would barely be possible without valuable funding and scholarship opportunities. Thank you to the Women and Gender Studies Institute, The Mark Bonham Institute for Sexual Diversity Studies, and Massey College for providing me with valuable funding and administrative support for this project. A Special thank you to my colleagues at the Institute for Gender and Development Studies at the University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus, especially Drs. Sue Ann Barratt, and Gabrielle Hosein; and Professors Rhoda Reddock and Patricia Mohammed, for supporting me and pushing me to interrogate queerness and Caribbeanness critically. Dr. Angelique Nixon, your motivation, guidance, and intellectual, emotional, and social support throughout this journey has been beyond amazing. Dr. Fatimah Jackson-Best, you came back to Toronto in the right time and gave me that extra motivation that I needed nearing the end of this journey. To my family, the Attais, Castillos, Gulstons, and Musewes thank you for all your support over the years, and for cheering me on. A special thank you to Felix, Lennor, and Judith Gulston and little Read Delfish for providing me with a safe, comfortable and nurturing home in Toronto while I completed this programme. To my family who has gone, I am sorry that you aren't here in the flesh to see me finish, but I walk on your shoulders. My Torrecilla Gardens Arima family, thank you for helping me embrace every part of this journey. My Ex Pats crew Keon, Lisa, Rosalie, Sandra, Rob, and Adam thanks for the encouragement, support and great memories during the most frustrating days. To my fellow corruptors Jamila, Adrian, Laverne and Carlos, thank you for giving me my daily laughs and just the right dose of bachannal to keep me afloat. Special thanks to Jamila and Laverne for accepting my random phone calls and for being the ears to my ideas and frustrations. You made Canada and Trinidad seem closer than they really are. And by the way, corruptors, we still have to start our slackness podcast! To the voices in dissertation, without you this project would not have been possible. You have taught me so much about resistance and community making, even when the odds are stacked so high against you. I hope that I do you justice in this project. I look forward to working with you as we continue to resist across the region. vi