Being Transgender: A Case of Trinidad and Tobago

Lue Anda Francis-Blackman

Andel Andrew

Caribbean Sociological Association e-Conference 2022: The Sociology of Crisis and the Crisis of Sociology

2022

TransgenderCivil SocietyDiscriminationTrinidad and TobagoDemands

This research examines transgender persons and social cohesion in Trinidad and Tobago. While the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (and Questioning), Intersex, Asexual (LGBTQIA+) civil society in Trinidad and Tobago appears to have one voice, research, with transgender persons, undertaken by this study has discovered that transgender persons feel that their issues and demands are separate from that of the general LGBTQIA+ civil society’s demands. As such, the objective of this research is to understand what it means to be transgender in Trinidad and Tobago. To achieve this the following research questions are explored: Do transgender persons face discrimination in both the society as well as their family? What social stigma does the transgender person face in Trinidad and Tobago? What are the demands of the transgender civil society and how do these differ from the general demands of the LGBTQIA+ civil society? This study takes the form of a qualitative methodological research design with the use of semi-structured interviews. These interviews are conducted through the snowballing technique given the sensitive nature of this study. Furthermore, this research finds that transgender persons face challenges with social cohesion both in the society as well as the LGBTQIA+ civil society. It contends that while the lack of legal protection for transgender persons makes the transgender person invisible, social discrimination is a more pressing issue for transgender persons evoking the need for avenues to be created through which the society is sensitize and socialized into tolerance and acceptance of the transgender persons.