GRAND CAYMAN, CAYMAN ISLANDS, 4 June 2021:

Representatives of Colours Caribbean and the Cayman Islands Red Cross were invited into the Office of the Premier on Thursday, 3 June 2021 to sit with Premier Wayne Panton and discuss a slew of concerns surrounding issues facing our local Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual (LGBTQIA+) Community.

Those in attendance were Billie Bryan, President of Colours Caribbean; Gianna Bodden Esteban, Vice President of Colours Caribbean; Carolina Ferreira, Deputy Director of the Cayman Islands Red Cross; and various members of our Colours Youth Programme, including Erin Da Costa, Eyole Obi and Soleil Parkinson. Topics discussed ranged from issues directly affecting LGBTQIA+ youth such as bullying and harassment at school; the lack of sensitivity training for faculty; the need for gender-neutral bathrooms; homophobic, biphobic and transphobic attitudes among family, faculty and classmates contributing to or exacerbating mental illness; and broader issues including the express need for sex education, particularly concerning Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity & Expression and Sexual Characteristics (SOGIESC).

Members of our Colours Youth Programme in particular spent weeks in advance of the meeting preparing their talking points to ensure their concerns were made clear.

Our organisation and volunteers were all warmly received and the meeting proved to be very productive.

We’d like to thank Premier Wayne Panton for this great opportunity and welcome his genuine care, concern and commitment to address the many risks that our young people face, especially those identifying as LGBTQIA+.

We sincerely hope that those working directly with our youth—be they teachers, counsellors or parents­—will better recognise both the prevalence and severity of these issues and join our organisation in safeguarding the children, teenagers and adolescents most affected by them.

Colours Caribbean is celebrating its first year as a locally registered non-profit organisation on 19 June 2021 at Central Terrace, Bayshore Mall with an anniversary fundraiser, featuring Governor Martyn Roper as the keynote speaker. Premier Wayne Panton assured our organisation during the meeting that he will endeavour to be in attendance.

About Colours Caribbean

Colours Caribbean is a locally operated non-profit that aims to foster a safe and comfortable social environment for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual (LGBTQIA+) community of the Caribbean and Latin America by building a network of regional businesses and public venues free of discrimination and harassment towards anyone on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity. We advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights as Human Rights and promote the inclusion and equality of LGBTQIA+ persons in the Cayman Islands and throughout the Caribbean and Latin America.