Get ready to work with your new Government and Parliament to move our issues forward

“If we come together, working united, as one people of Trinidad and Tobago, there is no limit to what we can do. It is a lesson we all learned as children. You remember – going to school and being teased or bullied for the way you looked, or the way you dressed. It hurt, and left you feeling all alone, without a friend in the world. But at some point, we all grew up. And as we grew up, we realized we weren’t the only ones being bullied. We realized other people felt the way we did. And when we learned we weren’t alone, we felt a little stronger. And when we got a little older and a little smarter, we realized not just that there were others who felt as we did; we got together with those others and shared our problems and our experiences. By sharing our hopes and our wants and our dreams, we became stronger still. Suddenly the bully didn’t seem so tough anymore, because when we came together, each of us with others who felt as we did, we became stronger than the bully. We learned as children, that if we came together, united, as one, we could beat the bully. Let us remember that lesson now, as adults. If we come together now, united, as one, we can beat the bully. Teams, playing together, united as one, are better than any one player. Let us come together as a team, united, as one people, working to solve the problems of Trinidad and Tobago.”

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CAISO: Sex and Gender Justice

CAISO is a feminist Civil Society Organisation committed to ensuring wholeness, justice and inclusion for Trinidad and Tobago’s LGBTQI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex) communities, by developing analysis, alliances and advocacy. CAISO uses voice, space, work, play and community to improve governance and build a nation all citizens can share. One focus of this mission has been leadership at building intersectional human rights collaborations and at strengthening human rights mechanisms and their use. Over a decade CAISO has offered the public a consistent voice and face for LGBTQI issues shifting the needle measurably in how the nation imagines, understands and talks about sex/gender diversity. We have successfully built alliances—among LGBTQI groups; with other T&T NGOs and movements; and internationally. CAISO’s collaborations have developed interventions and capacity to deliver justice and build resilience.

One thought on “Get ready to work with your new Government and Parliament to move our issues forward”

  1. This really is a lovely extract. Kamla really inspired hope amongst the dispossed in society, I really hope she doesn’t let us down…

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