On Tuesday, March 29, 2022, the launch of the Intimate Conviction 2: Continuing the Decriminalization Dialogue volume will be held in Dominica at the Provost Cinemall executive meeting room in Roseau, Dominica, at 5:30 p.m. Atlantic Standard Time.
Speakers at the event include Lester Guye, Coordinator of the National HIV Unit, who will give a review of the volume, and Daryl Phillip from Minority Rights Dominica, who will give an update of the legal challenge to the anti-sodomy laws in Dominica.
Laws that criminalize consensual same-sex intimacy still exist in more than sixty countries across the globe — and in most instances, these laws are sustained by Church doctrine. The Intimate Conviction conferences, presented by the HIV Legal Network, a human rights organization located in Canada, work towards the elimination of homophobic laws, discuss the role of the Church in maintaining them and how the Church can help break them down. The first conference was held in 2017 and the volume from that conference was released in 2018. Support to end to these laws is growing, in the Caribbean and around the world.
In November 2020, the HIV Legal Network, Anglicans for Decriminalization, and Caribbean partners hosted the second Intimate Conviction conference under the theme “Continuing the Decriminalization Dialogue.” This event was meant to be held in Barbados but was forced online due to COVID-19 restrictions. There were more than 30 expert speakers from around the world who imparted their knowledge and experience with laws criminalizing same-sex intimacy.
We are now very pleased to share the edited volume of presentations from this second conference. Here you will find personal stories of how these laws have affected LGBTQ+ people around the world, analysis of biblical texts that have been used to uphold these laws, and thoughts on how these laws can and must be changed to uphold the human rights of LGBTQ+ people everywhere.
“MiRiDom is certainly not alone in knowing that the laws that send same gender loving people to prison for acts of intimacy are wrong and criminal in their intent.” – Daryl Phillip, Coordinator, Minority Rights Dominica (MiRiDom).
“The Intimate Conviction conferences are a critical tool to helping understand the colonial nature of these homophobic laws, particularly in the Global South. The presentations contained in this volume allow the knowledge and expertise that was shared at the conference to live on and be spread to those who weren’t able to join us. It is our sincere hope that by holding these conferences and publishing these books, we can help eliminate such laws and allow LGBTQ+ people everywhere to live freely and enjoy their human rights.” – Maurice Tomlinson, conference organizer and LGBTQ Rights Consultant for the HIV Legal Network.
Read Intimate Conviction 2: Continuing the Decriminalization Dialogue here. Hard copies will also be available free of charge at the launch.