About SASOD

The Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) is a non profit organisation which was formed in June 2003 . It was officially registered in the County of Demerara of the Republic of Guyana on April 2, 2009 by Trust Deed numbered 458/2009.

The objectives of SASOD are:-

a) To advocate for the human rights of all persons in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;

b) To encourage respect and tolerance for diversity in a plural society; and

c) To work towards the elimination of discrimination particularly on the grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.

SASOD has a membership component where anyone who is interested in pursuing the organisation's objectives can apply. To do so, you can send an email to sasod_guyana@yahoo.com from your inbox with answers to the following questions:
1. Name
2. Chosen Name
3. Gender
4. Country of Residence
5. Email address
6. Telephone contact
7. Parts of SASOD's work you are interested in


One of SASOD's proudest achievement is it's advocacy and entertainment activity, which takes the form of an annual LGBT Film Festival, the only one of it's kind in the English Caribbean, since 2004.

The authority of SASOD is vested in the Trustees.They are:

Namela Baynes-Rowe

Namela Baynes-Rowe is a communications professional with experience in HIV advocacy, journalism, development communications, media relations, and public affairs. Currently the Co-Chairperson of SASOD, she also sits on the advisory board of the creative committee of the Caribbean Broadcast Media Partnership on HIV and AIDS (CBMP). She is also a tester/counselor for HIV and serves as a focal point for HIV in SASOD. She is the SASOD liaison board member in the Diverse Youth Movement (DIYOME) - a local youth group for sexual and gender minorities founded under the auspices of SASOD.








Joel Simpson

Joel Simpson is the Founder and Co-Chairperson of the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) in Guyana. He holds a Bachelor of Laws Degree from the University of Guyana. He is a Chevening scholar with a Master of Laws Degree in Human Rights Law from the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom. His research interests include homophobia, human rights, gender, vulnerability, sexual heath, stigma and discrimination. He has extensive experience in these areas, having worked as the UNESCO Human Rights Researcher at the HIV Education Unit at the University of the West Indies (UWI) St. Augustine campus in Trinidad and Human Rights Associate at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) country office in Guyana. He is the co-founder of the Trinidad and Tobago Anti Violence Project (TTAVP), former board member of the Caribbean Forum for the Liberation and Acceptance of Genders and Sexualities (CariFLAGS) and a member of the human rights legal core of the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC). He also sits on the Advisory Committee to the LGBT Rights Programme at Human Rights Watch (HRW) and is a member of the International Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Intersex Law Association (ILGLaw), among many other regional and international affiliations.




Zenita Nicholson

Zenita Nicholson is the Secretary for SASOD. She is a project manager and has extensive experience working with diverse populations such as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons, sex workers, people living with HIV, youth and faith leaders. She was twice contracted as the National Composite Policy Index (NCPI) Consultant for UNAIDS, and worked extensively with the Regional Stigma and Discrimination Unit (RSDU) of the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) in monitoring data collected for a baseline assessment on stigma and discrimination in Guyana. She has extensive research experience in areas related to sexual health, gender and human rights and she also works with several local civil society groups on these issues.









Jermaine Grant

Jermaine Grant joined the SASOD board of trustees as Treasurer and his key area is the work with leveraging the rights positions in the Inter-American system. Jermaine has been instrumental in guiding the Caribbean participants in the processes for OAS advocacy and also around the issues for Afro-Caribbean descendants in Latin America and for youth. Jermaine holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in International Relations and a Post-Graduate Diploma in International Studies. He works in the human and social development project arena. Jermaine's activism has most recently been in the socio-political sphere as leader of a local youth group – Youth Coalition for Transformation (YCT).







Ulelli Verbeke

Ulelli Verbeke manages her own small business in holistic health and approaches to healing. She is keen on ensuring SASOD fulfills its obligations to women especially. She is also interested in film making and still and video photography and her work has been used to beautifully document SASOD events and activities. She is a trained photographer, videographer and editor and works on various visual arts and media advocacy projects which capture stories of often stigmatized and marginalized groups and document our histories as communities and movements struggling to achieve full citizenship, equality and human rights for all people.








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