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CARIBBEAN: Gay, HIV-Positive, and Totally Fearless

Peter Richards

PORT OF SPAIN, May 2 2006 (IPS) - When he was diagnosed with HIV in 1989, Godfrey Sealy, a Trinidad and Tobago playwright and activist, pled with Caribbean policy-makers and the general public not to relegate sex issues to the back burner.

“AIDS is about sex. It is the primary means by which people get infected. If we feel we can hide sex from ourselves and our children, we will be encouraging the spread of the virus,” he wrote in a newspaper article in September 1989.

Now, nearly two decades later, his colleagues and friends are paying respects to the memory of a man who, up until his death last Wednesday at the age of 46, was still fighting to end the stigma that has contributed to the Caribbean’s HIV/AIDS rate – after sub-Saharan Africa, the second highest in the world.

Last year, HIV/AIDS claimed an estimated 24,000 lives across the region, and it is the leading cause of death among 15 to 44-year-olds.

Sealy’s sister, Ann Marie Sealy, said that her brother had just completed a musical entitled “Paradise Garbage” geared towards young people living with HIV, when he died of pneumonia last week.

“It is hip and vibrant and he knew it would impact on the youth and we were just awaiting a response from the ministry of culture. I still have a lot of the material at home and I am ready to proceed with the project once contacted,” she said.

On Monday night, his theatrical friends staged a memorial, and said that any money donated will go to the AIDS foundation in Trinidad and Tobago. Titled “Remembering Godfrey”, the memorial featured most of the big names in local theatre.

The Trinidad-based Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC) said it too wanted to acknowledge Sealy’s “sterling contribution to the fight against the epidemic in his native country and the wider Caribbean”.

It said Sealy was an invaluable partner with CAREC’s Special Programme on Sexually Transmitted Infections in research and related activities aimed at informing the gay community about prevention, and also developing interventions for sustained public health approaches in dealing with vulnerable groups including “men who have sex with men”.

“We were moved by his personal courage to openly discuss his status despite the real possibilities of societal stigma and discrimination that is usually directed at HIV-infected persons,” said Jones P Madeira, CAREC’s information adviser.

“But his action underscored his position that unless people begin to acknowledge their sexuality and behaviour openly, they will put ever-increasing numbers of others at risk of contracting HIV,” he said.

Madeira said Sealy’s work also contributed immensely to initiatives by several regional and international agencies aimed at reducing the stigma and discrimination against persons living with HIV/AIDS and also inspired the creation and growth of such HIV/AIDS support groups as Community Action Resource, Artistes against AIDS, and the Port of Spain-based Caribbean Regional Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS.

“Mr. Sealy’s own battle with the illness was an outstanding example of fortitude and courage, and his survival of close to two decades as an HIV-positive person served as an inspiration and encouragement to those who would otherwise despair quite easily in the face of infection,” Madeira said.

“But of even greater significance was Mr. Sealy’s capacity to blend his skills as a playwright with his passion as an activist, and in the process, assist in nurturing the creation of a more supportive environment for people living with HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean.”

Dr. Brader Braithwaithe, research director of the Gay Research Initiative on AIDS Prevention in the Caribbean, said that through Sealy, she recognised the benefits and “hands on” use of cultural communication, in particular the use of drama in the dissemination of AIDS prevention messages.

Sealy wrote the first Caribbean play about AIDS, entitled “One of our Sons is Missing”, and another of his works, the “Wicked Wench of the World”, a pantomime in the carnival genre addressing HIV and discrimination, was performed at the Fifth International Conference on AIDS in Montreal in 1989.

“With Mr. Sealy’s passing, CAREC feels that the Caribbean has lost a true champion in the battle against HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean, and who should be remembered not only for widening the response to the epidemic in our region, but also for making persons living with HIV/AIDS a part of the solution rather than being considered the problem,” CAREC said.

Sealy was buried Monday, and his colleagues said he would always be remembered for his determination to raise public awareness of the disease.

“He’s been fighting and he is one of the longest survivors of that disease that I know,” said local actress Penelope Spencer, adding that she was aware that many young persons had been seeking Sealy’s advice.

“He never gave up,” said Salazar, adding that his work with AIDS was very important. “He never hid it, he came right out and said I am HIV-positive. He took a stand to try and change things.”

In 2001, Sealy left Trinidad and Tobago after he was turned down by the then Basdeo Panday government for assistance from the National Achievers Fund on the grounds that he was HIV-positive.

“A 36-year-old man dying of AIDS. How do I explain to the nation that this is someone who qualifies for the National Achievers Fund?” said the then social development minister, Manohar Ramsaran.

Ann Marie Sealy said even though her brother returned home later, the playwright was disappointed and that “Godfrey really felt that he should have been given the grant because of his contribution to society.”

“He was a giant in the theatre community. He instigated a lot of what was important in the development of theatre and he was not recognised as he should have been,” said playwright and director, Raymond Choo Kong.

“He was one of those suffering artists and he died a suffering artist,” he added.