What We Do

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.

Founded in June 2009 as Coalition Advocating for the Inclusion of Sexual Orientation, CAISO changed its name in 2016 to CAISO: Sex and Gender Justice, to align closer with the growth in our areas of focus, namely wholeness, justice, and inclusion.

For over a decade, CAISO has offered the public a consistent voice and face for LGBTQI+ issues and human rights, shifting the needle measurably on how the country imagines, understands, and talks about sex and gender diversity and sexual justice. CAISO has successfully built alliances and worked collaboratively to build capacity and resilience, make interventions, and deliver justice.

Since 2011, CAISO has focused attention on the Equal Opportunity Act and campaigned for legislative amendments to add three (age, health, LGBTQI+ status) Equal Opportunity protections. This advocacy led to CAISO developing a model LGBTQI+ Workplace Policy launched in 2021 targeting the private sector, small businesses, and civil society organisations who want to create an enabling working environment for all. CAISO offers training workshop packages to support implementing the policy and gender and sexuality sensitivity for various kinds of workplaces and organisations.

CAISO is the lead convener of the Alliance for Justice and Diversity (AJD), which is a social justice coalition of LGBTQI+ organisations. Through this coalition, CAISO led the creation of two shared LGBTQI+ Policy Agendas (in 2015 and 2020), which drive our advocacy work. CAISO was a lead partner of the successful Human Rights Project in partnership with AJD and the UWI IGDS (2017-2021) – “A Sexual Culture of Justice” which created important local and regional research and transformative approaches to ending GBV and LGBTQI+ discrimination. The AJD continues to convene and support Policy Agenda advocacy and is working towards a 2025 updated Policy Agenda.

CAISO is fueled by creativity and is a programme partner of the NGC Bocas Lit Fest. Through this partnership, CAISO has organised an annual festival event that celebrates Caribbean LGBTQI+ writers and writing (since 2018 as BackChat). This work of celebrating and using creative imagination remains at the centre of our work to transform harmful cultural norms.

Since 2020, CAISO has offered service provision and strategic litigation work through the programme Wholeness & Justice, (smaller scope from May to Oct 2020, and full launch in Dec 2020). The programme provides legal and psychosocial support services for LGBTQI+ people living in Trinidad & Tobago who experience human rights violations – and expands access to wholeness, justice, and social services. Key insights and analysis from over two years of providing services offer vital evidence-based research for our advocacy. The Programme also produces educational materials and resource guides and offers regular capacity-building workshops for service providers and community members.

CAISO has also developed intersectional projects, including “Sign Together” – a project that trains LGBTQI+ people and service providers in Sign Language, offers support for Deaf LGBTQI+ leaders, and provides LGBTQI+ sensitivity and deaf culture training for sign interpreters and service providers.

In June 2021, CAISO launched a Caribbean Responsive Grant Mechanism for Caribbean LGBTQI+ organisations (in partnership with Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice).

CAISO’s growth and expansion since 2020 reflect a dedicated team including a working board of directors, staff, consultants, and volunteers who are fierce and defiant in justice work and activism. The development of our 2022 to 2025 Strategic Plan builds upon past legacies yet also charts new ground for us to change and evolve. Our areas of work are designed and implemented to achieve our mission, reflect our vision and core values, and are structured around three main thematic areas:

• Wholeness: development of projects and approaches that contribute to the building of coalitions and alliances for the advancement of human rights and social justice.

• Justice: advancing both the institutional framework for LGBTQI+ justice and the opportunities for redress and legal support for persons whose human rights have been infringed because of their sexual orientation, sex/gender identity or expression.

• Inclusion: advancing a human rights and social justice approach to inclusion for LGBTQI+ people living in Trinidad and Tobago (and the wider Caribbean).