From the Guardian:
Despite the challenges facing the LGBTQ+ community due to a lack of marriage equality, Abdul Shaheed, programme manager at the Rainbow Pride Foundation in Suva, says the issue is not at the top of the agenda for the organisation.
“I think the general outlook is people are not pushing for marriage equality in Fiji, they are pushing for safety and security,” he says.
For instance, if they become the victim of a crime, Shaheed says members of the LGBTQ+ community “don’t feel the police or judiciary will help them get justice”.
“These are the more pertinent issues the community wants focused on rather than jumping the gun to marriage equality.”
The foundation says addressing high rates of violence against LGBTQ+ Fijians should remain the primary focus.
Statistics on the topic are hard to come by since the government does not collect them and, Shaheed notes, “a lot of the population would choose to not report cases, due to fear of discrimination and stigma”.
But for Lady Miki Charlemagne, a trans and queer activist from Fiji, ignoring marriage equality in favour of campaigning for safety is selective activism.
“For activists that think marriage equality is not an issue, take a moment to understand it’s important for the future … as opposed to siloing things to security and protection,” she says.
Read more here.