TheStar.com : "NETHERLANDS ANTILLES–In St. Maarten, we criss-cross the island, searching in vain for a lesbian who will talk to me – though later I hear the cafés in Marigot are full of them. In Jamaica, some dance hall performers sing about shooting gay men in the head, pouring acid over them and raping lesbians. So far this year, 100 LGBT folk have reportedly been attacked in 43 mob incidents. Yet there's a huge, lively underground scene. In Cuba, gays and lesbians can't get permission to start their own advocacy organization. Meanwhile, the government is working on same-sex partnership recognition as well as free sex-change surgery and hormones on demand. This is the Caribbean, with some of the most complex and least understood gay and lesbian destinations in the world." ................
Forbes I recently spent a week in Turks and Caicos , my first time out of the country since the pandemic hit. Like many Caribbean countries, Turks and Caicos rely almost entirely on tourism to power their economy, so they’re desperate for travelers to return. I’m happy to report that these beautiful beaches felt like an escape from the despair of this global pandemic, and here’s how they are keeping travelers safe.