The Jamaican Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG) launched in January a video campaign in hopes of raising awareness about the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities in Jamaica and other Caribbean countries.
Now, The F Word reports, two transgender women, Whitney and Tiana Miller, have lent their voices to the campaign, titled "We Are Jamaicans."
In her video, Miller speaks about suffering from alienation in her country, but says she has plans to continue residing there.
"I don't have life easy. I feel alienated, always being bashed by society. But that doesn't change who I am or who I want to be. I am Tiana, a transgender. I won't hide my life," Miller said. "I was born in Jamaica and Jamaica is where I plan to stay."
As Gay Star News points out, Miller also noted that she wants to be seen as a human.
In her video, Whitney spoke about how she's self-motivated and ambitious. Echoing Miller's sentiments, Whitney also spoke about being seen as a human.
The "We Are Jamaicans" campaign was funded by Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC) through its Global Fund Vulnerablised Project. The campaign is for the Jamaican LGBT community and its allies to share their experiences and perspectives about LGBT human rights.
According to The F Word, J-FLAG's executive director, Dane Lewis released a statement in regards to Whitney and Miller's videos.
"We cannot effectively reduce the incidence of violence against women in Jamaica if we continue to ignore socio-cultural factors that make violence against women permissible. Transgender Jamaican women are often not included in our vision for women's rights in Jamaica despite their vulnerability to violence and discrimination," Lewis said.
In February, Jamaican poet, writer and activist Staceyann Chin spoke highly of J-FLAG's efforts in an interview with Huff Post Gay Voices.
"It’s a weird place that I’m in because it used to be that people were more upset about me, but now there is Diana King, who is a huge Jamaican icon. She just came out as a lesbian, which is astounding on many levels," she said. "I don’t think that there is anybody with her star power who is Jamaican that has come out as gay. So now there are two of us. There is JFLAG that has grown so much, that has changed it."