The Caribbean IRN collection on the Digital Library of the Caribbean stores various documents, reports, archival clippings, and other materials related to this work. Our general collection includes materials we have been collecting and archiving since the Caribbean IRN’s inception in 2009. Thus far, our collection includes a variety of materials (newspaper articles, scholarly papers, activist reports, open letters, creative expressions, interviews, and more) which offers a glimpse into the complexity of LGBT lives and experiences in the Caribbean. This collection presents multiple perspectives from the personal to community and political organizing, from health agencies to academic research. It is a small but growing collection – a work in progress that brings materials on Caribbean Sexualities together in this way (digital open access) for the first time.
One major part of our collection is the archives of the Gay Freedom Movement (GFM) in Jamaica. The Gay Freedom Movement was active in Jamaica between 1974 and 1983 and the archives of the GFM are now digitised for further study and historical purposes. These archives have been made available with the permission of Larry Chang, one of the founders of GFM. The GFM preceeded the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-sexuals and Gays (JFLAG). The GFM collection will allow for researchers, activists and educators to gain insights into the history of organizing around gender and sexuality in the Caribbean. The collection was launched in June 2011.
The second sub-collection which is being developed is the collection for the Rainbow Alliance of the Bahamas