Activist Alexus D’Marco is turning personal experience into regional action, building safer pathways to healthcare, housing and dignity for trans people across the Caribbean. Her work with the United Caribbean Trans Network is also highlighting why climate resilience, community funding and global solidarity matter now more than ever.

Essential Takeaways

  • A long-running campaign: D’Marco has advocated for LGBTQIA+ people since 2003, beginning with direct support for those rejected by their families.
  • Regional reach: The United Caribbean Trans Network works across the English-speaking Caribbean on healthcare, education, employment, housing and justice.
  • Climate matters: Natural disasters can deepen existing risks for trans people, from displacement to interrupted healthcare.
  • Funding is vital: A London fundraising event for global LGBTQIA+ groups raised more than £110,000, according to GiveOut.
  • Faith and identity belong together: D’Marco is calling for greater recognition of LGBTQIA+ people as people of faith whose rights deserve respect.

From survival to organised activism

For Alexus D’Marco, activism began with something intensely personal: the need to defend her right to exist openly as a Caribbean Black trans woman. That experience became a wider mission, shaped not only by protest but by the practical work of helping people find safety, support and a place to belong.

Her early community work included the House of Dreams Manifested Around Restoration, Change and Opportunity, which supported LGBTQIA+ Bahamians who had been pushed away by their families. The work was hands-on and immediate, involving the everyday realities that often sit beneath public debates about rights. (Wikipedia)

Over time, that grassroots approach grew into the United Caribbean Trans Network, known as UCTRANS. The organisation was created to connect trans communities across the English-speaking Caribbean and address shared barriers, including healthcare, education, housing and employment. (Wikipedia)

Why UCTRANS is looking beyond rights alone

Legal recognition and equality remain crucial, but D’Marco’s work also shows how quickly a crisis can expose the gaps in everyday protection. A hurricane or other natural disaster can threaten housing, medical access and personal safety at the same time, leaving trans people particularly vulnerable.

UCTRANS has therefore placed climate change among its priorities, linking environmental emergencies with social inequality. That intersection matters because resilience isn't simply about rebuilding roads and roofs. It also means ensuring that shelters, relief services and healthcare systems are safe and accessible for everyone. (PANCAP)

Caribbean transgender communities have long faced discrimination in employment, healthcare and official documentation, according to UNAIDS. When identity documents don't reflect someone's lived identity, even routine tasks can become stressful, risky or humiliating. (UNAIDS)

Healthcare should be a right, not a privilege

One of UCTRANS's central goals is a regional healthcare strategy that treats access as a basic right. That sounds straightforward, but trans people can still encounter stigma, limited services and a lack of knowledgeable providers, particularly outside major urban centres.

The organisation's approach connects healthcare with wider questions of dignity. A person may need gender-affirming care, but they may also need a safe place to live, an income, identification documents or protection from violence. Treating these needs separately can miss the reality of how closely they interact. (PANCAP)

Legal identity recognition is another important part of that picture. Advocacy across the Caribbean has drawn attention to the need for documents and public systems that respect trans people's identities, rather than making access to work, travel or services harder than it needs to be. (PANCAP)

Global solidarity needs practical backing

D’Marco travelled to London for GiveOut's City for LGBT+ event, which brought together organisations working on LGBTQIA+ rights internationally. The event raised more than £110,000 for three featured groups, underlining the value of sustained support rather than occasional bursts of attention. (GiveOut)

For UCTRANS, international solidarity isn't just symbolic. It can create opportunities to share strategies, strengthen regional networks and develop practical responses to anti-gender movements. The most useful partnerships are the ones that listen carefully to local communities instead of assuming that one model will work everywhere.

Funding pressures make that work harder. Yet D’Marco's description of returning to basics, supporting school fees, lunch money, shelters and safe spaces, is a reminder that community organisations often keep people going long before a formal system catches up. It’s unglamorous work, but it can change the direction of a life.

Pride creates space where it doesn't exist

One of the moments D’Marco recalls most warmly is Pride Bahamas reaching its seventh year. The significance wasn't only the parade itself, but what the event made possible for people who couldn't safely march for their rights at home.

That kind of visibility can feel powerful precisely because it is ordinary: people gathering, walking together and being seen without having to apologise for who they are. Caribbean trans communities have repeatedly highlighted how public visibility, safety and legal recognition remain connected. (UNAIDS)

D’Marco also wants faith to be part of the conversation. LGBTQIA+ people in the Caribbean are often people of faith, and she argues that religious identity shouldn't be used to erase their humanity. Her message is both simple and demanding: visibility must come with dignity, respect and real protection.

The future of UCTRANS will depend on strong regional leadership, reliable funding and allies willing to stay engaged after the headlines fade. For D’Marco, the work remains rooted in people first, whether that means organising a Pride event or helping someone find a safe floor for the night.

It's a powerful reminder that lasting change often starts with making room for one more person to feel safe.

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