Trinidad and Tobago court overturns law criminalising gay sex

Trinidad and Tobago’s highest appeal court has overturned a decades-old law criminalising consensual same-sex relations, marking a major victory for LGBTQ rights following a decade-long legal battle.

The highest court of appeal for Trinidad and Tobago has overturned a decades-old law criminalising consensual same-sex relations between adults, marking a significant victory for LGBTQ rights in the Caribbean.

According to Punch, the UK-based Judicial Committee of the Privy Council unanimously ruled on Tuesday that the country’s 1986 Sexual Offences Act could no longer be used to prosecute private, consensual same-sex activity.

The legislation previously prescribed prison sentences of two years for “serious indecency” and five years for “buggery.”

LGBTQ activist Jason Jones, who spearheaded the decade-long legal challenge, welcomed the judgment.

The court declared that constitutional rights must remain “practical and effective in the present day, not in the past.”

Jones’ lawyers described the decision as a “phenomenal victory for gay rights, equal dignity and respect for private and family life in Trinidad and Tobago.”

United Nations Human Rights chief Volker Turk also welcomed the ruling, expressing hope that it would reduce discrimination and violence against LGBTQ individuals.