In a major development for the Caribbean region, laws criminalising same-sex intimacy in Trinidad and Tobago have been declared a violation of human rights.
On Tuesday, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council decriminalised consensual same-sex intimacy in the island nation in a landmark judgment, following an 11-year legal battle.
Privy Council overturns anti-LGBTQ+ laws
Homosexual conduct was originally criminalised in Trinidad and Tobago during the British colonial era. The country retained these offences in its 1986 Sexual Offences Act under the terms ‘buggery’ and ‘serious indecency’, with penalties of up to 25 years in prison.
LGBTQ+ activist Jason Jones led the legal challenge to these provisions. In 2018, the High Court in Trinidad ruled in his favour, but the Court of Appeal subsequently overturned the decision. Jones then took the case to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, the highest court of appeal for Trinidad and Tobago.
In its ruling, the Judicial Committee confirmed that the anti-LGBTQ+ provisions “infringe Mr Jones’ fundamental rights” and required the state to ensure “that they do not apply to criminalise private, consensual sexual relations between adults of the same sex.”
The court agreed that the discriminatory provisions were unconstitutional and violated Jones’ rights to private and family life, dignity and equality.
The Judicial Committee also asserted that, “The ability to form a deep connection with another person through an intimate and loving relationship is a vital interest for all human beings.”
Jason Jones: ‘That message ends today’
Speaking to CNC3 News Trinidad and Tobago after the ruling, Jones said: “These laws never reflected who we are as a people and a nation: diverse, multiracial, and secular. They told LGBTQ+ people that we were criminals in our own country. That message ends today.”
Local LGBTQ+ rights organisation the Silver Lining Foundation welcomed the judgment.
“In allowing Jason Jones’ appeal and dismissing the Attorney General’s cross-appeal, the Privy Council has reaffirmed a simple but powerful principle: the dignity, humanity and fundamental freedoms of LGBTQIA+ people are not negotiable,” the organisation said in a statement.
The foundation also acknowledged that more work remains to achieve equality and acceptance.
“Legal recognition must be accompanied by social acceptance, institutional accountability and the everyday practice of treating one another with dignity. This judgment is not the end of the journey. It is an invitation to write a better chapter in our nation’s history.”
Ruling could have wider implications
Human Rights Watch noted that the Judicial Committee also serves as the highest appeal court for other independent Commonwealth countries and UK Overseas Territories, meaning the ruling could have implications beyond Trinidad and Tobago.
Several other Caribbean countries have already decriminalised homosexuality. Jamaica, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and Guyana remain among those with anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.
“This ruling is another powerful reminder that decriminalization is not a special privilege, but a universal human rights imperative,” said Cristian González Cabrera, senior LGBT rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Governments that continue to criminalize consensual same-sex conduct should repeal these laws and ensure that everyone can live with dignity, equality, and freedom from fear.”
Téa Braun, the Chief Executive of The Human Dignity Trust, added: ‘This is not only a victory for LGBT+ people in Trinidad & Tobago but another powerful affirmation that laws criminalising private, consensual same-sex intimacy have no place in a society with due respect for fundamental rights and freedoms.’
