Trinidad And Tobago Court Decriminalizes Homosexuality

The High Court of Trinidad & Tobago has thrown out the country’s buggery laws, which punished same-sex relations with up to 25 years in prison. The statute was rarely enforced, but had a chilling effect on the country’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) population.

High Court judge  Devindra Rampersad handed down the ruling this morning in a case brought in March 2017 by an LGBT activist Jason Jones.

"The Court declares that sections 13 and 16 [of the Sexual Offences Act] are unconstitutional, illegal, null, void, invalid and of no effect to the extent that these laws criminalise any acts constituting consensual sexual conduct between adults.”.

Jones had argued that section 13 of the Act, which criminalises anal sex, is unconstitutional because it violates his right to privacy, liberty and freedom of expression.

The final ruling will be handed down in three months.

In the meantime, LGBT groups in the republic have commenced celebration amid the ruling.

Ahead of the ruling, there was a heated debate outside the Hall of Justice as LGBT activists faced off with Christian fundamentalists who were adamant that the provisions of the law should remain, consistent with what the Bible says.





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