Change happening.
A Trinidad and Tobago court has ruled that prohibiting gay sex between consenting men is unconstitutional.
In a ruling, judge Devindra Rampersad said sections of the Sexual Offences Act, which prohibit “buggery” and “serious indecency” between two men, criminalized consensual same-sex activity between adults, and were unconstitutional.
With this, the judge thereby struck down down the antiquated “anti-buggery law”.
This decision followed a similar ruling in Belize in 2016.
A final judgment on how to deal with the sections of the act is expected in July.
The case was brought in 2017 by Jason Jones, an LGBT activist for who lives in Britain but was born in Trinidad and Tobago. In an online campaign,Jones said he wanted to challenge laws inherited while the country was under British rule.
Trinidad and Tobago became a republic in 1976.
The country still has no laws protecting the human rights of LGBT people. In the (old) law, being convicted of buggery carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.
