Trinidad and Tobago reinstated the ban on homosexuality, which was overturned as unconstitutional by the High Court of the Caribbean in 2018.
LGBTQ activist Jason Jones challenged colonial anti-sosomemy laws in 2017, claiming that prohibitions on “eavesdropping” and “serious indecent behavior” between two men violate the LGBTQ individual’s right to privacy and freedom of expression.
Judge Devindra Rampersand ruled in Jones’ favor, finding that two parts of the sexual offences that apply to consenting adults were unconstitutional.
The Attorney General’s office appealed the ruling.
On March 25, 2025, the country’s appeals court reports that Lampasand reversed the decision with a 2-1 decision that he could step over his authority and overturn the ban on homosexuality. Trinidad Tobago Newsday.
“A judge cannot change the law,” the Court of Appeals’ 196-page ruling states. “We will affect Congress’ intentions… so it is up to Congress to abolish the criminalization of eavesdropping and the holistic indecency of law.”
However, the High Court has amended some of the law to maintain a prohibition on wiretapping or anal sex as a criminal offence, but reduced the maximum sentence for such offences to a prison sentence of 25 to 5 years.
The Court of Appeals also amended the provision that criminalizes “serious indecency” conduct, which does not constitute vaginal or anal intercourse, but refers to actions taken for sexual satisfaction.
As part of these amendments, the court repealed the five-year fine recommended by the 1986 Act and reinstated the 1925 repealed law.
The net effect of the sentence is that, although anal and oral sex are illegal in Trinidad and Tobago, penalties for these crimes have been reduced and the law does not apply to married or heterosexual couples who agree to such conduct and do so in private. Eliminate 76 crimes.
Like many former European colonies, Trinidad and Tobago has a long history of anti-LGBTQ laws.
Furthermore, many citizens in the country adhere to a conservative form of Christianity. In other words, churches and religiously affiliated organizations that support the ban on homosexuality are engaging in important political turmoil.
Jones reports that he criticized the court’s rationale for social media GCN.
“As a LGBTQ+ citizen in Trinidad and Tobago, this regressive judgment has ripped my contract apart as a T&T citizen and once again become a criminal who has not been approved in the eyes of the law,” Jones said. “The TT Court of Appeals has effectively targeted the background of LGBTQIA+ people and has become a citizen of our country’s lower class.”
Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
