The Supreme Court of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has upheld a law criminalizing homosexuality, dealing a blow to activists who have long denounced the violence faced by the LGBTQ+ community in the conservative Caribbean island.
The decision handed down by the St. Vincent High Court on Friday stems from a 2019 case brought by two gay men from St. Vincent who live in the United Kingdom and the United States. They sought to repeal a colonial-era law that imposed 10 years in prison for anal sex and five years for “gross indecency” with a person of the same sex.
Cristian González Cabrera, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, called the ruling a “travesty of justice” and said it represented “the state’s tacit approval” of discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community.
“This is a sad day for human rights in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and this judgment will weaken the rule of law for everyone in this country,” he said.
It was not immediately clear whether anyone planned to appeal the ruling.
Tia Brown, chief executive of the Human Dignity Trust, a human rights organization based in London, said the decision was based in part on the fact that the two people challenging the law do not live in St. Vincent. criticized.
“This is very unfortunate,” she said. “This decision stands in stark contrast to decisions made last year by neighboring courts in Barbados, Antigua, St. Kitts, and other courts around the world that struck down these outdated laws.”
St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ law is rarely invoked, but activists say it helps justify physical and verbal abuse against the small island’s gay community of about 100,000 people. It is claimed that
Last year, a Human Rights Watch report identified multiple cases of abuse and discrimination against homosexuals in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. These range from an incident in which a teenage student suffered a broken arm to a man who suffered permanent injuries after being hit in the head with a bottle. Brain injury.
The archipelago’s Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves has previously condemned discrimination against homosexuals.
In addition to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, five other English-speaking Caribbean countries have laws criminalizing gay sex. Saint Lucia, Dominica, Jamaica, Guyana, and Grenada.
Four other Caribbean countries have repealed such laws in recent years. Barbados; Saint Kitts and Nevis; and Antigua and Barbuda.
