LOVE SHOULD NEVER BE A CRIME

‘LOVE SHOULD NEVER BE A CRIME’

LGBTQ CAMPAIGNERS HAIL VICTORY IN LANDMARK COURT RULING

Local laws that criminalised samesex acts between consenting adults may have been unenforced in modern times, but their effect was no less insidious.

As long as they remained on the statute books they sent a clear message to LGBTQ people that they were wrong, their relationships unacceptable, their way of life depraved. For vulnerable young people struggling with feelings of identity, the ramifications were particularly acute.

In July 2022, campaigners emerged victorious in a long-running battle to overturn sections of the Sexual Offences Act 1995 when Antigua and Barbuda’s High Court of Justice ruled that they contravened constitutionally guaranteed rights to liberty, freedom of expression and protection of personal privacy.

The case was brought by an openly gay Antiguan man in sync with local lobby group Women Against Rape and the Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE).

The judgement was a “clear statement that we must stop the stigma and discrimination against our community,” claimant Orden David said.

The lobbyists had argued that the act contributed to hostile healthcare settings

where LGBTQ people often face verbal abuse and confidentiality breaches.

“I have seen first-hand the pain, frustration and anger that the LGBT community experiences when trying to access services,” said WAR’s executive director Alexandrina Wong.

Hopes are now high that the ruling will pave the way for similar moves in neighbouring islands.

ECADE has been fighting to overturn legislation in several of them. In August, the group also saw success in St Kitts and Nevis when the High Court ruled that laws criminalising gay sex violated the right to privacy and freedom of expression.

Seven countries in the Caribbean still criminalise same-sex relations through statutes which have their roots in British colonial-era legislation, namely Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

W hile rarely enforced, the laws marginalise LGBTQ people, while tacitly sanctioning violence and discrimination against them.

In Antigua and Barbuda, on paper at least, gay intimacy could have technically incurred a 15-year prison sentence, while

in Barbados the penalty is cited as life imprisonment.

ECADE’s executive director Kenita Placide said anti-gay laws “legitimise hate speech, discrimination and violence and tear at the fabric of society”.

The group said such legislation had been “weaponised, based on unfounded and unproven fears, against LGBTQ+ people”.

The Caribbean’s strong Christian leanings have long exacerbated gay people’s struggle for equality. Still, the region has experienced a tangible shift in recent years with the rise of a vibrant gay rights movement, including the staging of Pride parades in Barbados and Guyana.

November 2018 saw a centuryold ban on ‘cross-dressing’ in Guyana struck out, while in the same year laws prohibiting homosexuality in Trinidad were also overturned.

Attorney Andrew O’Kola, who played an integral role in the Antigua and Barbuda case, said the court victory brought efforts to end discrimination on the grounds of sexual preference a step closer.

He said the twin island nation was a leader in the Eastern Caribbean for “recognising the illegality of punishing a person for who they love”.

O’Kola told Luxury Locations Magazine the cause was one he felt passionately about.

“If I never achieve anything else as a barrister, I will always hail this victory,” he said, adding: “Consensual love should never be a crime.” n

By Gemma Handy

Photo: Seas Drake

Attorney Andrew O’Kola