In a ruling in Trinidad and Tobago’s High Court, judge Devindra Rampersad has found that the sections of the Sexual Offences Act, which prohibited “buggery” and “serious indecency” between two men and criminalised consensual same-sex activity between adults, were unconstitutional.
The Human Dignity Trust welcomes today’s judgment in Trinidad and Tobago decriminalising consensual same-sex sexual conduct between adults.
Laws that criminalise LGBT people foster and enable discrimination, violence and hate crimes and put LGBT people outside the protection of the law.
They also undermine efforts to enhance public health outcomes and to alleviate poverty. We congratulate all local and regional LGBT human rights defenders for their work to end persecution of the LGBT community.