Saint Lucia’s ban on homosexuality has been declared unconstitutional by the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court in a historic ruling for the LGBTQ+ community.
The court found Saint Lucia’s “buggery” and “gross indecency,” laws enshrined in sections 132 and133 in the nation’s Criminal Code, unconstitutional. These laws punished consensual male sexual relationships with up to ten years in prison, and those convicted of attempting to “commit buggery” were also in danger of facing a prison sentence of up to five years according to LGBTQ Nation.
Though the law wasn’t strictly enforced, the Human Dignity Trust claims the “mere existence of this provision is itself a violation of human rights and underpins further acts of discrimination.” Kenita Placide, executive director of Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE) – a Caribbean LGBTQ+ organization — said of the victory: “This decision is deeply personal. For many years, we’ve worked to see the rights, lives, and dignity of LGBTQ+ persons in Saint Lucia and the OECS protected.”
This is not the first win against homosexuality bans in the Caribbean. In 2019, ECADE launched multiple legal challenges against homosexuality bans across several Caribbean nations. These efforts became successful when courts in Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda and Saint Kitts and Nevis ruled against the laws in 2022. Just last year, a court in Dominica ruled against the country’s homosexuality ban as well.
Saint Lucia has a population just under 200,000 people who mostly identify as Christian according to LGBTQ Nation, The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court presides over Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines as well as Saint Lucia.
“Today’s ruling is not just a win in the courts, it also represents a step towards justice for the many lives lost to violence simply for being themselves. It signals that our Caribbean can and must be a place where all people are free and equal under the law.”
