Activist wins 10-year fight against homophobic Trinidad and Tobago laws
Summary
The UK Privy Council unanimously ruled that Trinidad and Tobago’s laws must not criminalize private, consensual sex between adults of the same sex. The decision restores activist Jason Jones’s 2018 legal victory and could affect other Caribbean countries that use the Privy Council as their final court of appeal.Key Facts
- The Privy Council overturned a 2025 Trinidad and Tobago Court of Appeal decision that had reinstated criminal penalties for consensual anal sex.
- Jones first won a High Court ruling against the laws in 2018.
- All five Privy Council judges ruled that sections 13 and 16 of the Sexual Offences Act 1986 must be read consistently with the constitution.
- The ruling protects private, consensual sexual relations between adults of the same sex from criminalization under those provisions.
- The Privy Council is the final court of appeal for Trinidad and Tobago and several other Commonwealth countries.
- Jones said he does not yet feel comfortable living in Trinidad again.
- The article notes that a court in St Lucia struck down laws criminalizing consensual gay sex last year.
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