Antigua and Barbuda Overturn Anti-Gay Legislation

LGBTQ+ travelers have historically had reservations about travel in certain parts of the Caribbean due to local anti-gay legislation and prejudice but there seems to be a bit of a shift happening in the region. Earlier this month, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court ruled that a law in Antigua and Barbuda that criminalized gay sex was unconstitutional.

The ruling went on to say that “the selection of an intimate partner is a private and a personal choice.” and that the 1995 Sexual Offences Act “offends the right to liberty, protection of the law, freedom of expression, protection of personal privacy and protection from discrimination on the basis of sex.”

The ruling comes after a request was made from a gay member of the Ministry of Health to overturn the antiquated law. In his testimony, he explained that he is often persecuted and assaulted due to his sexual orientation and that many patients refuse treatment from him on these grounds as well. The hope is that overturning the law will help shift cultural attitudes towards homosexuality.

“The High Court’s landmark ruling is a beacon for LGBT people in Antigua and Barbuda and other Caribbean nations, whose rights and freedoms have been stymied by these punitive laws,” said Cristian González Cabrera, LGBT rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Laws criminalizing same-sex conduct, which are still in force in seven other Caribbean nations, reinforce and tacitly permit discrimination, violence, and prejudice against LGBT people,” he added.

Those seven other nations include Jamaica, Barbados, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Dominica, and Saint Kitts and Nevis. Penalties for consensual same-sex intimacy range from 10 years to life imprisonment. Though the laws are rarely enforced there is always that danger present to LGBTQ+ citizens and visitors to those countries.

There is hope for even more positive change in the region according to The Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality citing pending constitutional challenges in Barbados, Saint Lucia, and Saint Kitts and Nevis.

So, while it is inevitable that social attitudes will take some time to catch up with the court ruling in Antigua and Barbuda, it is nevertheless a step in the right direction. Perhaps one day not too far in the future queer travelers will be able to vacation in these countries with peace of mind.