Saint Lucia court strikes down anti-homosexual laws in landmark LGBTQ+ rights ruling

Saint Lucia: In a landmark victory for human rights and the LGBTQ+ community, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court has ruled in favor of criminalizing anti-homosexual law that stems from section 132 and 133 of the Criminal Code in Saint Lucia.

The court ruled the provisions from the two sections unconstitutional as they criminalize “buggery” and “gross indecency", citing several violations of the fundamental rights that are under the Saint Lucian Constitution. 

The court took the decision to strike down the colonial-era law in the two sections on Tuesday with the decision being declared by the Honourable Justice Innocent. 

The judge noted that section 132 and 133 of the Criminal Code are incompatible with the modern democratic principles and human dignity as the two sections violate the rights to consensual same sex intimacies done in private. 

The two Criminal Code sections also go against the basic human rights of protection of the law, privacy, life, liberty, security of the person, freedom of expression, and protection from discrimination on the basis of sex and sexual orientation.

The court declared the two outdated laws unconstitutional as they have long fueled stigmas, violence and discrimination in the Saint Lucian communities. 

According to the information, the court ordered that the law must be read in a way that recognises the rights of all consenting adults regardless of their gender in order to affirm the dignity as well as humanity of LGBTQ+ individuals in Saint Lucia and beyond along with removing all discriminatory languages.

The historic ruling that supports the lives of all Saint Lucian citizens including the LGBTQ+ community was welcomed by the Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE) alongside United and Strong. 

Notably, this is the fourth significant decision taken in the regional five nation legal challenge which is being led by ECADE since the year 2020. Similar laws were also passed in Antigua and Barbuda, St Kitts and Nevis and Barbuda, all in 2022. 

The Executive Director of ECADE, who is also a long time LGBTQ+ advocate in Saint Lucia, Kenita Placide lauded the decision which was taken in favour of human rights and the LGBTQ+ community. She further called the decision ‘deeply personal’ and emphasised that they have worked for several years to ensure that the rights, lives and dignity of these people are protected in the island nation and the broader OECS.

Placide said that today’s ruling is not just a victory in the courts but it represents a step towards justice for the several lives lost to violence simply for being themselves. According to her it signals that the Caribbean can and must be a place where all individuals are equal and free under the law.