The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court struck down a colonial-era law in St. Lucia that criminalized gay sex in a ruling Tuesday celebrated by activists in the largely conservative region. The court found that the island’s so-called buggery and gross indecency laws were unconstitutional.
Raise Your Voice St. Lucia, a nonprofit organization, called it a “monumental step for human rights in the Eastern Caribbean.” “It comes as a beacon of hope amid recent setbacks, such as disappointments in St. Vincent and the Grenadines as well as Trinidad and Tobago, that have tested our region’s commitment to equality,” the group said.
St. Lucia’s colonial-era law penalized gay sex with up to 10 years in prison. While the government didn’t enforce the law, activists and legal experts say it remained a threat to the island’s LGBTQ+ community. In 2019, the Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality filed five legal challenges against such laws in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Saint Lucia. In 2022, courts in Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis struck down those laws. Last year, a court in Dominica did the same.
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