No final victory yet in Trinidad, says LGBTQ rights activist Jason Jones
Trinidad’s High Court overturned the nation’s colonial-era anti-sodomy law in 2018, but the case isn’t over yet.
Victorious claimant Jason Jones explains: “the Attorney General of Trinidad & Tobago has appealed the decriminalisation victory of 2018. That Appeal will be heard at the T&T Appeal Court in the first quarter of 2023. Both myself & the Attorney General have made it clear that whoever loses that Appeal will then appeal to the Privy Council in London for a final Supreme Court decision on the matter.”
The 2018 decision in striking down the buggery law was just the beginning of the battle. No protections legislatively have been accommodated for the LGBTQIA community in Trinidad and Tobago. The Pivate Sector have made policies for same sex couples within the company they work and that’s good but there needs to be a robust overhaul of domestic and civil protections for the LGBTQIA community.