Trinidad and Tobago’s gay sex ban has been overturned after the Privy Council ruled that consensual same-sex relations between adults cannot be criminalised

Trinidad and Tobago’s long-standing ban on consensual same-sex relations between adults has been overturned following a unanimous ruling by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, marking a significant victory for LGBTQ rights in the Caribbean.

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The UK-based court, which serves as the highest court of appeal for Trinidad and Tobago, ruled on Tuesday that provisions of the country’s 1986 Sexual Offences Act could not be used to prosecute private, consensual sexual relations between adults of the same sex.

The legislation had prescribed prison sentences of up to two years for what it described as “serious indecency” and five years for “buggery”.

The decision followed a decade-long legal campaign led by Trinidadian LGBTQ activist Jason Jones, who challenged the provisions and welcomed the judgment as a validation of his efforts.

Speaking to AFP after the ruling, Jones said he intended to expand his advocacy beyond Trinidad and Tobago to address what he described as widespread homophobia across the Caribbean.

“What I’m going to be doing in the coming months is very targeted activism about how the Caribbean, not just Trinidad and Tobago, deals with endemic homophobia,” he said.

In its judgment, the Privy Council stressed that constitutional rights should be interpreted in ways that remain relevant to contemporary society, stating that they must be “practical and effective in the present day, not in the past”.

Freedom Law Chambers, the legal firm that represented Jones, described the decision as a major victory for gay rights, equal dignity and respect for private and family life in Trinidad and Tobago.

The ruling also received international support, with United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk welcoming it as an important milestone for equality and human rights.

Türk said he hoped the judgment would help remove a longstanding source of stigma, exclusion, barriers and violence experienced by people in Trinidad and Tobago because of their sexual orientation and gender identity.

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The decision represents a significant development in the Caribbean’s ongoing debate over laws criminalising same-sex relationships, although Jones has indicated that further advocacy will be needed to challenge discrimination across the region.