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Trinidad and Tobago gay sex ban overturned by Privy Council

by Timothy••2

Trinidad and Tobago’s ban on consensual same-sex relations between adults has been overturned by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, marking a major victory for LGBTQIA+ rights in the Caribbean Sea country and challenging the legacy of British colonial rule.

The London-based court, which is the highest court of appeal for several former British colonies, upheld a lower court ruling that had declared the legislation unconstitutional. The ban had provided for prison sentences of up to five years for so-called “buggery” and up to two years for “gross indecency”.

In its judgment, the Privy Council found that criminalising private sexual activity between consenting adults could not be justified in a society that respected individual rights and freedoms. It also ruled that constitutional provisions protecting certain pre-independence laws from legal challenges should be interpreted narrowly, rather than shielding broad areas of legislation from scrutiny.

The case was brought by LGBTQIA+ rights activist Jason Jones, who was born in Trinidad and Tobago and now lives in the United Kingdom. He first challenged the ban in the country’s High Court, which ruled in his favour in 2018. However, the Court of Appeal overturned that decision in 2025, prompting Jones and his lawyers to take the case to the Privy Council.

Jones argued that the legislation introduced in 1986 was distinct from the original colonial-era law and therefore could not be protected from constitutional scrutiny. He said the case was not simply about the legacy of British rule, but also about addressing homophobia within contemporary Trinidadian society.

A colonial legacy

The ban originated in English law under Henry VIII in the 16th century and was later imposed on Trinidad and Tobago by the British through a 1925 act. After independence, the country retained it under a constitutional savings clause protecting certain pre-independence laws from legal challenges.

In 1986, Trinidad and Tobago replaced the relevant provisions with new legislation that increased prison sentences and extended penalties for indecency to women. Jones argued that these newer measures were not covered by the savings clause. The Privy Council agreed that the criminalisation of private, consensual sexual activity between adults could be challenged on constitutional grounds.

The judgment also recognised that the right to respect for private and family life encompasses sexual orientation and the private sexual activity through which people express that identity.

Potential impact across the Caribbean

The ruling applies directly to Trinidad and Tobago, but campaigners believe it could have implications for other former British colonies where consensual same-sex relations remain criminalised.

According to the UK-based Human Dignity Trust, at least four other former British colonies in the Caribbean – Jamaica, Guyana, Grenada, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – still criminalise sexual activity between men. However, not all these countries fall within the Privy Council’s appellate jurisdiction.

Ria Mohammed, an attorney and director of the Caribbean Centre for Human Rights, said the ruling could influence future cases in other jurisdictions that continue to use the Privy Council as their highest court of appeal. Although the judgment is binding only in Trinidad and Tobago, she considered it unlikely that the court would reach a different conclusion in a comparable case elsewhere.

The Human Dignity Trust welcomed the decision, describing it as an important affirmation that laws criminalising private, consensual same-sex intimacy have no place in societies that respect fundamental rights and freedoms. CAISO, a feminist organisation advocating for sex and gender justice in Trinidad and Tobago, also hailed the judgment as a historic legal victory, saying discriminatory laws based on sexual orientation or other characteristics were incompatible with constitutional principles.

The case also raises questions about the relationship between Caribbean countries and the institutions inherited from British rule. Five countries – Belize, Guyana, Barbados, Saint Lucia, and Dominica – have already replaced the Privy Council with the Caribbean Court of Justice as their final court of appeal.

Mohammed pointed to the irony that Trinidad and Tobago had to turn to the judicial system of its former colonial ruler to overturn a law rooted in colonial history. She said the outcome should prompt a wider debate about the kind of society the country wants to build.

LGBTQIA+ and travel

🇧🇪 Blogger, keen vexillologist, train conductor NMBS/SNCB, traveller, F1 follower, friend of Dorothy.

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