Protestors in Saint Lucia condemning the nation’s homosexuality laws in 2012. (Getty)
A Saint Lucia court has struck down a set of laws criminalising homosexuality, in a major win for LGBTQ+ rights in the Caribbean.
Judges in the eastern Caribbean nation ruled on Tuesday (29 July) that laws banning so-called “gross indecency” and “buggery” were unconstitutional.
The High Court of Saint Lucia argued that the colonial-era laws unfairly targeted LGBTQ+ people and contravene fundamental human rights, including rights to privacy, freedom of expression, and protection from discrimination.
It is now the fifth country in the Eastern Caribbean region to decriminalise same-sex activity after Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, and St Kitts & Nevis.
Only five countries in the Western Hemisphere continue to ban private, consensual same-sex activity – Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Trinidad and Tobago decriminalised homosexuality in 2018, but reversed its decision in March 2025.
Saint Lucia prime minister, Philip J Pierre. (Getty)
Téa Braun, CEO of the Human Dignity Trust, told PinkNews that the ruling marked “another significant legal milestone” for the LGBTQ+ community both in the Caribbean and worldwide.
“[The ruling] demonstrates the importance of the courts when lawmakers fail to respect fundamental human rights,” Braun continued. “We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the litigants and activists who have tirelessly pursued justice.”
Saint Lucia’s anti-gay laws, which were inherited from the British during the colonial period, were retained in 2004 after the island nation updated its Criminal Code. Those found in violation of the law faced up to 10 years’ imprisonment.
In 2021, a human rights tribunal found that laws criminalising homosexuality violate international fundamental human rights laws.
Issued by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the ruling found that the Jamaican government had violated multiple international laws by criminalising homosexuality in the nation.
Despite the ruling, homosexuality is still illegal in the region, which is among one of the worst for LGBTQ+ rights, according to Equaldex.
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