(Castries, February 19, 2024) Vincentians who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer, now face greater vulnerability following a decision in the High Court of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines today. The High Court’s extraordinary ruling undermines the rights of LGBTQ+ people in Saint Vincent at a time when the region is moving in a more progressive direction and reinforces negative stereotypes of the country and the region.
The Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE) is concerned that this judgment demonstrates a lack of respect for civil liberties and personal privacy. This is especially concerning for LGBTQ+ Vincentians who already face discrimination in public and private spaces including the home, schools, religious spaces, and places of employment. It can also be interpreted to legitimise continued acts of violence and other abuses based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
On Friday, February 16, 2024, the High Court dismissed in its entirety, the challenge to sections 146 and 148 of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines’ Criminal Code filed by two Vincentian men. It is notable that the Attorney General of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines was joined by several religious groups as interested parties in defending the consolidated cases.
“This has now weaponised hate, it has now weaponised discrimination, it has now weaponised homophobia, sanctioned by the highest court.”
VincyCHAP
“It is a dark day in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines for minorities who are LGBT persons. This has now weaponised hate, it has now weaponised discrimination, it has now weaponised homophobia, sanctioned by the highest court,” notes VincyCHAP, a local civil society organisation that joined the claimants as an interested party to the case. “It was very disappointing sitting there listening to the judge’s decision. We believe it is rather unfortunate, that the judge took the stance that the claimants had no locus standi because they do not reside in Saint Vincent. That means in essence their rights as Vincentians anywhere they are, has been infringed. It restricts the constitutional right to freedom of conscience and freedom of association, as a privilege only for some.”
Attorney-at-Law Jeshua Bardoo, who is also the Founder and Executive Officer of ERAO SVG stated, “This is sad day for LGBTQ+ rights in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Internationally and regionally, laws similar to those challenged in these cases have been declared unconstitutional and in violation of the rights of LGBTQ+ persons. These archaic and draconian colonial laws, though not strictly enforced, symbolically denigrate LGBTQ+ persons as second-class citizens in their own country and perpetuate prejudice and stigma against them.”
The Claimants, represented by Peter Laverick, Shirlan Barnwell, Jomo Thomas, Joseph Middleton, KC, Christopher Hamel-Smith and Grahame Bollers challenged the constitutionality of laws that condemn consensual same-sex intimacy. People can be imprisoned in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines under sections 146 and148 for buggery and / or Indecent practices between persons of the same sex. According to court filings in 2019, Johnson and MacLeish contend that those provisions are unconstitutional as they violate the fundamental rights to privacy, personal liberty, freedom of conscience, freedom of expression and protection from discrimination.
“I am concerned about the message this sends to the people in the country, to the Caribbean and to the world,” says Kenita Placide, ECADE’s Executive Director. “At a time when the world is taking cognisance of the negative impact of archaic colonial era laws, this judgment is regressive and harmful. It poses a threat to, and further restricts the positive contribution of many Vincentian citizens.”
“This is sad day for LGBTQ+ rights in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Internationally and regionally, laws similar to those challenged in these cases have been declared unconstitutional and in violation of the rights of LGBTQ+ persons.”
ERAO SVG
ECADE has helped set a precedent in the sub-region by successfully litigating three of five legal challenges in the eastern Caribbean with decisions in two cases still outstanding. The most recent judgment on December 12, 2022, saw the High Court in Barbados follow Antigua and Barbuda and Saint Kitts and Nevis, in ruling buggery and gross indecency laws unconstitutional. These cases followed successful challenges in Belize and Guyana to the constitutionality of sodomy laws and cross-dressing laws led by the University of the West Indies Rights Action Project (URAP) and the successful challenge to buggery laws in Trinidad and Tobago.
LGBTQ+ people in the Caribbean have been subject to persecution under homophobic and transphobic colonial laws. The negative impact of these anti-LGBTQ laws continue even after these states have gained their independence. A 2022 US State Department country report notes that civil society organisations in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines continue to register an increase in physical and verbal attacks against the LGBTQ+ community.
“People feel they can harass us because of the laws. If people are having an argument, that’s [their] justification for homophobia. They say it’s the law, that it’s illegal,” a 25-year-old gay man from Saint Vincent told Human Rights Watch in its 2023 Report “They Can Harass Us Because of the Laws”: Violence and Discrimination against LGBT People in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines”.
ECADE continues to work, through advocacy and litigation, to repeal discriminatory laws and increase protection for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people across the eastern Caribbean.
-ENDS-
The Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality Inc (ECADE) is an independent umbrella of human rights organisations operating in the small islands in the eastern Caribbean from the Virgin Islands to Grenada. The Alliance’s core membership comprises organisations representing the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community in the sub-region. Associate membership comprises organisations working intersectionally. ECADE currently serves seventeen full and fourteen associate member organisations in nine countries. www.ecequality.org
Equal Rights, Access and Opportunities SVG Inc. (ERAO SVG) is an intersectional non-profit human rights organization dedicated to promoting equality and non-discrimination in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Founded in 2021, ERAO SVG has four main thematic areas surrounding women’s rights, children’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and disability rights. https://www.eraosvg.com
VincyCHAP is a legally registered non-governmental organisation, founded in 2007 that provides HIV education, counselling and testing in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. https://www.instagram.com/vincychap101
FURTHER RESOURCES
THE EASTERN CARIBBEAN SUPREME COURT. 2019. Javin Kevin Vinc Johnson v The Attorney General of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines et al and Sean Mac Leish v The Attorney General of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: https://www.eccourts.org/judgment/javin-kevin-vinc-johnson-et-al-v-the-attorney-general-of-saint-vincent-and-the-grenadines
US DEPARTMENT OF STATE. 2023. 2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH. JULY 2023. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: LGBT People Face Bias: https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/07/20/saint-vincent-and-grenadines-lgbt-people-face-bias
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH. JULY 2023. “They Can Harass Us Because of the Laws” Violence and Discrimination against LGBT People in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: https://www.hrw.org/report/2023/07/20/they-can-harass-us-because-laws/violence-and-discrimination-against-lgbt-people
ECADE 