Barbados Has Decriminalized Gay Sex – Them

Barbados’ top court has abolished its colonial-era sodomy laws, decriminalizing gay sex throughout the Caribbean nation. 

The Barbados High Court issued an oral judgment last Monday, striking down colonial-era laws that punished “buggery” and “gross indecency,” according to the Associated Press. The advocacy group Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE), which filed lawsuits against such laws in Barbados and four other Caribbean countries, stated on Twitter that the written judgment will come out next month. ECADE initially filed its suit against the Barbados law in 2019. 

Michael Rapley, a member of ECADE, said that the organization was “very pleased with the result of this case, which is a result of years of advocacy efforts by community organizations as well as the litigants.”

“This is a step in the right direction for the protection of LGBTQ+ people in Barbados as we continue to ensure stigma-free access to services and positive inclusion in society,” Rapley said in a statement posted to social media. 

While these laws are a relic of British colonialism and are rarely practically enforced, they “contribute to the stigmatisation of LGBTQI people, legitimize hate speech, discrimination and violence and tears at the fabric of our society,” in the words of Kenita Placide, the executive director of ECADE, according to a statement posted to social media. 

However, advocates maintain that while the abolishment of these laws is a major stepping stone, it’s still only the beginning. Raven Gill, the president of Butterfly Barbados, the country’s only trans-led trans advocacy organization, said in a statement posted to social media that the judgment was “the continuation of visible, monumental and transformative work to remove misleading ideas about the LGBTQ+ community in Barbados and across the Caribbean.”

The next steps “have to be focused on Gender Identity Recognition,” Gill added. “This outcome creates opportunities to address other issues our community faces and a chance to rectify those challenges.” 

Barbados is the third Caribbean country this year to do away with these laws, following Antigua and Barbuda, as well as Saint Kitts and Nevis. ECADE also filed the suits that successfully abolished these laws, per a press release published in the local publication St. Vincent Times. There are now only six remaining countries in the Americas with similar laws: Guyana, Grenada, Dominica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Jamaica, according to the Associated Press. 

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