Dominica High Court of Justice strikes down sodomy law
Dominica’s High Court of Justice on Monday struck down provisions of a law that criminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations.
A gay man who remains anonymous in 2019 challenged sections of the country’s Sexual Offenses Act that criminalized anal sex and “gross indecency” with up to 10 years and 12 years in prison respectively.
The plaintiff argued the provisions violated his constitutional rights. The Dominica Equality and Sexual Expression Association and the Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality, a group that advocates for LGBTQ and intersex rights in the region, in a press release noted the court in its ruling affirmed “the criminalization of consensual same-sex activity between adults is unconstitutional.” The groups added Justice Kimberly Cenac-Phulgence “declared that the laws commonly known as buggery and gross indecency laws, contravenes the constitution of the Commonwealth of Dominica, namely the right to liberty, freedom of expression, and protection of personal privacy.” “It is long past time that the dignity and dreams of all Dominicans were recognized,” said DESEA Executive Director Sylvester Jno Baptiste in the press release. “We are all God’s children, and he loves us all equally.
Laws that treat some Dominicans as less than others, have no place in a just society.” Dominica is a former British colony that is located between Guadeloupe and Martinique in the Lesser Antilles.
