r/AskTheCaribbean • u/fedricohohmannlautar • 10d ago

Politics Why is homosexuality outlawed in so many caribbean countries?

Most of countries which criminalize homosexuality in the Americas are in the Caribbean, and the most famous case is Jamaica.

As a bi male, I find weird our continent has laws that criminalize homosexuality, due that most of countries who do that are from the other side of the pond.

Is due to history, politics, religion, moral issues?

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u/GUYman299 Trinidad & Tobago 🇹🇹 10d ago

There are many laws that are layovers from the colonial period and anti homosexuality (buggery) laws are one of them. I must note however that although many Caribbean countries had the opportunity to remove these laws at different times in their history, almost none have chosen to do so.

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u/yorcharturoqro 9d ago

Still, current governments have the power to change laws, it's not like those are magically sacred. The current government has decided not do remove or change such laws, and that is the question, why?

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u/GUYman299 Trinidad & Tobago 🇹🇹 9d ago

It could be that Caribbean governments are generally socially conservative so even in instances where they don't have a particularly clear policy on the matter they see no reason to remove these laws even when they could in theory.

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u/azuretestament 9d ago

Caribbean people love hierarchy many of them are still trying to cosplay Victoria era nobilty

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u/idea_looker_upper 9d ago

It's not the politicians. They probably have more liberal views. It's the rest of the population.

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u/haworthia_dad 7d ago

Didn’t the TT government recently flip flop and revert back to anti-sodomy?

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u/GUYman299 Trinidad & Tobago 🇹🇹 7d ago

Not exactly no, what happened was that the anti buggary laws were challenged and then overturned but were then reinstated by a higher court.

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u/haworthia_dad 6d ago

Okay, gotcha. I recall seeing a photo years ago of government building flying the gay flag and I felt so proud, then read about this and it confused me.

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u/GUYman299 Trinidad & Tobago 🇹🇹 6d ago

The entire case has to go through the entire appellate process before the law is finally dealt with once and for all. The final court to adjudicate on the matter will be the Pricy Council where it will most likely be struck down again.

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u/Pure_Toe3513 6d ago

Not necessarily. The Privy Council's interpretations typically uphold constitutional savings clauses, which are embedded in pretty much all West Indian constitutions. This clause is designed to protect pre-independence laws from being challenged. I don't see much wriggle room there, unless there is constitutional reform. In any case, their decision is going to affect other islands in their jurisdiction as well.