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CASTRIES – A Saint Lucia court on Tuesday struck down laws that had criminalized same-sex relations in the Caribbean island nation with up to a decade behind bars, local LGBT rights organizations in the region said on Tuesday.

A ruling from the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, headquartered in Saint Lucia’s capital Castries, said two sections of the country’s criminal code that banned “gross indecency” and “buggery” were unconstitutional, according to rights groups.

The Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality, a network of local rights groups, said the decision marked a fourth major victory in a regional challenge, following similar a wave of similar legal changes in 2022.

“ECADE celebrates this historic win affirming the dignity of LGBTQ+ people in Saint Lucia,” it said in a post on X.

The Caribbean nations of Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda and Saint Kitts and Nevis all struck down similar laws prohibiting gay sex in 2022, and Dominica also decriminalized same-sex acts last year.

Though Trinidad and Tobago was among the first Eastern Caribbean nations to decriminalize gay sex in 2018, it reversed this decision in March of this year. Much of the region still imposes lengthy prison sentences.

Though enforcement of these laws is rare, activists say they worsen widespread stigmas, harassment and abuse. REUTERS

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.

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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.

The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court has struck down a colonial-era law in St. Lucia that criminalized gay sex in a ruling celebrated by activists in the largely conservative region

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court struck down a colonial-era law in St. Lucia that criminalized gay sex in a ruling Tuesday celebrated by activists in the largely conservative region.

The court found that the island’s so-called buggery and gross indecency laws were unconstitutional.

Raise Your Voice St. Lucia, a nonprofit organization, called it a “monumental step for human rights in the Eastern Caribbean.”

“It comes as a beacon of hope amid recent setbacks, such as disappointments in St. Vincent and the Grenadines as well as Trinidad and Tobago, that have tested our region’s commitment to equality,” the group said.

St. Lucia’s colonial-era law penalized gay sex with up to 10 years in prison. While the government didn’t enforce the law, activists and legal experts say it remained a threat to the island’s LGBTQ+ community.

“The mere existence of this provision is itself a violation of human rights and underpins further acts of discrimination,” according to Human Dignity Trust, a U.K.-based legal organization that helped work on the case.

In 2019, the Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality filed five legal challenges against such laws in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Saint Lucia.

In 2022, courts in Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis struck down those laws.

Last year, a court in Dominica did the same.

“Today’s ruling is not just a win in the courts, it also represents a step towards justice for the many lives lost to violence simply for being themselves,” said Kenita Placide, the alliance’s executive director. “It signals that our Caribbean can and must be a place where all people are free and equal under the law.”

Only five Caribbean nations still penalize gay sex: Jamaica, Grenada, Guyana, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago, where an appeals court earlier this year overturned a ruling that decriminalized gay sex.

Members of the LGBTQ+ community have fled those islands following violent attacks.

The UNAIDS Caribbean office celebrated Tuesday’s ruling, as did J’Moul Francis, foreign affairs minister for Antigua and Barbuda.

“Human rights in the Eastern Caribbean continue to advance as the colonial legacies of these unconstitutional provisions continue to fall,” he wrote on X. “However, more still needs to be done across the region to ensure that progress is real, practical, and effective for LGBTQ+ individuals.”

In a landmark decision hailed as a major victory for human rights, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court has ruled that Saint Lucia’s laws criminalising homosexuality are unconstitutional, effectively decriminalising same-sex relations in the island nation.

The ruling, delivered on Tuesday, struck down sections 132 and 133 of Saint Lucia’s Criminal Code, which outlawed “gross indecency” and “buggery” — terms historically used to criminalise consensual same-sex activity. These colonial-era provisions, which carried penalties of up to ten years’ imprisonment, were found to violate fundamental rights including privacy, liberty, freedom of expression, and protection from discrimination.

“This decision is deeply personal,” said Kenita Placide, Executive Director of the Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE), which spearheaded the legal challenge. “It represents a step towards justice for the many lives lost to violence simply for being themselves. It signals that our Caribbean can and must be a place where all people are free and equal under the law”.

The court’s decision aligns Saint Lucia with a growing number of Eastern Caribbean nations – including Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, and Saint Kitts and Nevis – that have recently repealed similar laws. The ruling also comes amid broader regional and international pressure to dismantle legal frameworks that discriminate against LGBTQ+ individuals.

Téa Braun, CEO of the Human Dignity Trust, described the ruling as “another significant legal milestone” and emphasised the role of the judiciary in upholding rights when legislative bodies fail to act. “We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the litigants and activists who have tirelessly pursued justice,” she said.

While the laws were rarely enforced, human rights advocates argued that their mere existence perpetuated stigma and justified broader discrimination. The Human Dignity Trust noted that such laws often underpin systemic inequality and violence against LGBTQ+ communities.

Saint Lucia, a predominantly Christian nation of just under 200,000 people, now joins a growing movement across the Caribbean to dismantle the legal remnants of colonial rule. However, several countries in the region – including Jamaica, Guyana and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – continue to criminalise same-sex relations.

The ruling is expected to have ripple effects across the region, as activists and legal experts continue to challenge similar laws in other jurisdictions.

CASTRIES (Reuters) -A Saint Lucia court on Tuesday struck down laws that had criminalized same-sex relations in the Caribbean island nation with up to a decade behind bars, local LGBT rights organizations in the region said on Tuesday.

A ruling from the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, headquartered in Saint Lucia’s capital Castries, said two sections of the country’s criminal code that banned “gross indecency” and “buggery” were unconstitutional, according to rights groups.

The Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality, a network of local rights groups, said the decision marked a fourth major victory in a regional challenge, following similar a wave of similar legal changes in 2022.

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“ECADE celebrates this historic win affirming the dignity of LGBTQ+ people in Saint Lucia,” it said in a post on X.

The Caribbean nations of Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda and Saint Kitts and Nevis all struck down similar laws prohibiting gay sex in 2022, and Dominica also decriminalized same-sex acts last year.

Though Trinidad and Tobago was among the first Eastern Caribbean nations to decriminalize gay sex in 2018, it reversed this decision in March of this year. Much of the region still imposes lengthy prison sentences.

Though enforcement of these laws is rare, activists say they worsen widespread stigmas, harassment and abuse.

(Reporting by Sarah Peter; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Kylie Madry)