A newly filed lawsuit seeks to overturn Dominica’s anti-gay law, building on the global push for decriminalisation of LGBT people. If successful, the suit will eliminate one of the last remaining anti-sodomy laws in the Western Hemisphere.
A gay man, who must remain anonymous for his own protection, has today filed a landmark claim challenging Dominica’s homophobic laws that criminalise “buggery” and “gross indecency,” targeting the consensual sexual activity of LGBT people. With critical legal support from the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network (“HIV Legal Network”), the University of Toronto’s International Human Rights Program, and other like-minded groups, this important case will demonstrate that these horrific and outdated laws violate human rights guaranteed in the Constitution of Dominica.
The intention to file this lawsuit was celebrated at World Pride in New York City several weeks ago. Today’s official filing is being announced in Dominica by Daryl Phillip, Founder and Head of Minority Rights Dominica (MiRiDom) and Maurice Tomlinson, Senior Policy Analyst at the HIV Legal Network and a dual citizen of Jamaica and Canada.
“Brutal and often life-threatening experiences are a daily reality for many LGBT people in Dominica, and elsewhere in the Caribbean. Because the law criminalises all LGBT individuals, it sends a powerful message that other people — whether law enforcement or regular citizens on the street — are entitled to discriminate and commit human rights abuses against LGBT individuals,” says Philip. “While Britain decriminalised homosexuality in 1967, a majority of Commonwealth countries have not followed suit. LGBT people still face harsh laws in many parts of the world.”
